Hey Guys and Girls,
Happy new year to all. I am really interested to hear about people who have dropped out of PhDs and have considered doing another PhD or have already done one. This is something that means a lot to me and so any comments are appreciated.

I started a PhD last October and dropped out after my first year review. To put it bluntly I hated my topic and my supervisor was almost 100% hands-off. The pressure to deliver was enormous and the postdoc I worked with was supposed to be in charge of the day to day running of the project we were working on. She had a completely different academic background to myself and hence had little understanding/interest in my PhD. In addition she had no experience managing a major research project or working with graduate students. As a result the level of support I got was very poor to say the least and to sum things up my PhD experience was nothing short of horrible.

I have good academic credentials and have been offered positions since then but I think the reason I haven’t jumped straight into another PhD program has been a combination of shattered confidence and confusion over exactly what research topic I want to research.

I’ve applied to two Msc courses in the field I am interested in, both of which start next October. I think going down this route is a good move given that I will have a number of months out of academia which will be a nice break. The course its self covers a broad range of topics delivered through lectures, course work and a project
and so I will be able to make an informed decision with regard to my research interests/career direction in this field.


My only real concern with this route is that Msc don’t come cheap and I could well be thirty by the time I get my PhD.

Any thoughts on this or similar stories would be much appreciated

I dropped out of a PhD after one year. The field was really wrong for me but also, frankly, at that time in my life I was having problems focussing and working on anything really. It was a really horribly experience though and totally shattered my confidence.

I worked in another profession for some years and then did an MPhil in a different area. I used up my savings and my husband supported me. Then I applied for PhD funding and now I'm in my final year.

Doing the MPhil was definitley the right thing to do. I was able to build up some confidence, test my real committment to doing a PhD, and get some approriate background skills (the course was half taught, half research). Also, without a very good MPhil, I could never have got funding in my new area (compared to my old area - molecular biology).

However, there have been a lot of problems. My supervisor is totally hands-off and I get no support. Also, both my parents died, my husband was seriously ill and and had 2 major surgeries - then I had a baby and took 2 years out. It has been tough going and the moral is that you can't be sure you will not meet a whole new set of obstacles next time - you should feel you have the motivation to keep going and the confidence to be self-directed. Apart from my MPhil, my work experience has also helped a great deal.

I still panic though and get fearful lest i crash and burn again. But despite the difficulties - it was the right move for me.

It was a really major deal for me to try again. After my first attempt, someone at my old university asked if I would be interested in a PhD there. But I had totally lost my nerve and in any case - it would have been a mistake. I needed time out and to rethink my whole direction.

Good luck!

Best of luck with that. It sounds like you have been through a lot. Much like yourself I have had an offer of another PhD since but due to shattered confidence I didnt jump on board.

There is nothing to say that I might not end up with the same kind of supervisor I had last time, which is the last thing I want. So I am going to be very careful when applying for future positions.

I agree that work experience in the big bad world can in many ways prepare people for the bid bad world of research. I think half the battle of a postgraduate student is knowing what rights you have and how to exercise them.

I am very geogrphically constrained due to family so unfortuntely, although the warning signs were there, I knew it was this or nothing so I just put up with it.

I can't say that working has made me able to assert my rights. I did complain during my MPhil but nothing happened. Now, frankly, I don't want to scupper my chances of staying on for a postdoc by complaining - I grit my teeth a lot. Otherwise for sure, I would have shopped around.

But the kind of work I had has made me much more capable of working without supervision and taking initiative (which is so much about having some confidence). Without that - I would sink like a stone.

My advice would be not to rush it. Looking back, if I had realised how long it would take me to get to this point, I would have been a lot more patient and had longer-term plans in the first place.

Doing a PhD is like getting married but only for a limited time; 3 years minimum and 7 years maximum. The decision to do one must not be taken lightly, ie don't jump on the chance. Three months into the PhD studentship, alarm bells rang and I dismissed it,hoping that things will get better. Well, it did not. Infact it got so bad that I had to take them to the cleaners. The write-up has been frozened for 10 months but I just will not tolerate any future bullying sessions. Well, there is light at the end of this tunnel but it came at a very high prize. No regrets but just wished that I had done something sooner, not four years later!

I think the more experienced you are, be it in academia, industry or any other work experience, the more mature your approach to life becomes. After about 10 years of working (after my MSc) I took up an EdD, dropped out midway and got an MA instead. Now I'm 40 and doing my first year PhD in a field I am very passionate about. So far so good, and I hope it stays that way.

Well done, Sozaboy! and good luck.