What Can I Do after being recommended to terminate?devastated

S

I was the first year registered student for Mphil/Phd. It has been a shaky year for me since the beginning as I couldn't find my supervisors fully engaging with my research topic. Every time when I was trying hard to gather clues from them, they were either not on the same chapter with me or they just couldn't care less...Since then I knew I was at the wrong subject area for research with the wrong type of supervision for initiating intellectual debates...However, I have been so passive and naive by thinking about everything would turn out well if I bend my freewill harder in order to please them.

We've had 2 vivas, I failed the first one and gained the feedback from the panel that I should have listened to my supervisors properly. I knew that was going to be shaky one again as the supervisors couldn't share the same arguments among themselves. So I had to try harder by guessing whether they think if it's qualified for submission. The tragic news was my supervisors did approve many of the points I've made for my second submission, and everything sounded quite positive until the final viva turned out to be horrible disaster. Because the penal was still adopting with the original criteria, of which the ones had the contextual direction for research completely altered by me and my supervisors through agreement. My supervisors didn't inform me anything about this so that means I really did sent off a rocket towards another planet...Because I've failed those criteria, I have been asked to terminate...I know the appeal would have no chance because it's based on academic judgement

Now both my supervisors and research office suggested me to withdraw rather let the termination taking its course.I urgently need to apply for another Phd with a different subject area just after this failure. I don't want this termination affect my new applications.is there no chance to get these supervisors as referee or never? Thank you.

T

Sorry to hear of your plight.

I'm not sure what can be done now. Why didn't you want to take the advice of your supervisors in the first place? Why didn't you ask for direct clarification rather than guessing what they wanted from you?

I think they are telling to withdraw rather than have them fail you because that will look slightly better.

I don't think you should look to these people for a reference because they are not probably going to give a favourable one.

Some people do get a second chance at a PhD, but really you need to be understand why this went wrong, otherwise, how are going to make the outcome of any second one any different?

S

Thanks for your advise, it's been a difficult one to experience through.
I may consult with my older teachers for references
I think I need to hide this year in my CV and move on with a better strategy for my new applications.

If they have let me fail, would they publish my information out there which could effect my secondary chance?

T

They won't formally publish anything about you, but informally people talk so it can be difficult to hide the fact that you have started a Mphil previously.

T

SilentLake it is not the end of the world. You can learn from this. You can use it to your advantage!

What language were you doing the PhD in?

H

Quote From silentlake
Now both my supervisors and research office suggested me to withdraw rather let the termination taking its course.I urgently need to apply for another Phd with a different subject area just after this failure. I don't want this termination affect my new applications.is there no chance to get these supervisors as referee or never? Thank you.


I am sorry to hear about your situation.

I can understand your desire to apply for another PhD. However, I am not sure it is a good idea to do it 'urgently'. It might be better to have some time out to reflect on what went wrong and how to do better next time. Otherwise you could end up in a repeat of the above situation. PhD students sometimes get a second chance, but they rarely get a third. It is therefore very important not to rush into something else and hit further problems.

Have you talked to your supervisors honestly about what went wrong, and what should be changed should you apply to do a PhD again? It may well be that they will write you a good enough reference if they think you have learnt from the experience and will do better with a fresh start. Perhaps a research assistant job would give you some more experience before starting a PhD again.

Finally, I would caution strongly against hiding the year from your CV. It is bound to come out somehow, at some stage, and could have very negative consequences for you. Additionally, it suggests that you think you gained nothing from your experience, which is not good. Every job/project has the potential to teach you something, and I would be cautious about a candidate who seemed to take nothing away from a project. Learning how to handle and move on from things not working out is an important skill, particularly in academia.

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