<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>New to this forum!</p>
<p>had a quick question</p>
<p>in 2006 i was in a ph.d program in the sciences and failed the qualifying exam. since then i've worked in a pharm company but i'm thinking of reapplying this year and trying again in a slightly different field (biomedical research instead of neuroscience). </p>
<p>do you think my previous mistake will make it very hard to get in again? thanks</p>
<p>My impression is you will be fine. Different schools and programs have different qualifying procedures and pass rates. Unless there is an official record on your transcript that you were ‘dismissed’ from your previous program or put on ‘academic probation’, you’ll probably be fine.</p>
<p>i have heard that certain schools (UMASSmed) have very strict academic standards and it is very easy to get dismissed–they just dismissed 3 students this year–hence i am scared of going to a school with this kind of reputation…</p>
<p>Chino987: what phd program where you at? And i would recommend reapplying to a more laidback and less stressful program where the students seem truely happy…it is also important that you feel comfortable and happy in the school’s environment because it all impacts the quality of work you do…i also think talking to grad students about how many people fail, etc also helps because in my experience, people who fail the exam are very captable of doing grad level work, it is just that they are unfortunate and happen to be stuck with a poor PI or no mentoring or a infleasible research project…so don’t be discouraged!!goodluck</p>