Thinking about leaving my Master's Program.

Graduate School
1

Hi,

After I finished my BS in Microbiology I decided that I wanted to do something completely different from it. So, after much stress and long hours on the internet, I found an MA program in Government & Public Policy which didn’t really have any pre-requisites to enter, other than having a 2.50 GPA (which was no problem for me, due to the fact that I had a 3.69 from undergrad). I guess that, even though I was poised to do very well in the Life Sciences, I was just exhausted by that discipline. So when I found this new program (I am part of the first group of this MA since it literally started when I was admitted to it) which had a bit of management, finance, ethics and a bunch of political science, I thought that it would help me in becoming a better leader, and provide me with the skills to occupy various roles in any area that I wanted. However, when reality hit, things did not go as I expected. Even though I find the subject absurdly interesting, I can’t ever seem to fully satisfy the academic expectations, 2/3 of my professors are mediocre at best, I can never understand the point of having so many theories to explain the exact same thing, I miss using math, concrete ideas and consistency, and I can never find the time to do all the papers that I need to do because I also work full time. At the end, I find myself frustrated and can never turn in any of my schoolwork on time, nor fully commit to do any of it.

So after 6 months of this, I am starting to reconsider my decision before I waste any more time and money. My university works in Trimesters, so I want to make this decision before the next one starts. I do love learning, and I really like the subject that I am studying, but I just can’t find myself fully embracing it. Eventually I do plan to obtain a doctorates, in whatever I end up feeling really passionate about(definitely something with numbers), but for the mean time I am debating of whether or not I should continue with this masters.

I have thought about doing something more fact based and quantitative as a masters, so I can fully work on something that comes naturally to me, as I am a way better mathematician than I am at verbal/reading analysis (No lie, I did a project on Policy Networks ONLY because I came across a paper which explained them using a mathematical approach, and that was the ONLY paper that I understood about the subject).

Anyways, thoughts, comments, suggestions are welcome. Hopefully strangers can be objective about my issue and shed some light on it.

2

You sound like you are planning to leave for the right reasons. Honestly, it sounds like you entered an MA program because you wanted an MA, not because you wanted this particular MA to enter a specific career field or to prepare for a PhD in that field. So it’s a good choice not to spend any more money and time in a field you don’t plan a career in and to leave, focus on work and focus on figuring out what you want to do next.

Additionally, though, I think you are still approaching graduate study in the wrong frame of mind. One should not plan to get a doctoral degree in anything that happens to catch their passion. A doctoral degree is a huge outlay of time - time that turns into money when you consider lost wages and lost time saving for retirement. You should get a doctoral degree because you want to do something that requires a doctoral degree - like a career as a professor or a researcher. (With numbers, there are a variety of other careers - like being a quant at a bank or investment firm - that you can pursue as well.) I suppose an alternative decent reason to get a PhD is if you are currently so passionate about something that you want to study it for 5-7 years even knowing that you won’t use it for your career. But I would only do that if I were already wealthy.

You still don’t sound like you know what you want to do next. And that’s okay! But you probably shouldn’t pursue another graduate degree - master’s or doctoral - until you DO know what you want to do next. The best thing you can do is work for a few years to give yourself time and space to figure out what you want to do.

3

I second juillet’s post. Slow down and find out what you’re really passionate about. You should never go into a PhD (or a Master’s, for that matter) in something that you’re not 100% passionate about. I won’t lie - I thought for a time about going to work at Google and getting a degree in Computer Science or going to coding camp, because I knew that’d be comfortable (as I’ve always loved numbers, ever since high school), but I knew that I ultimately wanted to go into teaching. Find your bliss and roll with it. Don’t let your chances at getting a PhD be threatened by not having time to submit your work on time. A Master’s that puts you in this kind of position really isn’t worth it. And, it doesn’t sound like this degree is 100% applicable to any career you’d like to take on.

4

Also, trust me - if you really love the Master’s program you’re in (or, even if you don’t love your program, but are 100% passionate about what you’re getting your Master’s in and planning on pursuing it as a career full force), you’ll make time for it. I got my Master’s in Education while working full time, and I maintained a 4.0 GPA all the way through. My 4.0 was only because I really like the field of education.

5

Long story short. I attended law school for one year and hated it. I decided to quit. Expensive lesson but I never looked back. Worked for several years and ended up getting my MBA. It was a much better fit.