<p>So, I know this forum is filled with grad school hopefuls trying hard and freaking out about getting into grad school. I once was one of you: I fought tooth and nail to get into grad school, working hard to graduate top of my class in UG, have all these research experiences, built relationships and LORs and learned the application/interview game. I got into many top PhD biosci grad programs and started at the school of my dreams. Now, I want to quit. I hate classes and feel uncommitted, uninspired, and just wanting a 9-5 job that lets my relax and watch a movie at the end of the day. I don't know what I am working towards anymore - it was easy in HS and UG to work toward this goal of getting into this program, but now that I am here... I don't know if this is really what I want to be doing. But, I have gone so far on this train, that getting off scares me to death. Everyone else in my program seems committed and happy enough (sure, we all complain about this and that, but that's just the nature of being in school)- but I feel like the only one who has seriously thought about quitting and questions the whole thing... Basically I am posting here to ask, do any other grad students feel the same? Am I alone? If I were to leave (or 'master out'), I would probably leave the whole field and do something else entirely (part of the problem is that I would be happy doing other things. This is only one of my passions - I am not one of those people that couldn't see themselves doing anything else).</p>
<p>Roughly half of all Ph.D. students leave, either pre- or post-masters. It feels like a big deal now. Most likely you’ll be able to come back to it if you want - just don’t burn your bridges entirely. But spending six years in the prime of life at something you’re not really sure you want to do is hardly a good use of your energy.</p>
<p>There is no shame in leaving a PhD program. Although everyone may SEEM happy, chances are that you are not alone. </p>
<p>Because graduate school in general and PhD program in particular are so different from less specialized undergraduate education, many people find out the hard way that a PhD program and the career that they once envisioned is not right for them. It’s difficult to know this without actually being in the midst of it and by then, you might feel that it’s too late. It’s not.</p>
<p>You are at least the third graduate student on CC in the past month who has expressed severe reservations about graduate school and/or the field. I hope that some of them will chime in to let you know that this is a common occurrence. You must make your decision based on your own needs, not the expectations of others or some perceived shame. After all, this is YOUR life. You need to do what will make you happy in the long run.</p>
<p>Are you in a lab yet, or are you just taking classes? If you’re in a lab, are you interested in your research, or would you be happier with a change of project or a change of advisor?</p>
<p>I agree whole-heartedly with MWFN that leaving a PhD program carries no shame, but I think it’s worth asking yourself if you could be happier by changing your circumstances slightly. Personally speaking, I was very unhappy during my first year when I was rotating and taking classes – I felt burned-out on classes, and the rotations made me feel temporary and like I didn’t have a lab home – but once I started my thesis research and my project really got underway, I became much, much happier.</p>
<p>I agree with the above replies as well. Classes are typically over in your 2nd year or so and after that, you won’t have to worry about them and can just concentrate on research. Do you not like the lab you’re working in or the environment, research topic, etc.? Are you too often getting negative results or lost in the direction your research is going? Science always has its ups and downs. When it’s down, it really sucks; but when it’s up, life is fantastic. I’m a 3rd year now and I always find time to be able to watch a movie at the end of the day if I so choose.</p>
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This is also an important point – that you can make time for the things you want to make time for. Full disclosure time: I’m a fifth-year trying to get three papers out, and I work about 65-70 hours a week. I also have time to hang out here, plus I’ve knit three full-size sweaters so far in 2011. And I spend time with my husband and my friends. And sleep and stuff.</p>
<p>I am in the same place you are, shoulda. I did well in college and got into this “dream” program. But now that I am here, I want to quit.</p>
<p>I’m in my 3rd year, so it’s not the classes. I was waiting and waiting for this moment to come, the moment of being finished with classes. It is true, you do have a lot more free time. And I have an MA now, so I’m glad I stuck it out at least this long. The truth is, I am disillusioned with academia - I don’t want this life, I don’t want to be a professor. I’m finished with classes and so even though I’m technically on “easy street” - I feel unfulfilled and uncommitted. Same like you - I just want to come home at the end of a long day (even if it stretches from 7 am to 7 pm) and watch a movie, stretch out on the couch…even take a nap.</p>
<p>Getting off doesn’t scare me at this point. I was scared for a long time. My first year I worked so hard and I loved the material and the research but I still wanted to quit; however, I wasn’t seriously thinking about it. It wasn’t until my second year rolled around that I became aware that I wasn’t liking this as much as I thought I would, and I wanted to get off. But it took me MONTHS to become comfortable enough to even say out loud, “I hate graduate school.” Even longer to be comfortable enough to start putting in resumes and applications for jobs. I’m applying now, and if I get a position, I will leave.</p>
<p>I think that is part of my problem, too. The hassles of academic life are not worth the “perks,” for me. I like routine, I like having supervisors, I don’t mind working a strict schedule (in fact, I prefer it to this work-whenever-you-want-but-that-really-means-all-day). Tenure does not appeal to me at all - not just being on the tenure track (which sounds like hell) but the actual reward of a lifetime position does not appeal to me. I don’t really like teaching, either. I like working one-on-one and doing tutoring and consulting, but not this teaching business.</p>
<p>Like mini said, I’ve come to realization that spending another 3 years of my life during my prime doing something I hate is unproductive and won’t help me get where I need or want to be…so I’m leaving as soon as I can find a job. There is life after this, and I am only 24 years old. I have plenty of time to switch tracks and choose to do something else if I wish, and I suspect you are probably also in your early-to-mid-20s and probably also have that time.</p>
<p>As a side note, I also thought everyone else in my program was happy. Then I found out that my entire cohort is in counseling to deal with the stress, and all of them have considered quitting at some point, although I think I am the only one who is serious about it.</p>
<p>It’s not the research – I am used to the ups and downs of science. I am mentally prepared for spending dozens of hours on something that doesn’t work. It’s more of everything else besides the day to day lab work/environment (I enjoy bench work, if I ever have time for it. Most of my day seems like class, lectures, working stuff for class, etc., but yes, classes are just for the first two years). It’s the fact that I already cringe at the thought of a postdoc - which scares me that I am already not excited for the next stage on this ‘career path’. I have learned that I hate writing grants and seeing that a PI has to worry a lot about grants, I am wondering if perhaps this not the right path for me. And if I am already thinking of ‘alternative careers’ within my first year… Thanks julliet for your post - your sentiments match mine pretty well.</p>
<p>It could be different for the biosciences, but it seems like there’s a gap between the skills grad school gives you and what industry wants (I imagine most biosciences grads get industry jobs too?). I realized this last year after thumbing through job postings and finding that my skillset wasn’t wanted anywhere outside of academia really. For awhile, it was a big source of discontentment in my life. I’m stubborn and don’t give up though, and since then, I’ve tried to steer myself away from the “Ivory Tower” kind of esoteric research my advisor wants into something that has immediate applications. I usually spend some of my weekends working on skills I don’t get directly from the lab as well (e.g., programming).</p>
<p>If you can’t steer your work into something more than just academics want, though, I would definitely suggest putting out resumes now.</p>
<p>I was thinking of alternative careers during my first year too; I dreaded the idea of a postdoc and I wish I had just taken the cues and left earlier instead of staying. Although I do admit that I’m somewhat glad that I have the MA, but I could’ve spent the last year and a half getting work experience and gearing up to go back for a different degree or something.</p>
<p>And GThopeful is right to a certain extent. I’ve realized that some of the general ‘skills’ I’ve learned (multi-tasking, being able to learn a lot very quickly, thinking like a researcher, synthesizing large amounts of evidence into a report) are in demand at nearly every job, but I haven’t acquired any specialized skills that you can’t find from someone with 2+ years experience as a research analyst or something other than statistical analysis - and even then, I am not on the level of a statistician. My program is a psych program that uses quant methods but most of the actual statistician positions want you to have an MS in statistics or applied math.</p>
<p>You know…I have been having the same thoughts lately…and I am only in my first year too…! Its not that I don’t like my program, I really love it and the people are very supportive and my field (biomedical sciences) is not very esoteric that I won’t be able to find jobs outside of academia after graduation. But, I have heard that its getting harder these days to get a position in industry without a postdoc and most of them are for BS/MS level for which PhD holders are overqualified. </p>
<p>I am also thinking of alternative careers, maybe patent law or consulting which I was not aware of before I came to school–and lately I have been very interested in these fields. I am in the same boat, I like science and I don’t mind working on bench for several years, but I would like to get a position where I can use my technical knowledge to apply it to different problems and not have to work in lab for the rest of my life. I don’t want to quit because I like my subject, but just the job prospects after PhD seem very vague. I feel like its upto me to look for positions outside the traditional realm of academic career. Networking outside the field seems to be key–and I am also thinking maybe getting an MBA because I feel like its more marketable than a PhD. But I don’t know how to go about doing this because I have very limited business experience and/or knowledge.</p>