Thesis Committee Issue!!!

Bioboy said:

1st year PhD student here. Decided to apply to med schools this summer and attend following my Masters (after passing the qualifying exam). Concerned about the thesis committee. I still have to assemble one, but do I tell them ahead of time that they will only meet once for my qualifying exam and never again since I will not stay in my program, or do I tell them after the exam when I officially end my enrollment?

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At least here at UC Davis, you don't have an official thesis committee until passing your QE. Might be different in engineering or something since they take a written exam and an oral exam, but I think for the most part, you don't put a real thesis committee together until you adv. to candidacy.

Bioboy said:

1st year PhD student here. Decided to apply to med schools this summer and attend following my Masters (after passing the qualifying exam). Concerned about the thesis committee. I still have to assemble one, but do I tell them ahead of time that they will only meet once for my qualifying exam and never again since I will not stay in my program, or do I tell them after the exam when I officially end my enrollment?

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Definitely tell potential committee members you are switching to the MS program (don't need to tell them about med school). It's just polite, and you don't want to tick off potential sources for LORs.

Yeh, don't burn any bridges here. Think long term strategy when interacting with your committee. They can be your best friend or your worst enemy, and you never really know how things will play out until your inthe thick of it. As a rule, the closer you get to graduation, the more adversarial the relationships get. So make sure that you have at least one strong ally and supporter among them that knows your full story and is willing to support you. The others can be on a need to know basis.

relentless11 said:

At least here at UC Davis, you don't have an official thesis committee until passing your QE. Might be different in engineering or something since they take a written exam and an oral exam, but I think for the most part, you don't put a real thesis committee together until you adv. to candidacy.

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we have the same thing here at the university of hawaii. I'll take the qualifying exam in december and if I don't pass I have to wait until may 2008 and won't be able to form my committee until after I pass. This may end up becoming an issue for me if I'm accepted for 2008 and don't pass the QE in December

zipmedic said:

Some schools require that those enrolled in advanced degree programs either complete their degree prior to matriculation or obtain a letter from their department chair prior to application.

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Exactly. OP, you'd be better off to formally switch into the MS program before you apply, or you could get a lot of hassle from the med schools about needing to complete your PhD before matriculation. Even if the med school takes you as a grad school dropout, it's best to avoid the conundrum of having to ask some not-so-happy grad school faculty to write your LORs for med school.

I have a Ph.D. and have agreed with the advice given here. First, be upfront with any faculty responsible for directing you. Secondly, officially register in the master's program and complete it before applying to medical school.

In my school, people who could not or did not want to get a doctorate after finishing the qualifying exam would be offered a terminal master's degree. But I think it would be better to formally apply to a M.S. degree in your case.