change in plans--how will this look?

[Mistress S]

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So, I was originally planning to write an honors thesis which I now don't think I will be doing. I would have to work on it with a certain prof who is making it very difficult (he has rejected all of my proposals to date), and as I am otherwise done with classes and have been for months and am working full time, I would like to focus my time and energy on other things. However, I already listed the thesis as an upcoming course on AMCAS and mentioned it in several of my secondaries. I am planning to write an update letter to med schools to reiterate my interest and also to let them know about this change in my graduation plans. Obviously, I will try to put a positive spin on this--depending on how the degree requirements office decides to use my honors credits, I will either be finished and graduated with honors (cum laude) or may have to do another project in place of the thesis. Does anyone think this will hurt my application though? I will no longer be graduating through the honors college, and I'm worried that schools will look down on this and also the fact that I am not doing what I originally said I was going to. Any thoughts? 😕

 

[Medikit]

I think you should suck it in and stick to your plan 👍

 

[Mistress S]

I would finish it if I could--but as I said, one of the profs I have to work with has made it very difficult. I have proposed three ideas so far, and have had advisors lined up, completed research, written a prospectus--only to have each shot down. This prof is notorious for this type of behavior, to the point where last year he was asked to resign from his position, but apparently he managed to utilize connections within the university to keep it for at least the rest of this year (this is what I have been told by my advisor at the school, not just rumors among the student body). I am tired of dealing with this, am more or less out of ideas, and as I am working full-time now and finished with classes, really don't have the time necessary to devote to a thesis, especially one that would have any chance of being accepted by this prof. If it were just a matter of writing down some bs and turning it in, I would have been done with it a long time ago.

I don't think there is any great benefit to graduating through the honors program vs. the reg university, certainly not enough to continue dealing with this stress. I am more concerned that schools will look negatively on this, even if I write an update letter putting a positive spin on the change (obviously leaving out the problems with this professor). Does anyone have opinions about this?

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Could you hold out until after getting some acceptances? It's a lot less likely to get an acceptance revoked than to get rejected.

I can relate to how big of an ass some professors are.

 

[Mistress S]

Well, I took the Aug MCAT and don't even have any interviews yet, 🙁 so I don't think waiting for an acceptance is realistic for me--that probably won't be for months, and I need to act on this since I am finished with classes and can't graduate until I either do the thesis or withdraw from the honors college. Is this that big of a deal, that schools would reject me over it? I'll still graduate either way, just not through the honors college if I don't do the thesis.

 

[CarleneM]

can you ask the prof for feedback about how your ideas could be improved into something he'd accept or ask other advisors for ideas?

 

[Mistress S]

Trust me, I have been through all of this already--I started the thesis process a year ago. My second proposal, for which I wrote a full prospectus with a bibliography, was a modification of my first idea, and he also shot it down. I have spoken with other advisors about this, most don't understand why he wouldn't greenlight the original idea but as he has the final say their opinions don't really matter. I have come to the conclusion that it is just not going to work out.

Is it a huge problem to not do an honors thesis if you originally planned to? Will it look so bad to schools that I should try to finish it at all costs? What if I do another project in place of the thesis? At my school, students only do a thesis if they are in the honors college; everyone else does a community service based capstone project. I was thinking if I do a capstone project that I could focus on that in the update letter, so it wouldn't just be "I'm not doing this anymore" but more of a presentation of an alternate project. I didn't think it really mattered to schools if you are in the honors program or not, so as long as I graduate and present what I'm doing in a positive way is it so horrible to not do the thesis? The fact that everyone is just saying I should do it is making me worried that schools will reject me now if I don't. Believe me, if I felt I could I would--I have agonized over this decision and am still agonizing over it. But with work and the application process, it has just become too stressful and time consuming; I really feel like I need to move on with my life and put undergrad behind me.

 

[dandelion]

Trust me, I have been through all of this already--I started the thesis process a year ago. My second proposal, for which I wrote a full prospectus with a bibliography, was a modification of my first idea, and he also shot it down. I have spoken with other advisors about this, most don't understand why he wouldn't greenlight the original idea but as he has the final say their opinions don't really matter. I have come to the conclusion that it is just not going to work out.

Is it a huge problem to not do an honors thesis if you originally planned to? Will it look so bad to schools that I should try to finish it at all costs? What if I do another project in place of the thesis? At my school, students only do a thesis if they are in the honors college; everyone else does a community service based capstone project. I was thinking if I do a capstone project that I could focus on that in the update letter, so it wouldn't just be "I'm not doing this anymore" but more of a presentation of an alternate project. I didn't think it really mattered to schools if you are in the honors program or not, so as long as I graduate and present what I'm doing in a positive way is it so horrible to not do the thesis? The fact that everyone is just saying I should do it is making me worried that schools will reject me now if I don't. Believe me, if I felt I could I would--I have agonized over this decision and am still agonizing over it. But with work and the application process, it has just become too stressful and time consuming; I really feel like I need to move on with my life and put undergrad behind me.

Hi, Mistress S. I am of the view that life is short, and you should not continue to pursue the honors thesis if it's causing you this much distress. I would think that what you have proposed is perfectly acceptable; you could pursue a medically-related service project in lieu of the research thesis, and in your letter to schools, highlight your interest in community work over bench research. Schools might not even be too aware of the difference, as long as you have done some research in the past and are keeping up activities related to medicine at this time. The only case in which it would be of utmost importance to complete the thesis, I think, is if you were applying for MD/PhD programs.

Good luck!

 

[Mistress S]

Thanks dandelion--I should note here that as an English major, my thesis would not have been medically related anyway. I am glad to hear you don't think it would be a huge deal to not finish the thesis. Any other opinions?