How bad will it look if I drop out?

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Meshuga3

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I'm pretty sure I already know the answer to this question, but I wanted to hear some opinions. I'm just finishing the first year of my masters, and I'm considering dropping it after the summer semester. I had plenty of research experience in my undergrad, so I knew what I was getting myself into, but the work is just not going well, I'm not liking the people I work with, and I'm not liking the labwork at all.

Clearly I'm wasting my time and my supervisor's money... and the question I'm going to ask is pretty evident: How bad will it look on a med school application (I intend to apply for 2008) if I've dropped out of a masters program? I anticipate at least one looming question: Why did I sign up for the program if I didn't know I liked it (note the similarity to a question I might be asked for med school)? I'll assume I don't have to convince a forum the same way I need to convince an admissions officer: You can assume that I do want to go to med school and have had plenty of experiences to help me make that call.

Should I stick it out for the next 15 months? Or throw in the towel? Any opinions would be welcome.

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you better stick it out.
 
Finish the masters. Dropping out after making the decision to do the program will raise serious red flags. Med schools will think your a high risk for dropping out of med school too.
 
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stick it out, you already started the climb up the mountain...theres no turinng back now.
 
Well, let's be reasonable. Don't stay in a program that you're actively unhappy with, for goodness' sakes. If you're committed to applying to medical school, then I think you could prepare a PS and interview responses to explain your decision to discontinue a masters in order to pursue a doctorate. Changing your track would require an enormous revision of focus: financial and personal, and if you undertook it, you could play that to a strength in your application.

Plenty of people on here have dropped successful (and unsuccessful!) careers, courses of study, and life involvements to pursue medicine....and nontrads DO get in.

You have to ask yourself: is having the MS or MA or MFA worth it to you to, worth 15 months of your life, that you could spend grinding slowly towards medical school? What would you do instead? Could you do both at the same time? And most importantly, could you explain your decision well and convince both yourself and an interviewer that it was the correct choice?
 
My friend actually just left his masters program in the fall (didnt finish his thesis since his research wasn't working well and his advisor wasn't much help), started a PhD this spring, and was accepted to med school this spring (turned it down b/c he loves the PhD program). Just because you leave, it doesnt mean you won't get in to med school.
 
stick it out unless you're okay with being interrogated about why you dropped out. that and wondering "what if i had stuck it out? would things be different?"

all up to you. if i was in this situation, i'd stick it out. better to work through it rather than climb a hill when it comes to applying to med school.
 
Ugg. I was in the same position. Even with data, the jackass I was working with kept putting me down and made everything really miserable and ruined the realtionship between me and the PI. I felt the experience of being treated horribly for 2 years was really bad for me emotionally. However, I finished the program with flying colors, got the thesis etc. The thing is, I wanted to quit but thought that just because of my abusive lab partner, why should I be forced out of lab? I could do the experiments, but no matter what I did- I was treated terribly. I can totally relate to the pain of working in such a lab. Such an environment makes a person lose their confidence in an academic setting and it is really rough. Even though I like research, I'm very tentative about going to work at someone's lab once I start med school. My heart goes out to you-- best wishes--hang in there if you can!!! If not, then I don't think it would be the end of the world. You will have to explain your reasons for leaving during interviews. You're not alone- I was there once and yeah, life really sucked at that point.
 
stick it out unless you're okay with being interrogated about why you dropped out. that and wondering "what if i had stuck it out? would things be different?"

all up to you. if i was in this situation, i'd stick it out. better to work through it rather than climb a hill when it comes to applying to med school.

Dude, these premeds are the most masochistic people I've ever met. Sure, it's important not to drop out of things - but holy bejesus - finishing the entire masters program when you hate it?

Do you really want to waste the best years of your life hating yourself and those around you? When you might be happier elsewhere?

I'm not exactly in the position to talk having dropped out myself, but I still, perhaps stupidly, perhaps stubbornly, perhaps both - regard this as one of the best things I've ever done.

It probably comes down to how well you can explain difficult decisions.

Often times in life, (and even on paper!), a person who has the balls to conceed they made a mistake instead of taking themselves and others down with them will come out on top in the end.

Hang in there!
 
another pt to consider is what if you drop out, apply, and get rejected everywhere? Then you will be out a yr where you could have finished your masters. Getting negative results means you are on a good project. Reserach is all about highs and lows in data. Take some of the advice mentioned earlier and ask for a side project, one that relates to what you do, learn an exciting new technique etc. Perservere and good luck.

P.s. most people hate their research at some pt (ive been doing it 7 yrs and ive probably had more hate than love but Im glad I stuck it out and am finishing)
 
Do you really want to waste the best years of your life hating yourself and those around you? When you might be happier elsewhere?
...
Often times in life, (and even on paper!), a person who has the balls to conceed they made a mistake instead of taking themselves and others down with them will come out on top in the end.

Hang in there!

in my opinion, the OP would waste another couple years of his/her life climbing the mountain of "why did you drop out of your masters program? was it really the fact that it was not right for him/her or was it the grades and difficulty level? what if medicine isn't right for him/her as well? how do we know that this person won't drop out of medicine as well?"

these are real questions that a med school will ask of an applicant. i am not one to say that us premeds should kill ourselves and never ever throw in the towel. but looking at both options, sticking it out is the lesser of two evils. sure it'll suck in the next 15 months, but compared to the relative smoothness of the med school app process without being branded with "dropout," i think the most prudent choice is getting through 15 more months of pseudo-hell.
 
i would recommend some introspection...maybe you can use this experience in your personal statement to strengthen your argument about why medical school is a better fit for you than a career in research
 
Actually, dropping out or not doesn't matter as much as that you leave in good standing. Many schools will require a letter from a graduate advisor or deparmental chair. Even if they do not require it, they would be surprised not to get a letter from an advisor who has worked closely with you on a research project. Also, ADCOMS would probably expect to hear a cogent, well stated story about why you dropped out that doesn't make you or your advisor sound like a ... well.. a loser. Be clear about why you are making the career change. But both the LORs and the PS should demonstrate that you nonetheless continue to be on excellent terms with your former program advisor and department.

Even if you finish the program, if you do not have a great LOR from your advisor and department, this also looks bad. It's not fatal, but you may get asked about it.
 
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