Not completing a MS/MA with acceptance?

[redjellybelly]

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What happens when a Masters program takes 2+ years to complete (taking your thesis into account) but you get acceptance into medical school before it can be completed. Do med schools look down at the fact that it was started but never completed?

ex:
Masters program takes from '09-'11 (or longer) to finish
Complete '09-'10, apply to med school, get accepted for '11 entering class

During the '10-'11 year, if you know you won't be able to finish a Masters but have secured an acceptance, do you do what you can in that year anyway or enjoy the year before starting med school? How much does this matter to med schools? Thanks!

 

[Cancer p53]

Most of the schools I applied to will not take you if you are in any sort of graduate degree program and do not finish before matriculating (I'm an MS Biochem student at Uconn). This may not apply to every school, but it seemed common.

If you were in a lab pursuing a thesis masters and just up and left after a year worth of training, chances are that you would piss off your PI because he has invested time in you and haven't give him the 2 years he expected. If you don't plan to spend a full two years but still need something to do in the meantime you can pursue a coursework masters instead. It's possible to complete a coursework masters in 1 year if you take enough classes.

 

[Bernoull]

The schools I've been accepted to clearly state graduation from all undergrad & grad proge
Rams as one of the acceptance/matriculation requirements. -l've heard of schools that waive the grad graduation but it seems to be less common. I doing an MS BME and planning/hoping to graduate this April.

 

[austinap]

Most of the schools I applied to will not take you if you are in any sort of graduate degree program and do not finish before matriculating (I'm an MS Biochem student at Uconn). This may not apply to every school, but it seemed common.

If you were in a lab pursuing a thesis masters and just up and left after a year worth of training, chances are that you would piss off your PI because he has invested time in you and haven't give him the 2 years he expected. If you don't plan to spend a full two years but still need something to do in the meantime you can pursue a coursework masters instead. It's possible to complete a coursework masters in 1 year if you take enough classes.

I'm in a similar boat: due to quirks within the graduate division here, if I don't file my thesis before May 15, my grad degree won't be officially granted until December. Both schools that have accepted me have specifically told me that this is not a problem. Note that I'm not contemplating skipping out on the degree, but that it just won't be technically complete until after I've started school this fall. My advice: call your schools and ask specifically. Worst case, you may need to defer a year.

 

[fahimaz7]

You have to complete the degree. I did a MS prior to matriculation, and all of my committee knew that I was going to finish my thesis and defend on time. Extending it wasn't an option. Do your work and you'll be fine.

 

[ShinyDome19]

Good luck getting good Letters of Rec from your committee members if you are looking to quit grad school to enter medical school.

One thing you might be able to do, though I doubt medical schools would be too keen on the idea - I have known some grad students who have finished all of their research and coursework towards their degree, they just had to finish writing their thesis and defend. They went on to start jobs in their field while taking the minimum required thesis hours to maintain enrollment, worked on their thesis on their own time and just came back to defend after a couple months.

 

[austinap]

Good luck getting good Letters of Rec from your committee members if you are looking to quit grad school to enter medical school.

One thing you might be able to do, though I doubt medical schools would be too keen on the idea - I have known some grad students who have finished all of their research and coursework towards their degree, they just had to finish writing their thesis and defend. They went on to start jobs in their field while taking the minimum required thesis hours to maintain enrollment, worked on their thesis on their own time and just came back to defend after a couple months.

It sounds like the OP is talking about starting to apply after a year, meaning he'd start med school after two years. If he asks for letters then, it doesn't look like he's "quitting grad school for med school", it looks like he's "continuing in a slightly different direction" that his committee members should support.

Another thing that may be an issue, as I pointed out previously, is that degree granting dates can be weird for grad schools. Even if you're technically "done", sometimes you won't get your degree until the end of the following semester. From the two schools I've talked to, this isn't a problem, but find out if this will be a problem in your case. I'm actually going to be on 'filing fee' with my graduate school during my first semester of med school.