PhD drop out

[PsyDStar]

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Hi,

I went back to University for pre med, also got cog psyc research experience. Stopped pre med 4 of 8 classes through, applied to and went to cog psyc grad program for 2 weeks, realized I made a mistake and am now about to resume pre med (pre med coursework was completed at A and A- level, mostly A-). Im guessing I will not want to mention the PHD thing when appling to med school (if I do!)... any thoughts on this? My record will ook strange with a semester off (actually 2) and not very much work experience (thgings are asll screwed up... dont know where to be/go... damn orgo I and it's mind altering ways!)

Any thoughs on this? PLanning on resuming Sprin 08.

Cheers, Psy

 

[SpartanBlueJay2]

I am also a "Ph.D. dropout" (completed 2.5 years of a mol bio program before deciding to go clinical) and I guess my main advice would be to not really dwell any negatives. Talk about your experience in positive terms, what you learned from it and how you grew from it. I also really tried to word my personal statement so that I said I "went to graduate school" and "earned my Master's degree" as opposed to saying that I "left a Ph.D. program." If people from your grad program will be writing any of your rec letters (as was the situation with me), the adcoms will probably find out the situation anyway, but just make everything sound as positive as possible. Also, expect to be asked about it at interviews. It is a red flag, but I have gotten accepted, so it will not keep me from going to med school. to you!

 

[viostorm]

I wouldn't worry about it at all. I too am a PhD drop out.

I told them the truth, in no way did I want the job the PhD was preparing me for, and I 100% wanted to be a physician. It would be silly to waste more time going down a path I had no intention of pursuing as a career.

 

[Beau Geste]

Another PhD dropout here! Finally we have our own support group 🙂 2 years in, and the semester before my prospectus defense, I decided to leave.

I was never directly asked why I left my program during interviews, but some of my great ECs came from my PhD program - research, teaching, clinical supervision experience - so I was sort of "led" into elaboration on it. Basically, my speech-language path. interests were more lined up with medicine so I switched. Reorganization in the program at that time made it very easy.

I did get a LOR from my research professor, so that showed I left the program on good terms and helped to limit concerns.

I guess I explained myself well enough to earn an acceptance!

 

[QofQuimica]

Hi,

I went back to University for pre med, also got cog psyc research experience. Stopped pre med 4 of 8 classes through, applied to and went to cog psyc grad program for 2 weeks, realized I made a mistake and am now about to resume pre med (pre med coursework was completed at A and A- level, mostly A-). Im guessing I will not want to mention the PHD thing when appling to med school (if I do!)... any thoughts on this? My record will ook strange with a semester off (actually 2) and not very much work experience (thgings are asll screwed up... dont know where to be/go... damn orgo I and it's mind altering ways!)

Any thoughs on this? PLanning on resuming Sprin 08.

Cheers, Psy

Do you have a transcript? If you do, you'll need to report it to AMCAS, unfortunately, so you'll have to fess up. Even if you don't have one, you still have a gaping hole in your CV, and you will have to explain it somehow. I think it's infinitely better to explain that you dropped out of a grad program than it is to let the adcoms imagine what you must have been doing during that year, like, oh, say, being hospitalized for a mental illness or something.

 

[Beau Geste]

med schools may WANT to hear about your doctoral experiences. A semester or two off is no big deal. If you're not honest and caught, you have 0% chance of getting in.

 

[QofQuimica]

A semester or two off is no big deal. If you're not honest and caught, you have 0% chance of getting in.

Yeah, there *is* that issue, too. I am not an advocate of lying on apps in general, but it's a particularly bad idea to lie about things like previous school enrollments when there is almost certainly a paper trail that will easily prove that the applicant lied if anyone ever finds it.

 

[PsyDStar]

Hi,

I drpped prior to the a/d deadline... there is no official record of ever having been there... I am tempted to not indicate I was there (or applied).

Best,
Psy

 

[keitaiKT]

There is no need to report your 2 week enrollment to the adcoms. If you dropped the program before add\drop ended, I think that is pretty much the same as getting accepted into a program but deciding not to do it. Also the same as dropping a class before add\drop and not putting it on your transcript. Isn't the point of add drop periods to give you the chance to see if you want to take the class (or in your case, be in the program)? If you are afraid of getting in trouble, you could call the school and ask if you officially have a transcript with them. My guess is that you don't. My big concern is how big a hole this leaves in your CV. Did you find a job or at least a volunteer activity pretty quickly after leaving the program, or did you spend half a year or more doing nothing? My thought overall, though, is that you realized pretty quickly that the PhD wasn't for you, and wisely dropped it right away. I don't think you need to tell med schools about this, and I think you are not being deceitful or somehow dishonest by leaving that out. Again, I guess it depends on what kind of a transcript exists on you at that school. Good luck going down this path!!

 

[keitaiKT]

oh, and another thing... I personally think telling them you dropped the program in 2 weeks is not a great idea. They will picture a scenario where you drop out of med school in 2 weeks, when it is too late to fill the spot with someone off the waiting list. It might make you look like a drop out risk...

 

[njbmd]

Hi,

I went back to University for pre med, also got cog psyc research experience. Stopped pre med 4 of 8 classes through, applied to and went to cog psyc grad program for 2 weeks, realized I made a mistake and am now about to resume pre med (pre med coursework was completed at A and A- level, mostly A-). Im guessing I will not want to mention the PHD thing when appling to med school (if I do!)... any thoughts on this? My record will ook strange with a semester off (actually 2) and not very much work experience (thgings are asll screwed up... dont know where to be/go... damn orgo I and it's mind altering ways!)

Any thoughs on this? PLanning on resuming Sprin 08.

Cheers, Psy

You have to list every course and level that you have taken since secondary school. If you have any kind of graduate transcript especially if it shows withdrawals, you don't have the option of not "mentioning" it as it will be on your transcript. To not submit a transcript could potentially put your entire medical degree in jeopardy should it be discovered that you left out some things that showed up on an official transcript elsewhere.

If asked about your graduate coursework, you can just say that you didn't enjoy it at the graduate level and withdrew promptly when you discovered this fact but don't omit this work. Two weeks into a program counts as "change of mind" and likely will not carry any penalties. AMCAS transcripts are not a selective thing. All coursework has to be listed no matter where or how you took the courses. The only exception would be that you were never enrolled in the first place which is likely not the case.

 

[keitaiKT]

I disagree with the above. If you drop out that early I don't think you are even considered enrolled. I don't think this is "selective" reporting of coursework. By your reasoning, any class dropped before the add\drop period ended would also have to be reported. OP, if you want a definitive answer, just call AMCAS on monday and ask them what their take on that is.

 

[gman33]

You dropped out before the deadline, so you have no transcript.
There is nothing to report. You will need to explain what you were doing that year, so it's up to you how you spin it.
If you have a year or two before you apply, then I probably wouldn't even bring it up. There is really no positive way to put that.

 

[Tekar]

Spent two years teaching high school.. realized it was not my place. I don't really see a diffference there. Thought you wanted to do research.. realized research sucks.. Just be sure you know why you're applying to med school.