Quitting Masters

[Valyria]

So I am seriously considering quitting my Master's program. I started it with no research experience and discovered that I do not enjoy research at all. That normally wouldn't be enough to make me consider quitting but there's more. I am a non-traditional student with a family, and the amount of money I will be spending to complete this program is something I can't justify for a degree that I will not use. Besides this, I am having problems with my advisor. Ever since I told him of my intent to apply for med school, he hasn't taken any time to look over my data, order materials I need, or advise me at all. This has resulted in delays and problems that could push this to a three year program, which I definitely cannot justify doing. I am thinking of quitting and using my time to improve my clinical and volunteering experience. How horribly will this affect me? And is it better to quit now or wait through Fall semester and take a few more science classes?

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[SN12357]

So I am seriously considering quitting my Master's program. I started it with no research experience and discovered that I do not enjoy research at all. That normally wouldn't be enough to make me consider quitting but there's more. I am a non-traditional student with a family, and the amount of money I will be spending to complete this program is something I can't justify for a degree that I will not use. Besides this, I am having problems with my advisor. Ever since I told him of my intent to apply for med school, he hasn't taken any time to look over my data, order materials I need, or advise me at all. This has resulted in delays and problems that could push this to a three year program, which I definitely cannot justify doing. I am thinking of quitting and using my time to improve my clinical and volunteering experience. How horribly will this affect me? And is it better to quit now or wait through Fall semester and take a few more science classes?

Probably better to quit than pile up additional debt over two years with an unsupportive adviser.

If you're going to quit, do it now. Graduate classes won't help your GPA anyway.

 

[Valyria]

Thanks. I just don't see the point of the financial aspect of continuing either. I really appreciate your comment.

 

[ChemEngMD]

So I am seriously considering quitting my Master's program. I started it with no research experience and discovered that I do not enjoy research at all. That normally wouldn't be enough to make me consider quitting but there's more. I am a non-traditional student with a family, and the amount of money I will be spending to complete this program is something I can't justify for a degree that I will not use. Besides this, I am having problems with my advisor. Ever since I told him of my intent to apply for med school, he hasn't taken any time to look over my data, order materials I need, or advise me at all. This has resulted in delays and problems that could push this to a three year program, which I definitely cannot justify doing. I am thinking of quitting and using my time to improve my clinical and volunteering experience. How horribly will this affect me? And is it better to quit now or wait through Fall semester and take a few more science classes?

Do NOT listen to undergrads when it comes to this. You need to talk to the medical schools that you are interested in to see how this will affect you. I am currently in a Master's program myself (microbiology) and I have spoken to all 25 medical schools I am applying to and a few of them told me, "Hey, we don't care if you even finish the MS, as long as you have a BS then you can matriculate here." While others told me, "You need to finish your terminal degree in order to matriculate."

This is going to vary from school to school, so before you go throwing away your MS (I'm assuming you've finished your first year) you may want to call some schools up and talk to some admissions people, explain your situation (you don't have to give your name) and see what they think of it.

You have a legit concern as to why you want to quit the program (debt, family, etc.), but there are many other students who begin their MS in order to buy time for applying to medical school and a lot of medical schools know this and do not like it, so they want you to have completed your thesis and graduate before being allowed to start medical school.

Are you on a research or teaching assistantship or anything? Could you switch to a non-thesis track in order to not deal with this PI? I just think you should think long and hard and talk to your top medical schools about it before you go throwing it down the drain.

 

[Valyria]

Thank you. I had heard that some schools require you to finish and others don't. I originally started the Master's and applied for med school this year, because the program is usually done in two years. However, AFTER applying to med school, my PI started giving me problems. I feel the time and expense are far too much of a strain, so I think I will need yo quit. I have done some secondaries already, but not many of them. So I am unsure whether I should hold back and wait to quit, or just take the plunge before secondaries. It's the timing issue of the situation that concerns me, since I had already applied when all of this started. Believe me, I fully intended on finishing the program, but the environment is VERY unsupportive now...

 

[Cinclus]

As ChemEngMD mentioned, some schools may have a problem with you not finishing the MS. Wake Forest is one that may, as they made me provide a letter from my PI assuring them that I would be finished before matriculation before they offered me an interview invite (though I was currently a Master's student; I'm not sure how it works if you've already quit. I would call around.). How much time have you invested into the MS so far?

 

[Valyria]

I've spent a year, and I was prepared for two. But three years and all of that tuition....

 

[Cinclus]

I've spent a year, and I was prepared for two. But three years and all of that tuition....

Sounds like your PI is acting up a bit. Are there some higher-ups in the department with whom you can speak? I was able to do this when I ran into similarly unnecessary roadblocks to my timely graduation, and he had a word with my PI. Things worked out for me. It seems a shame to have to give up due to lack of PI cooperation when you've already put in all that work. Also, my research experience/Master's was a fave topic of many of my interviewers (I did a good job pretending it was exciting stuff).

 

[ChemEngMD]

I've spent a year, and I was prepared for two. But three years and all of that tuition....

I'm really sorry your PI is so unsupportive. I have been truly blessed in this regard. My PI is the daughter of a physician and does not hold the same grudge that some scientists do against physicians.

 

[khrisskhoras]

So I am seriously considering quitting my Master's program. I started it with no research experience and discovered that I do not enjoy research at all. That normally wouldn't be enough to make me consider quitting but there's more. I am a non-traditional student with a family, and the amount of money I will be spending to complete this program is something I can't justify for a degree that I will not use. Besides this, I am having problems with my advisor. Ever since I told him of my intent to apply for med school, he hasn't taken any time to look over my data, order materials I need, or advise me at all. This has resulted in delays and problems that could push this to a three year program, which I definitely cannot justify doing. I am thinking of quitting and using my time to improve my clinical and volunteering experience. How horribly will this affect me? And is it better to quit now or wait through Fall semester and take a few more science classes?

I had the same issue with my previous PI. Change your PI and things will be much better.

 

[Valyria]

Here's some more info: The school is small, with only two bio sci faculty taking grad students, and the other is a COMPLETELY different topic (I'd have to start over entirely). Also, I have no option to switch to a non-thesis route. 🙁 I really wish I hadn't done this, and I don't want to waste more time. My stats uGRAD gpa 3.55, MCAT 29, URM (Native American and Hispanic). I am also a non-traditional student with lots of other areas that show commitment, such as working at one professional employer for over eight years. Don't get me wrong, the only thing holding me back is not wanting to quit. I HATE quitting things. But I also have a family to consider, and I believe I could use the time more effectively to strengthen ECs or even study for a second MCAT.

 

[CnsCrit]

Yeah, change your PI if you can, but if you've already started a research project that might be hard to do. I hate to say it, but sucking it up for another year is probably your best shot since you've already applied and now schools see on paper that you should be finishing. If you hadn't submitted your AMCAS yet I might say go ahead and quit. Just try as hard as you can to finish and don't let 3 years be an option. I just don't see how it will look positive for you to quit...I feel bad for you though because I've experienced the pushback on medically inclined graduate students from PIs. Maybe try and convince your PI that you want to be a physician scientist or something? You shouldn't have to explain yourself, but could help. After all, people who want to get paid more as a high school teacher get master's degrees, so why shouldn't future doctors?

 

[ChemEngMD]

Here's some more info: The school is small, with only two bio sci faculty taking grad students, and the other is a COMPLETELY different topic (I'd have to start over entirely). Also, I have no option to switch to a non-thesis route. 🙁 I really wish I hadn't done this, and I don't want to waste more time. My stats uGRAD gpa 3.55, MCAT 29, URM (Native American and Hispanic). I am also a non-traditional student with lots of other areas that show commitment, such as working at one professional employer for over eight years. Don't get me wrong, the only thing holding me back is not wanting to quit. I HATE quitting things. But I also have a family to consider, and I believe I could use the time more effectively to strengthen ECs or even study for a second MCAT.

The only thing I would say is that strengthening your ECs or improving your MCAT won't mean anything if schools won't even consider you due to not completing your terminal degree. Call the schools you're interested in and talk to an admissions officer...they will be the ones who will be able to give you a complete and true answer.