tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19216099.post5892573660839137217..comments2024-02-16T06:03:12.489-06:00Comments on BrummellBlog: I Quit My PhDTheBrummellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08973380652057861796noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19216099.post-49148481770557192502011-08-05T07:29:07.693-06:002011-08-05T07:29:07.693-06:00having a Phd tittle is very nice this title is jus...having a Phd tittle is very nice this title is just for professional people to have a professional look wear <a href="http://www.mensusa.com/tools.aspx?id=125" rel="nofollow"><b>men's trousers</b></a> to look presentable.western bootshttp://www.mensusa.com/tools.aspx?ID=163&Page=3noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19216099.post-11954975591629994702010-04-06T13:09:03.275-06:002010-04-06T13:09:03.275-06:00Wow, I guess if you google for "quit my PhD&q...Wow, I guess if you google for "quit my PhD" or something like that my blog comes up. Huh.<br /><br />Anonymous (1): I'm glad my experiences could be of help to you, even if it means taking the difficult step of quitting something you've poured so much into. Good luck!<br /><br />Anonymous (2): That's pretty heartbreaking, sorry to hear things have been so down for you. I don't know anything about your program, but I wonder if taking a semester of leave might be a useful option. Such a step was suggested to me (not by anybody directly related to my program), but the details of that project would not have permitted such an absence. Your situation may be different, but of course I don't know. I can only imagine the extra layers of difficulty associated with trying to be a real member of a family during a PhD.TheBrummellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08973380652057861796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19216099.post-91016571215399997732010-04-06T11:16:00.178-06:002010-04-06T11:16:00.178-06:00I appreciated your posting here. I am contemplatin...I appreciated your posting here. I am contemplating quitting my PhD, having earned my first Not Satisfactory evaluation of my first 4 years of grad school (I failed my comprehensive exams). I have a great project that my adviser is continually trying to change, and find that I am always being steered towards academia, despite having made perfectly clear I have no interest in teaching at a major research university (I want to work in policy and education). My PhD has been financially devastating to my family, and I ended up taking a full-time job to pay my bills and provide for them. I lost focus on my program and failed comprehensives. My adviser wants me to try again, this time under a different submission. I'm just not sure I have it in me to keep going.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19216099.post-85955972880555183992010-01-11T02:41:39.364-06:002010-01-11T02:41:39.364-06:00I stumbled across your blog tonight and was very g...I stumbled across your blog tonight and was very glad to read it. Tonight, I have decided to quit my own PhD project. It was ... comforting to read of another who had put their hard work into a project and it still not pan out the way they anticipated. I'm talking to my supervisor tomorrow. Thanks,<br /><br />LMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19216099.post-71486429048009665992009-05-14T10:15:00.000-06:002009-05-14T10:15:00.000-06:00Does this mean you'll have time to come back to Ca...Does this mean you'll have time to come back to Calgary and play Car Wars? :)<br /><br />Sorry to hear man, I remember you talking about wanting to pursue this field of study since Jr. HighRicknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19216099.post-40908811675729631652009-03-23T23:12:00.000-06:002009-03-23T23:12:00.000-06:00Do you want to try a phd again with a different pr...<I>Do you want to try a phd again with a different project? Or is your heart now set on government science work?</I><BR/><BR/>Possibly both. I'll probably blog about this sooner or later, but for now my thoughts are that I would like to try again at a PhD, probably involving more Biogeography, which was probably my favourite part of the research I've done so far. After that, well, I'm seeing more and more options for very-highly-educated people beyond the simplistic dichotomy of academia vs. industry (or the ivory tower vs. the real world, or "professor" vs. "employee"). In the last few months I've met many people who have done things with their graduate degrees that I had never considered.TheBrummellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08973380652057861796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19216099.post-34764987927633921002009-03-22T16:37:00.000-06:002009-03-22T16:37:00.000-06:00Holy crap. I didn't see that coming. Too bad, si...Holy crap. I didn't see that coming. Too bad, since you seemed to be having an interesting time with your research. Not everybody gets to go galivanting around the continent, you know. <BR/><BR/>It is too bad that some people get a free ride through their phds who don't really deserve it. My brother's fluid mechanics prof who thought fluids flowed from low pressure to high pressure, for instance. <BR/><BR/>Do you want to try a phd again with a different project? Or is your heart now set on government science work?King Aardvarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02785457928646226831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19216099.post-32732510497908151022009-02-20T08:27:00.000-06:002009-02-20T08:27:00.000-06:00Obviously I was one of the ones that was aware of ...Obviously I was one of the ones that was aware of what was going on. This is a very tough situation...<BR/><BR/>Well, as you know, I was on the verge of quitting my Ph.D. back near the beginning of it. My first year was a complete waste of time, and my committee didn't like my project at all. It took a hell of a lot of work, but after 18 months, I finally came up with something more interesting to study and turned it into a good project.<BR/><BR/>If there's one thing I've learned from my experiences is that a Ph.D. is a ton of work, coupled to a bit of luck. A lot of it is being at the 'right place at the right time' (though note that you can choose where you are...).<BR/><BR/>It's somewhat frustrating that standards are applied inconsistently across students, however. I know several people who should not be doing Ph.D.s, and yet they're still here, producing nothing while remaining in the program. There's such a diversity of effort placed into different student's work that I think it paints a false picture of how much effort is actually required of a 'good' Ph.D. (i.e., one where you'll actually be able to continue on in academia with it).<BR/><BR/>What's happened is a bum deal, but I hope that you're happier now that it's resolved. You're not the first person I've met who's gone through this situation, and the others seem to have been able to do alright - and try again if they wanted to.<BR/><BR/>The most important thing, of course, is to think about what you learned from this, and how and if you'd like to approach trying out the grad school thing again. From my own experience, I know that I was only able to put in the required effort when I was working on a project that I was legitimately interested in (e.g., my Ph.D. in comparison to my M.Sc.). Now you'll be able to make a more informed choice if and when the time comes.Carlohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00153076425887492166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19216099.post-50164144808126418552009-02-19T05:54:00.000-06:002009-02-19T05:54:00.000-06:00Very courteous and candid summary. Much appreciat...Very courteous and candid summary. Much appreciated. As we discussed, I think a lot of good came from your time in the lab, not least a renewed interest in the North for us both. Best wishes, as always!T Ryan Gregoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17028390880937952573noreply@blogger.com