4 ms·

I entered an MS program, where my two advisors told me I could get a PhD in just 3 years, vs 2 years for the MS. I naively thought that sounded good. I didn't r

I entered an MS program, where my two advisors told me I could get a PhD in just 3 years, vs 2 years for the MS. I naively thought that sounded good. I didn't realize that my advisor took over 4 years to do it herself. Nor did I realize that she was drastically over-committing herself on time, and she dropped me as a student just 1 year later because she didn't have time. Just a blatantly misleading and false advising process, I wasted 2 years due to that. The power your advisors wield over you is terrifying in graduate school. You are severely underpaid AND they have you over a barrel.

Aperocky 7y ago
You could always say F it and get a job in the industry. It's 1000 times better especially when your research is clearly not on the cutting edge and you end up comtemplating life choices because what you're doing are basically useless to the world, and you're only doing it because some funds decided to throw money on it. At least that's how it is for people whose primary research method is coding, such an easy exit. The powerpoint making variety have it harder though.
bonoboTP 7y ago
> I entered an MS program, where my two advisors told me I could get a PhD in just 3 years, vs 2 years for the MS. In Germany PhD is almost always done after an MS and the PhD usually takes 4-6 years depending on the group.
tonyarkles 7y ago
> The power your advisors wield over you is terrifying in graduate school. You are severely underpaid AND they have you over a barrel. I realize this isn't the case for everyone, and I realize my situation was odd, but... there's always a trump card: you can drop out. I get that for international students it's not always so simple (losing your student visa, having to go home) and can be a very hard choice. My supervisor and my department occasionally tried to push for things that I believed were ridiculous, and the threat of dropping out seemed to work reasonably well to push back on that. My understanding is that a supervisor having a low completion rate is a black mark that can hurt them, especially if they're chasing tenure. I didn't pull this out like a petulant child stomping their feet when they didn't like their chores, but rather when things were getting stupid. Tony: "This is totally unreasonable and the timeline doesn't work for me." Supervisor: "This is how it must be. There's no other option." Tony: "I could drop out and continue on with my life." Supervisor: "Now wait a minute, let's see what we can do to make this work..."
- selimthegrim 7y ago
  Your supervisor can drop out too - they can change universities midstream.
  - tonyarkles 7y ago
    Also very true! My #1 choice of supervisor was pleasantly honest about that. He wasn't tenured, and after we'd met a few times to talk about maybe me starting a program with him in the fall, he told me "I've got bad news. There's a pretty good chance that I'm going to lose my position here due to funding cuts, and that would leave you without a supervisor in 8 months. We're looking at a pretty niche field, and there isn't really anyone else who could take over for the project we're talking about. Sorry, you should look elsewhere." I still look back and would have loved to do that research, but I appreciate his honesty.
    - selimthegrim 7y ago
      You had honest ones. Mine tried to milk me right up to the moment they announced they were leaving - for institutions that only offered a Master's program or for a different field department and were stupid enough to think I wouldn't see the writing on the wall long before or figured I'd quit.
- dekhn 7y ago
  ". My understanding is that a supervisor having a low completion rate is a black mark that can hurt them, especially if they're chasing tenure." Normally, during tenure decisions, the grad students and postdocs will be interviewed by the dean. If you work for a pre-tenure prof, and decide to leave, meet with the dean and let them know your concerns before dropping out. Make sure to include lots of physical documentation, such as emails requesting you to do inappropriate things.

Aperocky 7y ago

You could always say F it and get a job in the industry. It's 1000 times better especially when your research is clearly not on the cutting edge and you end up comtemplating life choices because what you're doing are basically useless to the world, and you're only doing it because some funds decided to throw money on it. At least that's how it is for people whose primary research method is coding, such an easy exit. The powerpoint making variety have it harder though.

bonoboTP 7y ago

> I entered an MS program, where my two advisors told me I could get a PhD in just 3 years, vs 2 years for the MS. In Germany PhD is almost always done after an MS and the PhD usually takes 4-6 years depending on the group.

tonyarkles 7y ago

> The power your advisors wield over you is terrifying in graduate school. You are severely underpaid AND they have you over a barrel. I realize this isn't the case for everyone, and I realize my situation was odd, but... there's always a trump card: you can drop out. I get that for international students it's not always so simple (losing your student visa, having to go home) and can be a very hard choice. My supervisor and my department occasionally tried to push for things that I believed were ridiculous, and the threat of dropping out seemed to work reasonably well to push back on that. My understanding is that a supervisor having a low completion rate is a black mark that can hurt them, especially if they're chasing tenure. I didn't pull this out like a petulant child stomping their feet when they didn't like their chores, but rather when things were getting stupid. Tony: "This is totally unreasonable and the timeline doesn't work for me." Supervisor: "This is how it must be. There's no other option." Tony: "I could drop out and continue on with my life." Supervisor: "Now wait a minute, let's see what we can do to make this work..."

selimthegrim 7y ago
Your supervisor can drop out too - they can change universities midstream.
- tonyarkles 7y ago
  Also very true! My #1 choice of supervisor was pleasantly honest about that. He wasn't tenured, and after we'd met a few times to talk about maybe me starting a program with him in the fall, he told me "I've got bad news. There's a pretty good chance that I'm going to lose my position here due to funding cuts, and that would leave you without a supervisor in 8 months. We're looking at a pretty niche field, and there isn't really anyone else who could take over for the project we're talking about. Sorry, you should look elsewhere." I still look back and would have loved to do that research, but I appreciate his honesty.
  - selimthegrim 7y ago
    You had honest ones. Mine tried to milk me right up to the moment they announced they were leaving - for institutions that only offered a Master's program or for a different field department and were stupid enough to think I wouldn't see the writing on the wall long before or figured I'd quit.
dekhn 7y ago
". My understanding is that a supervisor having a low completion rate is a black mark that can hurt them, especially if they're chasing tenure." Normally, during tenure decisions, the grad students and postdocs will be interviewed by the dean. If you work for a pre-tenure prof, and decide to leave, meet with the dean and let them know your concerns before dropping out. Make sure to include lots of physical documentation, such as emails requesting you to do inappropriate things.