next »

[newgrad99]

I have been toying with the idea of leaving my program. Its not that I can't do the work; I just finished my first semester and I did great. I was nominated for an award, I did great in my classes...but, I keep having this feeling that I'm just doing the wrong thing with my life. I'm not sure if this is normal and just me going through the motions, getting used to a completely different lifestyle. If this isn't normal, how do I just up and quit the program? Will I have to pay back funding money? I feel so lost.

Did anyone else experience this in the beginning of their graduate school careers?

[ticklemepink]

It's all perfectly normal.  After all, the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

Re-evaluate after you've finish your first year and over the summer and decide if going for the PhD is what you really want to do.

Congratulations on your achievements!

[glowdart]

It's all perfectly normal.  After all, the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

Re-evaluate after you've finish your first year and over the summer and decide if going for the PhD is what you really want to do.

Congratulations on your achievements!

Another vote for normal and for waiting until the summer to make a decision.  (And congrats, as well!)

[polly_mer]

A third vote for normal.  If you still feel this way by this time next year, then it's time to look for another option as you finished up a master's degree.

[miss_jane_marple]

I keep having this feeling that I'm just doing the wrong thing with my life. I'm not sure if this is normal and just me going through the motions, getting used to a completely different lifestyle.

Yes, it's normal. You haven't given details about your background, so just as a general concept, the further your past experience has been from the graduate-student-being-socialized-into academia way of life, the more challenging it is to make the change.

Think about new military recruits, who may be used to sleeping late and playing video games for hours every day, having someone make whatever dinner they ask for, and being "off the clock" when work time is over. Suddenly, they have to learn a whole new life: saluting, marching, hiking in full gear, arising at an hour when they might previously have just been stumbling home from the Club, eating whatever the mess folks slap on their trays. And it never stops, it goes on 24/7. You also are learning a new social structure, a new career, new language, new ways of evaluating your skills and progress, and (I'm guessing, without knowing your age) also perhaps making a transition from early to mid-twenties -- becoming fully adult.

As has been said in a similar context, decide whether you are running toward something or away from something.

Other have given you excellent advice. You're doing very well in your program; there is no benefit to you in quitting at this point. Please try to complete at least a full year, and, if at all possible, a master's degree. However, that doesn't mean you can't keep thinking about whether the PhD is what you want. Spend some time thinking about what your alternative would be. When you have a couple of careers firmly in mind, set about finding out about them the way you would research a topic for a paper. Read articles and/or books, identify people to talk with about the work, possibly get a summer job either doing the work or being in the environment where it's being done. If you decide that's what you want, then look at the steps you need to take to get there. Also, there may be a career development office at your university that can supply information and perhaps some testing to help you identify an alternative career.

Best wishes for the new year!

[imawakenow]

Re-evaluate after you've finish your first year and over the summer and decide if going for the PhD is what you really want to do.

+4.

[larryc]

Re-evaluate after you've finish your first year and over the summer and decide if going for the PhD is what you really want to do.

+4.

+5

Unless you in the humanities, in which case drop out now.

[giacomo]

+6

I felt this way after my first semester in graduate school. I spoke with my advisor who gave the same advice to wait a year and reevaluate. I did wait a year and decided at that point to finish with a masters degree which was an option at my school. I now teach at a community college and am very grateful both that I did not quit after a semester and that I left with my master's degree.

[the_hanged_man]

Some years ago I was in a PhD program in economics and knew in my gut after a few weeks it was a poor fit for me. So, I quit after the first semester, joined the Peace Corps, and spent the next decade or so traveling the world while teaching. Now I am in another program in a completely different field in which I am very happy.

Personally, I feel this worked well for me. At 23 I had no clue what I wanted to do or where my passions lied. Now I feel like I know who I am much better and feel much more confident in my choice.

I'm not saying you should necessarily quit however. Since you are doing well and are funded there is no reason to leave right now. However, while the grass is always greener on the other side remember that sometimes it is greener for a very good reason.