There is a mismatch between me and my advisor. She was unsatisfied with my research progress and withdrew her assistantship. Should I continue my PhD with another prof. or switch to master? Is my case common? I have to pay tuition myself for master.

6/19/2011 9:18:57 PM

try another prof.

now what field are you in

6/19/2011 10:03:32 PM

I think there are a lot of things to consider here. Why was your advisor unsatisfied? How far are you currently in your degree? Do you enjoy your field and doing research? Are you good at doing research? For some people just finishing a masters and working is a better decision.

6/19/2011 10:36:18 PM

^

6/20/2011 8:00:10 AM

Will you even be able to get the sponsorship of another professor? I would be reluctant to take on a student who has had their assistantship withdrawn unless I knew for sure that the source of problems with the previous advisor wasn't work related. Also, I would be reluctant to take on a student with your obvious lack of skill in written English. Writing and publishing is a necessary component of any graduate research program. If your posts on this forum are any indication of your writing competence, then you're not ready to pursue a research career at an English-language institution. There are plenty of qualified students fully competent with English available such that it isn't worth the effort to spend time and resources on remedial English education. The spin-up time on new graduate students it long enough as it is.

6/20/2011 11:50:05 AM

I got enough score in writing section in GRE. In the meanwhile, I will take your comment as advice and improve my English. It's also the reason I start posting on this forum.

6/20/2011 1:26:53 PM

FLAVA

6/20/2011 3:19:24 PM

I see plenty of students around me that struggle with the written English language, and not all of them are international. If you are trying to improve your writing, I don't suggest TWW as a great place to hone your skills. Add some good reading, almost any genre will introduce more complex structure. Find some place to get feedback on your writing, a creative writing club or something similar. (Or audit an undergrad English class)

Or find a good editor.

Grammar aside, I second the concern about the nature of the problem. I doubt another professor would pick you up before talking to the one you are leaving. If your adviser doubts your ability to successfully complete a PhD, changing to a master's would give you the opportunity to re-prove yourself. An excellent job _might_ open doors to continue.

Do the master's. If you kick ass, try the PhD again.

6/20/2011 5:41:39 PM

I did trying to be faculty. But now I'm already 30. So I'm thinking of going to industry first.

6/20/2011 10:21:45 PM

What does FLAVA mean?

6/20/2011 10:44:07 PM

^ I have no idea.

6/20/2011 11:19:17 PM

Already 30? So? I'm older, should I quit? If you were trying to do cost-benefit analysis of earning a PhD, you fail at any age and in any field (barring some miraculous drug that radically extends earning age, but then, you could have been retired and enjoying the newfound health).

If you are using logic to decide if you should try a PhD, Don't. Take the masters, go build something in industry, buy a nice car, find a wife, have some kids, etc. In fact, do the non-thesis masters. Way easier and same income potential.

6/21/2011 2:23:09 AM

If you do end up going for the PhD and wanting to teach... please, for the sake of all your future students, become proficient in English. I'm not trying to be a dick here or anything but I can't tell you how many professors I've had that had poor English language skills. This often resulted in a huge communications gap between the professor and the class. These guys were very intelligent, it's just that they were often unable to effectively explain concepts to their students.

6/21/2011 8:37:12 AM

who says he wouldn't end up going back behind the Great Firewall

6/21/2011 10:59:11 AM

Research some job postings for the field that you are interested in. See if they tend to require MS or PhD. I just went for MS because it was enough for the jobs I wanted.

6/21/2011 11:37:34 AM

I feel like if you're asking this question to the wolf web you should probably just get the masters.

6/22/2011 5:47:22 PM

I think it's brave to come to a different country where you are limited in the native language to do something as intense as getting a PhD. Do you plan to stay here when you are done?

As to your particular situation, I would definitely speak with other faculty and see what your best match would be. How far along are you?

6/23/2011 9:18:16 PM

I already have two masters and actively look for jobs.
I still have several years to go.

[Edited on June 23, 2011 at 10:16 PM. Reason : 1]

6/23/2011 10:06:55 PM

g-dang

6/24/2011 1:00:39 AM

How many years have you put into it?

6/25/2011 4:44:58 PM

5 Yrs

6/25/2011 6:38:11 PM

How many papers have you published related to your PhD research?

6/26/2011 9:12:37 PM

No journal paper. But I think my results are enough for conference paper.

6/26/2011 9:14:44 PM

That's not sufficient.... a monkey could hammer out a conference paper over the course of a month.

What is your field?

6/26/2011 11:39:32 PM

There's way too much going on here to give advice on a message board.

7/7/2011 12:19:25 AM

phd hurts earning potential in most cases

7/9/2011 2:15:13 AM

I used to have a roommate who had a Ph.D and he worked at a convenience store. Called him Apu.

7/11/2011 7:00:39 PM

What's APU for?

7/11/2011 8:06:18 PM

^ He's referencing the character Apu from The Simpsons.

7/11/2011 9:11:25 PM

They should make The Simpsons required for TOEFL

7/12/2011 1:13:10 AM

Are you an exchange student from Zhejiang Daxue by any chance? Don't quit the PhD if you've already gone this far. What was your adviser unsatisfied with? Try to find another professor to work under if you can or try to improve on the areas your original adviser was unsatisfied with and see if they will continue to work with you if you make progress.

What are your master's in and what field are you getting a PhD in?

7/12/2011 6:18:00 PM

No, I'm not. Actually I kinda lost interest in PhD. I've had two masters in control engineering in China and electrical engineering in US. And I'm over 30 now. These factors make me think about making a change.

7/12/2011 6:32:25 PM

This PhD is in CS. I transferred to master now. The adviser I was working with almost drove me mad. I was sent to hospital by her roar. I was nearly going to sue her.

7/12/2011 6:35:55 PM

Quote :

"I was sent to hospital by her roar. I was nearly going to sue her. "

wtf

7/12/2011 10:05:44 PM

Best alias ever

7/13/2011 11:05:36 AM

Quote :

""I was nearly going to sue her"

get this guy some US citizenship. You have figured it out, when something doesnt go your way SUE! it is the American way

7/13/2011 1:44:05 PM

Quote :

"I was sent to hospital by her roar. I was nearly going to sue her."

lol

7/13/2011 1:59:22 PM

Don't hate. Unacceptable working conditions are depressingly common among graduate students; particularly foreign grad students. Many of the graduate students in my department work for peanuts because there isn't a university policy that makes their advisors pay them a decent wage. There's nothing like working 70 hour weeks for: tuition, health insurance, and in some cases, as little as $8000 per year before taxes.

7/13/2011 3:39:31 PM

yeah cause a degree isnt worth anything (on top of all that)

7/13/2011 4:33:09 PM

I understand.

7/13/2011 6:34:10 PM

Do you guys have frustrated experience during research? Or your adviser expresses his/her frustration with your work. How do you handle it? I find it's risky in finding research topics because the results may be not what u want.

7/22/2011 12:01:39 PM

Whine all you want about not getting paid enough. I have to pay for my own tuition and health insurance. If I got those free and $8k a year I'd be happy.

7/23/2011 8:52:21 AM

Which major are u in? It's hard to get assistantship in business and law school. But for engineering major, I have RA but feel like slave.

7/23/2011 9:30:58 AM

welcome to the club: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php

7/23/2011 10:25:06 AM

what the hell, token black professor?

7/23/2011 12:22:50 PM

the toughest professor I ever had was black

he was born in Ghana and educated in Vienna

7/24/2011 2:08:44 PM

Quote :

"In fact, do the non-thesis masters. Way easier and same income potential."

Did this route and it has been money so far, but I am bored with what I do and get dumber everyday I work and don't go back for a PhD.

8/9/2011 11:19:20 PM

^this

8/10/2011 10:26:04 AM

Quote :

"what the hell, token black professor?"

My adviser was from Malawi and educated in London. Come on now.

8/10/2011 5:06:02 PM

^^^ yeah that's how i feel about it. i spent a summer working in contracting and that was enough. the people were great and the work was fine and they quite literally told me to name my salary (b/c it had been so long since they hired someone straight out of school, not b/c i was that good), but it's just busywork that pays the bills.

[Edited on August 10, 2011 at 8:59 PM. Reason : .]

8/10/2011 8:58:40 PM