Advice for a Former PhD Re-Applicant

[AREStudentHopeful]

Hi all,

 

I tried to make a new account to post this (and delete this account) but the cogs seem to turn slowly around here so I figure, what do I have to lose :). If anything, others can learn what not to do from my story.

 

My current situation is that I am working in the private sector after exiting a PhD program. I got a bachelors in econ from a regional state school and then went to a masters program in ag economics. I have an ABD for the masters degree (which I could finish - I defended the thesis, I just had minor edits left and then final submission to the graduate school) due to getting an acceptance from a top 40/50 econ PhD program and thinking "I don't need that masters now, I'm in a PhD program!" Stupid move, I know. I began the PhD program but during my second quarter I sustained an injury which didn't allow me to write for a long period. At the time I was "going it alone" by not being in a study group and rarely seeking help from professors. To further hurt my case, I did not do a good job communicating my difficulty with the injury to the department and I wasn't even able to attend class during my final quarter. I ended up withdrawing from the program without taking first year qualifiers (but still having the failing grades from the 2nd and 3rd quarters due to the injury). I realize that the fault was entirely my own. I did a poor job communicating with my professors and with my fellow students - something I had been told was essential for the first year of the PhD program.

 

I am now 2 years removed from exiting the program and I am trying to build a plan to return to a PhD program. There wasn't a moment during the 2 years when I wasn't reading economics papers and wishing I could do my own research in academia. I know it was my poor communication skills rather than intellectual ability that caused me to fail - I have been greatly humbled from the time when I thought intellect was all that mattered for a PhD. I don't have much in the way of references since I didn't communicate well with my PhD program (and I ABD-ed my masters) so I'm currently up the creek without a paddle. My current plan is to take some higher-level math courses (RA, Mathematical Stats) and maybe a PhD econ course, if I can get a program to allow it. Hopefully from these courses I can get recommendation letters. Additionally, I've been working as a unpaid part-time RA with a professor at a top 75 program and I hope to continue this arrangement for the next few years in order to gain additional research experience.

 

Given these circumstances, is there any advice anyone can offer? I realize the situation is rather unique and grim but if anyone has had similar troubles, I would love to hear what they did to get through it. Additionally, if anyone has suggestions for a better plan, I would be grateful for those as well. I would love to hear from some of the other old timers here who may have seen some unfortunate situations in their respective PhD programs that might offer insight.

[PhDPlease]

Did you do okay in the 1st semester? Can you talk to any professor from the 1st semester which you didn't fail about your circumstances and see if he/she has advice? What about the director of the program? Also this might be a long shot, but it could be worth seeing whether there is any chance that you can convince the school to convert your failure grades to withdrawals if you give them medical documentation from your doctor or hospital. I think 1 semester of decent grades followed by a withdrawal would be better than 1 semester followed by failures.

 

Also I was wondering what level of PhD program you want to attend. Ie if you would be happy to attend the top 75 program where you are RAing or you want to attend a more competitive program.

 

Good luck and I hope it will work out for you!

[mcsokrates]

This is tricky - even though your problems in the PhD program were not due to not being able to hack the material, you've still signaled that you might not be a great candidate by not working well with others and not communicating well. This will be seen as a red flag, since communication and collaboration is much more important once you move on to start your own research. I struggle with this to some extent - I'm much more of an independent researcher than many of my colleagues. But you need to be able to honestly talk about setbacks that come up - struggling alone doesn't help anyone.

 

I think you need to reach out to your old PhD program - you may have done a poor job communicating when you were there, but that doesn't preclude you from trying to communicate better going forward. If you can get someone to speak to the fact that the blemish on your record was not due to lack of preparation that will at least mitigate some damage. Finishing the MA might be worthwhile too - at the very least it could be marginally helpful as an additional credential should you stay in the private sector.

[Econhead]

OP: I think that many of the members in Ph.D programs will have good advice, but I think your best advice on this board may come from members like Kaysa, Mathemagician, or others that currently serve as faculty. Those of us that are still in programs are just suggesting ideas that we think or hope might work; those that are professors (or ready to enter the job market) should have a better idea what the best ideas are and the reality of these ideas. They may also be able to provide some anecdotal evidence.

 

Best wishes.

[tm_member]

I haven't responded until now because I don't know what to say to help. This is really an incredibly unique and difficult situation. I think the traditional route of entry into PhD programs is kind of off-limits to you now and you are going to have to try to use connections and show you have overcome the communication issues. It might be a long road ahead and it may not be worth it, even subjectively.

[AREStudentHopeful]

Thanks for the responses so far everyone. I'll address the questions individually:

 

@PhDPlease - I did "median" work my first quarter. Not bad, but around the middle of my cohort. There's only one professor that would probably be willing to talk about my circumstances, but it might be worth a shot (one of the others is now in Europe and the third generally won't give you the time of day unless you're the top student in each cohort). I'm really not sure what level of PhD program I'll end up aiming for. Obviously I would like to get in as highly-ranked program as I can, but I realize I can't too picky at this point. The top 75 school where I'm working with one of the professors places their top students at unranked PhD-granting schools and their median student at directional state schools. My hope is to eventually work at a PhD-granting school (though I'm not heartbroken if I am at a school with good masters students).

 

@mcsokrates - I agree - communication and collaboration ability are both needed skills in a PhD. If nothing else, the private sector has helped me build those skills by working on a data science team. Maybe if I can get in touch with the one professor I mentioned above, I can get a letter that shows improved communication. Also, I do plan on finishing the masters to show that I have, indeed learned to finish what I start and I have learned from my mistakes.

 

@Econhead - I, too am hoping that they will reply to this thread :). Their advice could be very useful.

 

@tm_member - I definitely dug myself into a difficult hole. To be honest, even doing the unpaid research assistantship has been a breath of fresh air though. The enjoyment I get from reading great research, thinking of efficient ways to solve problems and finding new knowledge in data is vastly better than what I have found outside an economics PhD. Having the freedom to pursue my own ideas means a lot to me. I know the road will not be easy by any means (even beyond the normal challenges for an average student trying to get into a PhD), but I think it will be worth it.