Question for those who applied during graduate studies

[Nin]

Hello!

Here is the situation: I am finishing UG this year, next year I will be able to start a master degree. I am starting to receive responses and I am a little stuck with choosing the program, so I would like if some people could share their experiences (PM if you prefer).

If you are in a research master (or PhD) and you are accepted after your first year (or 2nd, 3rd year for PhD), what do you do? You stop your ongoing program? Did you have an agreement with your PI?

Or did you choose a "professional" or course-based master for that reason? easy to stop if you get accepted?

Thank you so much for your advice,

Good luck to everyone

[Laly20]

I think it's really case by case but in the end, I think you can quit any program. No one "forces" you to complete your graduate studies.

In my experience, my thesis' director was very comprehensive and would completely understand if I quitted in the middle of my master's program. It did not happen because I did not get into medicine (so far) and I just completed my masters. 

[Mel96b]

I'm a first year PhD student at UdeM (I finished my MSc in october) and I would like to finish it later (during and after, or after my MD). My research director knows that it was my plan from the start  he was very comprehensive because he's a doctor and he completed his MSc during his MD! But you could quit, nobody's forcing you to finish it if you don't want to. Maybe even I will change my mind in the meantime, who knows...

And I chose a MSc with a thesis because I wanted to gain experience in research, presentations, publications (which looks good on the CV)... and just because I would like to do research later in my life! It's a very personnal decision. And I chose psychiatric sciences (an option of the biomedical sciences program) because psychiatry is my dream specialty, quite simply. In fact, I chose my program after I found my director, that I contacted because I was in total admiration for his work and his job! But that's only my experience, yours could be completely different.

DM me if you have any questions!

[Nin]

I feel like having a doctor as a director makes it easier for them to understand if you must change your plans mid-program or something. I asked two directors and they were very categorical of the 2 years implications and all for a master thesis (even about finishing the master part-time or during med school). This lead me to think it was pretty much usual for a director to refuse med applicants (or to ask them to post-pone their admission). Thank you for your posts, it showed that it is not a common situation!

[Mel96b]

Worse case, you don't tell them and drop out later... But they may not want to give you letter of recommandations in the future. It's a tricky situation... You should definitely try to get a MD-PhD director. Almost everyone in my lab want to be doctors so they can't really refuse all med applicants haha!

Another option, and that's what I did (even if I ended up not getting in last year): I started my MSc during the summer, and I made my initial thesis deposit at the end of my fourth semester, in august. But you'll have to work on revisions during your MD (but usually they are very minor). Of course, completing a masters that fast is very challenging, I won't lie about that, but it could be possible, depending on your project!

[Laly20]

I don't wanna irritating but most university professors use their student work to advance in their carreer. They give you the work they don't want to do and benefit their carreer. Telling them in advance you could quit your masters if you get into medicine is like telling them: I may ruin some of your research and give you trouble finding someone else to do the work. Best scenario is finding a director that is ok with you dropping in the middle of your masters

[Total Gunner]

Does anyone know if you get accepted while you're enrolled in a masters, do you have to complete the masters to enroll or can you safely drop it if you weren't able to complete it? Anyone know of someone who was able to drop out of their grad studies and enroll wituout any issues?

[DrOtter]

10 minutes ago, Laly20 said:

I don't wanna irritating but most university professors use their student work to advance in their carreer. They give you the work they don't want to do and benefit their carreer. Telling them in advance you could quit your masters if you get into medicine is like telling them: I may ruin some of your research and give you trouble finding someone else to do the work. Best scenario is finding a director that is ok with you dropping in the middle of your masters

I agree with your point with regards to finding a prof who is okay with you dropping. But I don't think the sentiment that profs "use" their students or give them work they don't want to do is reflective of reality. Most established PIs don't do lab work anymore, they focus their time on networking, apply for grants, getting funding etc. - of course to advance their own career but also to keep the lab running and allowing them to take on students and usually to their students' benefits: the more funding and connections they have, the higher the chance that their students get to publish and go on prestigious conferences so that's hardly "using" anyone, it's a win-win situation. They "direct" research, they don't "do" it and of course if they entrust you with a project (with grants on the line) and you quit on them unexpectedly, they will need to find a replacement and it is wise to let them know in advance that that's what you're planning to do.

[Laly20]

4 minutes ago, DrOtter said:

I agree with your point with regards to finding a prof who is okay with you dropping. But I don't think the sentiment that profs "use" their students or give them work they don't want to do is reflective of reality. Most established PIs don't do lab work anymore, they focus their time on networking, apply for grants, getting funding etc. - of course to advance their own career but also to keep the lab running and allowing them to take on students and usually to their students' benefits: the more funding and connections they have, the higher the chance that their students get to publish and go on prestigious conferences so that's hardly "using" anyone, it's a win-win situation. They "direct" research, they don't "do" it and of course if they entrust you with a project (with grants on the line) and you quit on them unexpectedly, they will need to find a replacement and it is wise to let them know in advance that that's what you're planning to do.

I agree my critic was harsh... I should've said "some professors" instead of "most professors"