Thinking about giving up

[globy321]

Hey guys. I am 4 months into my MSc and I am thinking about giving up. I don't like the project, don't like the people in the lab, I am kind of hating it. I am not sure if I should withdraw..Has anyone felt like this??

[bloh]

Welcome to graduate school. Many grad students feel like that at some points of the degree. It's highly dependent on how well your experiments go I feel. Have a talk with your supervisor and see if you can switch to another project that you feel more comfortable with.

[synch]

Ah yeah, that's pretty much how it goes. Don't give up, but do mind your other options:

 

Talk to your supervisor about your project. Maybe there's something else you can work on that's more compelling to you. Many MSc students switch projects several months in, either because their project wasn't a good fit, they got scooped, or the resources weren't available for them to complete their project.

 

Talk to your supervisor about switching labs and supervisors. This is a difficult route to take, but if your relationship with your lab, project, and/or supervisor is irreparable, you may be able to find someone else to take you on. Keep in mind that your funding situation may become tricky, and you will likely have to answer questions about why you are leaving your old supervisor when you are canvassing for someone new to take you on. This may also delay your progress through your degree.

 

Talk to your graduate coordinator. S/he may have additional insights into your situation and options.

[LostLamb]

Don't stick to something that feels like a situation you dislike. Is it graduate studies that you dislike or is it just the project/lab/supervisor? I second the suggestion of the poster who said to speak to the grad program coordinator or advisor for guidance on what to do. They will be able to help you come up with some options.

 

Switching supervisors is much easier sooner rather than later, but is a long road to hoe. I took it and I switched after 1.5 years. I saw signs that I should have changed within the first 6 months but was too stubborn to pay attention.

 

Every situation is different. Find someone objective who knows your program and hopefully knows you a bit to bounce your feelings and ideas off of. Good luck.

[dcgirl_44]

I'm just nearing the end of my MSc and there were SO many times I felt like quitting. Grad school is a series of ups and downs - I'm positive everyone feels like quitting at some point, some just hide it better than others.

 

Look at the big picture - do you really hate everything and has it actually been this way for 4 months? I'm not trying to invalidate anything you've said but trying to bring a new perspective to it before you make a drastic change. I think part of grad school is continuing through the challenges... but only you know whether you're truly not in the right program/project. Like the others said, talk to your grad advisor (your program probably has one) or your supervisor. It's hard as hell to admit you're struggling but they've heard it before from others and probably expect it since you're just starting.

 

Good luck

[globy321]

The thing I don't like is that there is no one in the lab to turn for help. The research associate that works in the lab is not very nice and when I ask questions I can't understand what she is saying because she can barely speak English. I am trying to be nice to her but she is very ignorant and arrogant.

 

Another problem that I have is that we share a lab with another supervisor and people always seem to go in and out of the lab and that is stressing me out so I cannot focus. We have the smallest lab and the crapiest lab supplies compared to the other labs!!My supervisor is always talking about saving money so he is very cheap.

 

Another problem I have is that our sitting area (desk area outside the lab) is shared by 3 labs so there are so many people there. People are always coming and going and I find it very hard to concentrate and focus when I am reading papers. This is really getting to me and stressing me out. Meanwhile my supervisor has a very nice office where he can do whatever he likes and he expects me to deal with all this crap..How should I handle this? Has anyone had similar problems and how did you deal with them???

[dcgirl_44]

Can't you go to the library to read? Some other place that's quiet? Use ear plugs if you have to be there?

 

Your supervisor's been there a whole lot longer than you have, of course he has a nicer office. You need to adapt to the situation to some degree.

[Marty]

The thing I don't like is that there is no one in the lab to turn for help. The research associate that works in the lab is not very nice and when I ask questions I can't understand what she is saying because she can barely speak English. I am trying to be nice to her but she is very ignorant and arrogant.

 

Another problem that I have is that we share a lab with another supervisor and people always seem to go in and out of the lab and that is stressing me out so I cannot focus. We have the smallest lab and the crapiest lab supplies compared to the other labs!!My supervisor is always talking about saving money so he is very cheap.

 

Another problem I have is that our sitting area (desk area outside the lab) is shared by 3 labs so there are so many people there. People are always coming and going and I find it very hard to concentrate and focus when I am reading papers. This is really getting to me and stressing me out. Meanwhile my supervisor has a very nice office where he can do whatever he likes and he expects me to deal with all this crap..How should I handle this? Has anyone had similar problems and how did you deal with them???

 

Welcome to the real world...

 

What you described is basically my first years working as an engineer. You need to find a way to destress quickly but don't think that switching programs is going to magically solve your issues. Crap exists everywhere, find yourself a nice pair of hip waders.

[janny_jan]

I wanted to quit about a million times during my masters. Now that my thesis is all done and I'm waiting to defend/waiting for may 13th, I feel so good about sticking with it. it feels fantastic. Granted, my supervisor was awesome, my lab mates were incredible and my project was the coolest thing I have ever done. I am in kinesiology though...which is scientifically proven to be the bestest grad program ever!

 

Of course your advisor will have a nice office. s/he has earned it. you are a grad student (a masters one at that)..one notch higher on the totem pole than an undergrad.

 

Did you take a tour of the lab or meet with your supervisor before you signed up? some of the complaints you have wouldnt be occuring if you had known what you were signing up for before you did. i know this is a shoulda coulda woulda situation

 

Also, read in the library! Grad students can use the library too...not just studying undergrads. Now that its the summer, it will be dead quiet. Case and point, I am sitting in the science library at UWO right now typing this (reading papers....) and there is one other person the floor with me and its the librarian.

[leap87]

I wanted to quit about a million times during my masters. Now that my thesis is all done and I'm waiting to defend/waiting for may 13th, I feel so good about sticking with it. it feels fantastic. Granted, my supervisor was awesome, my lab mates were incredible and my project was the coolest thing I have ever done. I am in kinesiology though...which is scientifically proven to be the bestest grad program ever!

 

 

I LOVE you for saying that! Haha What was your project on (if you don't mind me asking)?

 

Globy: I'm not in Masters but I certainly felt like that for the past 1.5 years. Speaking from that experience and experience of other graduate students in my lab, I know that all of us have felt like this at one point or another. Our lab for the past 2 years had 15 students, with my supervisor having the most of them, and we had a very crappy, small, utterly disgusting lab. There was no way to get any work done. So we all sat down and agreed that from this time to this time - it's going to be QUIET. And if it's not we're going to kick the person making noise out. It worked VERY well because we had a solid 3 hour silence in the lab. However, now we moved into a WAY bigger lab space.

 

The other thing you could do is go to the library. I used to go to the 5th floor of York library when I needed to process data because it was WAY faster than sitting in the lab and trying to get it done.

 

I remember wanting to give up because I believed my project was impossible to accomplish. Actually, I was REALLY close to tossing it all away and saying that I can't do it. So a day before hitting the bottom, I heard my supervisor say that he's angry at his son because he said that he can't do something. My supervisor's response to that was "What do you mean you can't get it done?! YOU CAN DO IT! Don't EVER tell me you can't do something!" - he was describing to another person. So when I hit the rock bottom, I remembered his words and just kept thinking "My project might seem impossible but I'm going to prove that it IS possible to get it done." So try to think positive - what is going to come out of this that is good? It's really hard to describe the feeling once you've done something but it is the BEST feeling ever.

 

If your supervisor is not helpful, grad coordinator/adviser might be able to help you.

[Starling]

You should try talking to your supervisor, but try to clarify what exactly you're unhappy with.

 

I got handed a project that I don't like, but I'm trying to make the most of it and am also finding side projects to work on. It's just an M.Sc. -- you won't be stuck with it forever.

 

The thing I don't like is that there is no one in the lab to turn for help.

 

That's grad school! If you don't know how to do something, you often have to just read a ton of papers and figure it out.

 

We have the smallest lab and the crapiest lab supplies compared to the other labs!!My supervisor is always talking about saving money so he is very cheap.

 

That sucks. It takes a lot longer to do things the cheap way. If you find something that you really need, you have to try to convince your supervisor that it's really essential. He'll want results, after all. Or, try borrowing stuff from other labs.

 

Another problem I have is that our sitting area (desk area outside the lab) is shared by 3 labs so there are so many people there. People are always coming and going and I find it very hard to concentrate and focus when I am reading papers.

 

I hear ya. One of my office mates is super loud, so sometimes I just go home early and read, or find somewhere quiet.

 

Meanwhile my supervisor has a very nice office where he can do whatever he likes and he expects me to deal with all this crap.

 

Of course he does! He probably had terrible working conditions as a grad student too, and he's worked hard to get where he is. There's a hierarchy, and as a grad student you're pretty close to the bottom of it.

[janny_jan]

I LOVE you for saying that! Haha What was your project on (if you don't mind me asking)?

 

Haha thanks I love kin! My project looked at the effect of a healthy lifestyle intervention on the arterial stiffness and arterial health of obese children. It was great fun working with the kids (who were incredible) and their families. But there were also times were I wanted to huck my laptop off my balcony because nothing was going right. But thats just part of grad school/UG honours thesis life...where they separate the wheat from the chaff.

[runningdoc]

I have to ask what you expected Grad school to be like?

 

The hierarcy of a lab:

 

PI - His butt is on the line for everything you publish, every experiment you put out, and every shred of data. His name is usually front and center on your first set of grants, his name goes on any publications, and his reputation is the one that falls apart if things don't work out.

 

Post-Docs - They have their PhD already and are just getting experience in that elite situation before diving into the ocean with their own lab

 

PhD Candidates - They have several years of experience in the lab now, or already have a Masters. It's a hierarchy, they have put in time already and depending on their project probably already have a publication or two, a conference, poster, seminar or three under their belt.

 

Lab Staff - They might only have a Bachelors degree, maybe even a Masters, but what they do have is seniority based on time in the lab. Again, time, and production plays a factor.

 

You - You are only a few months into your project. You don't have publications, you don't have enormous CIHR grants, so what you are likely bringing to the table is either a nice entrance graduate scholarship or your are entirely feeding off the money of your supervisor.

 

It takes time to get respect in the lab. Conditions usually do suck at times, especially if you don't have the latest technology to rip through tasks.

 

If things are loud in the grad study area, go somewhere else to read papers. The library, outside under a tree, a quiet corridor.

 

If the lab is loud, adjust your hours in the lab. Most supervisors usually don't care what time you are actually in the lab as long as you are getting your work done and have stuff to report on your weekly, bi-weekly, monthly lab meetings. Come in to do work earlier, or do your work later in the day to offset the conditions that are stressing you out. Batch your work to make things easier on you. If you have a bunch of experiments to run, do them at a time that will be less stressful and spend more time in the lab rather than getting frustrated.

 

Talk to someone in another lab and see if you can borrow supplies, or reagents. The best way to convince your supervisor to dish out money for something is to show him quality results. Justify why you need some of the supplies that you don't have. The simple reality of research is that there are labs that are "have" and others that are "have nots". Until it is your grant money funding your research, its pretty tough to complain about it. However, if you have a sizable grant and your supervisor won't let you get stuff still, talk to him about it and find out why.

[md2be]

The thing I don't like is that there is no one in the lab to turn for help. The research associate that works in the lab is not very nice and when I ask questions I can't understand what she is saying because she can barely speak English. I am trying to be nice to her but she is very ignorant and arrogant.

 

Another problem that I have is that we share a lab with another supervisor and people always seem to go in and out of the lab and that is stressing me out so I cannot focus. We have the smallest lab and the crapiest lab supplies compared to the other labs!!My supervisor is always talking about saving money so he is very cheap.

 

Another problem I have is that our sitting area (desk area outside the lab) is shared by 3 labs so there are so many people there. People are always coming and going and I find it very hard to concentrate and focus when I am reading papers. This is really getting to me and stressing me out. Meanwhile my supervisor has a very nice office where he can do whatever he likes and he expects me to deal with all this crap..How should I handle this? Has anyone had similar problems and how did you deal with them???

 

I agree with the other responses. I had many of the same issues, but it is reality of grad student life. Definitely not cushy or easy. I used earplugs, headphones (constantly!) and escaping to the library in the hospital where I worked as much as I possibly could...part of the challenge of grad school is overcoming these seemingly unrelated obstacles, and being able to finish successfully

[Violet]

After 1 week of grad school, I'd like to withdraw...badly. Although I doubt I can/will.

 

But out of curiosity and to add detail to my fantasy, how bad does it look admissions committee wise? I'm guessing withdrawing now would show up on my transcript?

[LostLamb]

as I mentioned in my first post, withdrawing NOW is better than withdrawing later when you have invested time and money and the prof/university/funding agency has invested time and money in you.

 

Think long and hard about it. What is it you dislike so much that makes you want to leave right away? Could it be changed by having a different project? Different supervisor? Doing an MA instead of an MSc? You could probably use a chat with an academic advisor (not your supervisor) right now to find out if it is just early grad school blues or not.

[Violet]

Coincidentally enough, just after I posted that, my supervisor dropped by and gave me an inspirational type talk that did a pretty good job of cheering me up.

 

It's not my supervisor or project that's the problem, it's mostly the courses I'm intimidated by. I think I'll tough it out though - it's really confidence issues that are plaguing me right now and hopefully grad school will help me get over them.