Has anybody here ever quit grad school?

[vaticanplum]

If so, I'd like to hear your reasons and whether you ever regretted it. Just your stories in general.

Just, um, curious.

[Caveat Emperor]

Thought about it at least once a week during my 2nd year of law school.

There's probably a long list of people who wish they could go back in time and push me to actually having done it.

[reds1869]

I quit grad school in Cleveland because I did not want to pursue the career my program was leading me towards. Seven years later I obtained a graduate degree from Xavier in another field and I couldn't be happier.

[Boston Red]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

Thought about it at least once a week during my 2nd year of law school.

Interesting. Generally once you get to second year, most people's thoughts of quitting have subsided unless their first year grades had pretty much guaranteed that they weren't going to be able to do what they had in mind when they went to law school. What was it that made you want to quit after getting through first year?

And I agree, there have been many times that I wished I had never decided that taking the LSAT would be a good idea.

[Cedric]

Left during my second year of grad school at UC. I couldn't be happier with how everything has transpired. I truly think I would have ruined my life if I hadn't made the decision to leave right when I did.

Now I am back finishing part time just because I don't want to waste the credits. I love my job and I don't think I'll be leaving this agency anytime soon.

Do what you need to do.

[Caveat Emperor]

Originally Posted by Boston Red

Interesting. Generally once you get to second year, most people's thoughts of quitting have subsided unless their first year grades had pretty much guaranteed that they weren't going to be able to do what they had in mind when they went to law school. What was it that made you want to quit after getting through first year?

And I agree, there have been many times that I wished I had never decided that taking the LSAT would be a good idea.

I spent an entire year getting letters back from firms telling me that they weren't interested. Best I managed was a phone interview with Dinsmore in Cincinnati that led to nothing (not even a follow up letter telling me to shove off).

That kinda put a wet blanket over my career aspirations -- which, at the time, were to make as much money as possible in as short amount a time as possible.

[jojo]

Originally Posted by vaticanplum

If so, I'd like to hear your reasons and whether you ever regretted it. Just your stories in general.

Just, um, curious.

Whether you'd regret quitting depends upon why you're considering quitting.

[Yachtzee]

I quit grad school way back when. I signed up because I got a fellowship to live in Austria for a year. I had just gotten back from there and was itching to return, so I jumped on it. Spent my year there and two in Bowling Green, Ohio, trying to finish up a dual degree in German and Political Science. Got jammed up writing my thesis because I had to get approval from both the German and Political Science departments, each wanting to pull me in a different direction. I got fed up with the interoffice politics and knew I wasn't going to go on to be an academic anyway (which is what they geared you toward) and kicked off my career as a computer programmer and web designer.

Went to law school years later and stuck it out because I realized I really enjoyed working with the law. So look at your expected outcome and where you want to go with it. If I really wanted to continue on the track of becoming a teacher or university professor, I might have fought harder to finish my thesis and get my Masters. But really my heart just wasn't in it.

[vaticanplum]

Originally Posted by jojo

Whether you'd regret quitting depends upon why you're considering quitting.

In a word: jobs. I decided to get a terminal degree because I wanted to teach at the college level; grad school has confirmed that the ONLY thing I want to do with this degree is teach at the college level. Then I read stuff like this and kind of want to throw myself off a bridge. The jobs barely exist and are getting slashed even more every day.

I *like* school just fine, though I don't seem to be as enamored of it as a lot of my classmates, or rather, they seem more willing to completely give their entire lives over to it than I am. I absolutely love teaching. I think I am good at it. But I don't think I love it enough to take on random adjunct positions here and there, supplement it with jobs I don't care about, worry about insurance, not qualify for public service loan forgiveness (you need to be employed full-time by a non-profit), and worry about job security every six months. It just looks very bleak at this time and I don't know that the investment is worth it.

My program is only two years and I'm definitely finishing one year. I think it makes the most sense to stick it out, but I still wonder. I started this topic on a night when I was up half the night choreographing a movement piece to consonants in a Shakespeare monologue for my Saturday 9 am class. With a chest cold. Those don't tend to be my finest moments.

It's interesting to hear people's take on things...those of you who did quit, did you feel that the financial investment you had put in was a waste? It's also interesting to hear of Yachtzee not considering himself an academic and being pulled in directions he didn't want to be, which is something I deal with too.

[Reds4Life]

I was having a similar discussion with a friend of mine, and it doesn’t apply directly to your situation VP (different fields), but some of it is the same. The friend of mine is a division CFO with a tool company, who has a graduate degree, and I was asking him for advice, if I should pursue an MBA, specifically.

I figured he would say yes, without a doubt, so his advice startled me a little. He said in the current job market, he didn’t feel like it was worth the investment. Jobs that used to pay a premium for those with graduate degrees no longer do so. A $100k job a few years ago is now an $80k job, if you’re lucky. He said the only way he’d recommend it right now if you are employed, and your employer has a fairly substantial tuition reimbursement program. If you are paying 100% out of pocket, it’s probably not worth it right now. He also added it has the potential to scare off some employers, if you don't have enough practical expierence. They might look at your education level and figure that you're too expensive, and at the moment most companies aren't looking to add high dollar positions.

Again, I know you are in a non-business graduate program, so it might be different in your field. Still something to think about. It would suck to spend all that money, only find out it’s worthless to employers.

[RedsBaron]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

Thought about it at least once a week during my 2nd year of law school.

I thought about quitting Duke Law School often during my first year, and I am not sure I would have returned for a second year had not I so enjoyed clerking at a law firm the summer between my first and second year.
The other motives I had to stick it out were that I couldn't do all that much with just a A.B. in political science and I couldn't stand the idea of going back home feeling defeated and a failure if I quit.
I'm glad that I didn't quit, even though my law career has developed in ways that I didn't expect or intend when I started out.

[15fan]

Did I ever want to think about quitting grad school?

All the time. For both programs.

But I stuck them out. Now no one can ever take away my grad degrees from me, and they allow me to check a lot of boxes on applications that others can't.

Remember - things are cyclical. At some point, the Boomers will retire en masse. There's going to be a vacuum when they do. Jobs will appear. Funding will return for the arts. If you have the credentials and some experience under your belt when they do, you'll be in good shape.

Both grad programs I did blew me away with how completely consumed people let themselves get with the program. Keeping a healthy balance and some perpsective about things is the way to go. You'll stand a much better chance of keeping your sanity and living a fulfilling life if you can keep from having a stroke over whatever the daily drama (pun intended ) is in the department.

[Red in Chicago]

" I started this topic on a night when I was up half the night choreographing a movement piece to consonants in a Shakespeare monologue for my Saturday 9 am class"

No offense but If I were you, I'd opt for jumping off the bridge.

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by vaticanplum

In a word: jobs. I decided to get a terminal degree because I wanted to teach at the college level; grad school has confirmed that the ONLY thing I want to do with this degree is teach at the college level. Then I read stuff like this and kind of want to throw myself off a bridge. The jobs barely exist and are getting slashed even more every day.

I *like* school just fine, though I don't seem to be as enamored of it as a lot of my classmates, or rather, they seem more willing to completely give their entire lives over to it than I am. I absolutely love teaching. I think I am good at it. But I don't think I love it enough to take on random adjunct positions here and there, supplement it with jobs I don't care about, worry about insurance, not qualify for public service loan forgiveness (you need to be employed full-time by a non-profit), and worry about job security every six months. It just looks very bleak at this time and I don't know that the investment is worth it.

My program is only two years and I'm definitely finishing one year. I think it makes the most sense to stick it out, but I still wonder. I started this topic on a night when I was up half the night choreographing a movement piece to consonants in a Shakespeare monologue for my Saturday 9 am class. With a chest cold. Those don't tend to be my finest moments.

It's interesting to hear people's take on things...those of you who did quit, did you feel that the financial investment you had put in was a waste? It's also interesting to hear of Yachtzee not considering himself an academic and being pulled in directions he didn't want to be, which is something I deal with too.

Well, if you enjoy teaching, but don't necessarily want to be an "academic" and don't want to get stuck in the "adjunct teaching part-time at (insert local community college/ITT Tech) role," You could always consider teaching overseas. My brother and his wife both got masters degrees in education, tried finding jobs in various school districts here, but then decided to try teaching overseas, first in China, then Oman. They get their housing taken care of, premium pay and benefits, and end up with enough money to spend all their vacation time traveling.

[jredmo2]

Hopefully this doesn't take this thread off-topic, but the NYT just published this article about the current situation for law school grads:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/bu...me&ref=general

I realize you're not in law school, but a lot of those issues, I imagine, exist with any graduate degree (or perhaps even bachelor's degree). I don't think it's necessarily a revelation that students are over-optimistic about the career opportunities that their degrees will afford, and perhaps it is unfair to criticize colleges for a nation-wide employment problem. But a lot of the number-fudging and misinformation mentioned in the article is simply unethical.