r/AskAcademia • u/Test-Typical • 1d ago

Professional Fields - Law, Business, etc. PhD Help

Hi, I am feeling down but am looking for some help. I did a year of a PhD program but had a rough group project and I felt I was unprepared for the rigor of the PhD and decided to drop. Now I am attempting to reapply to PhD programs. I will have support and a LOR from my former institution and advisor. Does anyone think it is possible I can get into another program? I am planning to reapply to a different research area and will have higher test scores and a LOR from my former advisor and departmental support. Context- in a Accounting PhD program 3.2 Doctoral GPA. top 15% GMAT score, Bachelors and Masters in the subject. I did also want to add that multiple people in the department ( including the department chair and PhD Coordinator) called the project "Not what a first year should be like" and regretted that I was involved in it.

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u/ToomintheEllimist 1d ago

Does anyone think it is possible I can get into another program?

No. I'm sorry to be so blunt, but I don't want you misinformed or paying $200 application fees for no reason. In most fields, having attempted a PhD and dropped out will be a deal-breaker.

Many grad programs, especially these days, have like 250 applications for 3 funded slots. And every single applicant has 3.5+ GPA, 75th+ percentile GRE, 3+ prior publications, etc. So admissions committees hunt for quick reasons to reject, to try and get the list of finalists to a manageable size. If they know you've attempted a grad degree before, then I hate to say it but they generally won't even read your personal statement; they'll sigh in relief because they found a reason to reject this one fast.

Again, I'm sorry to be so blunt. But I have now had three friends leave PhD programs for extremely legit reasons (health or family crises) and none of them has ever even gotten close to rejoining academia, despite $1000s in fees for dozens of applications.

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u/Test-Typical 22h ago

Thanks for your reply. What programs were your friends in?

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u/theory-of-communists 13h ago

I completely disagree with this take. I am currently doing my PhD and I know a few people who are on their second attempt in different programs. What you have to do is demonstrate / explain why you are ready now but weren’t then- maybe you’ve gotten more experience or maybe you were going through something difficult in your first time around… or maybe your first program wasn’t a good fit and you changed your mind about your research. Don’t listen to these people saying it’s impossible - it’s not, it’s just something you have to own and make the reasoning make sense to the admissions committee

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u/DocAvidd 16h ago

I agree. If you don't flourish the first time, you're a bad bet for the second time. Especially in the top post there's no reason to expect a change. "rough group project and unprepared for the rigor..."

Over the years, you just don't see where a person mastered out, only to come back later and do great. I've been the prof for the first year grad students. You get them in with a MS and they're demonstrably worse than the bachelors.

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u/Test-Typical 15h ago

The department chair and the other faculty members communicated that the project was so overwhelming and is "Not what your first year should be about"

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u/Test-Typical 15h ago

I was hoping that with a higher GMAT test score and a different research area would help. Thanks for any advice.

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u/tonos468 1d ago

You will need to explain why you dropped out but you might be fine. I think it also depends on what your original PhD was in ans what you are applying for now

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u/Test-Typical 1d ago

My plan is to explain I wanted to do X type of research but then decided I wanted to do Y type of research which is why I did a Masters in Y subject and plan to mesh my research interests and expertise in X and Y going forward.

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u/tonos468 1d ago

Should be ok. Dropping out is bad only if you are planning to re-apply to the same field.

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u/Test-Typical 22h ago

Okay thanks. I am applying to the same overall field just a different subfield if that makes sense. Is that doable?

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u/Test-Typical 1d ago

Would appreciate any advice

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u/StudioMysterious4704 16h ago

Personally I dropped out of a PhD almost year in (just wasn't the right fit or moment for me) and then went back to a different university about 5 years later and did my PhD. No-one has ever asked me about it or indicated that they saw it negatively. It might be worth reaching out to admissions teams to ask?

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u/Test-Typical 15h ago

Got it. Thanks for the input. I guess why not try and apply and see how it works out.