Some advice needed

[Bailo]

Basically, the last 1 1/2yr of my PhD has gone s****ly, nothing worked, wasted 3 months in the USA only for the tool we were using to turn out as poorly made, came home and had even more disasters with my bacteria not growing etc etc. To top this off, I'm not getting on with my supervisor one bit, we clash regularly and I hate her f***ing guts to be honest. She's a know-it-all, lying, two-faced power-tripper, which I've been able to stand for a year, then it got too much for me.

 

My current bit of work looks like it's going t*** up as well as some collaborators have f***ed me around as well, so I'm thinking: I have 10 months left before I have to write up and not much to write up. Do I quit now, write up as a Masters and enrol on the PGCE course I've got my eye on or do I stick it out?

 

Pros for staying: Get a PhD, make parents v happy, don't get the feeling I'm a failure, don't let all this s*** beat me

 

Pros for leaving: Gets me into teaching earlier without wasting another year, don't have to worry about writing up a patchy thesis, don't have the stress of my supervisor or regular 8am-10pm days plus weekends.

 

Really at a low point right now, tired, stressed and angry, but I've seen some decent advice given through here so thought I'd give it a go!

 

I'm 23 BTW.

[Guest Gaz_J]

Sounds like iot's getting on top of you there, fella.

 

As I understand it (my missus is doing her doctorate too atm) You don't neccessarily have to prove your original proposal to get a PhD. Just that you've tested a hypthesis and left a well-researched, methodical academic body of work in that field should be enough to prove your standard.

 

Too bad you're tool failed, but it's not the end of the road, it's just a heading for the chapter called: "American Engineering - it's s****e!"

 

Keep at it.

[anny road]

Basically, the last 1 1/2yr of my PhD has gone s****ly, nothing worked, wasted 3 months in the USA only for the tool we were using to turn out as poorly made, came home and had even more disasters with my bacteria not growing etc etc. To top this off, I'm not getting on with my supervisor one bit, we clash regularly and I hate her f***ing guts to be honest. She's a know-it-all, lying, two-faced power-tripper, which I've been able to stand for a year, then it got too much for me.

 

My current bit of work looks like it's going t*** up as well as some collaborators have f***ed me around as well, so I'm thinking: I have 10 months left before I have to write up and not much to write up. Do I quit now, write up as a Masters and enrol on the PGCE course I've got my eye on or do I stick it out?

 

Pros for staying: Get a PhD, make parents v happy, don't get the feeling I'm a failure, don't let all this s*** beat me

 

Pros for leaving: Gets me into teaching earlier without wasting another year, don't have to worry about writing up a patchy thesis, don't have the stress of my supervisor or regular 8am-10pm days plus weekends.

 

Really at a low point right now, tired, stressed and angry, but I've seen some decent advice given through here so thought I'd give it a go!

 

I'm 23 BTW.

 

do what you gotta do and f*** everyone else

 

it isnt like your a crack smickong rent boy is it?? (is it??)

 

Your parents will get over it and love you as much as ever

[Kahnee]

Where do you want to be at the end of the PHd? If it's teaching, then where's the harm in jacking it in and going straight to the PGCE?

 

Your parents will support you I'm sure and you'll get your life back

 

It really depends how important to you finishing the PHd is. Are you doing it for academic gain or personal satisfaction? And will not finishing it impact on your career?

[Earl Hafler]

Basically, the last 1 1/2yr of my PhD has gone s****ly, nothing worked, wasted 3 months in the USA only for the tool we were using to turn out as poorly made, came home and had even more disasters with my bacteria not growing etc etc. To top this off, I'm not getting on with my supervisor one bit, we clash regularly and I hate her f***ing guts to be honest. She's a know-it-all, lying, two-faced power-tripper, which I've been able to stand for a year, then it got too much for me.

 

My current bit of work looks like it's going t*** up as well as some collaborators have f***ed me around as well, so I'm thinking: I have 10 months left before I have to write up and not much to write up. Do I quit now, write up as a Masters and enrol on the PGCE course I've got my eye on or do I stick it out?

 

Pros for staying: Get a PhD, make parents v happy, don't get the feeling I'm a failure, don't let all this s*** beat me

 

Pros for leaving: Gets me into teaching earlier without wasting another year, don't have to worry about writing up a patchy thesis, don't have the stress of my supervisor or regular 8am-10pm days plus weekends.

 

Really at a low point right now, tired, stressed and angry, but I've seen some decent advice given through here so thought I'd give it a go!

 

I'm 23 BTW.

 

Firstly, do whatever you're doing for yourself. If it's for other people then it can lead to unhappiness further down the line.

 

My advice, although i'll warn you that i've never done a phd or gone through something similar, is that you seem to be passionate about it and therefore should stick it out. It's 10 months and you're only 23.

Fighting through this now and seeing it out to the finish should bode well for you in future. Ultimately you might think you've failed but the experience could lead to much greater successes.

 

Thomas Edison :

 

" Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do in the first place doesn't mean it's useless.... "

 

" Results? Why, man, I have gotten lots of results! If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is often a step forward.... "

 

" Many of life's failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up "

Edited February 16, 2006 by Big Stuff

[Dee]

SD: Everyone at some point of their phd goes thro this sort of thing. My advice would be to stick at it because in the end it is worth it.

i toyed with the same idea of writing up as a masters when it was all becoming too much, i think i was getting seriously depressed with it all. But you pull thro.

 

Many uni's want their lecturers to have phds so if you get into academia you'll probably end up doing one. I understand you are very young and perhaps the idea of a phd would be more appealing when you are older and can appreciate it more. In some ways I wish i was starting out doing my Phd again - I'd certainly make a better job of it, but those are the things you learn as you do. My phd took around 5 years as I put off doing the corrections for about a year while I took a job here in the UK. So you don't need to rush it - apart from the funding issue of course..

 

hang in there buddy...

[Benitez]

I like Anny Road's advice the best

[Jonesy]

I like Anny Road's advice the best

 

 

was it the crack smoking rent boy bit?

[oakie bob]

was it the crack smoking rent boy bit?

Jonesy i thought you taking a few months off from that job

[Rusty Shackleford]

Am I the only one that finds talk of a poorly made tool unnecessarily provocative.

 

[Guest Scot]

Get it done, get it complete. A PhD will open doors that a Masters will not, it will give you greater academic credibility and will give you the possibility of teaching at levels beyond high school; a PGCE will not.

 

As an aside, do not at this point eye teaching (high school) as the ideal future career. It's crap. Crap money, crap conditions, crap prospects and f*ck all chance of getting out of it into a different sector should you decide later that you'd like to.

 

Head down and plough on, SD. Nothing decent is easy.

[dave]

 

As an aside, do not at this point eye teaching (high school) as the ideal future career. It's crap. Crap money, crap conditions, crap prospects and f*ck all chance of getting out of it into a different sector should you decide later that you'd like to.

 

 

As I learnt to my cost

[Knox_Harrington]

I think with ten months to go you should have a good crack at it but work out regular times now when you will be able to enjoy yourself. Give yourself things to look forward to in the short, medium and long term and make sure you keep topping them up. If you can keep your morale up you'll get it done.

[Bailo]

Cheers all for the advice. I get pretty f***ed off with it a lot nowadays, but at the end, I just can't go through with leaving it. Also v tired from working falt out to get stuff done by next Tuesday, things not working and it's getting tight. I like Big Stuff's quotes from Thomas Edison though!

 

Anny Rd: Not yet, money is ok. If it gets tight though, the rent boy thing....well....y'know........make me an offer.

 

Scot: Can you elaborate on why teaching is so crap? It's what I'm currently thinking of post-PhD, secondary school science. I just get on with kids (god, I feel old now) and enjoy their company and I'd like to make a difference within a place that everyone has given up on, hence why I'm also looking at the TeachFirst programme (Teach America in the US?) which plunges you straight into school after just 6 weeks of training! And as far as I see it, teaching in the UK at the moment isn't too bad money-wise. Obviously it's not investment banking, but I'm a simple Superdjibril and have a few, cheap interests!

 

Knox: Part of the problem I have with my supervisor is I requested a month ago 2 weeks (9 working days off actually) in May/June to go to Thailand with my mates, which she declined saying I had too much work to get done and she wants me to only take 1 week off at a time max to use up my theoretical 25 days. Pissed me right off as the other 3rd Yr PhD student in our lab was encouraged by her to extend his stay at a conference in Orlando to have a mini-holiday with his lass. My lass tells me I should complain to higher ups, but I have to work under this woman for another 10months and will want references as well from her.

[Guest Kev]

What's a PhD ?

[Bailo]

What's a PhD ?

 

Y'know, 10 months left and I'm not sure.......

[Knox_Harrington]

Knox: Part of the problem I have with my supervisor is I requested a month ago 2 weeks (9 working days off actually) in May/June to go to Thailand with my mates, which she declined saying I had too much work to get done and she wants me to only take 1 week off at a time max to use up my theoretical 25 days. Pissed me right off as the other 3rd Yr PhD student in our lab was encouraged by her to extend his stay at a conference in Orlando to have a mini-holiday with his lass. My lass tells me I should complain to higher ups, but I have to work under this woman for another 10months and will want references as well from her.

Couple of things. Would it be worth sitting back down with her and planning exactly what you'll do before this holiday and why you should go on this break? If she's being a c*** fair enough but...

 

...she might be doing you a favour in all seriousness. A few small breaks of one week each rather than a massive one could work better at getting you through the stress of it. Maybe try and grab ten days somewhere hot and relax and look after yourself, do a city break abroad (a week in Dublin cures ALL ills) and a week in the country in the height of summer here would be well worth it. Maybe even Paris in May! Gives you more to look forward to than splashing out on one f*** off break.

[Guest Kev]

 

Y'know, 10 months left and I'm not sure.......

 

f***ing hell, that must cost a lot in cream. Use a condom next time you f***wit

[Bailo]

Couple of things. Would it be worth sitting back down with her and planning exactly what you'll do before this holiday and why you should go on this break? If she's being a c*** fair enough but...

 

...she might be doing you a favour in all seriousness. A few small breaks of one week each rather than a massive one could work better at getting you through the stress of it. Maybe try and grab ten days somewhere hot and relax and look after yourself, do a city break abroad (a week in Dublin cures ALL ills) and a week in the country in the height of summer here would be well worth it. Maybe even Paris in May! Gives you more to look forward to than splashing out on one f*** off break.

I can kind of see her point, as I;ve said, nothing much has worked for me and as such, I need to make up time. BUT she's not said I can't have my allocation, just that I can't have it (25days + bank hols + uni closed days) in a two week block. Which is crazy, as seeing as my field is bacteria, which take a day or two to grow, it's better to have a long holiday at the end of a bit of work than to keep tkaing little bits off here and there - much more disrupting to the flow of work.

 

Honestly, she's just being a c*** as we don't get on, a micro-managing mentalist who gets off by bossing a lab, mainly full of men, around. T'other day, when she wanted me to make a trip down to Cambridge and I said I couldn't drive (G/f needs car) she actually told me that I shouldn't have bought a new car, instead should have bought "two old bangers for the same price as that new car" and "this is the problem of families working with only one car". Nevermind she's f***ing lucky I'm a PhD student who can afford a car, otherwise she'd have to hire one.

[Shadow Moon]

Definitely empathize with you here. I am on the Grad Student Advisory Committee over here at UIUC. We meet with the higher ups to talk about various issues once every two months. Next week we're helping hold a graduate school symposium, which includes discussions on student-advisor relations.

 

Your situation is very similar to some of the example scenarios that we will be discussing. http://webtools.uiuc.edu/calendar/Calendar...7&eventId=18262

[fyds]

It's just rubbish. You'll earn about 30k a year if you're lucky and you'll be ground down into a burned out, miserable t*** within 5 years. It's NOT a career you should stumble into because you're not sure what else you fancy, but it's what many do. If you're generally passionate about it then okay, but you don't sound it. To be blunt, with your level of education you should be aiming higher. Unless you're really dead-set on doing research all the time a university career isn't right either. The money's crap there too for academic staff unless you're a research star. Then it's simply bad. You're in danger of falling prey to premature low expectations of yourself. It's a British disease, I'm slightly surprised to hear you given your time over here.

 

On your supervisor, she's bang on the button and doing exactly what she should. You're lucky to have an engaged, active supervisor instead of the usual cn*ts who take the stipend and do f*ck all. There's a world of difference between extending a stay overseas over a conference and going to BKK on the razz. You know there is. No doubt if you were attending a seminar at Chulalongkorn U and wanted to stay on afterwards she'd be all for it. If you're going to contact 'higher-ups' then it should be to thank her for keeping your eyes on the job at hand and helping you focus.

 

You can do whatever the f*ck you want in life, plan for the next 40 years not the next 18 months. If you quit the PhD and go into high-school teaching you are there for life, pal. No escape into a decent career, at least not easily. Should you finish the PhD then you may never actually use it, but you will have achieved a higher level of learning that WILL be useful should you ever go for a job in i-banking.

 

Back yourself to do well at this and then take the next step. When you started you wanted a PhD, not a Masters. Get the PhD then consider your options. I guarantee you this: you'll have more of them.

 

 

Excellent post on all counts and saved me the trouble! The only thing I'd add is in my opinion, you should never have been doing a PhD at this stage unless you are a full blown wunderkind. Get your head down and get on with it - then look at your options.