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I've watched some attrition in my own grad program, and I totally agree that you should stick with it until they literally throw you out. I have a classmate who continually struggles along the 2.7-3.0 range, which is just enough to stay in the program. Every quarter she freaks out at the prospect of "this being the quarter she gets sent home," but every quarter she pulls it off and, one year+ is still in the program (world ranked, btw) with everyone else. I've seen other classmates freak out over 1 or two bad grades, and completely drop the program as a result. That seems very short sighted to me. It always takes a while to acclimate, and the first quarter of grad school was hell for me. It got better. You can do it.
What you really have to do, and this is tremendously difficult given the quality of students in these programs, is not worry about how you rank with everyone else, or what people may be thinking of you. Passing in grad school is still passing. You've done the competition thing to get there, now just do what you can to get through it.
I recall my first quarter at a prestigious school in chemistry. I earned a D. I was working my tail off, but just overwhelmed with everything. Next quarter I earned an A. You could well get traction. Quitting now would be premature.
If I were you, I would find out what classes you will take next year, and buy all the books. Also, see if you can get the syllabus from the profs. Preview each class over the winter break. Yes, it will cut into vacation time, but it could mean the difference between being an MS and a BS, and that will likely have real consequences over your working career.
In my experience, grad school grading is a lot more lenient than undergrad.
It took me almost ten years to go back for my Masters and when I did, I almost had a 4.0 at the end.
Granted, it was in the semi-humanities, but the teachers basically said to us...
We give you an A and then you have to work your way down to a B or C.
In undergrad, it's more like they give you a B- and you work your way up or down.
In other words, there's not much of a curve in Grad School, so as long as you apply yourself and feel like you can handle the material, you should be OK.
In my experience, grad school grading is a lot more lenient than undergrad.
It took me almost ten years to go back for my Masters and when I did, I almost had a 4.0 at the end.
Granted, it was in the semi-humanities, but the teachers basically said to us...
We give you an A and then you have to work your way down to a B or C.
In undergrad, it's more like they give you a B- and you work your way up or down.
In other words, there's not much of a curve in Grad School, so as long as you apply yourself and feel like you can handle the material, you should be OK.
Wow. LOL!
Totally the opposite in my experience in grad school in engineering. Many of the courses are offered to undergrads too, so they have to keep pounding the books. And in reality, in engineering, if you're not interested in the more advanced subject matter enough to work hard, you shouldn't be in grad school.
That said the grading system is a tiny bit more lenient. A started at 85% for most classes. And I had one course where the prof said "Normally I grade on a curve, but you all did so well, I can't fail anyone who gets above 70% and somehow got at the bottom of the class." So he gave that one guy a C and everyone else A's and B's.
And some classes I took had less than 10 students in them (these were the PhD level courses). Those always had tough subject matter, but the prof usually was a little more lenient because it was sometimes at the cutting edge of research, or newly discovered methods.
I have a 3.85 going into my final semester. IMHO, all grad students should be like that.
Do you really want to obtain a Masters? Do you think it will help you at this point in your life? Are you comfortable with the debt load you will obtain (if any)?
I tried a Master's program and hated it. It was not for me. Now I'm in a Accounting Certificate program which is much more better for me.
Only you know what's right for you. What does your gut say?
It's only been one semester. If you can not get it above 3.0 next semester, you would get suspended. So, I say try it one more semester. If you get suspended you would have to re-apply, so you could just drop out that way. 1 year is maybe still something you could put on your resume? especially since you didn't fail the classes. It's "just" not a 3.0+. You DO learn quite a bit in one year in a graduate program. Unless you have to fund it 100% yourself. But maybe you do get some grants etc. that would justify trying it one more semester.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eskercurve
Getting a C in grad school is failing. You know this. Grad students are held to a higher standard. You are the creme de la creme, the very top and the only people above you are the apex of scholarly society. You having a master's degree opens more doors and makes you an expert in something with a very broad and more deep base of knowledge from which to draw.
Ok, that's a little ridiculous. It's just a master's degree. Don't put the cart ahead of the horse. Until recently, most E.U. countries didn't even have a Bachelor's degree. You only had the 5 year option.
1) Prioritize. School comes first. This semester I took two classes, and with a full time job, that was almost a killer for me. But I ended up writing a killer project which the prof would like to see published (working on it) and is basically going to give me an A. The other class my prof enjoyed me and said that instead of him releasing the last homework solution, he selected mine as the solution set.
Yeah, what I said above..lol
Last edited by Glucorious; 12-25-2011 at 11:18 AM..
Sounds like poor planning and excuses. As you now know, grad school is not anything like undergrad. You know what lies ahead. If you are determined, you can do it. If you are going to half-ass it, expect failure.
I couldn't have said this better myself. Undergrad is a walk in the park compared to grad school, you CAN half-ass it in undergrad and still manage to get a B (depending on the class) but in grad school its do or die, you have to really "bring it" as they would say. Stop with the excuses, learn how to manage your time; you are paying for it so you might as well put the EFFORT in it. I have witnessed my supervisor go to graduate school to obtain her MS/PhD(dual degree) in Cancer Research FULL TIME while still working 50-60 hours a week. It's called hard work and dedication, I cant tell you whether you should drop out, but IMHO you either want it or you don't.
Last edited by thompsons211; 12-30-2011 at 05:41 PM..
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When I dropped out of grad school I had a 4.0 and was just the thesis short of the degree. I reached a point where I realized the work I was training for was not what I wanted to do when I started doing it (without pay). I was able to use the undergraduate degree to get a decent entry level job and work my way up in an organization to management over a period of about
12 years and at that point was making what I could have gotten after 2-3 with the Masters in that field, but no regrets.
Most graduate school grade problems are from either an undergraduate program that was too easy and didn't really prepare you, or lack of passion for that field. If you know the material that got you in, grad school is hard but you want to study and work hard because your goal is within reach.
Sounds like poor planning and excuses. As you now know, grad school is not anything like undergrad. You know what lies ahead. If you are determined, you can do it. If you are going to half-ass it, expect failure.
poor planning, Yes, sounds like it.
Excuses, maybe, but he's taking responsibility for them. things just didn't work out the way he thought...
grad school is "not anything" like undergrad. FALSE.
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