Ask HN: Should I quit graduate school to avoid a bad advisor?

You have to make a decision: Quit, or take control of your own education and finish.

You will need your supervisor to deal with the administrative aspects of your degree, so you can't avoid him entirely. However, you can limit your contact with him to that role alone. However, you will need someone to supervise your academic requirements.

So you need to find someone with whom you can talk about your work, and possibly with whom you can collaborate. A supervisor suggests problems to work on, suggests material to read and understand, monitors that you're working hard enough, checks on your progress, and if your progress isn't adequate, suggests modifications to the current schedule/scheme of work.

You will need to do almost all of that yourself, or find someone else to collaborate with to accomplish those academic aspects. But it can be done, and if you succeed it becomes a major, major accomplishment on your CV.

But you really need to take control.

Or quit.

You don't need the bad advisor, move on. References are completely over-rated. Still, companies ask for references as some sort of social proof. Curate an alternate list of 3-5 individuals, (old supervisors, employers, senior colleagues, club officers, etc...) these are people who can vouch for you and the quality of your work.

If some one asks specifically for your advisor contact, be candid-- 'we didn't have much of a relationship and don't think he is best placed to comment on my abilities'.

I believe the most important question to ask is whether you will be happy for the next 3 or more years continuing to work under your advisor. You should be fine without a letter of rec. from your advisor.

You should figure out what is best for you, and do that. Without being you, I think it will be hard for people to give any advice other than don't worry about recommendations/perceptions. This isn't about that guy, it's about what you want to do.

Whether that is asking for a transfer, work on your relationship with the guy, stopping altogether or not, that's something you'll have to figure out, but it is about you, not about your adviser.

-- Prof. Rick

I managed ok after quitting, I found a job which didn't go after references too aggressively.

I don't know what to say other than good luck.

"Career Guide for Engineers and Computer Scientists" by Philip Greenspun

http://philip.greenspun.com/careers/

Examine the graph at the bottom of that page.

My best piece of advice is to decide what you want (not what you believe others want of you) and then explain you've made your decision to your advisor in a way that is final, but also authentic and showing compassion for your understanding of their situation.

In addition to HN as an advice/support group, consider looking around within your department and peer group. Chatting with other professors may yield useful insights (and provide a back-channel communique to your advisor). It's fine to continue working (and doing good work) for your advisor while you aggressively network for other options.

As I tell every student I work with in Physics; do it for love. If you don't love it, other things are probably more worth your time.

The larger question is whether you need a PhD to do what you want in the world. But don't get too down on academia because of one bad advisor. (There are many better reasons!)

Edit: To your political question, my old boss and I don't talk by design. I've found much better supporters since then, and some bridges should be burned. Your boss may seem like your whole world right now, but that's mostly Stockholm syndrome talking. There are many supportive people -- you just have to ask around.

Decide what is right for you, be authentic, regardless of your advisor.

I would be very hesitant to assume you will be 'out in three'. Unless you are actively discussing graduation, 3 years might as well be \infty, in graduate school-land.

It might be that you don't need a new advisor as much as a mentor or co-advisor from your department. That might be an easier solution politically.

Universities deal with lots of problems all the time. Figure out who the right person is to reach out to and seek them out.

You seem to be at a point that is just about halfway. Can you master out? (you can likely apply to a different program with a masters if you really want the PhD.) You also mention that he is bad at science and funding, but good a politicing. So unless you want to be a raging socialite, it does not seem he has much to offer you.

If you do stick with it -- network heavily! This was my biggest mistake, and seems to have put a real damper on any future prospects. My other mistake was believing that STEM shortage garbage, so make sure that the degree has some actual value. Otherwise you may find yourself teaching yourself programming and looking at job threads on HN.

Good luck!

In short: probably.

Question this assumption.

There's something that you might not be aware of: you are a valuable resource to your advisor. The Ph.D. students he graduates go on his CV. Somewhere out there is an associate professor for whom graduating an additional student could be the difference between getting tenure and not. Find that person and negotiate a better situation for yourself.

Try to distance yourself a little to get perspective. Even from a one week vacation, a month in a collaborator's lab, anything to try to remove yourself and then re-evaluate. Your advisory committee can also help, once you articulate that you're considering leaving.

There are almost certainly resources in your Department to support you and help you with your decision. You should explore them.

You should also understand that you can ask for letters from other people in your department, in particular from your thesis committee. While it is not ideal, it is not unheard of for students to provide letters that do not include their advisor. The more you interact with other faculty, the better in your situation.

There is a point where your advisor will look at you as a failure and give up on their responsibility of tutelage. Most of the time, this is not the students fault (assuming that you are hardworking and proposing your own ideas). Most likely, the advisor is putting undo burden upon you (does he have a history of pushing out students?). Saying that you have 3 years left is not true, since the advisor can hold you in servitude much longer with little recourse.

> I don't have many references because, I'm in graduate school.

That's not a valid reason. Networking takes work, and you should start now. I can't stress that enough.

> he won't leave a good word in for me for anyone who contacts him as a reference

If he's as bad as you say, his reference might not carry a lot of weight anyway. If you're set on pursuing an academic career, moving to a professor who does good science and has a good reputation might be worth another couple years in the long run.

> it's too late to switch groups without wasting an additional 3 years

In my experience, this isn't necessarily true. You may find an advisor who won't completely ignore the work you've already done (unless you have nothing to show for the last three years). Some people here advise you to meet with other professors and "explain the situation." Be extremely careful how you explain the situation, and don't disparage your current advisor.

I have watched enough graduate students "stick with it" non-enthusiastically and it doesn't usually work out well. I hate to be black-and-white, and I don't think it's as black-and-white as I'm about to put it, but either you love the work and nothing can keep you from it (or something close to that), or you should leave the PhD program (and there's nothing wrong with that!). I think PhDs do not really made to reward folks who don't fully enjoy the work they are doing, because often the post-graduation prospects are "pay a big price to keep doing your research" or "do something else".

Granted, I don't know much of your situation, so take the advice for what it's worth, but I hope that what I've written here is helpful.