Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 47 posts

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

#1

Post by throwaway2439 »

I am eager to quit but I feel like I might need to be on good relations with him, otherwise, he won't leave a good word in for me for anyone who contacts him as a reference. I don't have many references because, I'm in graduate school. Let's just say quitting in anyway would not be good for our relationship given his personality.

I could suck it up for three more years (granted I graduate in three, he's not the best at science or getting us funding, he's mostly a politician) and it's too late to switch groups without wasting an additional 3 years. Sticking with it seems like my best option right now, unless I am wrong and I do have other options.

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

#2

Post by ColinWright »

Added in edit: Assuming it's not possible to change 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.

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

#3

Post by JSeymourATL »

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

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'.

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

#4

Post by noahtovares »

I was recently in this position, chose to leave my program, and did my best to leave on good terms. Ultimately the relationship with my advisor soured.

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.

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

#6

Post by jib »

3 years of anything is not worth a reference. Doesn't matter what.

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.

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

#8

Post by dexwiz »

JSeymourATL wrote: post #3

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

To add to that, many professionals will not get a recommendation beyond, "Yes, they worked here." And many recruiters do not look for anything beyond that. There are a whole host of reasons to not give out positive or negative reviews. Most of them related to potential legal issues. Also a neutral review can often be interpreted as a polite negative review if a positive review was given in the past from the same reference about a different person.

This article has more details:

http://www.inc.com/suzanne-lucas/your-former-employees-want-...

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

#9

Post by quantumhobbit »

Is graduating in 3 years garunteed? I was in a similar position, advisor pretty much checked out which would have made graduating nearly impossible.

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.

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

#10

Post by giardini »

If this is for a Ph.D. you likely should leave for other reasons. To understand why I say this, navigate to

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

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

Examine the graph at the bottom of that page.

Post reply on HN