Come Back to SU?

[LAOrange]

Having been in a masters and then PhD program I can sympathize. I actually approached SU about transferring out of my grad school b/c I felt, like you, that there were problems with the program that precluded my success. SU would have taken me back but I am glad I stuck with things (even though my grad school experience never did improve and I left w/only a small portion of my dissertation completed.)

There are schools that hire their own, UNC Chapel Hill is one, but these are very few and far between. Unless UMass or Syracuse does this for you I think the most valuable thing for you are advisers who are willing to help you find a job after grad school.

I have heard people scoff at those who earned all their degrees at one institution but none of that matters if you prove you can do the work and your work is needed/relevant.

Out in the real world, if it's not Ivy or industry specific (like SU for broadcasting) no one pays attention. You have to look at what you want to achieve. If your ultimate ambition is to teach at the college level, you know that academics are number one on the "Top Ten List of People Who Will Judge Your Degree." My suggestion is to look at a well-known school with a program that will allow you to blaze through. University of Michigan is a great choice.

 

[bballbeadle]

That's the question that I've struggled with since I got here in August. This program at UMass was great ten years ago, but all of the faculty have since reached retirement age and moved on, leaving a place in transition for a number of years.

To answer your question about what is best for me, in a vacuum, is going back to SU. I was there for 6 years and made it into a home. However, I'm nervous about how I will be perceived in academic circles if I go back and get ALL my degrees from SU.

Hubby got MD/Ph.D at Duke, path residency for 4 years and assistant prof. for 3 years. I don't think anyone has held that against him!

They say you can't go home again, but I believe you can!

 

[texascpa]

I would love to get my Master's at SU, but they don't offer a distance degree. I just want to be an alum like the rest of you.

 

[CuseTroop]

PHD, in Alaska. Let's go

 

[OrangeFair44]

Unless UMass or Syracuse does this for you I think the most valuable thing for you are advisers who are willing to help you find a job after grad school.

This. I've pursued doctorate myself but not a phd. My special lady has and hated it, was miserable and would not do it over again at the same school if she had the chance. She finished but most of the people in her class didn't. Reason being the advisors were terrible, too busy and hyper critical. I can't stress enough how important a great advisor can be.

Anyway, lots of great advice on here. Do what makes you happy, even if it's not easy.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Out in the real world, if it's not Ivy or industry specific (like SU for broadcasting) no one pays attention.

But it's a PhD. With all due respect to those who have them: he's not going out into the real world. He'll be in academia and those people care about this sort of stuff. A lot.

But on the flip side: if he did go out into the real world where troglodytes like me do the hiring, he'd face the concern of appearing to be scared of leaving the nest. Resume would lead one to add 1 + 1 and get 3: bachelors at SU, masters at SU, left and started PhD away from SU but then ran back home after a year. Now I'm not sure I want to hire this guy if he's applying for a job outside of CNY.

 

[RICuse44]

Go to whichever place has the best mentors. This will pave the way for future jobs. In academia it's all about connections which can be both good and bad.

 

[PeteCalvin]

#1

#2 - come back. I have never left

#3 - UMass

 

[LAOrange]

But it's a PhD. With all due respect to those who have them: he's not going out into the real world. He'll be in academia and those people care about this sort of stuff. A lot.

But on the flip side: if he did go out into the real world where troglodytes like me do the hiring, he'd face the concern of appearing to be scared of leaving the nest. Resume would lead one to add 1 + 1 and get 3: bachelors at SU, masters at SU, left and started PhD away from SU but then ran back home after a year. Now I'm not sure I want to hire this guy if he's applying for a job outside of CNY.

That was exactly my point. Academics care about this stuff. He should go to another well known school - read, not Syracuse.

 

[OttosBestFriend]

I think you already know the answer.

Good luck to you.

Shouldn't your answer have been, "I think you already know the answer, young grasshopper." ?

 

[CaptainJ]

Shouldn't your answer have been, "I think you already know the answer, young grasshopper." ?

 

[HakAttack]

Good news...I've been re-admitted back to SU for my PhD. Now I just need to find funding to make the $$ work.

Plus, the fiancee and I are more likely to settle down and buy a house in Syracuse, where houses can be had for $50-60K than in Western Mass, where we're paying $1500 a month just for rent.

Absurd. As I said, $1500 in Syracuse buys you 2 months worth of mortgage payments. Standard of living here is way to0 high.

Starting to make the transition back to the Cuse. If anyone has any connections re: jobs on the Hill, please shoot a PM my way.

 

[orangetrojan]

But it's a PhD. With all due respect to those who have them: he's not going out into the real world. He'll be in academia and those people care about this sort of stuff. A lot.

But on the flip side: if he did go out into the real world where troglodytes like me do the hiring, he'd face the concern of appearing to be scared of leaving the nest. Resume would lead one to add 1 + 1 and get 3: bachelors at SU, masters at SU, left and started PhD away from SU but then ran back home after a year. Now I'm not sure I want to hire this guy if he's applying for a job outside of CNY.

It sounds like if he can help it he won't leave cny. On a tangent, you recruiters are impossible to please, all I ever hear is how potential employers will view me as just going wherever the wind blows. In the past 5 years I've lived in 4 different places (3 different countries) and I'm on career path #3. Now it's even bad if you hang around one place too long??