Unfinished masters

[arste]

Hello everyone,

After reading your posts on and off for the past year, I finally feel brave enough to ask a question of my own. To make a long story short, I have been working for the past 6 years as a medical technologist at a large hospital. I have also spent the past two years taking (and now studying to retake) the MCAT, completing "recent coursework," getting an advisor, doing my homework on SDN, etc. all in preparation for my application. My big stumbling block, however, is how to deal with my unfinished master's degree. It was probably something I shouldn't have started in the first place. I was naive in thinking that it would help to earn me a spot in med school, plus the entire year was filled with problems (financial aid, family, etc.) I have finally decided (after 6 years!) that I will not let this loom over my head and future plans any longer, but now I am having trouble deciding how to move forward. My advisor thought I should contact the schools I am really interested in attending and get their thoughts on how I should proceed. I am concerned that this is the wrong time of year to contact admissions about this type of situation, but I also have to do something about this. Has anyone (or anyone you know) had a similar experience? Did you/they suck it up and finish the degree for the sake of finishing? I would have finished it off with a non-thesis route had it been available at the time. I would consider doing that now if it were possible and absolutely necessary for me to move forward. I'm 28 now, and so judging from this forum I have a little bit of time, but certainly not much. Thanks for listening!

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[DrMidlife]

Personally, I would leave it unfinished, submit the transcript and wait to be asked what happened. You've been working as a medical professional, and from my perspective, that level of employability (not to mention the level of microbiology understanding) says a great deal more than a masters degree.

A typical theme with us nontrads is stops & starts. You have to make a solid case that you're serious about med school; you're unlikely to be challenged on why you didn't thrive in the thing you're leaving to go to med school.

Best of luck toyou.

 

[Mobius1985]

Enough time has passed that non-completion of the masters degree is less of an issue. Your 6--year employment in one field demonstrates recent commitment to a decision your made. I think this is a good time to set up a phone appointment with Dean in a med school admissions department to ask your question, because they are not yet tied up with the interview process for the next year's admissions (but soon will be). They will ask you why you stopped making progress toward the degree, so have a good answer ready. Your Personal Statement on your AMCAS application should address this also.

 

[QofQuimica]

I don't think it's absolutely necessary. As long as you left while still in good academic standing, no one will probably care. But if you got some Cs or Fs in grad school, that will potentially be a problem, because you have to report those to AMCAS.

 

[DrJosephKim]

You may have the opportunity to complete it later (perhaps doing some online courses, etc.)

So, if the question comes up, you may explain that you have hopes to complete it (if that's something you hope to accomplish).

 

[thoffen]

So, if the question comes up, you may explain that you have hopes to complete it (if that's something you hope to accomplish).

Do NOT lie about it under any circumstances.

I didn't finish my master's program (look at my mdapps), and it certainly didn't keep me out of med school on my first application cycle. All I ever told anyone about it is that I did not feel like it was the right path for me, so I left to do other things. I had 2 years of committment to medicine and significant leadership and community activities before that. I don't think anyone questioned my dedication due to not finishing my graduate work. If they did, they never told me.