Dear All,

I have a question for you. I am a former PhD student in Film Studies. I had to withdraw from my program because I fell ill. I am healthy now and I earned a BA in Psychology after leaving the US and coming back home (Italy). Now I want to re-apply for a doctoral program in Film Studies. But it feels almost impossible, given that I have been rejected three times since I recovered.

Therefore, my question is: is there a second chance in academia for students who failed once? How do scholars consider a student with a similar experience? Once a student's reputation is linked to failure, is there a way to break that link?

I really want to earn my PhD and I am not giving up, but I am also aging (I am 42) and I feel that I am running out of time. I believe many students are in my position and do not know what to do.

Thank you for any response.

Could you fund it yourself? Maybe part time? That would greatly increase your chances.

Unfortunately no. :(

Why do you say you 'failed' when you had to withdraw for health reasons? That isn't failing. I would suggest you get support/guidance in making your new applications as it may be that the way you are presenting your story is counting against you. For example, you will need to explain why you changed from film studies to psychology but now want to do film studies again. Will you be bringing your knowledge of psychology into your film studies topic?

I left a PhD programme for various reasons many years ago, then retrained via being a research assistant and doing an MSc. I was then accepted into a second PhD programme which I successfully completed. So it can be done, but you need to be able to explain a logical narrative to it.

As a general note, I would never advise anyone to do a full time unfunded PhD unless there were zero financial/career related risks to them.