======= Date Modified 28 56 2009 06:56:02 =======
Hi, I am new to the forum, and I wanted to get feedback from other PhD students. I just finished my first semester in a History PhD program, I have an assistantship and I like my new school, but it seems like my major field adviser will be leaving at the end of this year. The university I attend is offering senior faculty members an impressive "buyout", and now I am going to have to chose someone new after all I went through to work with this particular professor. If he leaves, there will be no other Russian history professor, so I will have to switch to French or German history, and I have studied Russian language for years so I could do original research. I am panicking. I'm thinking about applying to Master of Information and Library Science programs for Fall 2010, instead of finishing my PhD program. I feel like a fool for considering such a major change in direction at this point. I've heard it is pretty much impossible to secure graduate funding at another university if you walk away from an assistantship, so I feel like finding another funded PhD program would be next to impossible if I decide to leave. Is it in bad taste to ask the same professors who wrote reference letters for my last round of applications to help me again? Is it okay to keep a possible change of venue a secret until I hear back from other universities this spring? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!