Hi everyone,

I had high hopes when I came into my program. I aspired to a Ph.D. program, and now I am fearing I should be dropping out of my MA program. My supervisor has three MA students, is teaching, will be the chair of her department next year, while also conducting her own research and writing a book. This means we cannot meet and can only communicate through email, posing challenges.

I wish I had known this going into the relationship because I feel I need more support than a monthly email. However this is what I have, and I do need this relationship. I have submitted two drafts of my proposal which were subsequently due in its entirety during my coursework because of her timeline. I've also had a cancer diagnosis during this as well, which she is aware and the timeline has not changed, regardless. All that has changed was I was awarded a three days extension when I had doctor's appointments.

I'm feeling beaten down and the feedback I recently received she actually changed the title of my thesis.....which I feel is inappropriate, as it is a working title. In addition, I was compared to another one of her thesis students, who got to defense stage quicker than me, without the health issues, and to be honest we are at different life stages. She was straight out of high school to undergrad to masters. I took 10 years off to work, then proceeded to an undergrad then into this master's degree. So our writing skills are significantly different to reflect our journey. However, it is coming across as though my writing is inadequate. Furthermore, my draft was due, as I said, during my coursework and while I was marking/grading 50-10-12 page assignments for my supervisor, that had a 1 week turn around.

I'm feeling as though I just do not measure up to not only her expectations but the grad school expectations and am getting ready to drop out. Can someone offer some advice?