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Transferring to a PhD program in the US after 5 years to escape from harassment?

In our January “how can we help you?” thread, a reader writes:

I am currently a PhD student in my home country (a small country in Asia) and have been enrolled for five years. Unfortunately, my academic environment has been deeply problematic, including repeated incidents of sexual harassment. Most recently, a professor directly propositioned me and suggested that I become romantically involved with him despite being married. Given the power imbalance and the broader pattern of misconduct, I no longer feel safe continuing in the programme.

I am therefore considering withdrawing and applying to PhD programmes in the United States to start over. However, I worry that admissions committees may see me as too senior or too advanced, especially compared to younger applicants who are applying straight from undergraduate or master’s programmes.

Given this situation, do I still have a realistic chance of being admitted to a U.S. PhD programme?

I am so sorry that the OP is going through this. I would hope another program would welcome them, but I haven’t worked in a department with a graduate program in nearly 20 years and have no experience with the kind of situation the OP is facing–so unfortunately, I do not feel well-positioned to provide any good answer(s).

Do any readers have any helpful insights to share?

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8 responses to “Transferring to a PhD program in the US after 5 years to escape from harassment?”

  1. Anonymous

    Unfortunately in my experience, it does count against the candidate a bit when they are transferring from another Phd program. OP’s case (where they are almost finishing the program) would be directly ruled out by our committee. But I hope different departments have different policies.

    Reply
    1. Anonymous

      That’s honestly quite discouraging to hear:(

      May I ask which university you are referring to? It would help me better understand how different departments approach this issue.

      Actually, I have already applied this cycle and am currently waiting for results. So far, I have received five rejections, and there are still many decisions pending. Hearing this makes me quite worried. I hope that my applications are at least being fully reviewed rather than ruled out automatically.

      Reply
  2. Anonymous

    First, I’m extremely sorry that OP has been subject to such appalling treatment.

    I can’t speak to graduate admission decisions. However, I do wonder why the OP is aiming for US programs specifically? Given the deteriorating political situation, this seems like quite a bad time to try to immigrate to the US. In addition, US programs generally take 6+ years – if you’ve already been 5 years in a PhD program, would you really want to potentially start over with a program of that length, and have to redo a bunch of coursework? I’m guessing it’s very unlikely that a US program could admit you with ABD status, though I’d ask about this. I knew some people who transferred between US programs in year 2-3 (their advisor moved) and they had trouble getting any of their coursework credit transferred.

    If I were in the OP’s position I might instead look into doing an English-language doctorate somewhere in Europe. Generally these positions are research only and around 3 years so you won’t lose as much time. The disadvantage (depending on one’s perspective) is that you’ll likely have to apply to work for a specific project meaning less freedom to choose your research topic.

    I know little about Australian programs but that would also be a place to look and would also be geographically closer to OP, if that’s a consideration. If you are set on North America then maybe try Canada instead, you’ll get a similar experience with hopefully less visa trouble.

    Reply
    1. Anonymous

      The main reason I’m focusing on North America is financial. Many programs there offer full tuition waivers and provide a living stipend. In contrast, many European programs would be too expensive for me to afford…

      Reply
      1. Anonymous

        This might be worth investigating further, since on my understanding many European countries (not the UK) charge little to no tuition. In addition, doctoral researchers are typically treated as normal research employees with regular benefits (you would be part of the national health scheme, social insurance scheme, etc.). In contrast, in the US doctoral researchers are treated as students with very high nominal tuition fees and highly variable offers in terms of pay and available insurances, which IME often results in various financial or tax complications. Also I’d recommend keeping cost of living differences in mind. Central and southwestern US have a lower cost of living compared to the rest of NA, but are also often considered less desirable places to live. Much of Canada, west cost US and NYC area have an extremely high cost of living, which tends to eat though higher salaries. Central Europe has a much lower cost of living than most of NA, so on a PhD student salary one is probably better off in Central Europe, financially speaking. Scandinavia is more expensive by European standards but not as bad as much of NA, and with a very high standard of living. Also consider issues like whether there is public transit and costs of travel. Flying internationally within Europe is generally cheaper than flying domestically within the US, for instance.

  3. Anonymous

    I have not served on the admission committee. But I know that several people completed PhDs in philosophy after they already got PhDs in their home country (also in philosophy, also from an Asian country). So, I would say that it is at least not that rare.

    Reply
  4. Anonymous

    I’m also from a small country in Asia. I received an offer and a scholarship two years into my original PhD program. But I got into my original PhD program with the intention of using it as a jumping board in the first place, and everyone from my original PhD program knew and encouraged this kind of behaviour. (This was rather common among my cohort.) So best of luck.

    Reply
    1. Anonymous

      This is really interesting. Any more info you can share? Even the graduate programme itself supported using it as a springboard for other PhDs?

      Reply

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