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Transferring from a foreign to a North American PhD program as an advanced student

Brian Leiter

A student in a PhD program in Europe, who has completed a BA (three years) and MA (two years), and is now in the third year of a PhD program and in his/her mid-20s writes:

Being dissatisfied with my program, I am looking for ways to transfer my Ph.D. abroad or even to start a new one and I am planning to apply for some Ph.D. programs in the US as well.  I am aware that my choice is not going to be looked on favorably by everyone and, from what I heard, some American universities would consider me too "academically old", so to say (I am already in my third year of Ph.D.).

Therefore, I would like to know whether you and your blog readers think this issue is going to be considered as a real drawback in my application and whether there are any universities where this is not going to be a problem instead.

Thoughts from readers, including students who may have made a similar transition from a European PhD program to a US PhD program?

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6 responses to “Transferring from a foreign to a North American PhD program as an advanced student”

  1. Uygar Abaci

    As someone who did pretty much exactly what you are planning to do, I can say that your academic age might be an issue of consideration in some (but thankfully not all) cases. I know that at least two programs rejected my application on the ground that I was too advanced to start afresh. But on the bright side, I got offers from three ranked programs and one of them was my top choice. I also know that a few other people did the same successfully, so this is not unheard of. I think the key is to make a good case in your statement of purpose explaining why you want to make this transition.

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  2. Annon grad

    is mid20s too academically old??

    BL COMMENT: I would not think so.

    Reply
  3. Anonymous Grad Student

    I transferred PhD programs after my third year in one, and having had a non-academic career prior to the first PhD. I ended up in a (very good) philosophy department which multiple people told me not to bother applying to because they were under the impression that my current department only wanted young people straight out of undergrad who they could "mold in their image". A minority of people in my cohort fits that description. I would encourage people in this position to apply to the places they think they would be a good fit for and see what happens, and not to worry too much about being too academically old.

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  4. Just another grad student

    I wonder if too "academically old" refers to the length of time the applicant has been previously involved in a Ph.D program, rather than their physical age.

    BL COMMENT: I think that's closer to the real concern.

    Reply
  5. Another Anonymous Grad Student

    I did a similar thing in my early 30's. For some departments it might be a consideration, for some not, so it is worth trying. One thing to consider is that you will probably need to do some course work as there might be requirements that can't be fulfilled my transferring credits from your MA. Some programs don't accept credit transfers at all.

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  6. Anon European grad student

    Another question worth asking is: Is it worth it? You'll be four years through your current PhD when you apply next year, so you'd start the new PhD at the beginning of what would be your fifth year. You might get some credit transfers, but after all you don't want to get as much credit transfer as possible: what you want is doing a new PhD, not just get a different piece of paper. So assuming you're interested in being trained again, you'd have to add at least 4 to 5 years of coursework plus research. Plus the painstaking, timeconsuming, and expensive application process.

    It might be worth it, depending on the value of your current PhD. I know of several Italian students who did this: they successfully got into good PhD programs after *nearly* completing a PhD in their home country. Still, the job market seems pretty tight even for PGR-rated PhDs, and it does also matter what you do with your PhD: work to be self-taught, learn from how they do things overseas, talk at conferences, publish in English. This might turn out to be a better payoff than start over. Just guessing.

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