Can I still get accepted to a PhD program if I did mediocre in my second master's program?

Question

I recently completed my second master's degree, but unfortunately, I did not perform as well as I had hoped. Despite receiving a distinction in my first degree, I struggled to find motivation in my second master's program (started during COVID) and ended up with an average grade and a mediocre thesis.

While my committee criticized my poor time planning they did not have that strong opinion on my research work , I have to say that I also received little help from my supervisor, which left me feeling unmotivated and ended up being underperforming during the writing process. As a result, I now want to switch back to the field of my previous master thesis and pursue a PhD. However, I am concerned that my mediocre performance will negatively impact my chances of being accepted, and I am not confident that my professor will be willing to provide a strong recommendation letter or any at all.

Is it possible for me to get accepted into a PhD program based on my first degree's dissertation field? I excelled in that area and enjoyed it. I realised that I prefer simulations over experiments.

Answer 1

You have now a (kind of) strong point: experience in two fields, A and B. It is what you are, so either you cancel two years from your CV, or you make the best out of what you have.

It depends therefore on how you present your experience.

Please keep in mind the difference from the receiving side, in reading

1. "I like A but I hate B"
2. "I enjoyed and I was extremely productive in A, while in B I could complete the work but it was not completely suited to me and I had to overcome difficulties in B1-B2-B3".

If I am a practitioner in B looking for someone with expertise and skills in A for a PhD, to test some new path or new research ideas, I would straight reject your cv in the first case, but I would consider you a serious candidate in the second case. All other things being equal.

Answer 2

Yes, you can still get accepted. What's more, your experience might even help if you frame it the right way. Having done two masters and realizing that your strengths lie in field A and not B tells prospective advisors that you know what you are getting into, and that you are unlikely to have second thoughts once immersed in the PhD.

Make sure not to say things like "I hated field A", because they make you sound like a teenager complaining about a flavor of ice cream. Nothing wrong with saying that you prefer one field over another: everyone does.

Also beware that a PhD can require a lot of sustained, unsupervised work, so if you are looking for a lot of supervision, prospective advisors might see it as requiring lots of hand holding, and that's always seen as a negative.