This study, part of a larger project on doctoral student attrition, presents an in-depth account of the educational experiences of three doctoral students who dropped out. The students, a woman in sociology who left after the first year, a man in psychology who completed all but a dissertation, and a woman in Art History who left after four years of study, were interviewed for an hour. In presenting and analyzing the interviews the study examined chronological descriptions of the graduate school career, and key issues in each student's experience selected for their richness and centrality with a particular focus on the role of departmental context. Four interpretive themes emerged from the narratives: (1) in contrast to current views that see some aspects of attrition as a healthy sorting process, the participants' stories suggested that they had proved their abilities and might have persisted with active intervention from the department; (2) students shared an implicit expectation of a caring advisor and a nurturing community and when they did not experience it they felt deprived and alienated; (3) all three students prevaricated in telling their departments why they were leaving; and (4) all three stories showed a dynamic interplay of structure and agency as each person negotiated organizational structures and their own motives. (Contains 30 references.) (JB)