My advisor said he’s never seen a Q&A that was so intense, nor one that was handled so well.

Yay for ending on a high note. 4 years ago

I finally found a chair! I’ve never put myself in a position to hear “no” quite that many times in a row, so I’m proud that I kept at it. Now I can stop holding my breath and file the paperwork! 5 years ago

My first 3 choices are all busy on the big day. 2 were really really nice about it, and the 3rd has an online calendar so I didn’t need to email him. Here’s hoping I get lucky with the next batch.

My advisor said to schedule the date first based on the availability of the reading committee, and then search for a random prof who is available on the scheduled date. I think this was probably good advice given how hard it was to get the reading committee’s schedules to align, but I’m going to be nervous until someone says yes. 5 years ago

I finally emailed my first choice for committee chair, and she was totally nice about it but had a scheduling conflict. My #2 choice has his schedule posted online, and he’s clearly busy. So I emailed #3.

If #3 can’t do it, that exhausts the original list of suggestions my advisor and I came up with. Hopefully he will help me come up with more names. I refuse to believe that every single faculty member outside my dept (except my committee) is busy on the chosen day! 5 years ago

It’s a requirement at many universities, including mine, that an “outside” chair be appointed for the committee overseeing the defense. The definition of “outside” varies – usually it means outside your department, but it can be broader or narrower than that. It’s a measure of outside quality control, the idea being that if a prof from the biology department (e.g.) can tell that the anthropology professors are just scratching each others’ backs and letting their students get away with very little work, then we have a problem.

How much the outside chair knows about the student’s work varies widely: I know a chemical engineering student who worked very closely with a professor in the chemistry department and had him chair the committee. On the flip side, I know a computer science student who had a committee chair from the music department. The guy was actually very interested in learning what the CS student was doing, but I doubt he was really in a position to call him on any bullshit.

For various institutional reasons, my chair will not be anyone who knows my field (or me) very well, which means I need to basically cold-call people. This is understood and expected, but it’s freaking me out and I’m procrastinating on it. I thought posting might make me feel better :) 5 years ago

I can reopen this goal without the “personal challenge” thing.

Because you bet your ass it’s still a goal. 5 years ago

I could have had a better committee. What should have been an interesting learning experience turned into a (mostly pointless) ordeal. 5 years ago

I want to make this goal not a personal challenge anymore, or at the very least change the date. (Let’s not talk about why right now). I tried “giving up” and then re-opening, but it came back as a challenge again with the same date. I’m giving it up for now just so I don’t have to see it at the top of the list. But trust me, it is still a goal.

And you know my new “grow the f**k up” goal? Good thing I was working on that already because damn. 5 years ago

and then I spent two days sleeping… 5 years ago

It is done.
And the strange thing is… it was really interesting, almost fun. Actually, the only thing preventing it from being complete fun was my (very reasonable) fear. I watched many other defenses before mine, and “fun” would hardly apply. The professors loved my work, and because of that were really friendly. They praised a lot and criticized minimally, and wanted to talk about what I did, but in a good way. :)
They even enjoyed my wildest thoughts in the conclusion (one of my greatest fears – was I being too daring?). They want me to try to publish it.
I walked out of there almost giggling, and my advisor phoned me in the evening to congratulate me yet again.
I know it sounds like bragging, but I’m so happy. 5 years ago

cheering someone and just read this quote:

“A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.”
Martin H. Fischer 5 years ago

It’s scheduled for the 26th, this month. In less than 10 days… Wish me luck! 5 years ago

I have submitted my graduation application, and am hoping to defend at the end of Oct/early Nov. I still have a lot of work to do—and need to get 2 papers submitted for publication by the end of Sept. I hope that I can finish it by Nov! 5 years ago

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

That was the hard part, right? Right?5 years ago

Quite a bit of work needs to be done between now and then.

A Ph.D. defense is a presentation of some of a person’s graduate work. It’s supposed to be accessible to a wider audience than just specialists in your field, at least in theory. Defenses are usually publicly announced to the entire department (these days, by email list), and attended by family and friends as well as profs and fellow grad students. The usual format is a 45-minute to 1-hour public talk with Q&A, followed by a private Q&A session with one’s committee (=3-6 professors, including your advisor and the people who will read your thesis). Then the committee votes on whether you pass. At most universities, if a student fails the defense, it’s considered to be their advisor’s fault for letting them defend before they’re ready. Failing is a rare event for that reason, and I don’t know anyone it’s happened to at my university.

In some departments, you have to have your thesis (or a draft) submitted before you can defend. In mine, you don’t have to have written a word—which sounds really nice, but in practice is kind of a psychological trap. After the stress and celebration of the defense, coupled with the hard work of job searching, some people don’t ever get theirs written and don’t get the Ph.D. after all. But first things first, let’s get the defense over with :) 5 years ago