Former Master's students check in here...

Any advice on my upcoming thesis defense?

i didn't really have to do a thesis defense....


but good luck to you, though

:toast:

(I'm working on a Master's and PhD, but only in the early stages.)

Ah - the humanities, no work, all play and a final flurry of cramming before exams.

I still have a class to finish after I get through this hurdle, too.

All the English & History students seemed to do nothing for the whole year then cram everything into a coule of weeks before the exams. No wonder the courses were oversubscribed. I was supposed to bust a gut for 60 hours a week, lectures, assignments and a weekly project.

My Master's is in communication. Mass communication. Writer indicates a hobby rather than a line of study. ;)

hurdle.

Just remember, no one in that room will know as much about your topic as you. Read over your thesis several days before your defense, think about possible questions your committee might ask, and be ready to respond.

You researched your topic, and you wrote your thesis. You know it better than anyone else.

You'll be fine. Best wishes.

Just the thesis and defense... I'm freaking out because I gave it to my committee on Friday... and my defense is next Friday!!! I did not want it to work out that way, but that's how it did.

I heard that it's all just a formality. But there's many sources on the Internet that make it seem very do or die. I'm not sure what to believe... :O

what do people who have successfully gotten through your program say? Usually, it is a formality because your chair won't let you defend unless he/she thinks you're ready and the other members of your committee will defer to your chair.

Good luck!

Could it really be that my chair would actually have my best interests in mind? Oh golly gee! ;) j/k... Actually hearing that helps me to feel much better, thank you.

Your chair doesn't want to be embarrassed by having a student defend a lousy thesis that he/she was supposed to be supervising. If it sucked, your chair would have been more likely to tell you in private that it sucked. :D

I'm sure you'll do great!

;)

Most "defenses" are rituals. some aren't. You should be confidant because you will know the material well enough and your inquisitors well enough to be.

You will know your own thesis better than they. If questions arise concerning clarification, restate the thesis, the supporting material, etc. If questions about content validity arise, repeat what you just said, and then move into your known limitations and end with the "in a perfect world, X,Y,Z...etc. would have occurred and my backside would have been defended, thus nullifying your question, and making me the king/queen of the world."

After that, drinks of celebration (the most important part). Remember to celebrate. Good luck. Hindsight makes it less scary. So does accumulating information to give you the foresight some only gain in hindsight.

I remember horror stories during my Master's oral exam session about off-the-wall questions, like naming heads of agencies, or the mayor of the town, or whatever. Don't let them distract you. Know your subject well, and don't be afraid to answer "I don't know" if you don't know.

I'm going to have to post another thread like this the night before, if anything else to remind myself of everyone's good thoughts. :)

And we will be here for you!

You WILL be fine!

:hug:

Also, don't be discouraged if you don't have all the answers. My prof told me ahead of time that the purpose of Oral Exams was not so much to find out what you DO know, as what you DON'T know. He said they preferred honest answers like "I don't know" to someone trying to bullshit their way through.

I wish I could go back and do it again, but with the confidence and maturity I have gained since then.

Best wishes!

a novel, a screenplay, a collection of poems or a nonfiction book. We didn't have to defend it. Sorry, not much help here. But best of luck to you! :hi: