The last post covered how to think about and prepare to defend your dissertation or thesis. In this post, we’ll consider some strategies for just before and during the defense itself. The Day Before One day before your defense, make sure you have all the details clear. You may want to contact your advisor if…
You have spent years going to class, reading, writing, and discussing. You have spent more years planning your project, engaging in research, and becoming an expert on your topic. You have written hundreds of pages, producing more words than you ever thought possible. You have stayed up late, experienced successes and setbacks, and probably shed…
This post is the fourth in a series about some perhaps less obvious – but still vital – tools for success in graduate school. As a graduate student, you may feel like the most important part of you is your brain. But the truth is, we are whole people, not “brains on a stick” (Smith,…
This post is the third in a series about some perhaps less obvious – but still vital – tools for success in graduate school. As a graduate student, you may feel like the most important part of you is your brain. But the truth is, we are whole people, not “brains on a stick” (Smith,…
This post is the second in a series about some perhaps less obvious – but still vital – tools for success in graduate school. As a graduate student, you may feel like the most important part of you is your brain. But the truth is, we are whole people, not “brains on a stick” (Smith,…
This post is the first in a series about some perhaps less obvious – but still vital – tools for success in graduate school. As a graduate student, you may feel like the most important part of you is your brain. But the truth is, we are whole people, not “brains on a stick” (Smith,…
Thoughts for those whose life or personality makes planning a challenge. I am, and expect to always be, a fan of planning ahead, focused work times, block scheduling, fake early deadlines, backwards planning, and all the other standard tools of efficiency and productivity. I think these tools help bring order to life, and order tends…
As a follow-up to the summer series on writing, this post is the fourth and last (for now) in a series providing technical advice on issues that graduate students (and others) run into in the revision stage. I’ll address problems I commonly see in drafts of dissertations and theses. For each item covered in the…
As a follow-up to the summer series on writing, this post is the third in a series providing technical advice on issues that graduate students (and others) run into in the revision stage. I’ll address problems I commonly see in drafts of dissertations and theses. For each item covered in the series, it’s important to…
As a follow-up to the summer series on writing, this post is the second in a series providing technical advice on issues that graduate students (and others) run into in the revision stage. I’ll address problems I commonly see in drafts of dissertations and theses. For each item covered in the series, it’s important to…
