# Doctoral candidates b4 dissertation **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 3, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383 "2013-05-03T04:08:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/1 "2013-05-03T04:08:34Z")
Do colleges do anything to acknowledge a student finishing his classwork in preparation for his dissertation? ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/2 "2013-05-03T04:28:18Z")
The term “doctoral candidate” generally denotes advanced status - not just a doctoral student, but one who has passed some milestone along the way (completed coursework, passed comprehensive exams, etc.). There are common elements in most programs, but there’s no universal structure, so the precise answer is going to vary from school to school. For mine, you could advance to candidacy after completing an oral qualifying exam, 80% of your coursework, and both the written and oral comprehensive exam. Candidates who are finished everything but the dissertation are sometimes referred to as ABD (all but dissertation), but that’s not an official status. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/3 "2013-05-03T05:05:06Z")
Interesting **'nerd**! Assume ABDs don’t get cool ceremony? ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/4 "2013-05-03T05:20:15Z")
Not that I’ve heard of. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/5 "2013-05-03T05:39:56Z")
Different programs have different hurdles. Most have some sort or quals and then some sort of orals, but some also require a formal research plan. But I’ve done this at two different universities (my adviser died on me at the first one) and no recognition for any of the preliminary steps. Even when you’ve done your coursework you often participate in seminars. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/6 "2013-05-03T10:56:36Z")
Not in my program. I had to pass a qual exam in my second year. I finished my last class last year and no one cared. But I only had to take three elective classes - the rest is all research. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/7 "2013-05-03T11:14:17Z")
In my department, when you pass the milestone of completed coursework/comprehensive exams/dissertation proposal approved (all of which typically happens within the span of a month or two), a few weeks later you are off to some distant place to do your fieldwork. So, perhaps the closest thing to a “celebration” of achieving ABD status is some send-off party – just a gathering with friends and maybe a professor or two from your committee. (The heavy drinking doesn’t get going until you’re in the field, though…) ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/8 "2013-05-03T11:22:50Z")
At my school, the summer between your first year and second you choose your lab and develop your project proposal. You defend your proposal in front of a faulty committee. Once passed, we opened some champagne and started in the lab officially. We never used ABD or candidate. Everyone knew if you got a C in two classes or didnt pass your proposal defense you were out of the program. Finishing course work was a nonevent. I took three courses officially my first year. It was all research for the most part. The next celebratory milestone was the defense 5-6 years later. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/9 "2013-05-03T12:36:06Z")
In my program everything was willy-nilly and you took “dissertation” as hours in your schedule. You were perfectly welcome to take them before your coursework was done. The only thing that meant anything was having your dissertation accepted… and getting The Format Nazi to accept it was usually a bigger hurdle than getting your committee to accept it. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/10 "2013-05-03T13:26:17Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > You defend your proposal in front of a faulty committee. What happens when the correctly-working committee discovers that they approved a crappy project? ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/11 "2013-05-03T13:30:04Z")
A correctly-working committee? They’re too busy dodging flying pigs to care about a doctoral project. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/12 "2013-05-03T13:40:46Z")
At the end of my second year, I’ve got a qualifying exam and formal research proposal coming up (og help me, just three weeks from now). After that, the next three or four or _mumble_ years is just research. I finished my required classes, five in total, last semester. I may take a few classes or seminars if there’s something relevant to my thesis… though in part that’s just because a good seminar is fun, not particularly difficult, and gives me an excuse to read and discuss papers that won’t be cited in my thesis. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/13 "2013-05-03T13:50:26Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > What happens when the correctly-working committee discovers that they approved a crappy project? Proposals that received conditional approval need to be reworked to be approved. It was actually a good safety net, as a group of faculty could see what other faculty were thinking about for their students! Everyone knew that the proposal is a first approach to develop the project. It was meant as an exercise to the student to get us to research the background of the work, propose an initial series of experiments and postulate outcomes. It was meant to be like a grant proposal with a presentation. It was laso to help learn how to write grants. Personally, I found it to be an excellent activity. It took about two months to put together, working closely with my lab director. Boy, I learned how to take constructive criticism! The amount of red ink on my first draft… ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/14 "2013-05-03T15:09:30Z")
(I was just joking about the typo in your post - “faulty” instead of “faculty”.) ---
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/15 "2013-05-03T16:36:05Z")
Another vote for “depends on the university”, but in the sciences, at least, after the hurdles of the first couple of years (with names like “qualifiers”, “candidacy”, “oral exams”, etc.) some paperwork gets filed, but that’s about it. You don’t get a new nameplate or anything for your desk. These days the term “PhD candidate” is usually used regardless of which side of the hurdles you are on, at least in the vernacular. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/16 "2013-05-03T16:59:11Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > (I was just joking about the typo in your post - “faulty” instead of “faculty”.) Good lord, I utterly missed that! Too funny! I almost think my brain read faulty and faculty as synonyms… Very cute! ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/17 "2013-05-03T17:08:11Z")
I think, in some cases, it’s possible to get a master’s degree. A lot of schools will give a master’s degree to you if you can’t complete the dissertation up the level of competence, rigor, etc. expected but at least made it X far into the doctoral program. I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t ask for it in advance right now even if you expect to finish the PhD. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/18 "2013-05-03T17:33:12Z")
For us, the first year of classes was pretty intense, but after that, the courses were pretty much non-events. Finishing them just wouldn’t be worth celebrating. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctoral-candidates-b4-dissertation/657383/19 "2013-05-03T19:00:43Z")
TY all for your answers to my questions, both asked and unasked.