Taking my dissertation to the graduate office!
Having officially made my dissertation deadline, I want desperately to write & publish on this blog a “PhD Survival Guide” for doctoral students…I’m slightly reluctant to compose said guide until I officially pass my orals, subsequently get the FINAL dissertation to the graduate office, and see my work published on proquest. But in the meantime, I’ll impart some thoughts that might be useful to people thinking about doing a PhD or those who are indeed in the trenches as we speak.
First, for my own tendency towards profound nostalgia, I have to pay homage to April 8. I’ve had two very, very significant April 8ths in my life. April 8, 2005 when my sister and I went to see Tori Amos at the Hammerstein Ballroom for the Original Sinsuality (pardon the lame-o name) tour, and I was in the throes of being completely & madly in love with Jason. This was also the first evening anyone in my immediate family met him. Very, very special. We had only been together a month. 🙂 And secondly, April 8 – yesterday! Making my dissertation deadline, after almost 6 years of doctoral study at NYU.
Okay, so tip number 1 and the most important thing I could tell ANY doctoral student or anyone thinking about doing a PhD program: you may love your committee, but at the end of the day — YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN. In other words, don’t lean on them, expect them to promptly return emails, or show marveled enthusiasm re. your work. These moments of light & positivity do indeed happen, but keep expectations low. By the time you get to this point in your higher education career, they expect you to figure things out for yourself.
With that said, PICK A COMMITTEE THAT YOU REALLY BELIEVE IN. Pick people you feel very, very confident will help you out, give you useful feedback. This seems obvious, but it’s so, so important.
DON’T EXPECT ANYTHING TO BE EASY. I know everyone’s situations are different, but I’ve had a particularly rough time at NYU. My candidacy exams and the work that followed for said “pass with conditions” exam represented one of the worst periods of my entire life. And unfortunately, it was right around the time Jason & I were planning our wedding – a time that is supposed to be really joyous, and I swear, those candidacy exams did me in. In any event, I got through it…and so can you! And seriously, some people get lucky with the people on their exam panel & have a pretty smooth time. So it really depends a lot on luck.
BE A FANTASTIC PLANNER; MANAGE TIME WELL; PLAN AHEAD; MAKE THE TIME FOR SERIOUS WORK; KEEP PRIORITIES IN ORDER — If you’re not much a planner, become one. If you don’t manage time well, figure out how to. If you get distracted easily, do everything in your power to combat distractions. There’s really no choice here. You do it or perish.
READ THE DOCTORAL HANDBOOK VERY CAREFULLY; it seems overwhelming, but there’s no way around it. Universities love rules, red tape, guidelines…you get the idea.
If you’re thinking about doing a PhD program, you HAVE to have a love of school, a love of knowledge, a love of research, a love of reading, a love of writing, a love of sharing new ideas, and an incredible drive to make & meet deadlines. These things have to be really burning. Otherwise, you’ll join the ranks of people who started doctoral programs & petered out. Granted, a lot of people get big career breaks & realize they don’t need/want a PhD, so…well, lucky them.
DON’T EXPECT IT TO BE CHEAP. Some programs (ahem, music) just don’t have the resources to give scholarships. Sorry, it’s a fact of life. Huge bummer.
TRY NOT TO TAKE YOUR STRESS & FRUSTRATION OUT ON YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER…need I say more?
Am keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well with my oral defense on June 24. Am nervous, but thrilled I actually made yesterday’s deadline. I’m very proud of my dissertation and have learned an ENORMOUS amount through this whole process. However corny this may sound, this is a very real example of “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
As time goes on, I would like to write more specifics on how a PhD makes sense (or doesn’t!) for MUSICIANS. I think for most musicians, it does NOT make sense, but I’ve always been sort of on the fringes with my interests, my hopes for my career, etc. More to follow on that, because I think it’s very important.
In any event, happy April! And to all you PhD candidates out there, am sending good vibes, because man, I have no doubt you need them. 😉
Hi Lauren,
Congrats on finishing your dissertation! I look forward to reading more about how a PhD makes sense (or doesn’t) for musicians. You write so well.
Hope to see you soon.
Thanks, Scott! Yes, hope to see you soon!
Dear Lauren, Another well-written and conceived essay on what you’ve just done: the Dissertation.
With some notable exceptions, the same tips could be said about writing a novel. There’s no committee per se unless one enrolls in a novel-writing workshop where one gets helpful and sometimes brutal/silly/insightful or half-assed help and suggestions. I’ve gotten all of those and some more.
You really are on your own.
It ain’t easy, not by a long shot. But it can be fun.
In order to write you have to make the time, e.g. be a good planner.
There’s no doctoral handbook, but there are remarkable books on writing, ones by Steven King, Anne Lemotte, Eudor Welty, etc. The list is long.
And so forth.
Finally, there’s no guarantee at all that anyone will pay the slightest attention or even consider that it is worthy of publishing. Agents, like red tail hawks scanning a field for rodents, are looking for the slightest error – big, tiny, it doesn’t matter – a reason to reject you.
So there’s my two sense on you wonderful & insightful blog!
Keep writing!
love this picture!!! 🙂 and the post from today. and the pele videos – etc