Held back from graduation?

[newguy2]

Hi everyone,

 

I am currently in my last semester of my masters degree. However, it looks like my research hasn't gone the way it planned and I'm afraid I may not graduate in May as I had intended. I also put this date on my resume as the time where I can start a full time job and already had interviews for full-time positions. At this point, it's become harder to push, keep working, and stay motivated when I am so stressed out from researching not working, not graduating on tiime, etc.

 

Has anyone been in a similar situation, where your research/thesis prevented you from graduating and moving on? I would definitely like to hear any similar experiences. Some advice may be helpful as well.  

[Grashupfer]

Hey, I'm in a similar situation.  I need more data but I can't get access to the machine I need to make the measurements.  I was planning on graduating in May, but now that I can't use the machine for an unknown amount of time, I may not finish by the deadline date.  I may finish like 2 weeks after, but that doesn't really help.  My degree may not me a May degree, but my uni does have an October degree.  I may end up having to apply for that.  I may end up applying to jobs regardless because you don't need your degree to get the job technically.  Plus (in my situation) I'll be done by May, so I may be able to just explain that I don't have my diploma yet, but my advisors have signed off, I'm done with classes, and coursework etc.  I'm trying to stay positive about it.  How much longer do you think you have? Does your school have an October degree?  I would look into it.

[Grashupfer]

I just talked to my advisor about this.  He says that I'm done after I defend and he'll write on my letters of rec. that I've successfully defended.  I'm not sure what your situation is newguy2, but I should be done in May and I'll probably apply to some jobs before then.  When do you think you'll finish?

[newguy2]

I just talked to my advisor about this.  He says that I'm done after I defend and he'll write on my letters of rec. that I've successfully defended.  I'm not sure what your situation is newguy2, but I should be done in May and I'll probably apply to some jobs before then.  When do you think you'll finish?

 

Thanks for the response Grashupher. My school does offer an October degree and I will probably apply apply for that. To give a little more detail on my stiuation, I am currently working on two projects for my thesis. I have just begun to collect meaningful data for one project, but the other is stuck since the machine I use is not working, but I had already had some data prior to that. The goal was to publish two papers for my masters, but I might get one (if I'm lucky) or none at all. I've heard it's quite rare for masters students to get their work published, but it was something my advisor and I are hoping for.

 

Since one of my projects is making slow (yet steady progress), I think I could still graduate in May. My advisor is wanting the same as well, so we are working towards that. In a worst case scenario, I may see myself graduate sometime in the summer.    

[juilletmercredi]

Could you write your thesis on the basis of one of the projects? I know that a lot of people hope to get X papers out of their theses/dissertations, but the data and findings are not always kind to us. For example, the standard fantasyland theory in my department is that we'll get 3 solid publications from our doctoral dissertations. I got about 1.5 empirical papers from my dissertation; there is a review paper that I am planning to write that uses elements/inspiration from my dissertation's literature but will need significant work before it's in a publishable state. But...the dissertation's still defended and deposited and I still have my PhD.

 

So I would think right now the important thing is to write up a thesis that you can defend and that will enable you to graduate, and then work on transforming the papers for publication later.