Writing Thesis While Waiting??

[PRguy101]

I am starting this thread out of pure "Misery loves company" motives so no boy scout points for me. Anyone else having a heck of time concentrating on writing his or her thesis while waiting for decisions?? Sometimes I am super motivated and sometimes too depressed to care. Yet, we can't really start our potential new academic careers without completing this sucker either! How are you staying motivated?? Oh...the humanity..

Edited February 18, 2010 by PRguy101

[Kam]

Yup, I'm writing a thesis. I was supposed to write 1000 words a day this week. As of right now...I've done 1000 words.

Needless to say, I'm a bit behind. But it's not easy to concentrate on my documents/texts when I'm glancing at my email/phone every minute or so.

[readgreen]

Yep, finishing up my thesis now as well. Checking email every ten seconds makes it somewhat difficult to focus but I'm coping by using it as a distraction from the stress of waiting to hear from schools...if I'm stressing over the thesis then I have less time to worry about admission. Well, that and copious amounts of red wine coupled with a steady diet of ice cream and candy Good luck!

[iceman]

I am finishing up my masters thesis right now. And in fact, i think it's really helping me not go crazy with the waiting. But I am defending on Feb 25th, if I dont have decisions after that date -- I will go insane!

[JerryLandis]

I wrote my thesis while applying. I had been looking forward to the chance to write it for years, but the application process totally ruined it for me. Instead of focusing all my attention on the thesis and on chasing down obscure loose ends in the research, I obsessed over my applications.

A couple weeks ago, when I was feeling a bit more optimistic about my applications, I was having a very hard time getting any work done. But now that I pretty much know that my top choices are out of the question, I daydream a bit less and have been much more productive. Can't say which condition is better - fruitless optimism or productive sadness.

My advice is to try not to get too caught up about it. If you aren't lucky with this year's round of applications, at least when you reapply again you'll have your thesis to use as a writing sample, and maybe even as a publication.

[joro]

I think I might be doing the same thing when I start writing my thesis next year and start applying for grad school again.

[Lise]

I am supposed to write my thesis too. Should be ready by the end of May but haven't been that productive so far because of the waiting game. I didn't realize that the whole wait would be so mentally draining. My friends (who are not in the same situation, since there's nothing like 'applications' in the Belgian educational system) do not understand that I'm so absorbed by the whole thing. To outsiders it seems really odd and stupid. Which it maybe is but my focus has been a bit blurred lately Anyway, I keep on thinking that we all will be okay in the end and that this experience will help us cope with other things that involve patience in the future!

[soleprovider14]

Yup, I'm almost 75% done with my thesis. Last semester was the hardest attempting to write the thesis, studying for GRE, doing all app stuff, working, internship, and last but not least 15 credits at school. This semester, now the wait has set in, writing it has become a bit easier but still I find myself losing focus quite a bit due to being nervous/paranoid about schools.

[origin415]

One last, but still large, piece and I'm done with mine, already starting to type it up and discovering how much I love/hate latex.

[Tiglath-Pileser III]

I wrote and defended my thesis in December at the same time as I was finishing my PhD apps.

And it nearly killed me...

[psych21]

My thesis kept me sane. Honestly. If I didn't have it, I don't know what i would have done. I usually overload my semesters, but last semester I took the wisest decision ever: only one credit (thesis) so no classes. I work full time, though (online masters). I had time to do my data collection, and that was it. After apps were submitted, mid-December, and school was off (I'm a HS teacher) I started focusing on the thesis. Thesis thesis thesis. Little time to obsess... but I also suffered from concentration problems, frequent distractions (updating email! checking the results! endlessly checking the programs' websites!).

I was done wit my thesis by Feb 13, and it all went downhill from there! My defense is March 1st, so I had some "off" time... (after doing the power point I'll use). Mistake. If I was already obsessing before that, this past week has been hell. I've been back teaching on Feb 15, and now it's my kids who keep me sane for a few hours a day. But I managed to waste all my prep periods checking this site compulsively and therefore having to stay extra hours to finish up. I am exhausted... and completely unproductive.

Yet, again, if it weren't for my thesis, I'd be completely crazy by now.

[Orkilatrish]

It's true, at least the thesis is something to do... I have a google sidbar gadget that displays my email inbox on the right side of the screen... pretty much perfect for cranking out chapter four and keeping an eye on that inbox.. my desk happens to overlook the mailbox outside too, so I can stalk the mail lady... What I wasn't prepared for was the phone call from Canada saying my letters of recommendation were F'd up, but that I was accepted... gave me a boost of motivation to finish the bloody thesis though! Still waiting on Oregon and Pittsburgh with 3 weeks before I have to tell the Canadians yes or no.... sigh...

[TMP]

Absolute not. My thesis is the love of my life. I mean it. If you hear me talk about it, you'd think I was married.

When I applied to grad schools when I did my senior thesis, my advisor, not for one minute, did she allow me to get distracted from my project. She demanded weekly meetings and that meant I had to "feed" her something by the night or two before our meeting. Same went for my MA thesis advisor. They both said, "Thesis, thesis, thesis, you're doing a great job, etc." With their encouragement, there was nowhere for me to go except forward.

If anything, this time, my PhD apps actually were in the back burner until November and I seriously started working on them about second week of that month. I was also very driven to get at least 2 chapters written and polished in time for December deadlines. It wasn't easy doing my thesis, PhD apps, 2 graduate seminars, and weekly language study. (I'm not saying that my workload was heavier than others.) But that was quite a lot for me but almost not as much as the fall of my senior year when I did my first round of PhD applications. But to complete a MA thesis draft by December... I was really shocked at myself.

Now that my thesis is at its last draft stage, I'm SO excited to get this finished because I'm so proud of myself, not because I just want to get it done and over with. I've found more great research materials and am just hoping that I'll get in somewhere in the fall in order to continue with my projects.

[BlueSwedeShoes]

I just started, last week of January, and I'm in the midst of my data collection. Have to get it done by end of May (our Masters thesis run for one full semester, so it's not a whole lot of time). And I love it. I'm putting in crazy amounts of hours right now and it's keeping me sane while waiting to hear back from schools. My thesis is a project from the Swedish Defense Research Agency, and it's pretty comforting having a coffee with the other researchers and hear them joke and tease each other about getting their PhDs eventually...they're mostly 40+, mid- or late career researchers doing some really interesting research. It's made me realize that I still have a lot of time ahead of me and shouldn't fret as much

[littlemistress]

I'm writing my undergrad thesis and waiting for MFA decision letters.

My thesis is an illuminated poetry book that I'm writing and illustrating. It's supposed to be a surreal and playful narrative but all the anxiety I'm feeling with the wait is really seeping in and bogging my stuff down.

It's really hard to concentrate when I get up check the mail box every forty-five seconds..

[Alea Iacta Est]

I'm working on my senior thesis which is due on April 6. I have a complete draft deadline on March 8, so I'm aiming for at least 60-70 pages by that date, and then looking to scale up to 80-100 in the following two weeks.

Edited February 23, 2010 by Alea Iacta Est

[mbs191]

I'm working on my senior thesis which is due on April 6. I have a complete draft deadline on March 8, so I'm aiming for at least 60-70 pages by that date, and then looking to scale up to 80-100 in the following two weeks.

OMG I'm glad there are others out there!!!!!! I have been prying myself away from the computer to concentrate and read Journal articles, but nothing is more exciting than checking to see if I have a new email. AHHHHHH I'm going completamente loco! Thesis, will u write yourself!?!?

[wordslinger]

I finished my master's thesis last semester while I was also completing apps... at the time it was extremely stressful, and I wished that I were doing the two at different times. Now, though, my focus is shot. So I'm glad I don't have my thesis on my mind right now, nice as it must be to have the distraction. I feel for you those of you stressing out about finishing your thesis AND hearing back from schools. Good luck!