Question for NCU PhD students (or any PhD graduate or student)

Completed my last "class" for my PhD!
I completed my stats class - 16 assignments which was made up of a total of 53 sub-assignments - with an A- and I have a GPA of 3.85.

Now I start my comps class. What should I expect? Am I now an offical PhD Candidate or ABD?

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it is not a train coming at me.

 

I don't have an answer for you, but all I can say is Wow! You are almost there.

Abner

 

Great job, Randell!

It depends on the Ph.D. program policies at your school. Some schools don't advance you to formal candidacy until you have an accepted dissertation proposal. At other schools, you are a Ph.D. candidate once you pass your comps. The unofficial ABD status usually applies to students after comps and up until completion of the dissertation proposal and final dissertation.

Dave

 

Thanks - I was recently looking at some of my first posts on this board; I was clueless! I spoke to my mother about two years ago regarding my education. I graduated HS in 1985 and for about 10 years (1995 - 2005) I held some pity-me feelings of "Why didn't my mother encourage me to go away to college after HS...why did she let me drop out of DeVry in 1987...why...why...why"

I told her I was enrolled in a PhD program and she said, "And to think, you wanted to drop out of high school and I told you 'Over my Dead Body' and that ended the conversation" I completely forgot about that!

All I can think is - You've come a long way, baby.

 

Good job Randell!
Indeed you are a very focused individual! You've almost slain the dragon!
atb,
Gavin

 

I'm definately impressed that you've come so far so quick! Congradulations!

NCU awards the ABD status after a student completes comps and all the RSH courses (at that point, only three DIS courses remain to complete a doctorate). NCU sends the student a letter confirming the ABD status.

Once you hit the RSH courses, you may find it more difficult to complete them at breakneck speed because it's so different from traditional coursework.

 

I have been completeing 3 classes per year and that is what I will probably continue with. I can feel the end is coming!

 

Three RSH courses per year is doable!

 

Congratulations!

We’re close to the same point, I finished comps a couple months ago at NCU and am half way through the first research class. The pace slows down to a crawl, 3 classes a year looks about right given my current pace. I completed all the classes including comps in a year, but can see that I am probably two years away from finishing the dissertation.

Good luck with comps, this is where they start getting more rigorous (or at least run you around more), so if you thought it was bad before…

 

I know someone that has a PhD in English and has assisted dozens of people with their dissertations. He is an APA “master”. He has offered to help me with anything I need.

 

Do you want to refer him? As far as I can tell APA is the killer of great ideas and the death of innovation. It seems designed specifically squash any fleeting creativity a person may have remaining entering this process...

 

I will contact him and see if he is available to assist.

 

I find just the opposite. APA provides a structure that, in turn, provides consistency in terms of presentation and support (references). This makes one's paper easier to read and understand.

APA provides a guideline, not canon law. I can't imagine a situation where a good idea was stifled because of a requirement to present it in an organized fashion and, where necessary, with proper references and citations.

 

If you can manage to continue doing three courses per year (after comps is over), then that's pretty good! Getting the "concept paper" approved is pretty challenging. The concept has to be academically sound and there can't be any APA issues. My recommendation: Each time your paper is rejected, it will come with a list of things to be corrected. Simply do the corrections and re-submit. You may have to re-submit your paper 20 (?) times, but it gets better with each submission.

 

Normally, the difference between a PhD candidate and an ABD is that the PhD candidate is still actively working on his/her dissertation, while an ABD has either had his/her dissertation rejected or else has had his/her time-in-program expire.

 

When was the last DL graduate paper you wrote? At NCU APA is literal law, I’ve had a paper returned because I didn’t capitalize the first word in a reference title after a colon.

 

At NCU it is a formal stage in the process, after research is complete and the concept has been approved. They send you a letter and everything.

 

< sarcasm >
For shame!
< /sarcasm >

My sister is preparing for the comprehensive examination at NCU and will probably enter the dissertation phase early in 2008. I keep hearing about the strict adherence to APA even during the regular coursework phase of the degree-earning process.

 

I thought it was strict during regular course work, but man the guy who graded my comps, and the comments on my research submissions suggest that the rest of the way they are absolutely literal in APA interpretation.

 

I am happy I knew an APA master to help me. He actually knows all the guidelines and keeps up with them as they change from year to year.