Last Update: 04.30.03     

You’ve advanced to candidacy, and are well on your way to becoming a member of the small segment of the population that holds the Ph.D. or Ed.D. degree. Only one hurdle stands in your way: the dissertation. Unfortunately, success in graduate coursework does not guarantee easy success in completing the dissertation. A dissertation represents a substantially larger enterprise, requiring more creativity and more discipline to complete successfully, as compared to coursework tasks or even smaller scale research projects. So, what should you do to ensure that you actually complete your dissertation, and do so in a timely manner? Of course, the best course of action is just to buckle down and get to work on your dissertation! What follows is a variety of suggestions, loosely organized, that may help you along toward your goal of finishing your dissertation.

Beware: the Sweet and Sour Nature of Your New Status

When a student advances to candidacy, there is a noticeable change in his/her status. The student’s relationship with faculty and other experts in his/her chosen area is morphing from student-teacher to colleague-colleague. Further, the "advanced" student enjoys more autonomy. For example, rather than having to adhere to the ordinary cadence of course exams, quarter breaks, etc., the advanced student operates in a more self-paced manner. While increased autonomy and independence are usually embraced by the student with open arms, this newfound freedom and lessened sense of urgency leave one more vulnerable to anxiety (or even "Grad-Student Neurosis", as one dissertation writer puts it) and the nasty habit of procrastination. Good time-management, self-discipline, and organization will facilitate the dissertation writing process.

Time Management

For many, dissertation writing and the job search are concurrent processes, both of which will selfishly consume your time and attention. To avoid feeling overwhelmed, and to actually get something done, it is helpful to have a plan of action to help you pace yourself and stay organized. Some find it useful to develop an explicit, weekly schedule, including the duration of each dissertation writing session. Try to schedule your writing during times that you write most productively, and will not be interrupted frequently. Because the finished dissertation is such a large piece of work, try to set intermediate, discrete sub-goals (e.g., a chapter, or a part of a chapter) so that you can monitor your progress. Focusing only on the final goal (i.e., the completed dissertation) without acknowledging the intermediate steps you’ve completed may oftimes leave you with the feeling that you’ve accomplished nothing.

Seeking Advice

While working away on your dissertation, you will likely confront what appears to be an intractable conceptual or practical problem that you need to solve to finish your dissertation. Be sure to discuss these sorts of problems with your committee Chair who, perhaps having foreseen this issue at the proposal stage, may have on hand a ready solution. Also, do not be shy about corresponding with outside (i.e., non-UCI) experts in your field for advice. Aside from receiving what might be helpful advice about your dissertation work, this correspondence will help you become known more widely within your field, which may facilitate the job search.

Knowing What is Expected/Required of You

Sometimes a doctoral student has his academic career planned out to the last detail, including the date that he expects the dissertation to be accepted, without taking into consideration the perspective of other concerned parties. For example, a student, once advanced, might go into hiding until he feels he has finished his dissertation, only to emerge to find that his committee feels that substantial revisions to the dissertation "draft" are in order. This may have significant negative ramifications for the student who has built plans contingent on finishing the dissertation by a certain date (e.g., promises made to a potential employer, etc.). The moral of this part of the story is to keep in regular contact with your committee, in particular your Chair, so that you are on the same page regarding progress on the dissertation. But there’s more! The dissertation must be approved by a Library Archivist to ensure, among other things, that the dissertation is formatted according to standards. Of course, learning from the Archivist that you need to move a margin or change a font is a minor matter in comparison to learning from your committee that you need to rewrite half of your chapters.

It’s never too early to learn what you’re in for when it comes to writing the dissertation. Choosing a manageable topic will require a great deal of thought, research, and consultation with your Chair: this is the difficult part. The easy part is to learn about the more pre-determined, fixed requirements (e.g., deadlines, dissertation formatting, etc.). The Office of Graduate Studies’ (OGS) webpage UCI Thesis/Dissertation Writing includes some basic information about theses and dissertations, as well as links to a page listing various relevant deadlines, and to the UCI University Archives Thesis and Dissertation Manual. Among other things, the Manual includes a section on manuscript preparation, as well as the Ph.D. Dissertation Checklist. Having reviewed these resources, and having ongoing, open communication with your Chair and committee, you should be in for fewer surprises.

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