Thesis Revisions
Today I finished revising my thesis. Let’s take a minute and let that sink in : )
OK, I confess, I have to review it once more, read it through as one whole piece, not isolated chapters. But still…
The next step is to get it to my TD for one final read. She has already told me that she doesn’t expect to make further revisions at that point, just some minor suggestions. Then, I give it back to her for a grade and Dr. O. gets it simultaneously to begin his format review.
After a year and a half of working on this project, a very solitary venture, I’m beginning to look beyond Harvard and focus on the job search. After four years in the program, it will be wonderful and yet weird to have it all behind me soon.
On a related topic: at this week’s thesis writers’ group, Dr. O. mentioned a couple of things I thought I’d pass on for those of us near the end of the thesis process (and those just curious):
1. once Dr. O. has reviewed and approved the thesis in April, if you make ANY changes, even one word, he wants to see it before it goes to the bindery. Someone made a minor change in his Acknowledgment page, didn’t run it by Don, and “got it wrong”.
2. when we go to get it bound, take a hard copy (as many as you need bound). Flashdrives are ok but problems can arise. For instance, when someone did that last year, none of the charts got printed. Ouch. Apparently, the word processing program the student used and the one the bindery used to print it with were not in synch. Print it out on the appropriate paper and just say: “bind this”.
It’s customary to get 3 bound copies: one for the ALM office, one for your Director (but not required), and one for yourself. As for myself, I’ll get 4 (one extra — it’s not the kind of thing you can replace easily).
3. The process goes thusly: for a June graduation, you submit the finished thesis by April. The ALM Office gets it up to Grossman Library by June or July. It stays there for five years. It then goes to the (bowels) archives in Pusey. And you get the lifelong delight of being able to look up your name in Hollis.
4. The ALM office is discussing revising (finally!) the ALM Thesis Manual over the summer. It’s long overdue. He described the process of delving into the revisions as “life-threatening”. Anyone who’s worked in higher ed. can appreciate that. It’s akin to a committee trying to create a horse and instead producing a giraffe.
