Candidacy!

In the Natural Sciences there are (typically) three milestones along the road to a Ph.D. The first is a Qualifying Exam which tests you on general knowledge and, to a lesser extent, experimental design. The second milestone, the Thesis Proposal Exam (or Prelim.) is the most important milestone because it is an evaluation of your competency to do Ph.D. work; the actual defense of the Ph.D. is more of a formality (read: party) than an exam.

Today I took my Thesis Proposal exam. I performed the requisite preparatory activities including getting muffins, donuts, and coffee for my exam committee members (bribery is good) as well as putting on one of my nice suits (increases "Damn Sexy" factor). Things started a little late, but I jumped right into my presentation once all the examiners arrived. I'll be honest, I didn't actually practice my talk, nor did I study a written talk. I just created the slides and went through them in my mind. The timing was perfect - just over 23 minutes. After the presentation there were about one and a half hours of questioning and discussing. I had answers to most of the questions and was convincing in the justificaiton of my first two Aims. Aim 3 I was fairly shaky with, but I admitted that an alternative may be more appropriate and the committee was glad to see that I had come to this realization.

When all was said and done I got a great deal of constructive feedback from my examiners, but I also got tremendous approval. I was told that my presentation was excellent and flowed wonderfully. In addition, all the examiners said that my written proposal was superb and the best Thesis Proposal they had ever read in all their years as faculty. Daaaaaamn! So, the major hurdle was passed and with flying colors - I am now a Ph.D. Candidate!