Crazy idea?

[hmpf]

Now, after taking the staggering amount of four years (normal: two) to finish my 'Hauptstudium', the main part of my studies in one of my two subjects, I'm thinking about trying to finish the main part in my *other* subject in less than one (normal: two - of course, those are usually the *same* two years in which your also finish your other subject.) I'm quite old for a student, even for Germany (and we have the oldest students in the world, I think), and with every semester I spend at university, my chances of finding a job - and/or getting a Ph.D. - are diminishing.

If I write one big paper and one small paper this semester, a second big one in the holidays, and the last, small one in the next (and last?!) term, and start preparing *like crazy* for my thesis during that last term already, I *could* manage to get my proposal in by February next year. Which means I'd be writing from, err, I think March through August, or possibly October. Final exams in November.

Oh, and I have to wedge in another excavation somewhere, too, because I'm still missing two or three weeks of dig time.

The one drawback of this approach, aside from the fact that it means non-stop stress until November 2008 (and we all know how well I deal with stress... *sigh*), is that I'd have to rush writing my papers, which might result in not-so-great grades, which might diminish my - already slim - chances of being able to do a Ph.D. (ETA: no, wait, I'm stupid. Or rather, tired. Actually, the grades don't have anything to do with my final grade, so I should be fine. Whew.) Also, I haven't laid much of a 'foundation' yet for a thesis - I have no idea at all what I might write about (or rather, I have too many ideas, and they're too vague), and I feel I still need to read a great deal more 'theory' before I can really even start thinking about formulating a proper question on any of the topics that I find interesting.

(Dammit, why am I suddenly crying? I'm not unhappy. Not even all *that* scared. It must be the music. Or possibly the momentary relief of feeling a hint of determination. I'm sure that determination will pass, though. I'm not good at remaining determined, and nineteen months is a long time.)

ETA: If I manage this, then by the end of 2008 I'll have completed a five-year course of study in just under seven years (eight, if you count the year abroad). Granted, I changed one of my subjects, but even with that change it shouldn't have taken me longer than six years at worst.

Still, better seven years than seven and a half.

Comments

Welcome to real academic life...

[(Anonymous)]

...loads of work, a lot of panic and no clue what to do next.
What to write about in your M.A.-thesis? Your professor is going to tell you.
What to write about in your Ph.D.-thesis? Your professor is going to tell you.
Don´t worry, just take it step by step...oh, and don´t forget your To Do-lists - otherwise you´ll forget what comes next.

Kiki

PS: This is English for runaways - if there are any mistakes please ignore them.

Re: Welcome to real academic life...

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

>What to write about in your M.A.-thesis? Your professor is going to tell you.

Ha! I wish! But this is American Studies... (meaning: I have to come up with my own topic - made even more difficult by the fact that I probably won't be having any seminars with my prof anymore before I have to start writing, so there's nothing obvious I can base the thesis on.)

Re: Welcome to real academic life...

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I've lived in the 'loads of panic' zone for years now, so that, at least, isn't new. *g*

[amonitrate.livejournal.com]

hey, you're not the only one. For various reasons mostly involving procrastination and two unrelated majors, I took seven years to get my bachelor's degree. Norm is 4 or 5; though I think that's creeping up.

Heeeh.

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

And here I was thinking that over there in the brave new world of America it was almost impossible to take this long to finish a degree... *g*

Wow. Seven years for a bachelor's degree is... even worse than my seven and a half years for a master's, I guess! *g*

What were your majors? (Mine are completely unrelated, too - but that's not unusual at all in Germany, so it shouldn't have affected the time it took me to study.)

Re: Heeeh.

[amonitrate.livejournal.com]

Well, I started off with a major in Biomedical Sciences. I was in my senior year when I switched to Painting. Yeah. Unrelated.

I decided to finish Biomed, because I was like one semester away from being done. Luckily, I'd been taking one art class a semester all along for fun, so I wasn't starting from scratch; but I chose to do a Bachelor of Fine Arts (more demanding than a plain Bachelor of Arts) which required more credit hours than my Bachelor of Science (funny how that works).

So, I haven't gone back for a graduate degree, even though that would probably help me. Mostly because a) I don't know what the heck I'd get it in and b)see seven years of undergrad.

Re: Heeeh.

[amonitrate.livejournal.com]

Also, in America it's common to take years and years for graduate degrees, but mostly for PhD's. And the time for bachelors is creeping up because of the rising cost of college, combined with the falling gov't support of tuition, means that many kids have to either go part time or drop out for awhile in order to work and raise money to pay for tuition.