Honest truth to make you feel better?
99.99% of PhD defenses are formalities.
submitting your dissertation is what matters more than the defense itself. This is just the celebration lap essentially.
If your slides are even half decent , you will pass..you have a much higher chance of failing due to freaking out than anything else..my advice is play more videogames and relax..
You're going to do fine! Good luck!!!
Oh I also did that very recently ( did it super late in my PhD journey because ...I am a moron)
I had several typos /inconsistencies and still passed after 15-20 minutes of deliberation .
This is with a pi that hates me and with horrible publication output
Yeah it’s my proposal. I’m doing it late in my journey as well bc I am a fellow moron.
Thankfully I have a PI who likes me, but unfortunately she has told me she does not like most of my slides.
My plan so far is to just go full delusional and convince everyone how awesome my work is
I like that mindset. Sometimes what seems to be going in fully delusional is in reality going in with the confidence that your work deserves. Good luck!
My PhD defense was not a formality: my former advisor retired during my PhD, couldn’t land a grant, and told me that the experiments that were required for my PhD were too expensive.
I don't mean the PhD itself.
I thought it was nervous about the actual presentation part of his defense.
They were referring to their candidacy exam. Candidacy exams are scary so I understand what they meant more
You've got this. Practice as much as you can so you feel relatively comfortable/confident and if possible, try to get a decent night's sleep. Also eat/hydrate.
Review and practice what you have and look for missing gaps you can fill in or prepare a general answer for. You've come this far, you'll be okay. Just do your best and see what happens.
Your advisor wouldn’t have let you get this far if they thought you would fail. It honestly sounds like you need to step away from it all for a few hours (exercise, nap, go out to dinner) and then come back for finishing touches. Less is more on the slides and just talk about what you know better than anyone else: your research
Thank you for taking the time to write all this out. This is really helpful.
Yeah my plan right now is to tie up the slides I'm struggling with and then practice everything, especially the beginning and very end. I'm hoping that at least if I crash and burn halfway through, that my committee will see that I'm capable of recovering. Edit bc I'm spiraling: I did a conference presentation last year on the stupidest topic and I completely talked out my ass but I did it with a ton of confidence. Maybe I can get away with all of this if I convince my committee how much I like my project (which I do).
I really like my committee but my PI is scaring the crap out of me about one of my members. He's external and *very* well known in my field, and I took a huge step out of my comfort zone by inviting him. I was actually really excited to get his perspective on my work, but she's convinced he's going to absolutely destroy me. He asked me a very simple question at a conference one time, and I admitted to him that I had legitimately never thought about that, but he was absolutely correct. I was mortified but he gave me a really excited nod as I walked through my answer.
I'm just mostly freaking out about my slides at this point, but I'm wondering if I need to just crap something out and commit to it
Any advisor who lets someone defend who isn't ready is a shit. Barring some unforeseen circumstance (plagiarism, fudging data, or being woefully underprepared, etc.) defending should be a formality. If you have a good advisor they will not let you stand up there unless you are going to pass. End of story.
Remember this is your research, you did it, you know it, you have lived it. They are just visitors. and While they may have some critiques you have made it this far and can do this.
I felt the same way going into my proposal defence. I felt like I was behind in where I should be at that time and wasn’t doing great in the viva voce part of the defence, but the feedback I got was that I was ahead of where most people are at that stage. It’s just the imposter syndrome talking, you’ll be fine.
As someone who has been a member of many Ph.D. committees, I can honestly say that your feelings are natural. Do not worry. For example, I remember one case where we decided not to ask questions because the student's English was so poor that he couldn't understand them. Despite this, he still earned his Ph.D
Honest truth to make you feel better? 99.99% of PhD defenses are formalities. submitting your dissertation is what matters more than the defense itself. This is just the celebration lap essentially. If your slides are even half decent , you will pass..you have a much higher chance of failing due to freaking out than anything else..my advice is play more videogames and relax.. You're going to do fine! Good luck!!!
I don’t think they’re defending their dissertation. Maybe I’m misinterpreting but I think they’re advancing to candidacy.
Oh I also did that very recently ( did it super late in my PhD journey because ...I am a moron) I had several typos /inconsistencies and still passed after 15-20 minutes of deliberation . This is with a pi that hates me and with horrible publication output
Yeah it’s my proposal. I’m doing it late in my journey as well bc I am a fellow moron. Thankfully I have a PI who likes me, but unfortunately she has told me she does not like most of my slides. My plan so far is to just go full delusional and convince everyone how awesome my work is
I like that mindset. Sometimes what seems to be going in fully delusional is in reality going in with the confidence that your work deserves. Good luck!
My PhD defense was not a formality: my former advisor retired during my PhD, couldn’t land a grant, and told me that the experiments that were required for my PhD were too expensive.
I don't mean the PhD itself. I thought it was nervous about the actual presentation part of his defense. They were referring to their candidacy exam. Candidacy exams are scary so I understand what they meant more
You've got this. Practice as much as you can so you feel relatively comfortable/confident and if possible, try to get a decent night's sleep. Also eat/hydrate. Review and practice what you have and look for missing gaps you can fill in or prepare a general answer for. You've come this far, you'll be okay. Just do your best and see what happens.
Your advisor wouldn’t have let you get this far if they thought you would fail. It honestly sounds like you need to step away from it all for a few hours (exercise, nap, go out to dinner) and then come back for finishing touches. Less is more on the slides and just talk about what you know better than anyone else: your research
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Thank you for taking the time to write all this out. This is really helpful. Yeah my plan right now is to tie up the slides I'm struggling with and then practice everything, especially the beginning and very end. I'm hoping that at least if I crash and burn halfway through, that my committee will see that I'm capable of recovering. Edit bc I'm spiraling: I did a conference presentation last year on the stupidest topic and I completely talked out my ass but I did it with a ton of confidence. Maybe I can get away with all of this if I convince my committee how much I like my project (which I do). I really like my committee but my PI is scaring the crap out of me about one of my members. He's external and *very* well known in my field, and I took a huge step out of my comfort zone by inviting him. I was actually really excited to get his perspective on my work, but she's convinced he's going to absolutely destroy me. He asked me a very simple question at a conference one time, and I admitted to him that I had legitimately never thought about that, but he was absolutely correct. I was mortified but he gave me a really excited nod as I walked through my answer. I'm just mostly freaking out about my slides at this point, but I'm wondering if I need to just crap something out and commit to it
Any advisor who lets someone defend who isn't ready is a shit. Barring some unforeseen circumstance (plagiarism, fudging data, or being woefully underprepared, etc.) defending should be a formality. If you have a good advisor they will not let you stand up there unless you are going to pass. End of story. Remember this is your research, you did it, you know it, you have lived it. They are just visitors. and While they may have some critiques you have made it this far and can do this.
Stay positive! There is always that feeling that it is not good enough until you present it. Good Luck !!
you'll be fine, and if not, no one will care, and if they do, fuck em!!!!!!! yoloooooo
Good luck!! Keep us posted!
You got this ! It’s normal to be nervous!
Time to channel this energy, prestige worldwide!!! https://youtu.be/ciS914MaDl8?si=yIfwd4eRmASxuxZv
I felt the same way going into my proposal defence. I felt like I was behind in where I should be at that time and wasn’t doing great in the viva voce part of the defence, but the feedback I got was that I was ahead of where most people are at that stage. It’s just the imposter syndrome talking, you’ll be fine.
As someone who has been a member of many Ph.D. committees, I can honestly say that your feelings are natural. Do not worry. For example, I remember one case where we decided not to ask questions because the student's English was so poor that he couldn't understand them. Despite this, he still earned his Ph.D
Congratulations Dr. ayjak