Update on Thesis Committee Meeting

[AmberGretchen]

Hi all, I figured I would start a separate thread to 1) thank everyone who was so good as to send me dust for my thesis committee meeting yesterday and 2) let y''all know how it went. (For those who missed the original thread, I am trying to finish up my PhD, and this was a hopefully-final committee meeting to determine if I had enough to graduate/what I still need to do).

And...it went BETTER than I ever expected!!!

Some of the things I thought I still had to do, the committee didn''t think so, they added one minor thing in exchange, but its like a 2-week experiment, not a big deal at all. And they said that they thought I had "done a very good job" and that I''ve got enough to graduate, I just need to finish publishing my paper(s), do that one quick experiment, and put it all together

This is so much better than I was hoping for - I should be done on time without too much rushing or pressure, and I will (hopefully) even have a few weeks off before moving and starting work in August.

Did I mention - WOOHOO!!! So now I''ve got a week off, I''m going away with DH, and then its back to work, and my thesis advisor is ready to schedule my thesis talk (basically the final step), probably for June

 

[neatfreak]

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATS AG!!!!!!!!

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 2/21/2009 12:30:25 PM
Author: neatfreak
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATS AG!!!!!!!!

Thanks NF - I don''t think its totally sunk in yet, I keep waiting for the proverbial "other shoe" to drop, but I''m sure I''ll manage to get used to it

How are your boys and your degree? I can only imagine what a challenge that must be, but I''m sure you are handling it with your usual grace

 

[WishfulThinking]

Oh wow, congratulations, Amber!!! That is so fantastic!!

 

[zhuzhu]

Congrats Amber!
Sorry I have not read your previous thread, what is your degree in?
Passing the committee meeting is really like a soft guarantee for your graduation. What is left of your work is finishing the remaining lab work and write up the dissertation, but do you have to actually get papers published or just submitted? Usually everyone pass the final oral defense if the committee meeting was a big pass.

After passing my committee meeting, I finished up all my writings/analysis within about 6 months. The rest is history!

What are your plans for post-doc work?

Congrats again!!!

 

[Clairitek]

Thats so awesome AG!! I hope you celebrated appropriately this weekend!

 

[Kaleigh]

WOOHOO, I am so happy for you AG, that''s awesome!! CHEERS!!!!

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 2/21/2009 1:14:03 PM
Author: WishfulThinking
Oh wow, congratulations, Amber!!! That is so fantastic!!

Thanks wishful - I know you appreciate the hard work and what a big deal it is

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 2/21/2009 6:07:21 PM
Author: zhuzhu
Congrats Amber!

Sorry I have not read your previous thread, what is your degree in?

Passing the committee meeting is really like a soft guarantee for your graduation. What is left of your work is finishing the remaining lab work and write up the dissertation, but do you have to actually get papers published or just submitted? Usually everyone pass the final oral defense if the committee meeting was a big pass.


After passing my committee meeting, I finished up all my writings/analysis within about 6 months. The rest is history!


What are your plans for post-doc work?


Congrats again!!!

Zhuzhu - thanks so much for sharing your experience. What is your degree in, if you don''t mind sharing?

Mine''s in Immunology.

The main paper is written up and ready to submit, so that one should be accepted and I should finish the revisions, the other one I will definitely contribute to writing, but its not clear who will take the lead on it yet - I don''t need the first authorship to move forward in my career so I''m happy to yield it if its better for someone else.

Fortunately at my University, we do a really really hard qualifying exam, and the defense isn''t really a defense at the end so much as just a presentation. So I''ve got two short experiments, revisions on the submitted paper, and some additional data analysis plus writing it up and then I''m all done.

I''m actually not going on to a post-doc as I don''t want to stay in science - I''ll be moving into a different field (I''ll still use my background just not as directly).

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 2/21/2009 7:37:39 PM
Author: Clairitek
Thats so awesome AG!! I hope you celebrated appropriately this weekend!

Hehe thanks C-tek

I''m actually still celebrating, and plan to for most of the week as DH and I have a nice, relaxing vacation planned starting Monday - nothing super big or fancy, just some time to get away and enjoy each other

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 2/21/2009 7:45:10 PM
Author: Kaleigh
WOOHOO, I am so happy for you AG, that''s awesome!! CHEERS!!!!

Thanks Lisa! You are so sweet - I really appreciate all your good wishes and support

 

[DiamanteBlu]

That is great news! Thesis committees can like to torture the poor grad students sometimes. I am glad that they loved what they saw!

What is your topic?

 

[niccia]

Congrats, Amber ! Immunology is fascinating to me also. I have my undergrad in life sciences, and had an introduction to immunology in my 3rd and 4th years so I know a tiny bit about it. So glad it all worked out so well for you!

 

[Deelight]

YAY congrats that is fabulous news , well done

 

[Lorelei]

 

[asscher_girl]

AG I''m so happy for you!!!!! That is so awesome! Congrats lady!!!!! Are you and DH going anywhere next week or just staying local? Let''s try to plan another GTG soon. Art Nouveau mentioned a show/exhibit that''s going on soon w/ Tiffany, I''m waiting to find out more info, but it sounds like fun.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 2/21/2009 9:17:20 PM
Author: DiamanteBlu
That is great news! Thesis committees can like to torture the poor grad students sometimes. I am glad that they loved what they saw!


What is your topic?

Hehe - tell me about it. One of my committee members kept suggesting additional experiments that had no relation to my central hypothesis and would have been so much extra work, but fortunately the others shot him down

My area of research is Immunology, and specifically the immunology of HIV disease - looking at people with different outcomes after infection and trying to examine how their immune systems are different.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 2/22/2009 2:49:16 AM
Author: niccia
Congrats, Amber ! Immunology is fascinating to me also. I have my undergrad in life sciences, and had an introduction to immunology in my 3rd and 4th years so I know a tiny bit about it. So glad it all worked out so well for you!

niccia - that''s cool that they gave you an intro to it. I do think its an interesting field, lots of advances in the last 20 years for sure, and we still have so much to learn.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 2/22/2009 8:48:32 AM
Author: Deelight
YAY congrats that is fabulous news , well done

Hehe thank you Deelight - I''m very happy

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 2/22/2009 8:54:17 AM
Author: Lorelei

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 2/22/2009 11:15:38 AM
Author: asscher_girl
AG I''m so happy for you!!!!! That is so awesome! Congrats lady!!!!! Are you and DH going anywhere next week or just staying local? Let''s try to plan another GTG soon. Art Nouveau mentioned a show/exhibit that''s going on soon w/ Tiffany, I''m waiting to find out more info, but it sounds like fun.

DH and I are out this coming week, but I can totally be available after that. I think AN was referring to the new exhibit at the Palace of the Legion of Honor:

Artistic Luxury: Faberge, Tiffany, and Lalique

I actually went on Saturday with DH and it is AMAZING

I would LOVE to go again with you gals - the Legion of Honor is beautiful, and I think everyone would really enjoy the exhibit, it would be cool to see it with our assembled knowledge. We might even be able to get some kind of special tour if we called ahead - I could call and find out, its worth an ask.

They also have a nice little cafe in the museum, and some other lovely exhibits, though probably nothing of *quite* as much interest as that special one

Let''s DEFINITELY have a PS GTG there before the exhibition ends in May - I think everyone would really enjoy it

 

[Elegant]

CONGRATS!!! That is so awesome! You''ve worked so hard!! Yay!

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 2/22/2009 5:36:17 PM
Author: Elegant
CONGRATS!!! That is so awesome! You''ve worked so hard!! Yay!

THANKS Elegant - I know you know how much work it takes!!

 

[icekid]

I missed your previous thread AG, but I''ll send you some dust now and add in a WOOHOO! You must be so excited; congratulations!

 

[Skippy123]

Wooohoooo, So happy for you friend!!!

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 2/22/2009 9:16:04 PM
Author: icekid
I missed your previous thread AG, but I''ll send you some dust now and add in a WOOHOO! You must be so excited; congratulations!

Hehe thanks icekid - its definitely exciting.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 2/22/2009 9:19:28 PM
Author: Skippy123
Wooohoooo, So happy for you friend!!!

Thank you Skippy - you have been so sweet with all the encouraging thoughts leading up to this, I really appreciate it

 

[mrscushion]

Congratulations! That is awesome.

 

[LabRatPhD]

YAY AG! That''s the way I dream my committee meeting will go when it''s my time! CONGRATS!!!

 

[katamari]

This is excellent, wonderful, terrific, amazing news, AG!

You are about to enter life after graduate school! I cannot even imagine. I am so happy for you!