Secrets to Success in Graduate School Report

8/9/2019 Secrets to Success in Graduate School Report

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Secrets to Success in raduate School

By Dora Farkas, Ph.D.Thesis and Career Coach

Creator of the “Finish Your Thesis” Program www.FinishYourThesis.com

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Thank you for downloading this free report. Iwould like to acknowledge you for taking theinitiative to bring your experience in graduateschool to a higher level.

This free report includes my favorite productivitytips to help you see results quickly and get yourthesis on track.

If you would like to provide me feedback orsuggestions for future reports please email me [email protected]

About Dora

Hi, I’m Dora Farkas, creator of the "Finish Your Thesis" program. After I earned my PhD fromMIT, and completed my postdoctoral fellowship at Tufts University, I worked in the pharmaceutical industry for several years as a Senior Scientist. I know first-hand the challengesof the research environment, and over the last 5 years, I coached over 200 graduate students tohelp them finish their theses and pursue careers in academia, industry, and entrepreneurship.

Based on these success stories and interviews with over 100 accomplished PhDs in academia andindustry, I put together the online “Finish Your Thesis” course where I share the same strategiesthat have helped my students complete their theses and get attractive job offers. .

To learn more about this course, please click here.

mailto:[email protected]


http://finishyourthesis.com/program-graduate/







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Testimonials

“Dora is an excellent coach, with a style that is compassionate as well as no-nonsense. She

helped me set concrete goals that were achievable and meaningful, and held me accountable,making the last semester of graduate school more productive and less stressful. In the short term,

I’ve already had one exciting success, winning my university’s prize for best thesis. In the longterm, I expect to continue benefiting from our work developing my big picture career strategies.”-Jessamine Price, www.jessamineprice.com

“Dora Farkas has been instrumental in guiding me through the tenuous process of witing my

Ed.D. thesis. Her coaching style epitomizes both patience and respect, in a non-judgmental

collaborative manner, that allows you create without fear and embrace strategies that work, by

providing the positive push to help you attain your goal. Her ability to listen for understanding,helps her in offering an individualized approach to this academic journey with the most salient

and constructive feedback. Dora is a consummate professional and compassionate coach that

will bring out the very best in your scholarly endeavors and academic aspirations.” – Colleen Fritze, Northeastern University

“I highly recommend Dora Farkas as a thesis and career coach. She is passionate and fully

committed to supporting her clients to reach the level of success they desire. Through her

coaching techniques, Dora helps her clients to first identify the hurdles they are facing and

second, outline strategies for systematically overcoming each hurdle. If you would like finish

your thesis or secure a competitive job offer, Dora is highly qualified to give you the support you

need to reach your goals. For me, Dora’s coaching was pivotal to my success in obtaining an

offer for a tenure-track position from a highly competitive university.”

- N. Jain, Ph.D.

“Based on my experience with her, I would like to enthusiastically recommend Dora Farkas as a

career coach. Navigating the non-academic job market as a PhD graduate has its own specific

set of challenges, and it is crucially important to approach it with the right goal-oriented

mindset. Dora was first of all a very good listener, who made me feel comfortable at verbalizing

the achievements and challenges I was facing at any given time. Her feedback provided valuable

perspective on recognizing the importance of my successes, and turning my challenges into

opportunities and calls for action. There is also a good focus on providing a structure behind

what may initially seem like a disorganized set of ideas and tasks to be completed, and turning

them into goals and action plans, which are then reviewed and revised week after week. She has

the skills and the experience to support you through critical periods of your professional life, and

to help you come out feeling confident and empowered at the other end.”

- A. Copete, Ph.D.



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Table of Contents

Introduction: Can you be productive in graduate school and have a social life? .......................................... 5

Part I: Set Yourself Up for Success .............................................................................................................. 6

Shifting from reactive to proactive ........................................................................................................... 6

Follow your passion .................................................................................................................................. 7

Choose a realistic and exciting dissertation topic ..................................................................................... 7

Incorporate marketable job skills .............................................................................................................. 8

Part II: Plan Your Thesis ............................................................................................................................... 8

Your Long Term Vision ............................................................................................................................ 8

Setting up Short Term Milestones – Evaluate Progress Frequently.......................................................... 9

Establish a support network of professors .............................................................................................. 10

Part III: Maintain a High Level of Focus and Productivity ........................................................................ 11

Five Tips For Achieving a High Level of Productivity .......................................................................... 12

Part IV: The 10 Most Common Mistakes that Graduate Students Make .................................................... 13

Part V: The One Thing That PhDs Would Do Differently in Graduate School .......................................... 19



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Introduction: Can you be productive in graduate school and have a social life?

My qualifying exam was in my second year of

graduate school. It was a seven hour written

exam, where they could ask just about anythingat all in my field of study. I set aside an entire

month to study for this exam and I told all my

friends that I would be busy for a while. I

missed out on some social activities, but I knew

it was temporary, so I did not mind spending 12

hours a day studying.

About two weeks before my qualifying exam I

had lunch with a friend who was also in her

second year, but in a different department. As usual I talked about how much studying I had todo, and how I could not wait until my exams were over and I could have fun again! My friend

(let’s call her Lisa) listened, and nodded in agreement. Lisa was an excellent student, but I

never saw her get nervous about exams. She was social and she was an athlete as well. I knew

Lisa was doing something right, but that afternoon she surprised me even more.

When our lunch was over I asked Lisa if she wanted to have lunch again the next day. “Oh, I

can’t” she said. “I have my qualifying exam tomorrow, and it is all day.”

I could not believe my ears. How can someone be so relaxed about having their qualifying

exams the next day? I spoke with Lisa nearly every day but I had no idea she had her exams thevery next day. She did not miss out on social activities or cut down on her exercise routine.

While she had 24 hours in the day like the rest of us, she managed to get her work done during

regular hours, and then take off the evenings and most of the weekends.

Lisa was bright, but she was not a prodigy. She had to put in the time to earn high grades and

graduate with a PhD. But Lisa found a way to be efficient and enjoy life in graduate school.

What a concept! Of course, she aced her qualifying exam (the failure rate was about 30% for her

department), and she completed her PhD in 4 years when the average for her department was 6

years. After graduation she got married, had 2 kids, and is working full-time in a technical

field.

My conversation with Lisa the day before her qualifying exam was my motivation for launching

a coaching business for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Students like Lisa (we all

who they are) are proof that it is possible to be highly productive in academia and still live a full

life. I have spent the last five years coaching nearly 200 graduate students to help finish

their theses, have an active social life, and pursue career paths they are passionate about.



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This free report summarizes some of the most important strategies that will help you to reach

higher levels of productivity in graduate school and get your thesis on track.

Part I: Set Yourself Up for Success

Shifting from reactive to proactive

A former graduate student told me that

completing a PhD thesis was very similar to

being thrown into the Atlantic Ocean with a

paddle boat and asked to get to the other side.

Many graduate students agree with this analogy

because similarly to getting across the Atlantic

Ocean, graduate school is a long journey,

frequently without proper directions and

resources. In your tiny paddleboat you will be at the mercy of the currents, and each step forward

is followed by three steps back.

I interviewed many students who were successful in graduate school (i.e. graduate in relatively

short amount of time) and I realized that their approach to completing their thesis was vastly

different from those students who lingered in graduate school for years. Many graduate

students use a “reactive” approach. They follow what their supervisors/thesis committee tell

them, and then they react to situations as they come along, which can set them back for months

or even years. To use the paddleboat analogy, they are at the mercy of the currents, whetherthose currents are their thesis supervisor, collaborators, the research itself or personal situations.

Successful graduate students (whether they realize or not) use a proactive approach. They

take an active part in deciding the topic of their dissertation, the methods used in the research and

(most importantly) their daily schedule. Instead of beginning their day by reacting to the

avalanche of emails, they know what they want to accomplish that day. Proactive students

encounter obstacles just like all other students, and many of them have other responsibilities

outside graduate school (e.g. jobs, parenting). But, by taking a proactive approach they are able

to lessen the effect of unexpected currents and get back on track quickly.

Seems like a lot of work? Up front it will take a shift in your attitude and self-discipline. But in

the long run this change in attitude it can save you months (or years) in graduate school,

help you write high quality manuscripts and find a job.



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Follow your passion

Graduate school is a long bumpy road, full of mysterious twists and turns. Yet, graduate school is a

unique opportunity that prepares you for your future career. Many students enter graduate

school without having a clear idea about their career paths. Given the variety of alternativecareers that PhD have followed in recent years (consulting, finance, entrepreneurship, teaching,

government jobs, law) it is not surprising that graduate students feel overwhelmed by all the

possible career options.

After having worked with hundreds of PhD students, I realized that in order to be

successful in graduate school you do not need to have a vision of your career path.

However, it is important (in fact essential) to choose a field of study that you are passionate

about. Perhaps you are not sure whether you want to be in academia or industry, but you

probably know which areas of study excite you the most. If you have the option to do rotations in

your department, choose an area that is meaningful for you, and that you can commit severalyears of research to.

Regardless of which field you choose, you will have good days and bad days. On good days you

will be enthusiastic and motivated to work. On bad days, you might question whether your

research makes any sense, and you might even doubt your ability to graduate. If you pick a

meaningful topic, the daily setbacks in your research will not bring you down. You will still

be working in an important field, and you will be learning the skills and expertise necessary for

your career.

Choose a realistic and exciting dissertation topic

Given that you want to finish your thesis within a reasonable amount of time, should you

research a novel or “hot” area, or to go with a “safer”, better -understood topic? One way to

answer this question is to visualize yourself at every stage of your thesis. How will you make it

happen? Can you gather the resources and complete the work by your proposed graduation date?

Most likely your project will take longer than you anticipated, so allow some flexibility to

account for contingencies. Many students find that research takes about 2-4 times longer

than expected, so give yourself time to allow for unexpected setbacks.

If you have little expertise, begin your work by exploring questions in well-understood areas. For

example, you could learn the basics of your field by extending the research projects of previous

students, or trying to reproduce their data. Starting your research in an area where the

methodology has been established will teach you the necessary research skills for your field.

Once you learn the basics, you can expand your research by exploring novel areas, and building

your own unique niche.



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Here are some questions to help you decide your thesis topic:

Do you have all the necessary resources and expertise?

Is your time frame realistic for this project?

What practical applications does your topic have?

Incorporate marketable job skills

The purpose of graduate school is to prepare you for a job, and it is never too early to

browse job listings. Which skills are employers looking for? Many graduate students focus very

heavily on completing their theses and manuscripts, but give little thought to how well they are

prepared for their careers. Employers (specifically in industry) will value your publication

record, but they value skill sets even more. When a job opens up in industry, they need someone

fast, and they would like that person to have as many of the skill sets as possible so they can hitthe ground running.

As you are planning your thesis, look for opportunities to gain experience in areas that will make

you marketable (this is part of being proactive and paddling your boat in the direction where you

want to go). If you already established your thesis topic, there might still be an opportunity

to collaborate on a side project to give you additional skill sets.

Ask for advice from your supervisor (and perhaps a collaborator) to help you develop a project

(or side-project) that will prepare you well for a career in your desired field.

Part II: Plan Your Thesis

Your Long Term Vision

When I coach students I usually ask them to

determine what their thesis goals are in 1 year.

They are frequently surprised at this question as

many of them have not thought about it. Most

graduate students have an estimate of whenthey would like to defend their thesis, but they

may not have specific research goals for the

next year, and even fewer of them have broken

down the yearly goals into quarterly or monthly milestones.



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Think about it, if you were a runner training for a race (which I know many graduate students

are) how would you prepare for your big event? Most runner set schedules with the certain

number of miles they will run each week so they will be fully trained for their race. They

also plan recovery time to prevent injuries.

Runners also do something very important to increase their chances of success. While trainingfor their race, runners give themselves a psychological boost by visualizing themselves

completing or winning the event. They see themselves succeeding, and feel a sense of

accomplishment even before they begin the race.

Of course, running helps your body produce endorphins, which give you the “runner’s high” and

make you feel good even if you are just training on the treadmill. But how can you feel good

when you are stuck in the direction of your thesis? How can you visualize yourself graduating

when you don’t even know what your thesis will be about?

The turning point for me came in my 4

th

year of graduate school. I had already collected a lot ofdata, but I had trouble pulling the data together into a cohesive story. I remember that one day

I was walking down a hallway, when in my mind I saw the table of contents for my thesis. I

did not see all the subheadings, but I saw the chapter headings. It was a vague picture at first, but

as time went by I began to get more clarity about the sections of my thesis. Without realizing it, I

was doing the same thing as runners do: I visualized the end product, a finished thesis. Having

an outline of what I wanted my thesis to be about gave me direction, and a plan to follow.

Setting up Short Term Milestones – Evaluate Progress Frequently

As I wrote earlier, planning your thesis is very similar to training for a race. In order to

graduate on schedule, you need to achieve some milestones by a certain date and you need to

take care of yourself so you can remain productive and deliver results along the way.

Many students resist the idea of setting goals because they have failed to achieve them in the

past. The feelings of failure left them with low self-esteem, so what is the point of setting goals

anyway? Most people who achieve their goals do not reach them exactly on schedule.

Similarly to someone who is training for a race, graduate students experience setbacks, injuries

and personal circumstances that will prevent them from achieving what they had set out to do for

a specific day or week.

However, the real advantage of setting up a long-term plan with short-term milestones is to

keep you on track, which will be especially important if you encounter obstacles along the

way. When I coach students I advise them to set up a long-term plan for 1 year. What

accomplishments will you tell your thesis committee? Or what results will you announce at your

defense? If you will be working already, what is your job like? Of course, I always emphasize

that students do not get attached to their 1 year plan.



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I also help students break down the one-year plan into smaller segments: where would they like

to be in 6 months, 3 months, or 1 month? When we get to the 1 month milestone, students get

very engaged because 1 month is close enough in the future that they can plan what to do

right then, during that particular week. In the completion of a doctoral thesis, it is crucial to

have a structure where you make consistent progress on a weekly basis, and having a plan for

what steps to take each week will help you track your progress.

Your one-year plan is not set in stone. Even if you are diligent, there are circumstances which

can throw you off track. The real purpose of the1 year goal is to provide you with a path to

follow, so you will be able to plan for the short term. Students in doctoral programs find that

about a monthly evaluation of their goals is helpful for making changes along the way. This will

help them determine what worked and where they need to modify their changes for the future.

While you might not reach your goals on time every month, if you evaluate your progress

regularly, you will be on the right track.

Establish a support network of professors

The selection of a good thesis committee is another essential component of a successful doctoral

dissertation. A good committee can motivate you, focus your research and possibly help to

moderate disagreements with your advisor. The frequency of committee meetings will depend

on your department. Some students only meet with their committees once in graduate school,

whereas others present their research every six months. Whichever is the case for you, pick

faculty members who are approachable and have expertise in your field.

One of the frustrations that some students face is that there is disagreement among thecommittee members. This can be especially difficult when those disagreements are unexpected

and they arise during a committee meeting. Depending on how “heated” the debate is, it can be

helpful to meet with committee members individually to get a better understanding of their

viewpoint.

Once you familiarize yourself with the committee members’ viewpoints, meet with your

supervisor to determine how to continue your research. If your committee meetings are

infrequent, it would be advantageous to meet with the individual members occasionally to update

them on your research. Always keep your supervisor on top of your communication with

other faculty members, so that he or she will also be aware of the status of your project. Ensuring clear lines of communication among thesis committee members is the best way to

prevent surprises and setbacks at your future committee meetings.

A graduate student once commented that if she were able to get her committee members on

the same page about her research, she should also be granted a PhD in Communication

Skills. I believe many students would agree!



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Part III: Maintain a High Level of Focus and Productivity

I once attended a project management

seminar and was surprised to learn that

most people could only concentrate on

work for about 3-4 hours a day. Where

does the rest of the time go? Why cannot

we be productive all the time? If you

observed yourself and others at work,

you would notice that we all have peaks

and valleys in our energy levels. You

might sit down enthusiastically to read a

journal article, just to find yourself dozing off half an hour later. Or, you might look forward to

devoting an entire day to your research and then be disappointed as you get continuously

interrupted by phone calls or visitors.

It is worth pondering how your productivity changes throughout the day, and whether there is

any way to improve it. If someone were to cut your time at work in half, what tasks would be

given priority? Or if, someone were to double your time at work (magically increased the

number of hours in day) what other projects could you complete?

Some students experience the “eager beaver” syndrome in their first year. They work 12

hour days, do not get the results they desire and they feel exhausted and burned out. How come

they are not making progress when they are putting in the hours?

One of the reasons that students might have trouble adjusting to the graduate schoolschedule is that the structure is very different from college and a day job. In college and

most jobs people are given small scale projects with short deadlines. In graduate school you are

given a large project (frequently with uncertain outcomes) and a lot of time, but few intermediary

milestones and little feedback along the way.

In the absence of an external structure, you need to develop your own structure that will give you

results on a consistent basis. Thus you will not only need to manage your time, but also your

energy. They key to long-term consistency is to maintain a schedule which allows you to be

productive every day. In other words, you will need to be proactive about alternating periods of

focused work with recreation. If you work yourself to the point of exhaustion, it might take daysor weeks until you can get back on a regular schedule.



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Five Tips For Achieving a High Level of Productivity

Tip #1: Spend time outdoors – Take a 20 minute walk if

you can, or even a 5-10 minute breather during lunch

hour. I heard a funny saying once: “Only smokers get

fresh air during the day.” While I do not encourage

smoking at all, one lesson I learned from coworkers who

were smokers was that they always found a way to take

several 10 minute breaks during the day – and they were

still productive and published papers!

Tip #2: Take frequent breaks from work. Alternating 45

minutes of work with 15 minutes of rest is ideal. Your creative mind works best when you are

away from your desk. Ever wonder why you get your best ideas while working out or in the

shower?

Tip #3: Daily exercise – If a 20 minute walk is all you can fit in, then stick with that. If you can

do any other exercise (taking the stairs instead of the elevator, a quick jog in your lunch hour, 20

minutes of yoga in the morning), it can do wonders for your physical and mental health. You will

find that the endorphins that your body releases during and after exercise make you happier and

more focused.

Tip #4: Have a very clear idea at the beginning of the day of what you want to accomplish – Do

you come to work knowing what you want to get done, or do you just let your day unfold

depending on emails and other people’s agendas? That’s how I started graduate school, but Isoon realized that this strategy was not effective. Make your thesis your first priority when you

are at work. Email and social media will still be there later in the day.

Tip #5: Celebrate your success at the end of every week. It was easy to celebrate as an

undergraduate – deadlines were short and I received constant feedback on my performance. In

graduate school my deadlines were on the order of months, and sometimes weeks went by

without any progress. Most of the time in graduate school I did not feel like celebrating – and

neither did most of my peers. Unfortunately, feelings of guilt just make you less productive, so it

is time to turn this cycle around.

Start celebrating any small step you take – in fact, I encourage you to blow it out of proportion!

If you write 2 paragraphs of your proposal, give yourself the luxury of a nice dinner instead of

Ramen noodles.

Oprah Winfrey’s wonderful quote “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more

there is in life to celebrate,” literally changed my life. More celebration leads to more

confidence, motivation and, most importantly, productivity.



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Part IV: The 10 Most Common Mistakes that Graduate Students Make

Without realizing it many graduate student follow portions of a recipe on “How to write a PhD

thesis that a committee would NOT approve.” Perhaps you will recognize some of these patterns

in your own workflow.

1. Do what you think your advisor and PhD

thesis committee wants you to do, and avoid

conflict at all cost

Miscommunication is the #1 reason for unpleasant

surprises at committee meetings. Many students

think they know what they need to do to graduate.

They put a lot of work into collecting and

analyzing data without communicating frequently

enough with their supervisor to see whether they

are on the right track.

The frequency of meetings with your supervisor depends on his or her management style (hands-

off vs. hands-on). In either event you need to make sure that you have sufficient communication

(in person, phone, email) that you know with 100% certainty that you are on the right track.

Fear is a major reasons that students don’t approach their PhD supervisors frequently enough.

“What if my supervisor thinks less of me because I made mistakes, or I don’t know what I

should do next?”

Conflict can be scary, and some students will go out of their way to avoid confrontations with

their supervisors.

Anti-dote: Always know what your supervisor’s and committee’s expectations are for you to

write a PhD thesis. In some cases, getting clarification will involve disagreements and heated

discussions. (Good practice for working with others in your career).

As research evolves, expectations will change over time, but you always need to know what you

are supposed to be working on now.

What i f the expectations of your supervisor are not clear? One of the major topics I will cover

in my “Finish Your Thesis” program, is how to get the mentoring you need from your supervisorto get your thesis on track.

2. Assume that all the hard work that you do will turn into a PhD thesis eventually

Many students collect lots of data, but they are missing the most important ingredient of a

finished thesis: a central question or hypothesis. As a result, their thesis loses focus and there is

no cohesive story.







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However, many students in their 5th or 7th years don’t know the exact question that their thesis is

asking.

Anti-dote: Define clearly the question that your PhD thesis will answer. Once you have a

question, you can set up a long-term research plan, with well-defined milestones and deadlines.

Students are hesitant to this approach because the thesis question sometimes changes as moredata is collected.

What’s the point of a plan if it keeps changing? Given the uncertain nature of research, your

initial plan will most certainly change. However, you always need to have a plan to start with,

and milestones to measure your progress.

You might need to develop this plan on your own, but be sure to get your supervisor’s and

committee’s approval, so you can turn your hours at work into tangible progress on your PhD

thesis writing.

3. Do research that only you think is interesting

This is related to #1 and #2, but it is so common

that it deserves a category of its own. Going off

in a research direction that you think is

interesting (while neglecting your actual thesis

topic) is a type of “shiny object syndrome.”

Perhaps you come across a paper, or a new

technique, and you want to try it on your own.

As an independent researcher, you don’t always

need to consult with your supervisor before you

try something new. The problem occurs when this new “side- project” starts to become a

significant time-sink.

Students pour in a lot of their resources without checking whether it complements their PhD

thesis research.

Anti-dote: If you come across a novel idea that you think could complement your thesis, run it by

your advisor before spending a significant amount of time (or money) on it. You might need to

do literature research or collect preliminary data before presenting your idea to your supervisor.

Don’t assume that just because you think this research is interesting, your advisor will too.

(Perhaps he/she has tried it in the past and chose not to pursue it for a good reason).



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4. “Hope” that experiments or studies to turn out the way you want them to

There are few things more disempowering than “crossing your fingers” for your results to turn

out a certain way. When you “hope” that you will finally get the results that you need to

graduate, you are sending a subconscious message to yourself that someone else has power of

your thesis. There are two problems with this approach.

The first problem is that you are stripping you of your self-confidence to be able to write a PhD

thesis. The second one is that you cannot dictate how your results turn out – your data is what it

is. In fact, sometimes unexpected results are more interesting and can lead to new research

directions.

In order for your committee to approve your PhD thesis, your research needs to be “solid” with

reproducible results.

If you doubt your own methods and data, your committee will probably pick up on your lack of

self-confidence and ask you to repeat your studies until your data is more robust.

Anti-dote: Think about possible outcomes in advance. How will each outcome effect the

interpretation of your results? Many successful graduate students also have several backup plans

in case they reach a dead-end, either in the direction of their research or in the development of

their methods.

Having a Plan A, B, and C, will give you a peace of mind, so you no longer need to stress and

“hope” for a certain outcomes. You probably know by this point that “hoping” and “crossing

fingers” are not effective tools to help you finish your thesis.

5. Jump into conclusions or the next phase of research before rigorous data analysis

Did you ever make preliminary conclusions by eye-

balling your results?

Unfortunately many students jump into conclusions too

soon, go off in a certain direction, and then realize that

they are back to square one.

I learned this lesson the hard way in graduate school

when I had to determine whether certain conditionsimproved the survival of cell in my culture system. The

plots in Excel suggested that one experimental setup was superior to the other.

When we did rigorous statistical analysis on the data, there was no significant difference between

the two conditions. This was great news as the setup that I suspected was more effective, cost 10

times more than the other system!



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Anti-dote: In order to have confidence in your data so you can move to the next phase, examine

your results from different angles. For example, try plotting it in different ways and do rigorous

statistical analysis to determine if any of your results are significant.

6. Cram as much data as possible into your PhD thesis to show how much work you have

done

I will never forget a certain job talk by a candidate for a faculty position.

The applicant had just finished his PhD thesis and his 45 minute job talk had 149 slides. Half of

the audience walked out after 20 minutes, because it was impossible to follow him. The problem

was not only that he went through his slides at the speed of light, but his talk did not have a

central question or hypothesis.

Your thesis needs to be a cohesive story beginning with a question or hypothesis and ending with

conclusions that supported by data.

Don’t try to cram in unrelated data just to show how much work you did. An incoherent

presentation will probably frustrate your thesis committee. Many students joke that when they

look at their thesis it seems like only 1-2 years of work not 4 or 5.

Due to the nature of research, there is a good chance that a significant portion of your data will

not make it into the final phase of your thesis, and you need to make peace with that.

Anti-dote: Make an outline of your thesis, including bullet points for the data or arguments you

will make in each section. This outline (or skeleton) will change over time, but it will help to

guide you in what data you need to collect or what information to include in each chapter.

As you go through your research and are unsure about the relevance of some of your data sets,

check with your supervisor before your committee meeting to avoid surprises and heated

debates.

7. Cherry pick or massage your data to fit your story

Cherry picking: means that you are choosing to emphasize only the

data that supports your story, while ignoring findings that

contradict your proposed conclusions.

Data massaging: can refer an a spectrum of questionable analysis

methods, ranging from elimination of obvious outliers to

“tightening” up your data set by excluding all points outside

certain error bars. (Some consider fabrication a type of data

massaging, but I will not go into that as the consequences of such

misconduct are much more serious than just having to schedule yet

another committee meeting).



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Outliers can be extremely frustrating if you have spent months or years designing your study. In

some cases outliers can be excluded for good reasons, such as animal or human volunteer had a

certain underlying condition that interfered with your study.

In other cases, there is no good explanation of the outliers, which can be even more irritating,

because you have no scientific reason for excluding them and they can have a negative impact onyour statistical analysis.

Both cherry picking and massaging data are questionable scientific practices.

If your committee finds out that you were trying to “hide” your original data set, they might even

take you off the project or suspend you from the program. Cherry-picking or massaging can lead

to serious (even legal) consequences in certain areas of research, particularly those involving

human volunteers.

Anti-dote: Most data sets will not be perfect, and an outlier does not invalidate your results. If

there is an outlier, make a note of it. The take-home message is that you need to be completely

transparent on what data you collected and how you analyzed it. If you chose to eliminate an

outlier, you need to be clear why you did it.

Your supervisor’s experience can be particular helpful here, as he/she might be able to suggest

scientifically valid reasons to exclude certain points.

Also keep in mind that in most experimental sciences, data is not expected to be 100%

reproducible. A 20% variation between sets is considered reproducible in many fields. Of course,

you need to check with your advisor on how much variability is acceptable in your specific field.

Do you want to know what to do with not-so-exciting data and results? Check this post on how

to document your scientific mistakes.

8. Rewrite the same paragraphs over and over until they are perfect

Perfectionism is one of the most common causes of writer’s block. Some students are worried

that their writing is not good enough, or they may be too afraid to put any thoughts on papers.

The result is write a PhD thesis with only bits and pieces and there isn’t enough material for their

committee to approve their thesis.

Anti-dote: Get everything on paper: your data, your ideas, your references, and your proposeddata interpretation. You cannot pull a thesis together while all of this information is in your head.

Rewriting the same paragraphs until they are perfect will not bring you much closer to a finished

thesis.

Instead, focus on putting a story together, even if you don’t have all the pieces of your puzzle in

place.



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During the active writing phase, put your attention on the content: what questions you are asking,

the validity of your methods, the quality of your data, and any gaps in your story that you might

need to fill before handing in your thesis.

To write a PhD thesis seems intimidating (which could be a reason that some students re-edit the

same paragraphs repeatedly). Keep in mind that the more you write, the easier it will be to keepwriting.

Make writing a daily practice until you have a complete story.

Leave the editing (word choice/style/formatting) until the very end. Some universities have

writing centers that offer editing services, or you can also hire someone to do a copy editing

polish on your thesis if you are concerned about your writing style.

Are you experiencing writer’s block? One of the areas that my “Finish Your Thesis” program

will focus on is how to become more productive, and how to improve your writing process.

9. Use secondary references without checking primary references

When you come across a paper by a Smith et al, who cites data from Johnson et al., do you cite

Smith or Johnson when you refer to this data?

It is tempting to just cite Smith et al., to save yourself the trouble of having to look up Johnson et

al. However, citing secondary references (in this case Smith et al.) is a questionable practice

because you are trusting someone else to interpret the original data set, which was published by

Johnson et al.

It is also not enough to just cite both Smith and Johnson, without looking up Johnson, becausesome papers give incorrect citations. The journal name, page number, or year of publication

might have been typed incorrectly in their bibliography, and if you just copy it verbatim, you will

be held responsible for an invalid citation.

Anti-dote: If you refer to an original data set, you need to look at the data set yourself. Always

cite the primary paper, but only after you have confirmed that the conclusions made by the

secondary paper are valid.

You can also cite the secondary paper if you want to refer to their interpretation of the data, or

any follow-up experiments that they have done.

10. “Lift” off information from other papers

When you review 50-100 papers for a literature review, it is tough to keep all your references

straight. As you begin writing, the text in your literature review might sound very close to some

of the papers you read.







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Your sentences and word choice might be so close that your advisor might question whether you

“lifted” off some paragraphs, or worse, he or she may accuse you of plagiarism (one of the worst

offenses in an academic environment).

Whether it was intentional or not, if your paper is too close to someone else’s, it will reflect very

poorly on your performance and could ruin your reputation for years.

Anti-dote: Keep all the information from your references organized electronically. Since most of

your references will be in electronic format such as pdf’s, you can highlight or box the

information within the pdf itself.

You can group your references by category in different folders. This way, whenever you come

across a new reference you can highlight the necessary information in the pdf, and then save it

right away in the appropriate folder.

This practice will ensure that when it is time to write your literature review, you can pull up the

corresponding files right away and see what information you want to use. You can then

paraphrase this information appropriately (and include the references) so that you avoid any

chances of being accused of “lifting” off or plagiarism.

Do you recognize any of these patterns in your own work? If you do you are not alone. In

fact, most students recognize several of these mistakes in their workflow. The reason is that they

are not trained in college how to write a graduate-level thesis. My mission in starting

www.FinishYourThesis.com, was to teach students the skills they need to complete graduate

school as efficiently as possible, and still have time to enjoy their social lives.

Part V: The One Thing That PhDs Would Do Differently in Graduate School

I know many PhDs have regrets about their graduate school experience, especially if it took

longer to complete than expected. I interviewed over 100 PhDs for my “Finish Your Thesis”

course and one of the questions that I asked was what would they do differently if they could

start all over again. Some of the answers were similar, and I divided them into 12 categories

ranked according to how frequently they mentioned. Perhaps not surprisingly, nobody said

they would have worked more hours.

If I could start graduate school again I would:

12. Take fewer loans

The students who complained about the excessive

amounts of loans were usually in the humanities or

social sciences. Most PhDs in math, science, and

http://www.finishyourthesis.com/










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engineering received enough funding to at least get by. Students whose tuitions were not covered

had to take out massive loans of tens of thousands of dollars per year.

One student, a literature major at an Ivy League School, spent 7 years on her PhD, working part-

time to cover at least some of her expenses. When she graduated, she could not find a faculty

position. She eventually took a teaching job that did not pay well, but it helped her to pay back

her loans slowly. Most students who had excessive loans realized that prior to entering the PhD

program they had not evaluated the career paths and salaries of PhDs in their fields. In retrospect

they wished they had evaluated whether a PhD was a good investment of their time, money and

in line with their overall career goals.

11. Exercise more

Most graduate students I interviewed found the time to to exercise if they wanted to. There were

a few students who struggled with lack of energy or weight issues. These students admitted thatif they had put some effort into it, they could have found the time to exercise. One student said:

“Whenever I do exercise I am more efficient, but for some reason I just forget about taking a

break and going to the gym.”

Exercising will not happen on its own. If you want to exercise, you need to set aside time for it,

otherwise it will not happen.

10. Waste less time on the Internet

I actually expected this one to be higher on the list, because I know that many students spend avery significant amount of time on email and social media. Perhaps they did spend a lot of time

on the Internet, but if they could change just one thing, it would be one of the items above.

One student who said that this would be the one change she would make, recalled that her PI

walked in on her frequently when she was checking email. When her research did not go well, he

said that it was probably because she spent too much time emailing. In her opinion the time she

spent on the Internet was not excessive, but it did lead to conflicts between her and her PI. The

students who cited this as the number one thing they would change, said that they used the

Internet as a form of procrastination disguised into relaxation. In other words, they thought they

were taking a break from work, but they were actually wasting precious time that could have

been used for a real break such as a walk.

Some students regretted spending so much time in front of the computer, mentioned that they

developed pain their arms or backs due to spending long hours in front of the computer.

Research usually requires many hours of computer use, and adding social media on top of that



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can really put unnecessary strain on one’s body. For example, one student developed pains in

her arms when she switched from a desktop to a laptop. Laptops are notorious for poor

ergonomics and unless you take special precautions to set up a separate monitor and keyboard,

you will probably end up in a very uncomfortable position.

9. Travel more

Graduate students are not paid well (and they do not have much vacation) but there are still

opportunities to travel locally. One student did his PhD in another country and when he

graduated he realized that he had not seen any of the sights in the country during his 5 years. If

you do not have the budget or time for extensive travel, see if you can travel at least locally to

see some new sights.

As an example of how you can make the trip of a lifetime possible on a graduate student stipend,

one student saved up for 3 years to go on a trip to Europe. She had never been there before, andshe saved between $100 and $150 a month and collected information about student discounts.

When she finally had enough money, she spent 3 weeks in Europe traveling to 5 different

countries. With all of the student discounts she had collected she was able to see all the sights

and stay at reasonable hotels.

The PhDs who regretted not traveling attributed it to not having the courage to ask their PI for

time off. It was usually not a matter of money. One student cancelled a trip to China because she

was worried that her two week trip would affect her research negatively. In retrospect she

regretted it, because she later realized that 2 weeks off is insignificant in a 6 year PhD program.

8. Take time off on the weekends to recharge

It is tough to work long hours 7 days a week.

Everyone needs time to recharge their batteries. In

fact, it has been shown that the best ideas come to

you when you are away from your desk. The reason

is that there is a part of your brain, called the Default

Mode, which is activated when you are at rest. The

default mode helps you to be more creative and find

new solutions to a problem you have been facing.

Any of you who get great ideas in the shower, know

what I am talking about.

The best way to activate the default mode is to take a break from your work. It is difficult to

come up with creative ideas when you are chained to your desk and staring at the screen. It is



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best to activate the default mode by taking a break from your work daily. Either take a walk or

do another activity that takes your mind off from work.

The reason that some students wished they had taken a break on the weekends, was that they

found that working on the weekends did not make their research go faster. Either they were too

tired to produce high quality data or putting in extra hours did not speed up research. If you work

on weekends it is a good idea to assess how much progress you make compared to the hours you

put in. If you burn out from working so many hours, working over the weekends can actually

slow your progress down.

7. Spend more time with my significant other or friends

A PhD program usually takes a toll on

students’ relationships. Spouses who are

not in a PhD program sometimes have ahard time understanding how you can

spend 15 hours a day at work 6 days a

week. The situation can get even worse if

the spouse has a real job and they are

supporting the student financially. I have

witnessed several breakups (marriages,

engagements, dating) due to the strain that

a PhD program puts on a relationship.

However, I also know students who were able to nurture their relationships despite thechallenges of graduate school. I wrote a blog earlier about how spouses can support each other

while one (or both of them) are attending graduate school. To summarize, it is the little things

that count. Even if you are working 12-15 hour days, you can still make the time that you spend

with your spouse special. Simple things include eating your meals together, going out for ice

cream, and committing to a few hours every week to spend with them, regardless of how your

research is going.

In addition to wishing they had spent more time with their significant others, some students

would have liked to spent more time with their friends, especially if they shared extracurricular

activities. As I wrote earlier, not having a support network is one of the major problems that

graduate students face. Keeping in touch with friends and participating more actively in

extracurricular activities was one of the top stress-relievers for students in graduate school.



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6. Make sure I was on the same page as my PI

Most conflicts between a graduate student and a PI result from lack of proper communication. As

an example, one woman was offered a job when she finished her 6th year of graduate school.

When she mentioned this to her advisor, he simply told her that she had not done enough to

graduate. Since the company assumed that she was getting her PhD soon, they withdrew the

offer when she told them that she needed to stay for a few more months.

Another student told her PI that she was going on vacation a few weeks in advance and he

agreed. When she returned, her PI called her to his office and asked why she hadn’t told him she

was going out of town. She reminded him of the conversation they a had a few weeks prior. “Oh

I can’t remember that,” he replied. “You need to tell me a few days in advance so I can plan

accor dingly.” Obviously, this student had no realized that this PI needed many reminders.

A big source of conflict comes from asking for recommendations. PI’s are very busy and youletter of recommendation is one of 100 things they need to do. Many PI’s forget that they have to

write a recommendation letter, which can jeopardize your chances of getting extra funding or a

job. How often do you remind them? How can you make it easier for them to write it?

One student got very angry because after asking his PI repeatedly for a letter of recommendation

the PI still did not write it. The deadline was a few days away. This student took matters into his

own hands. He wrote the letter of recommendation and asked him to sign it. The PI signed it

reluctantly. I am not sure whether most PI’s would like to sign a recommendation letter written

by someone else, but I do know that they appreciate a bulleted list of your accomplishments. I

also know that some PI’s prefer to write recommendation letters in the summer when they don’tneed to teach. If you need a recommendation letter be sure to ask your PI how you can make it

easier for them to write it.

5. Done lab rotations before deciding which group to join (or changed groups sooner)

This advice came from the students who realized

that either the research or the PI was not a good fit

for them. I remember that my academic advisor

told me to look for two qualities in my PI: 1) Easy

to get along with and 2) Well-known in their field.

Of course, it is difficult to predict how well you will

get along with your PI, or whether you will like

your research. But to my advisor’s point, if you

realize that the research or the PI is not a good fit

for you, it is in everyone’s interest that you change groups as soon as possible.



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Some departments allow (and even encourage) students to do lab rotations. I don’t have enough

statistics to say whether students who took advantage of this opportunity were more satisfied

with their choice of PI, than the ones who had a choose a PI without rotations. I do know that

students who had wished they had done rotations, realized that the group was not a good fit for

them in the first few months. It is possible, that given the opportunity to do rotations they would

have found a better group and wasted less time.

A few unhappy students remained with their PI because they did not want to start their research

all over again, but later wished they had changed groups. Other changed groups, but after several

years of wasted effort in a group they did not like. My department did not encourage rotations

and most students were assigned a PI in the beginning of their first year. However, there was one

student who insisted that she wanted to do rotations,. After a few discussion, they allowed her to

work for a few research groups before making her choice. If you want to do rotations (and it is

not too late), simply ask. Most professors do not mind an extra pair of hands in their groups.

4. Stand up against my PI’s bullying

Several students had micromanager PI’s and it took a toll on their health and relationships. For

example, one woman had a PI who expected her to work 7 days a week. When she did not go to

lab he called at her at home to remind her how urgent the project was. Finally, she felt burnt-out

and told him that she could not work that many hours. She set up new boundaries, such as

limited time on the weekends and no calls at home. If he wanted her to be productive he would

need to respect her hours. She recalled that he was speechless and reluctantly agreed. That was a

great example of how a student resolved an ongoing conflict with a PI.

Others did not have the courage to stand up to their PI’s even when the requests were

unreasonable. For example, one woman wanted to leave town for a few days because her

grandmother had suddenly passed away. She asked her supervisor for permission and he said

“No” because there were other priorities. She reluctantly stayed but later wished she had gone

out of town anyway. Did a few days really matter in a PhD that took over 7 years to complete?

Several students recalled that their PI’s had unreasonable expectations before letting them

graduate. They worked harder and harder, and a result the PI’s asked for more and more. In the

end they got the go-ahead to defend, but in retrospect they wished they had stood up sooner to

their PI’s. I was very fortunate that a senior student told me that I would need to be very assertive

during my committee meetings, and persuade them that my research was sufficient to graduate

based on past theses.



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Prior to my committee meetings I wrote down answers to all the potential questions they would

ask, so I would be well-prepared to negotiate. While I did have to do more work than I wanted

to, I was able to reduce the amount of work necessary to graduate. This piece of advice probably

saved me 6 months in graduate school.

3. Learn more marketable skills

One PhD I interviewed did his thesis research in such an obscure field that he was completely

unemployable in industry after graduation. He decided to do a postdoc in a field that gave him

more marketable skills and he did find an industrial position. Other PhDs did learn a few

marketable skills, but wished they had learned more in the form of a collaboration. If you

network with professionals and look at job ads, you can find out what are the specific skill sets

that companies look for. Use your time in graduate school to get experience with as many skill

sets as you can.

Most companies care more about your skill set than your publication record. They want to hire

someone who will be the solution to their problem. Publishing many papers will not impress

them unless they are directly connected to the position they are hiring for. It does not matter if

your advisor is famous or even a Nobel Laureate if you don’t have the right skills. I know this

because I worked for a Nobel Laureate as an undergraduate for a few years, and none of the

companies I interviewed with seemed impressed by it.

2. Network more with professionals

Many students in their final year or after graduation aresurprised at how difficult it is to find an industry

position. First, the competition for PhD level jobs is

fierce. Second, many jobs only require Bachelors or

Masters degrees and employers are reluctant to hire

overqualified candidates. While your technical skills are

probably in line with the jobs you apply for, you have a

much higher chance of landing an industry job if you know someone in the company.

If you worked 12-15 hour days in graduate school and were always too busy to attend

networking events, you will graduate without any professional contacts who can help you in your

industrial job search. The advantage beginning to network during your early years (even in your

first year) is that you don’t have the pressure of having to find a job. The main point of

networking is to learn about different career paths and to build your professional network.



26

Where do you find professionals? Many universities have professional development workshops.

If the topic is relevant, it is a good idea to attend because 1) you will learn about that career path,

and 2) you can chat with the speaker afterwards, get their information, and follow up with them

later with a thank-you email. Professional societies also have regular meetings and conferences.

These are great opportunities for networking with people in your field. Be sure to follow up with

everyone either over Linkedin or an email soon after the meetings.

If you meet people for the first time do not ask them for a job. Just get to know them and follow

up occasionally so they keep you in mind. As you get closer to graduation, ask people if they

would have lunch or coffee with you or at least chat on the phone for 15 minutes. Some people

might ignore your emails, but I was surprised at how generous some professionals were with

their time when I was looking for a job.

If you do meet or speak with a few people, simply let them know you are looking for career

advice. Then, let them do most of the talking about their company or career path. If they mentiona job opportunity that would be a good fit, you can let them know about your background and

why you would be the solution. If they do not have a job opportunity, ask for a referral to

someone else who might be able to help you. Whether or not they help you to find a job, send

them a thank you card promptly after your meeting (hand-written if possible).

1. Join a thesis writing support group

The number one complaint of former PhD

students was that they felt isolated and

lost motivation to do work. In collegethere were support groups in the form of

study groups, office hours, and the

residential community. In graduate school

many student do not have any type of

support.

First-year students usually start out

enthusiastically, but due to lack of

accountability they lose track of time and fall behind on their milestones. In contrast, the students

who did join a support group thought that being part of a community was one of the best ways to

keep themselves motivated.

If there is no official support group in your school, find one friend and set up a weekly meeting

to talk about how each of you progressed, and what challenges you had to overcome. If you are

already writing, swap your drafts and give each other feedback. It does not matter if your friend



27

is not in your field (but it would certainly help). Simply knowing that someone else is going to

read your draft by a specified time will motivate you to complete your drafts on time.

Are you looking for a community? One of the goals of my “Finish Your Thesis” program is to

provide a supportive community, and the strategies necessary to complete your thesis.

To be among the first to find out when I open registration for the “Finish Your Thesis”

program, and to get an Early Bird discount, please click here (there is no obligation to buy

the program).

If your pdf reader does not allow connection to the Internet, please copy the following URL

into your browser: http://finishyourthesis.com/program-graduate/












If you down-loaded this e-book, I know how dedicated you are to your education and career, and

I look forward to supporting you throughout

graduate school and beyond.

Thank you for reading this report, I wish you

the very best in you studies.

I hope to have the privilege to support you in

your journey through graduate school either in

my “Finish Your Thesis” program, or 1:1

coaching.

If you would like to send suggestions for future updates, please email me at

[email protected]

Best wishes,

Dora Farkas, Ph.D.Thesis and Career CoachFounder, www.FinishYourThesis.com Helping Graduate Students Finish Their Theses and Find Their Dream Jobs










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Secrets to Success in Graduate School Report