The past few weeks have been a whirlwind, and I’ve had to focus even more on my writing. This meant that I had to stop reading books on the dissertation journey to make time to finish papers I need to submit. But yesterday, a PhD student on whose committee I am and with whom I worked very closely defended her dissertation (Dr. Alejandra Nunez).
This momentous and joyous occasion motivated me to re-launch my effort to provide reading notes of every book I have purchased and read on how to write a doctoral dissertation, and more importantly, the methods and processes to execute all things associated with pursuing a doctorate. I have PhD students of my own and I want them to succeed, so I will take all the advice that I can. Dr. Dora Farkas’ “The Smart Way to Your PhD: 200 Secrets from 100 Graduates” is one of the best examples of good solid advice for students and advisors alike. You can read the introduction in PDF format here.
.@DoraFarkasPhD interviewed 100 PhD-holders (or equivalent degrees) from 46 universities in nearly 40 fields to distill their lessons. pic.twitter.com/fYMI0jiek5
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) June 19, 2018
There are so many gems and pearls of wisdom in @DoraFarkasPhD 's book that it would be useless to try and distill them all. BUT this… pic.twitter.com/uYWU1J3t7t
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) June 19, 2018
In @DoraFarkasPhD 's book you'll find lots of little pieces of wisdom that resonate – and each chapter is stand alone. I really like this. pic.twitter.com/2b7kTgUgA0
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) June 19, 2018
Not surprised that a systematic and thorough analysis & set of interviews as the one @DoraFarkasPhD did yields such homogeneous smart ideas pic.twitter.com/GYzZQVMK4i
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) June 19, 2018
Almost all advice I've read on this book I've consumed elsewhere or said it to my own PhD advisees. But seeing it compiled is amazing.
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) June 19, 2018
Ah, yes, "The Cut Out File". This is a folder where I dump pieces of text I cut from papers. I did this since I was a PhD student. pic.twitter.com/5ZaQhJR7Wf
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) June 19, 2018
Of all the "PhD thesis" books I've read so far, one of the best ones is @DoraFarkasPhD 's The Smart Way to Your PhD. Solid volume #PhDChat
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) June 19, 2018
I really enjoyed this book, and would recommend it. Dr. Farkas suggests that it should be used as a workbook (though I didn’t see many forms to fill out – but yes, each chapter is self-contained, and you could follow a similar approach to those who suggest to choose ONE habit every week to work on). Highly recommended.
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