Junior Thesis Woes

As we hit the first week of March, with departmental deadlines only weeks away, the worst question you can ask a senior is, "How's the thesis?" Typical responses include a string of expletives, a painful groan or just deadly silence. But as March 5 approaches, it is juniors, not seniors, who are becoming nauseous at the mere mention of the t-word.

Causing this sudden rush of anxiety is the all-too-imminent deadline for summer research travel grants at the Office of Career Services (OCS). In order to make our lives easier, OCS, in conjunction with several of the more popular Harvard grant-giving organizations, has created a common application to save us the time of applying to individual programs. Common application programs include the Fairbanks Center for East Asian Studies, the Harvard Institute for International Development and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.

It's a nice idea in theory, but the deadline is this Friday. Presumably, in order to assemble a decent grant application, students should have a pretty clearly-defined thesis topic, good reasons for studying in the country of their choice and maybe even the backing of a thesis advisor. All of which leaves juniors in a panic to choose a topic and find someone to sign onto the project, all before March 5. Some concentrations, such as government and social studies, have already met with their students to encourage swift attention to this growing concern, but other departments have yet to breathe a word of advice.

In the wake of the recent advising report revealing inconsistent guidance across departments, this thesis trauma is but one reminder of the need for strong academic assistance. The OCS common application deadline seems ridiculously early, especially as some of us are just now beginning courses which might help us zero in on a thesis topic, but it is understandable that the more popular grant programs might need a few months to process applications.

If that is the case, and OCS isn't just being excessively prompt, departments need to help students get in the game by telling them early on (perhaps even at the end of the fall) to seek topics and advisors. In larger departments where students are less likely to have had personal contact with professors, a clear explanation of the protocol involved in approaching a potential advisor would be particularly useful.

Ideally, of course, thesis topics shouldn't be chosen until the near the end of junior year, when students have had at least two years of time to explore their concentration and find a topic they really enjoy. Otherwise, we'll have juniors tearing their hair out just as seniors finally get their freedom from the thesis burden.