A dissertation prospectus is a thesis proposal, submitted in the sixth term, by students, to the Director of Graduate Studies. Students also put forth as to whom they would like to choose as their advisors. A committee of at least two to three faculty members is then formed, who meets with the student to discuss the proposal. Meeting with the committee members is considered as an oral examination. Once the students pass the oral examinations and maintain a good standing, their advisers can ask them to revise their thesis proposal and discuss it further with help of dissertation writing services. The students need to pass the proposal examination by the end of their seventh term.
The prospectus is not like a dissertation. It should not exceed beyond a strict limit of fifteen pages. It is a thesis plan that clearly states the problems and displays students in-depth knowledge of research and analysis in solving them. It vividly indicates the students’ strategy as to how they had planned to organize their thesis paper and what their contribution will be.
Although the thesis prospectus is an oral examination, its main purpose is to convince the committee with shape and substance of the project. It is recommended to choose a professor whom the students are already working with, as their adviser. Students should start this process at the beginning of their third year. They should have regular meetings with the advisers, in order to discuss their thoughts and get regular feedbacks on drafts. The director of Graduate Studies is informed once an adviser is selected. After the adviser is chosen and the thesis topic is picked out, the next step is to allocate two more people to be members of the prospectus committee.
This committee is responsible for examining students’ prospectus defence. There are some dissertation topics which should be selected bearing in mind that the student is genuinely interested in it and can perform really well. Also, students should pick up such topics that they are likely to pursue even after their graduation. Students should not worry too much about their topic being the best one, as this won’t be their last philosophical work. It is important to work quickly on a thesis topic which is good, then wasting a whole year in search of the best one. A prospectus should consist of all the important elements required to convince the committee, that the student is ready to write a dissertation.
A thesis prospectus can be written in different ways. One way to write it is by asking a question in the thesis statement and stating the author’s position on answering it. It is not required to come up with a conclusion when writing a prospectus. Its only purpose is to show the capability and seriousness towards addressing the issue. Another way of writing a thesis prospectus after developing assignment experience can be stating a claim in the opening statement and presenting arguments for the claim. In this kind of prospectus, the student is showing the ability to make a plan and doing focused work. Always pay close attention to the adviser and start working on the prospectus earlier than later.
