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Should I complete an optional thesis?

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  • 17-05-2015 4:56pm
    #1
    fionnghuala
    Registered Users Posts: 54 ✭✭


    Hi everyone,
    I'm really hoping a few of you could shed some light on whether or not I do a thesis next year. As I mentioned in the title, it's entirely optional and is worth 10 credits (out of 60 to be completed in my final year). While I do have a couple of ideas for it, I can't help but wonder if I'm doing the right thing by choosing a thesis. What do you think? If you could go back to your final year and do it all again, would you choose a thesis? Would you leave it and just opt for extra modules? Overall, do the advantages of completing a thesis outweigh the disadvantages?


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    #2
    Outkast_IRE
    Registered Users Posts: 7,516 ✭✭✭Outkast_IRE


    fionnghuala wrote: »
    Hi everyone,
    I'm really hoping a few of you could shed some light on whether or not I do a thesis next year. As I mentioned in the title, it's entirely optional and is worth 10 credits (out of 60 to be completed in my final year). While I do have a couple of ideas for it, I can't help but wonder if I'm doing the right thing by choosing a thesis. What do you think? If you could go back to your final year and do it all again, would you choose a thesis? Would you leave it and just opt for extra modules? Overall, do the advantages of completing a thesis outweigh the disadvantages?
    It depends on you to be honest and the area of interest, and your ambitions for after the course. Its good having ideas for a Thesis but are they reasonable for the time frame and workload you are looking at ?

    One of the big mistakes i see is people being overly ambitious writing up a Thesis or Final year project to the detriment of the other subjects, at the end of the day your award is based across the entire course not a single document produced at the end. It can be hard for people to choose a topic, and set the right limits so make sure you talk to your course co-ordinator or supervisor about potential topics and the limits on the topic before you commit.

    If you are hoping to pursue an academic career then writing thesis and reports is a big part of that so i would advise to consider it.

    Are you good at producing professional quality documents ? For example is your referencing up to scratch, along with producing tables of figures etc. Writing Thesis and Professional reports is almost a skill in itself, some people are suited to it, for others it can be a nightmare.


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    #3
    fionnghuala
    Registered Users Posts: 54 ✭✭fionnghuala


    Outkast_IRE wrote: »
    It depends on you to be honest and the area of interest, and your ambitions for after the course.

    If you are hoping to pursue an academic career then writing thesis and reports is a big part of that so i would advise to consider it.

    Are you good at producing professional quality documents ? For example is your referencing up to scratch, along with producing tables of figures etc. Writing Thesis and Professional reports is almost a skill in itself, some people are suited to it, for others it can be a nightmare.

    I'm studying law so I have had plenty of essays before and would consider myself as being pretty good in terms of referencing and the way I present my writing. I suppose one of my main concerns is going from a few 3,000-4,500 word essays up to 10,000+. It seems like an impossible task from the outside!


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    #4
    Outkast_IRE
    Registered Users Posts: 7,516 ✭✭✭Outkast_IRE


    fionnghuala wrote: »
    I'm studying law so I have had plenty of essays before and would consider myself as being pretty good in terms of referencing and the way I present my writing. I suppose one of my main concerns is going from a few 3,000-4,500 word essays up to 10,000+. It seems like an impossible task from the outside!
    I am in the final year of my engineering degree, and i have a 10 credit project that was basically a research thesis that was is well over the 10,000 word mark.

    All i can say is that if you pick a topic you actually have an interest in, it certainly makes it easier. Also the time line of when you start writing is a big issue for most people. With an essay you could wipe it out in a week at your leisure, i was writing on/off for the past 3 months and set aside specific time for proof reading the document. I set aside specific time for printing and binding the document with time allowed for any issues that cropped up in that process. Organisation is very important, for anybody setting out to do one, i would say the first step i always do is to split it into small tasks and make up a project timeline and try to stick to it as best you can.

    You would be surprised how quickly 10,000 words can be to get through in a properly structured report with correct referencing, research, discussions and conclusions etc when written over a reasonable time frame.


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