I feel this burgeoning sense of RELIEF, like finally I'm seeing in color 75% of the time, instead of 10% (or 5%, or none).

Oh, honey, that is FANTASTIC!!!!!

Also, (official) CONGRATULATIONS, DR. HIL!!!!

Also, (official) CONGRATULATIONS, DR. HIL!!!!

Hee. Not quite yet. Still at least two more years for that.

Thanks, everyone.

So if you have 2 more years to be Dr. Hil, what does "Ph. D. Pass with Distinction" mean? I assumed it meant you got your PhD, but I'm missing something, aren't I?

GO, DR HIL!!!

So, you're what? ABD?

And thanks for the woo-hoos. I feel like I finally got the syllabus for a class I WAS getting an A in, but then started to flunk all the tests I'd studied for.

So if you have 2 more years to be Dr. Hil, what does "Ph. D. Pass with Distinction" mean? I assumed it meant you got your PhD, but I'm missing something, aren't I?

It means that I've shown that I know enough to be allowed to go onto the next step toward getting a Ph. D. The other kind of pass is a Masters Pass, which would mean I'd have to graduate this year with just a masters. These exams test a few different fields of math, and it's supposed to be a "no matter what you concentrate in, you need to know at least a certain amount about other stuff, too," so it's pretty much testing a level of knowledge equivalent to a first-year graduate course.

After passing the qualifying exams (which is what I just did), I've got to spend this semester and probably fall semester of next year preparing for the specialty exam, which is pretty much where I decide (well, I've already decided) what field of math I want to concentrate in, then I study all kinds of different stuff within that field, at a more advanced level than the qualifying exams, and get tested on that. While I'm studying that stuff I'm supposed to be thinking about what in particular I want to focus on for my thesis. Then once I pass the specialty exam, I start working on my thesis. Then once that's written, there's the thesis defense, which is pretty much sheer terror. Then, if the thesis committee decides that my thesis and my defense was good enough, then I get to graduate with the doctorate.

So you're given a pass on starting to work on your dissertation? Do you have a comnittee and everything?

is overcome with awe and admiration of Hil

So you're given a pass on starting to work on your dissertation? Do you have a comnittee and everything?

Not yet. Right now, I'm supposed to be looking over my options and starting to think about what I want to write my dissertation on. I don't really need to decide that for certain for a little while.

Wow, Hil. That is amazing. Congratulations.

YIPPEE!! Hooray for Hil!