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[dropout]

Is there a widely-accepted designation for us folks who have finished all MA requirements except the thesis, similar to the ABD designation for PhD candidates?  If I put ABT on my resume, will people know what I'm talking about, or think I'm just using a made-up term to make it look like I accomplished something?

[%sig%]

[Mouse]

As far as I know there is no special designation.  Explain it in your cover letter if you are worried.

[Abufletcher]

Personally I have no idea what ABD is supposed to mean.  To me it means "All But De-goods!"  Seriously, I don't understand the idea of hiring someone for a tt position ABD.  Is having completed a dissertation considered to be of such little relevance to the job?  I mean I understand if the dissertation is essentially finished but won't be formally accepted until after the start of the job. In this sense ABD is a "technicality."  But it seems like some people get hired ABD when they haven't even begun the work.

That having been said, since joining these fora I now how a much better appreciation of all the "other stuff" that Ph.D. students do.  They teach, they do all manner of "grunt work."  This is no doubt relevant to their future jobs.  And I understand how SCs might be willing to snap up "the best and the brightest" from some elite programs on an ABD basis.  But as someone who has been teaching for over 20 years but only recently finished (yes actually finished) a Ph.D. I find it a bit annoying that people are hired in ABD.  

To the OP, there is nothing like an ABT.  However, not all MA programs require a thesis.  If your program DOES require a thesis and you haven't written one, you've got nothing.  There's just so such things as "half-finished" with an MA.

[dropout]

I tried to be sufficiently self-effacing in my post to preclude the snarky remarks.

I was just looking for a possible way to "spin" my resume if I ever need to.  After 8 years of adjuncting, I finally got a TT job at a CC a few years ago, (minimum qualifications met with my other degree) and am fairly happy for the time being.

[Zarkov]

If you expect to complete your thesis within a year, you can put down something like:  MA in Etruscan Poetry in process, expected graduation MM/YY.

If you don't plan to complete the MA, then put down:  Graduate study in Etruscan Poetry, YY-YY.

PS:  Complete your thesis.  A master's thesis should not take you more than a coupla so months.

[just wondering]

How does one get a tt position without having an MA, let alone a PhD? What field are you in? Just curious.

[dropout]

just wondering wrote:

> How does one get a tt position without having an MA, let alone
> a PhD? What field are you in? Just curious.

This is at a CC.  I've got an MA in my primary field; this was a second master's in a related field.

[%sig%]

[anon]

People get jobs who are ABD because the committee likes their work and thinks they're almost done.  While everybody knows cases when this didn't pan out--and it can be painful if people don't finish quickly--everybody I know who got hired ABD defended in the summer before they started at their jobs in the fall.  They had the chapters and the advisor's backing to show that this was going to happen.

[ABD]

Abufletcher wrote:

 
> But as someone who has been teaching for over 20 years but only
> recently finished (yes actually finished) a Ph.D. I find it a
> bit annoying that people are hired in ABD.  


So it's OK for you to get a job before you have finished your dissertation, but nobody else can?

[%sig%]

[IMHO]

If you are a MA student and you haven't completed your thesis, then you are a student who has some graduate-level credits. Nothing more.

If you are a PhD student who hasn't completed the disseration, then at best you are a student with a MA. Nothing more.

The ABT/ABD designations are stupid and mean nothing. There is no guarantee these students will EVER finish. My university has a policy that once you are advanced to candidacy, you have 5 years to finish. We just dumped several students for not completing their dissertation in time.

[Abufletcher]

ABD wrote:

> Abufletcher wrote:
>  
> > But as someone who has been teaching for over 20 years but
> >only recently finished (yes actually finished) a Ph.D. I find it a
> > bit annoying that people are hired in ABD.  
>
> So it's OK for you to get a job before you have finished your
> dissertation, but nobody else can?

Actually, you have a very good point here!  And when you consider that some "ABDs" may have been TAing and/or adjuncting for 8 years or more, my snarkiness is completely unfounded.  And I do apologize.

I guess what does still irk me though is that I have a strong suspision that when it comes to applying for a tt position, my prior teaching experience won't be valued nearly as much as having spent a handful of years as a grad students inside an American style Ph.D. program.  That is, 20+ years of professional teaching experience (directly in my field) might not be given the same weight as two years of grad classes.

[Abufletcher]

And I'd also like to apologize to the OP who already has one MA (and a full time teaching job) and was indeed working towards a second.  I'd second the suggestion to list work towards this second MA as something like "X credit hours of graduate courses in the field of Y."  Is the purpose in getting the second MA to be able to abandon the first field and go into the second? Or are they complementary fields?

[LarryC]

I recommend that you put on your vita, first your completed MA, then something like "24 completed graduate hours in xx, completion expected Fall 2006."

[CCinterviewer]

This is going to sound harsh, but it's true: You will not get hired (or interviewed) for a job where a master's is required, especially if the field is competitive. Without the thesis completed, you only have a bachelor's degree. Do not waste your paper on the applications until the thesis is done and your diploma is on the wall.

You can put "all but thesis" for jobs that require only a bachelor's degree, but ABT does not carry the same esteem as an ABD.

[ABC]

all but degree....