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[trebordog]

I don't expect that there will be any trouble about being "found out" since I am always very clear about what I did and why I am doing what I do now. Again, I do not have nor apply for for positions where a PhD is needed or even desired. I did technically enter candidacy (got the letter to prove it!). Having the PhD would not enhance my ability to do my present job in anyway.

I was on a search committee years ago where a person with a similar background had another acronym for this state of being. I'd never seen it before, but someone else on the committee had. Since it seems to be a seldom-used discriptor I doubt it is of much use. That being said saying "completed triple-digits credit hours on the doctoral level, successfully passed my comprehensives and orals, blah blah blah  . . ." seems to be a bit much.

Perhaps I shouldn't worry about it since it's really never caused an problem?

[guidonia]

Trebordog,

Great to see you here! I've been lurking on these forums for several months, posting occasionally under various names. Sometimes people can be a little rude. Kaysixteen, you urge Trebordog to self-identify as a Ph.D. dropout, as if a few years spent in the Ph.D program is supposed to define the rest of his life. Please! It's an almost sick self-absorption and blindness academics have, to look at life in these terms. And, really, if you think that everyone who starts a Ph.D. should finish it for some arbitrary reason, think again. Trebordog and I went to grad school together. I finished and became an academic, he went into admin. He has a job he can leave at the office, I don't. He probably makes a lot of money; me, "not so much." Last time I checked, we were both happy (though I owe him a phone call). I'd be even happier if he came to work at my institution.

Trebordog, I agree with what the others say about simply making it clear that you were working on a Ph.D. program during those years-anyone in the academic world will understand how that can eat up years. I'd also think it would be a plus in some administrative jobs, having an insiders' understanding of students' grad school experience. Calling yourself a candidate with no intention of finishing could come across as dishonest in retrospect, if you are asked at an interview and say you have no intention of finishing. Not because finishing matters in itself, but because "candidate" communicates to some an intention to finish. You might also say that you completed coursework and exams, whatever.

[kaysixteen]

Guidonia, I am sure Mr Trebordog is happy with himself, makes lots of money,etc.  But he is no longer even a PhD Candidate, and he is a PhD program dropout.  I do not say he should have to advertise this fact, merely that he should not be allowed to euphemize himself away from reality.  Completing the program is a greater accomplishment than dropping out, even when dropping out may be the better solution for an individual student.

[seniorscholar]

My understanding of the way terms are traditionally used:

If you have completed all coursework, passed comps, had a dissertation prospectus accepted and are actively writing it (with a defense date or time limit in view), you're a "Ph.D. Candidate"

If you have completed all coursework, passed comps, and had a dissertation prospectus accepted, and have no intention of finishing (as was, indeed, a commonplace preparation for CC faculty a generation ago) you're "ABD" and remain "ABD" permanently. "ABD, Etruscan Poetry, Somewhere University" gives the full information; no date actually needed.

If you have done coursework but have not gone further, the usual designation is "36 hours graduate coursework in Etruscan Poetry, Somewhere University, 1994-97" though you don't really have to have the dates.

If you haven't been working on your dissertation for a dozen years and that is perfectly clear from your c.v. (and "Somewhere University" would tell us, if we phoned to check your status, that you were no longer in the doctoral program, since you were not paying tuition and not on a formal leave of absence), calling yourself a "Ph.D. Candidate" would strike a search committee at my research university as a lie. And the Provost's Office will have a check of status made on a Ph.D. Candidate before offering even a non t-t job, and at that point someone claiming the status when the registrar at the doctoral university no longer listed that status would be dropped post-haste.

[mayreh]

I have also seen people use C.Phil (Candidate in Philosophy) as a way to indicate leaving a program after completing all requirements but the dissertation.  This though is an actual degree (not an informal designation like ABD) that is granted at a few universities (such as the UCs - Berkely, UCLA, etc).  I haven't come across an equivalent for the Master's degree though.

[iomhaigh]

I have also seen people use C.Phil (Candidate in Philosophy) as a way to indicate leaving a program after completing all requirements but the dissertation.  This though is an actual degree (not an informal designation like ABD) that is granted at a few universities (such as the UCs - Berkely, UCLA, etc).  I haven't come across an equivalent for the Master's degree though.

Yes - and some schools that do this actually give candidates a sealed, stamped, frameable certificate.  I guess you could frame it and then hope that no one looks closely at what it says.