We don’t know what happens in the third year, but we know it takes a year…

I knew stepping into third year that it would be different. No classes. Just research. The goal of third year based on our graduate studies requirements was simple: make progress towards a research agenda that can culminate in a dissertation prospectus and paper, then take the oral exam. At the end of our second year, we had a meeting to prepare us for the “transition to research,” which seemed daunting at the time. We were given useful advice regarding how to choose our advisor, how to structure our time, and how to know what a “good” idea is. Below, I share some reflections based on my experience.

Reflections

The “Transition to Research”

Finding motivation and inspiration

The biggest challenge for me was transitioning from an environment in which I was constantly reading field-related papers and required to produce my own proposals to one lacking this structure. I pursued the proposals I thought were most promising from second year, but found it challenging to stay motivated and inspired. One of the reasons I joined the PhD was to foster my intellectual curiosity, but I felt really worried that it had grown in my second year and paused during the beginning of my third year. It is very easy to get “sucked-in” to pursuing one or two ideas and closing off from other ideas to pursue them. What helped was going to seminars, talking to peers, presenting, and meeting seminar speakers. Getting to talk about my research inspired me to think of “spin-off” ideas, while interacting with peers brought about some fresh ideas.

Making time for work and defining “progress”

Without classes, I felt like I had so much time, yet somehow I also felt that I didn’t have time to actually do work. I think a few things contributed to this feeling. (i) I think I over-indexed on seminars. I got a bit too excited and wanted to attend everything (even if it wasn’t as relevant to my interests). While I enjoyed many talks, I think I could have been a bit more selective in attendance so that I could be more engaged and have time to balance my own progress. (ii) I think I got caught up in the idea of “producing output” - but research is a slow and constantly evolving process. Midway through the quarter, I slowly came to the realization that even if I didn’t update a paper or finish coding a big chunk, the progress I did make was still progress - brainstorming an idea, reading a paper, or just thinking! I had some slow days and some productive days, but at the end, I do see some of the tangible work I produced and it came as a compilation of seemingly “progress-less” days. I can see my tabulation tracker of “what I did” and see evidence that I was working! The one motivation that helped the most was external deadlines - committing to present internally at a seminar, submit a grant proposal, or meet with my advisor. I signed up often and tried to give myself more than just internal deadlines.

Avoiding isolation

The biggest trap I tried to avoid was burying myself in work without reaching out to others. I think I was successful in this endeavor - and I attribute this to my overall experience in third year. I am blessed to have very thoughtful advisors. I knew that for my working style, it would help to join advising groups with weekly meetings and periodic check-ins. My advising groups included job market candidates, students further along in the program, and “new to research” students in my cohort. I think being proactive in attending these sessions helped me get close to my advisors, share my interests, and feel comfortable asking for feedback at critical points. I also tried to sign-up to meet with seminar speakers to share my ideas and apply to conferences/grants. I think that there is an important balance to strike between constantly asking feedback for everything and isolating for a few months without asking for any feedback. Striking that balance can be challenging, but I tend to lean more towards the side that engages often. I didn’t ask for one-on-ones, but I signed up to present internally, gave updates on my progress when I had them, and asked my peers/advisor in group settings when I had updates that would benefit from discussion. This was the recipe for me feeling encouraged and confident I was “on track.”

The Oral Qualifying Exam

Overall experience

Writing the research prospectus and preparing for the Oral Qualifying Exam was challenging, but the exam itself I found to be very fun! The exam brought together some incredibly brilliant professors and felt almost like a brainstorming session where we were all on the same team. Some members of my committee disagreed with me on some points, some disagreed with other committee members on other points, some thought of new ideas, some made me think of alternative approaches. It just felt really energizing and increased my motivation for my projects! I walked away feeling excited (and hungry). I rested and took a bit of a break before diving in over the summer.

Tips fot the QE

(Note, these tips are specific to the UC Davis Economics Department and are fully based on my personal experience)

• Choose your committee and chair wisely - The three ideas I presented on were a bit different, so I tried to ensure my committee reflected those different intersections across the applied micro field more broadly. By department rules, your oral QE chair can’t be the same as your dissertation chair.
• Notify your committee early - Scheduling can be difficult (especially over the summer). Since we are on the quarter system, our quarter ends in June. However, other universities on semester systems end earlier. This means that some professors have obligations (summer workshops, conferences etc.) that are on different calendar schedules than ours. Earlier is better! If you schedule a time, you can treat it as a deadline and push towards it. If you wait too long, it can be difficult to schedule and you run the risk that all of your committee members won’t make it.
• Communicate with your chair and committee about the format - I really appreciated that my committee chair was incredibly organized and practical. They provided a template regarding how I should allocate my time across projects and suggested some big picture framing points I should raise.
• Present before - I signed up to present for the Applied Micro Brown Bag (internal student seminar) a few weeks before my Oral QE. I made sure to reach out to my professors in my committee to request they attend. I think this helped provide context for my Oral QE, which was much shorter. It let me then focus my QE slides on more updates, next steps, and requested feedback.
• Structure the QE - I followed my chair’s advice and structured my QE the following way: (1) an quick introduction about what kind of research I like/want to do (2) an overview of my main ideas, key research questions, fields, progress, and likelihood of completion (based on data access, funding etc.). (3) an overview of my proposed third year timeline (a GANTT chart of the main activities across projects and proposed timelines for fourth year). (4) presentation of my third year paper project, (5) presentation of my other two main projects [shorter]. In my presentations, I added a few slides with specific points of feedback I requested to help guide the conversation. I think having the overview and timeline really helped as after my committee met to discuss my presentation, they gave me some structured big-picture feedback regarding how to plan my fourth year. However, default to what your chair recommends. This is just one example!
• Record - Ask your committee members if you can voice record the QE. I ended the recording after the exam and when I was “kicked out” of the room while my committee discussed. But the recording was very helpful for polishing my notes from the exam.
• Be confident! - This is easier said than done, but I truly believe that the department only allows you to schedule your QE when they think you are ready and going to pass. This means that while you should absolutely prepare to your best ability, you can have some confidence that you have produced a lot of interesting work and have this amazing opportunity to get targeted feedback - so be confident! I think this mindset helped me prepare with intention regarding what I want to get out of the exam (other than the ability to pass and update my email signature from “Econ PhD Student” to “Econ PhD Candidate”)

Conclusion

I really enjoyed third year and agree to what one of my mentors said: “we don’t know what happens, but it takes about a year.” I noted my activities in a running list. While at times I felt lost, upon reflection, it looks like I filled my year!

Third Year Video

My moments of joy from third year are captured in this one-second-a-day video: