How to Finish a Senior Thesis on Time

Senior year passes by awfully quickly. Before it's gone, you'll need to figure out how to get that thesis done on time.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Academic Counselings
• Electronic Personal Organizers
• Floppy Disks
• Personal Organizers
• Computers
• Software For Doing Backups
• Spell Check Software
• Floppy disks

1. Choose a well-defined and realistic topic (see "How to Choose a Topic for a Senior Thesis").

2. Write down the due date on a calendar.

3. Set shorter deadlines for each chapter and keep track of those dates, too.

4. Consult your school's academic advising office for pointers to resources for thesis writers.

5. Check the nearest deadline after each day's work to see how you're progressing and to remind yourself of what you still need to do.

6. Prioritize if you're up against a deadline: Cut out that extra TV show or that leisurely chat on the phone. If it looks like you might have difficulty meeting a chapter deadline, talk with your advisor about it as early as possible.

7. Don't let the size of the project discourage you. Take it in small pieces, remembering the sage advice that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Tips & Warnings

• Set aside chunks of time for recreation and relaxation. If you don't, you might go crazy!
• Resist the temptation to expand your topic. It's a slippery slope that's hard to avoid.
• Save as much money as you can before beginning the writing process. While writing, you'll want as few distractions as possible, including work.
• Back up your thesis after every writing session. Be sure to keep at least one copy of your backup off-site, in case of fire or other disaster.

on 11/22/2005 Arrange to meet weekly with your adviser. It streamlines the writing process because they should guide you on what to write AND it sets a small weekly deadline of pages to turn in.

Also remember that it is just a senior thesis, not a life's work. At some point you just have to say, "I've done enough on this topic; it's time to finish it."