Thesising at New College Pt. 2
Whoops, didn’t mean to end that quite yet. As I was saying, Nat Sci students usually write their thesis on a lab experiment that they have done. Some students end up writing their thesis on what’s already known about their topic; this is known as a library thesis. I’m quite nervous about my own thesis at the moment and am feeling the time crunch. Apparently, every thesis student goes through this in the last few weeks but it feels unique to me! Many New College students do their bacc exams on May 1-3rd, which are known as reading days. All classes are canceled so that the student body may attend baccs (both to learn about their friends' theses and also to get ideas about what to expect for their own baccs) and so that professors can attend the baccs that they have signed up for. These baccs are open to the public for the first half hour or so, and then everyone is asked to leave so that the baccing student and their professors may have a private conversation about their thesis. This may take up to 2 hours and can range from a friendly conversation about how they might continue their thesis to a more spirited defense. Not all New College students bacc on bacc days however, the official, final deadline for all baccs and the following edits to be made is May 22nd. For reference, graduation/commencement is on May 26th. Once a person has bacced, they usually (collapse immediately in relief) go on to make edits to their thesis as instructed by their committee members and then print a final copy to be preserved, forever, in the campus library. A permanent reminder that they successfully completed a thesis.