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I've found myself in a precarious situation. For various circumstantial reasons (which I can elaborate on if curious), I was only able to start working with an advisor in my 3rd year of grad school. In my field of research, I have to teach each quarter to get paid. Unfortunately, my school has a policy about the number of times I can teach before I advance to candidacy (ATC), and I have reached the maximum number. No one warned me of this until it was too late.

So basically I am now forced to ATC before the Fall, and if I fail I will not be able to get paid. What is worse is the project my advisor started me off with is not the best. I can most likely write a nice paper out of it, but after the paper, both my advisor and I agree that there aren't very many further questions to be answered. Not a very good project for a thesis.

I'm hoping for some words of wisdom or advice that might calm my nerves about ATCing when I know this project wont be my thesis. Any thoughts?

Edit: In case this is not standard terminology, advancing to candidacy (ATC) is an exam I have to take in which I demonstrate to three or four faculty that I am working towards a thesis. I am supposed to present the work I have done in front of them, and at the end they decide whether that work can lead to a thesis.

fewfew4
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    Air Traffic Control? – Bryan Krause Jun 14 '21 at 01:05
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    Haha, I assumed that was a common acronym. ATC=Advance To Candidacy. Is that something I should clarify? – fewfew4 Jun 14 '21 at 01:07
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    Unfortunately, it seems like a lot of local regulations specific to your university (or even your department) are in play here, and it will be impossible for someone outside your university to give a reasonable answer. – Alexander Woo Jun 14 '21 at 01:13
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    It does indeed seem to depend crucially on specific regulations or customs. It might well be possible to "ATC" on a specific project, and explore different directions later, but we can't know if that's the case or not. You should probably discuss it with your advisor. – Anyon Jun 14 '21 at 01:30
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    @fewfew4 While the step is common, I haven't ever heard it by that acronym. We called it "prelims" for preliminary exams. The content, timing, and importance of that step varies a lot. – Bryan Krause Jun 14 '21 at 05:15

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