master thesis grades

Descriptions of grades for master's theses

Descriptions of grades for master's theses.

From the spring semester in 2015 NHH adopted more detailed descriptions of grades for master's theses.

The descriptions were recommended by the UHR-Economics and Administration (UHR-ØA).

The grade will be criteria based as before, and there is no pre-defined distribution of grades that has to be achieved. However, the new descriptions will most likely result in a broader (less top-heavy) distribution of grades.

Descriptions of grades 

A - excellent.

Generally: An excellent performance that clearly stands out at a national level

• Displays excellent insight into the academic theories and methods in the field and knowledge at an exceptionally high level. The goals of the thesis are clearly defined and easy to understand.
• Can choose between and use relevant methods of research and academic development, and masters the methods used in a convincing manner.
• The work is innovative and has required very extensive work.
• Has an excellent ability to analyse and critically relate to different sources of information and to use these to structure and articulate academic arguments.
• Has in an outstanding manner conducted an independent, delimited research or development project under supervision and in line with applicable norms of research ethics.
• Displays excellent capacity for critical reflection, and can clearly distinguish between own contribution and the contributions made by others.
• Shows that they have undertaken extensive independent work and has excellent mastery of the expressive forms of the field. The thesis has an advanced form, structure and language.

B - Very Good

Generally: A very good performance that clearly stands out.

• Displays very good insights into the academic theories and methods of the field and knowledge at a very high level. The goals of the thesis are clearly defined and easy to understand.
• Can chose between and use relevant methods of research and academic development, and masters the methods used in a very good manner.
• The work is innovative and has required extensive work.
• Has a very good ability to analyse and critically relate to different sources of information and to use these to structure and articulate academic arguments.
• Has in a very good manner conducted an independent, delimited research or development project under supervision and in line with applicable norms of research ethics.
• Displays very good capacity for critical reflection, and can clearly distinguish between their own contribution and the contributions made by others.
• Shows that they have undertaken extensive independent work and has very good mastery of the expressive forms of the field. The thesis has an advanced form, structure and language.

Generally: A generally good performance.

• Displays good insight into the academic theories and methods of the field and knowledge at a high level. The goals of the thesis are generally defined well.
• Has chosen relevant and correct methods for research and academic development and masters the methods used well.
• The work is good and the thesis represents a normal scope of work.
• Has a good ability to analyse different sources of information and can use these in an independent and competent manner to structure and articulate academic arguments.
• Has conducted an independent, delimited research or development project under supervision and in line with applicable norms of research ethics.
• Displays capacity for critical reflection, and can distinguish well between their own contribution and the contributions made by others.
• Masters the forms of expression in the field well. The thesis has good form, structure and language.

D - Satisfactory

Generally: A clearly satisfactory performance.

• Displays satisfactory insight into the academic theories and methods of the field, and shows that they have a satisfactory level of knowledge. The goals of the thesis are not defined clearly.
• Has chosen relevant and correct methods for research and academic development and masters the methods used to a satisfactory degree.
• The work appears to have required a modest amount of work
• Has some ability to analyse different sources of information independently but depends on relatively close supervision in order to structure and articulate academic arguments.
• Has conducted an independent, delimited research or development project under supervision, but the thesis has clear potential for improvement. The work is in line with applicable norms of research ethics.
• Displays capacity for critical reflection, but has difficulty in distinguishing well between their own contribution and the contributions made by others.
• Masters the forms of expression in the field to a satisfactory degree. The thesis has a satisfactory form, structure and language.

E - Sufficient

Generally: A performance that is sufficient in that it satisfies the minimum requirements

• Has sufficient insight into the academic theories and methods of the field. The goals of the thesis are described but appear unclear.
• Has chosen relevant and correct methods for research and academic development, and masters the methods used in a manner that satisfies the minimum requirements.
• The work appears to have required a very modest amount of work and seems fragmented
• Shows some independent ability to analyse different sources of information, but depends on relatively close supervision in order to formulate academic arguments.
• Is clearly dependent on supervision in order to complete a delimited research or development project. The work is in line with applicable norms of research ethics.
• Shows sufficient capacity for critical reflection, but has not utilised the competency of the research community in a good way.
• Can generally use the expressive forms of the field, but the form, structure and language of the thesis have notable deficiencies.

Generally: A performance that does not satisfy minimum requirements.

• Has insufficient insight into the academic theories and methods of the field. The goals of the thesis are not clearly described, or are not described at all.
• Lacks competency in the methods of the field, and lacks technical skills in the methods that were utilised.
• The work required modest work and is fragmented.
• Does not use existing sources of information, and has not understood or wanted to use advice and guidance.
• Does not show sufficient capacity for critical reflection, and has not utilised the competency of the research community in a good way.
• The presentation shows significant deficiencies in its form, structure and language.
• Master's thesis

Examination Regulations

• Regulations for Full-time Study Programmes at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH)

• Utility Menu

Committee on Degrees in Social Studies

• Grading and Honors

Social Studies theses are sent to two readers, who provide grades and comments. Graders use a Latin scale, with honors grades ranging from a very rare straight “summa” (the equivalent of an A+) to a “cum minus” (the equivalent of a B-). It is also possible to receive non-honors grades (which revert to a letter grade scale). If the first two grades are more than a Latin grade apart (e.g., “magna plus” and “cum”) the thesis will be sent out for a third reading.

You must pass your thesis and complete both parts of the oral exam in order to graduate with a degree in Social Studies.  Every student in recent memory who has submitted a thesis has passed and graduated.

Social Studies uses a formula to calculate honors recommendations that takes into account course grades, thesis grades, and oral exam grades.  If a thesis has received two readings, both readings will be weighted equally.  If a thesis has received three readings, the median grade will be weighted 50% and the two outliers 25% each.

All courses in our five overlapping social science departments (anthropology, economics, government, history, and sociology) count for concentration credit, whether or not they are part of a student’s focus field. In addition, we will count courses outside of these departments that were successfully petitioned to count towards a focus field.  We only count course grades earned in the first seven semesters, as we do not have access to eighth semester grades when we determine honors.

Our recommendations are “English Honors” and they are necessary but not sufficient for college-wide Latin Honors, which are based on all eight semesters of grades and are subject to college-wide GPA cutoffs. You can learn more about the honors process at the college level by reading the Harvard College Handbook for Students .

Regardless of your Latin Honors outcome, you may list any English Honors you earned in Social Studies on your resume.  

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The examination and grading of Master's and licentiate theses

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Master’s and licentiate programmes include a written thesis with a scope of 30 credits, with the exception of dentistry and veterinary medicine, where the scope of the thesis is 20 credits. The procedures and instructions for examining and grading a thesis included in a master’s degree vary from one degree programme to another. 

Degree programme-specific instructions can be seen by selecting the degree programme in the menu above. 

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Master’s and licentiate theses.

A master’s degree includes a written master’s thesis worth 30 credits. In licentiate programmes, the licentiate thesis in veterinary medicine and the advanced studies theses in dentistry and medicine are worth 20 credits.

Theses are graded on a scale from 0 to 5. The grade awarded for a master’s thesis is taken into account when calculating the overall grade for advanced studies. The assessment is conducted in Finnish, Swedish or English.

Master’s theses, licentiate theses and advanced studies theses are examined by two examiners as specified by the faculty council. Different faculties and degree programmes have different appointment procedures and requirements for the examiners; please check the guidelines for each degree programme separately.

A master’s thesis must demonstrate the student’s ability for scientific thinking, knowledge of the subject matter, grasp of research methods and academic writing skills. More detailed provisions and instructions for writing a master’s thesis are provided in the curricula of the degree programmes. Theses must always include a summary. In many degree programmes, the summary is examined as a maturity test proving the student’s proficiency in the language of their secondary education. The examination and grading of the thesis must focus on the part of the work completed by the student independently even if the thesis is part of a wider research project or team effort.  

Instructions for grading a master’s thesis

The faculty council issues regulations on the grading procedure. When you are grading a master’s thesis, you can make use of the degree programme-specific assessment matrix and, if necessary, read more on the instructions prepared for assessing the structure and content of a thesis. The different parts of a master’s thesis are graded numerically and, if necessary, verbally. Many degree programmes accept the maturity test as a summary of the master’s thesis. Assessment of the new theses is examiner specific. Each examiner must always edit the assessment form in E-thesis.

The University of Helsinki uses the Ouriginal  plagiarism detection system, which is used during the studies and when examining theses to support the students’ academic writing skills. The Ouriginal reports of theses under examination can be accessed by the examiners in E-thesis. The plagiarism detection system Ouriginal will be discontinued on 31 December 2024. The master's programmes that will still use the old E-thesis system in autumn 2024 will include Ouriginal as part of the assessment process. The new E-thesis, to be introduced on 1 August 2024, will no longer support Ouriginal.

Before the assessment, please check the degree programme-specific instructions for

• submission instructions and examination schedule
• the structure and content of the work (instructions provided for students)
• assessment criteria/assessment matrix

When examining a thesis:

• examine and assess the work with the help of the assessment matrix
• review the Ouriginal report in E-thesis
• approve the maturity test, if one has been completed

The assessment process may involve disagreements among the examiners or between the student and the examiners. Faculties and degree programmes have prepared instructions for how to proceed if disagreements arise.

Approving the thesis and registering the grade

The faculty council approves the thesis and awards it a grade, unless it has transferred its decision-making power to a grading committee appointed by the Dean or to the degree programme steering group. The dean will decide from 1 August 2024 on the approval and grading of theses required for second-cycle degrees. The faculty council issues regulations on the grading procedure. Once the thesis has been approved and graded, the grade will be registered by Student Services within one month. The student may not change their specialisation once a thesis included in their degree has been approved and graded.

It is not possible to try to improve the registered grade of a master’s degree.  If the student is not satisfied with the grade awarded to their work, they may submit an appeal for the examination of the thesis . Instructions for submitting an appeal can be found under  Instructions for Students .

Please read also the instructions on the public availability, publishing and archiving of a thesis.

Maturity tests for master’s degrees, marking maturity tests

A maturity test is a scholarly text related to the field of the student’s thesis, such as a part of the thesis or its abstract or another piece of written work defined in the curriculum of the degree programme.

Maturity tests demonstrate students’ familiarity with the field of their thesis.

Maturity tests are graded on a pass–fail basis. The person marking and approving a maturity test is usually a teacher in the degree programme (e.g., the thesis supervisor). The person approving a maturity test must be proficient in the language of the test.

If your degree programme uses the E-thesis system to assess theses, please provide information on the approval of a maturity test in the assessment form at the examination stage. Information on the approval of the test will be passed on, and the test will be recorded as completed in the student information system.

A maturity test is an independent study attainment, but it is recorded in the student information system as having a scope of 0 credits.

In what language do students complete their maturity test, and do they demonstrate their language skills through the test?

The language of a maturity test depends on whether the student completed one for their bachelor’s degree and on the language of their secondary education .

• If the language of the student’s secondary education was Finnish or Swedish and their bachelor’s degree included a maturity test taken in that language, the student can complete their maturity test at the master’s level in Finnish, Swedish, English or the language of their thesis. They no longer need to demonstrate their language skills through the maturity test, but rather must demonstrate their familiarity with their field of the thesis. In other words, the maturity test must be marked and approved only in terms of content.

If the language of the student’s secondary education was Finnish or Swedish, but their bachelor’s degree included no maturity test in that language (e.g., the student completed their bachelor’s degree outside Finland), the student must take a maturity test in the language of their secondary education. In doing so, they demonstrate both their language skills and their familiarity with the field of the thesis. In other words, the maturity test must be marked and approved in terms of both content and writing. This also applies to students in an English-language master’s programme and those completing an English-language degree in a multilingual master’s programme.

• If the language of the student’s secondary education was not Finnish or Swedish or if the student completed their secondary education in a country other than Finland and is studying in a Finnish- or Swedish-language master’s programme or in a multilingual master’s programme in Finnish or Swedish, the student can take a maturity test in Finnish, Swedish, English or the language of their thesis. In doing so, they demonstrate their familiarity with the field of the thesis. In other words, the maturity test must be marked and approved only in terms of content.
• If the language of the student’s secondary education was not Finnish or Swedish or if the student completed their secondary education outside Finland and is studying in an English-language master’s programme or in a multilingual master’s programme in English, the student must take a maturity test in English. In doing so, they demonstrate their familiarity with the field of the thesis. In other words, the maturity test must be marked and approved only in terms of content.
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FALL COURSE REGISTRATION  is open through August 29. Explore courses today.

The Thesis Process

The thesis is an opportunity to work independently on a research project of your own design and contribute to the scholarly literature in your field. You emerge from the thesis process with a solid understanding of how original research is executed and how to best communicate research results. Many students have gone on to publish their research in academic or professional journals.

To ensure affordability, the per-credit tuition rate for the 8-credit thesis is the same as our regular course tuition. There are no additional fees (regular per-credit graduate tuition x 8 credits).

Below are the steps that you need to follow to fulfill the thesis requirement. Please know that through each step, you will receive guidance and mentorship.

1. Meet with Your Research Advisor

Upon admission to the program, set up an introductory meeting with your Research Advisor to discuss potential thesis topics as well as course selections that can support your thesis path. 

When you have completed between 24 and 32 credits, you work more intensively with your assigned Research Advisor to determine a specific thesis topic.

Log in to MyDCE , then ALB/ALM Community to schedule an appointment with your assigned Research Advisor via the Degree Candidate Portal.

Failure to work with your Research Advisor initially and then more intensively may result in your Crafting the Thesis Proposal (CTP) Application not being approved (see below) and/or the selection of a different thesis topic.  

Thesis Topic Selection Guidelines

Every effort is made to support research interests that are grounded in your ALM course work, but faculty guidance is not available for all possible projects. Therefore, revision or a change of thesis topic may be necessary.

• The above point about topic selection is particularly pertinent to scientific research (e.g., biology) that is dependent upon laboratory space, project funding, and access to private databases.
• This point is also critical for our candidates in ALM, liberal arts fields (i.e., anthropology, English, government, history, international relations, psychology, and religion) who are required to have Harvard faculty direct their thesis projects. Review Harvard’s course catalog online ( My.Harvard.edu ) to be sure that there are faculty teaching courses related to your thesis topic. If faculty are not available, you will need to choose an alternative topic.
• Your topic choice must be a new area of research for you. You cannot re-purpose prior research. If you want to draw or expand upon your own previously written scholarship for a small portion of your thesis, you need to obtain the explicit permission of your research advisor and cite the work in both the proposal and thesis. Violations of this policy will be referred to the Administrative Board.

We’ve put together this guide  to help frame your thinking about thesis topic selection.

While it is natural to follow your interests in selecting a thesis topic, it is important to avoid choosing a topic where your own passions might produce insurmountable biases and assumptions. A thesis is not a piece of advocacy work where you are out to prove something that you already believe. Thesis projects must take a fair and balanced stance by bringing in differing points of view from respected scholars in the field. 

2. Prepare Your Crafting the Thesis Proposal Application

Once you and your Research Advisor have confirmed your thesis topic, the next step in the process is to prepare and submit the CTP Application in order to gain registration approval for the Crafting the Thesis Proposal (CTP) tutorial or course.

The CTP Application process confirms that you have done enough prior reading and thinking about your thesis topic to generate a pertinent and answerable research question. Pre-CTP preparation is critical as it helps to ensure that you will benefit from and succeed in the CTP.

Application Approvals and Denials. Your Research Advisor will provide feedback on your CTP Application.  If your application is not approved after 3 submissions, your Research Advisor cannot approve your CTP registration. 

If not approved, you’ll need to take additional time for further revisions and submit a new CTP Application during the next CTP submission cycle (if your five-year degree completion date allows).

Application Eligibility Requirements. To be eligible to submit a CTP Application, you need to (1) be in good standing and (2) have completed a minimum of 32 degree-applicable credits, including the research methods/statistics and Engaging in Scholarly Conversation requirement, if required for your field.

Advising Note for Psychology Candidates View More

Students in psychology sometimes face difficulty securing necessary IRB approvals for certain projects. For this reason, Research Advisors will not approve proposals that raise significant concerns about feasibility. Such concerns include cases where projects would require the researcher to possess a level of expertise or experience exceeding documented capabilities, as well as instances where the researcher is unlikely to be able to obtain appropriate faculty supervision for a proposed topic, question, method, or procedure. You must schedule an appointment with your Research Advisor at least three months in advance of the CTP Application deadlines to discuss potential research projects to ensure adequate time for assistance in developing a viable project idea.

Advising Note for Biology and former Biotechnology and Bioengineering and Nanotechnology Candidates View More

Thesis projects in these fields are designed to support ongoing scientific research happening in Harvard University, other academic institutions, or life science industry labs and usually these are done under the direction of a principal investigator (PI). Hence, you need to have a thesis director approved by your research advisor  prior  to submitting CTP Application. Your CTP Application is then framed by the lab’s research. Schedule an appointment with your research advisor a few months in advance of the CTP Application deadlines in order to discuss potential research projects and thesis director assignment.

The CTP Application is sent to our central email box:  [email protected] by the following firm deadlines:

• June 1 for fall CTP
• November 1 for spring CTP.  
• September 1 for the three-week January session (ALM sustainability candidates only)
• International sustainability students who need a student visa to attend Harvard Summer School must be officially admitted to the degree program before February 1, must submit the CTP Application on February 1, and must register for the CTP course on March 1 in order to submit timely I-20 paperwork. See international students guidelines for more information.

3. Register and Successfully Complete Crafting the Thesis Proposal

Once your CTP Application is approved, you register for the Crafting the Thesis Proposal (CTP) tutorial or course as you would any other degree requirement.

The goal of the CTP is to produce a complete, well-written draft of a proposal containing all of the sections required by your Research Advisor. Creating an academically strong thesis proposal sets the foundation for a high-quality thesis and helps garner the attention of a well-respected thesis director.

Thesis proposals typically include approximately 15 to 20 pages of text, in addition to any required reference sections, such as bibliographies and glossary/definition of terms.

Tutorial experience. The fall and spring CTP  tutorials are not courses in the traditional sense. Although there will be assignments for you to complete during the CTP, with due dates, and there will be times when you and your classmates meet as a group with your Research Advisor, there won’t be a regularly scheduled class meeting time for the CTP. 

The main work for the CTP will consist of your working independently on your proposal with your Research Advisor by submitting multiple drafts and scheduling individual appointments.

Grading. You need to make self-directed progress on the proposal without special prompting from the research advisor. You receive a final grade of SAT or UNSAT (failing grade).

You are expected to incorporate all of your Research Advisor’s feedback and be fully committed to producing an academically strong proposal leading to a thesis worthy of a Harvard degree. If you are unable to take advice from your Research Advisor, follow directions, or produce an acceptable proposal, you will not pass the CTP.

The CTP for sustainability is a three-week course in the traditional sense and you receive a letter grade, and it must be B- or higher to receive degree credit for the course.

Academic Integrity. Successful CTP completion also includes a check on the proper use of sources according to our academic integrity guidelines. Violations of our academic integrity policy will be referred to the Administrative Board.

Maximum of two attempts . If you don’t pass the CTP, you’ll have — if your five-year, degree-completion date allows — just one more attempt to complete the CTP before being required to withdraw from the program. If you fail the CTP just once and have no more time to complete the degree, your candidacy will automatically expire. Please note that a WD grade counts as an attempt.

If by not passing the CTP you fall into poor academic standing, you will need to take additional degree-applicable courses to return to good standing before enrolling in the CTP for your second and final time, but only if your five-year, degree-completion date allows. If you have no more time on your five-year clock, you will be required to withdraw from the program.

Human Subjects

If your thesis, regardless of field, will involve the use of human subjects (e.g., interviews, surveys, observations), you will need to have your research vetted by the  Committee on the Use of Human Subjects  (CUHS) of Harvard University. Please review the IRB Lifecycle Guide located on the CUHS website. Your research advisor will help you prepare a draft copy of the project protocol form that you will then finalize with your thesis director to send to the CUHS. 

Given the amount of time that can be required for IRB review, drafting of the required CUHS project protocol forms need to be started with your Research Advisor during the CTP tutorial, before a thesis director has been assigned.

4. Post-CTP Proposal Approval, Thesis Director Assignment, and Registration

Successfully completion of the CTP means you have completed a well-written full draft proposal. Ordinarily, this full draft is not a final accepted proposal. Most students reach the final accepted proposal stage by submitting additional changes and edits to their RA post-CTP.

Post-CTP Changes and Edits Deadline. We expect you to work diligently and quickly with your RA post-CTP to move from full draft to final proposal stage. Indeed, you should have an approved final proposal and be registered in the thesis soon after CTP completion, within weeks, but no later than 3 months. You cannot delay. If you take longer than 3 months after the CTP to register for the thesis, you may be required to retake the CTP.

Thesis Director Assignment. Once your RA has determined that your draft has reached the final proposal stage, you move to the thesis director assignment stage. The Research Advisor places you with a thesis director by sending out your final proposal to prospective Thesis Directors.

Do not approach faculty to ask about directing your thesis.  You may suggest names of any potential Thesis Directors to your Research Advisor, but it must be the Research Advisor who makes contact with them. (If they are eligible/available to direct your thesis, after you have an approved thesis proposal.) You are not permitted to approach faculty to ask them about directing your thesis.

Registration. When a Thesis Director has been identified or the thesis proposal has been fully vetted by the preassigned life science Thesis Director, you will receive a letter of authorization from the Assistant Dean of Academic Programs officially approving your thesis work and providing you with instructions on how to register for the eight-credit master’s thesis. The letter will also have a tentative graduation date as well as four mandatory thesis submission dates (see Thesis Timetable below).

When registering for the thesis, you will have two weeks to pay in full.  This is an eight-credit course, so be sure to have the necessary funds available when you register.

You must be good academic standing to register for the thesis. If not, you’ll need to complete additional courses to bring your GPA up to the 3.0 minimum prior to registration.

Thesis Submission Deadlines and Graduation Timetable

The thesis is a 9-to-12-month project that begins after the Crafting the Thesis Proposal (CTP); when your Research Advisor has approved your proposal and identified a Thesis Director.

The date for the appointment of your Thesis Director determines the graduation cycle that will be automatically assigned to you:

As you can see above, you do not submit your thesis all at once at the end, but in four phases: (1) complete draft to TD, (2) final draft to RA for format review and academic integrity check, (3) format approved draft submitted to TD for grading, and (4) upload your 100% complete graded thesis to ETDs.

Due dates for all phases for your assigned graduation cycle cannot be missed.  You must submit materials by the date indicated by 5 PM EST (even if the date falls on a weekend). If you are late, you will not be able to graduate during your assigned cycle.

If you need additional time to complete your thesis, you need to formally request an extension by emailing that petition to:  [email protected] .  Regardless of when you started, the maximum allotted time to complete your thesis, including any granted extensions of time is 12 months.

Advising Tip to Meet Your Five-Year Deadline: The last possible time you can register for the CTP to meet your five-year deadline date is the fall term two years prior or, if a sustainability student, in the January session one year prior. It is not, however, recommended to wait this long. Indeed, it is vigorously discouraged.

For example, if your five-year deadline is May 2026:

• Complete the CTP in fall 2024 (or in January 2025, if a sustainability student)
• Be assigned a Thesis Director (TD) in March/April 2025
• Begin the 9–12-month thesis project with TD
• Submit a complete draft of your thesis to your TD by February 1, 2026
• Follow through with all other submission deadlines (April 1, April 15 and May 1 — see table above)
• Graduate in May 2026

5. Working with Your Thesis Director

You must work diligently and independently, following the advice of your Thesis Director in a consistent, regular manner equivalent to full-time academic work to complete both the research and the writing phases of your thesis by your required timeline.

You are expected to incorporate all of your Thesis Director’s feedback and be fully committed to producing an academically strong thesis worthy of a Harvard degree. If you are unable to take advice from your Thesis Director, follow directions, or produce an acceptable scholarly thesis product, you will not receive a passing grade.

You are required to produce at least 50 pages of text (not including front matter and appendices). Chapter topics (e.g., introduction, background, methods, findings, conclusion) vary by field.

Once registered in the thesis, we will do a 3-month check-in with you and your Thesis Director to ensure progress is being made. If your Thesis Director reports little to no progress, the Dean of Academic Programs reserves the right to issue a thesis not complete (TNC) grade (see Thesis Grading below).

6. Thesis Template, Format Review, and Academic Integrity Check

All ALM thesis projects must written in Microsoft Word and follow a specific Harvard Extension School format. A properly formatted thesis is an explicit degree requirement; you cannot graduate without it.

You are required to use the Extension School  ALM Thesis Template  or the Extension School ALM Thesis Template for Creative Writing  (specifically designed for creative writing degree candidates). The template has all the mandatory thesis formatting built in.

Besides saving you a considerable amount of time as you write your thesis, the template ensures that your submitted thesis meets the mandatory style guidelines for margins, font, title page, table of contents, and chapter headings. If you use the template, format review should go smoothly, if not, a delayed graduation is highly likely.

Your Research Advisor will complete the format review  prior  to submitting your thesis to your Thesis Director for final grading according to the Thesis Timetable (see above).

Academic Integrity. Format review also includes a check on the proper use of sources according to our  academic integrity  guidelines. Violations of our academic integrity policy will be referred to the Administrative Board.

7. Mandatory Thesis Archiving

Once your thesis is finalized, meaning that the required grade has been earned and all edits have been completed, you must upload your thesis to Harvard University’s electronic thesis and dissertation submission system (ETDs).

Uploading your thesis ETDs is an explicit degree requirement; you cannot graduate without completing this step. Furthermore, no changes to the thesis are allowed once it has been graded and archived in ETDs.

The thesis project will be sent to several downstream systems:

• Your work will be preserved using Harvard’s digital repository DASH (Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard).
• Metadata about your work will be sent to HOLLIS (the Harvard Library catalog).
• Your work will be preserved in Harvard Library’s DRS2 (digital preservation repository).

By submitting work through ETDs @ Harvard you will be signing the Harvard Author Agreement. This license does not constrain your rights to publish your work subsequently. You retain all intellectual property rights.

For more information on Harvard’s open access initiatives, we recommend you view the Director of the Office of Scholarly Communication (OSC), Peter Suber’s brief introduction .

Thesis Grading

You need to earn a grade of B- or higher in the thesis. If you fail to complete substantial work on the thesis, you will earn a grade of TNC (thesis not complete). If you have already earned two withdrawal grades, the TNC grade will count as a zero in your cumulative GPA.

If you earn a grade below B-, you will need to petition the Administrative Board for permission to attempt the thesis for a second and final time. The petition process is only available if you are in good academic standing and your five-year, degree-completion date allows for more time. Your candidacy will automatically expire if you do not successfully complete the thesis by your required date.

If approved for a second attempt, you may be required to develop a new proposal on a different topic by re-enrolling in the CTP and being assigned a different thesis director. Tuition for the second attempt is calculated at the current year’s rate.

If by not passing the thesis you fall into poor academic standing, you’ll need to take additional degree-applicable courses to return to good standing before re-engaging with the thesis process for the second and final time. This is only an option if your five-year, degree-completion date allows for more time.

The Board only reviews cases in which extenuating circumstances prevented the successful completion of the thesis.

Harvard Division of Continuing Education

The Division of Continuing Education (DCE) at Harvard University is dedicated to bringing rigorous academics and innovative teaching capabilities to those seeking to improve their lives through education. We make Harvard education accessible to lifelong learners from high school to retirement.

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Thesis and Dissertation Credit

Thesis track master's students and all PhD students are required to submit their final thesis or dissertation to the Graduate School after the work has been successfully defended and deemed complete by the committee.  All students must complete  the submission process by the deadlines posted on the academic calendar for the desired semester of graduation. 

Details on the submission and formatting process can be found below.   The Graduate School has not prescribed a particular style to be followed in writing a thesis/dissertation. The style chosen must be appropriate to the student’s field of study. However, the Graduate School has adopted standards for form and organization. These standards are outlined in the formatting manual linked on this page.  

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The Graduate School offers a free formatting review to all students submitting a thesis or dissertation.  This review is not required, but is strongly suggested.  To obtain a review, please email your thesis/dissertation, either in PDF or with a sharing link, to [email protected] with 'Thesis Review' as the subject line. Reviews may take up to a week depending on the time of year. 

Students should become familiar with the formatting requirements that are outlined in the thesis manual .  The formatting specifications are based on universal formatting required by many colleges and universities around the country.  These requirements are also mandated by the publisher to ensure that all thesis and dissertations have a consistent format.

Students should not rely solely on previously bound copies of theses for answers on formatting issues. While bound copies may provide ideas for possible procedures, format requirements may have changed. If you have a question, please contact the Graduate School. 

The Graduate School does not create or host any formatting templates (Overleaf, LaTeX, etc.).  Any templates that may exist were created by prior students.  Students are advised caution when using previously created templates as formatting requirements may have changed. 

Final Submission

The final approved thesis/dissertation must be submitted to the Graduate School through ProQuest via the UNH ETD Administrator website by the appropriate deadline as published in the Graduate School calendar. Publishing options include traditional publishing (free) as well as open access publishing (additional cost).  The benefits of each can be found on the ProQuest website.  Students can opt to embargo their thesis (hold publication) if needed, which will delay publishing for a specified period of time.  Bound copies are available for purchase through ProQuest at the time of submission. Students should check with their department to determine if a bound copy is required. All fees are to be paid by the student at the time of submission.

Students are advised not to wait until the last minute to submit their work. Submissions must be received by the published deadline for your intended graduation term unless the Graduate School has granted an extension. The specific deadline for submission for each graduation date is published on the UNH Academic Calendar as well as on our calendar page .

*Under no circumstances will a submission be accepted after the graduation date has passed.

The final version of the thesis must be submitted electronically to the Graduate School via the secure UNH ProQuest ETD Administrator website: http://www.etdadmin.com/unh . Submissions should be made only after a student has successfully passed the defense and has made all the necessary corrections required by their committee. In addition to the ProQuest submission, students will also need to submit the Thesis Submission Form as well as a copy of their signed signature page to the Graduate School Dean's Office .  

ProQuest Thesis/Dissertation submission: Submit the completed and approved thesis/dissertation through ProQuest.  You will be able to choose from two publishing options and will be able to purchase bound copies if desired.

Signature Page: The signature page is created by the student and should be based on the sample template that we provide in the thesis formatting manual.  This page should be signed by all committee members as confirmation that the thesis/dissertation has been approved.  As we understand that not all faculty may be local or able to sign in person, digital or otherwise electronic signatures are permitted.  A hard copy signature page is not required.  The final page should be submitted to the Graduate School as  PDF file. 

Final Submission Form: This form/checklist, found linked at the top of this page, is to be filled out and submitted by the student as confirmation that all steps in the process have been completed.

The submission form and signature page can be submitted as PDF files to [email protected] (preferred).  Pages can also be submitted in person or mailed to the Graduate School Dean's Office in Thompson Hall.

These materials can be submitted in any order.  Once all materials have been received the Graduate School will review the submission.  If there are changes needed, the student will be notified and will be able to make the necessary changes and resubmit.

Students can choose between Traditional Publishing (no cost) or Open Access Publishing.  More information about the publishing options can be found on the ProQuest website at the time of submission.   All publishing fees are the responsibility of the student. 

Thesis/dissertation submissions will be sent for publishing after all degrees are awarded.  Publishing normally takes 8-10 weeks.  Once published, the thesis/dissertations will be made available online through ProQuest as well as through the UNH Library Scholar's Repository.  

Note: If the student opted for an embargo, then release will not be completed until the embargo expires.  In the case of an infinite embargo, the submission will never be made available. 

Students can request bound copies at the time of submission.  The Graduate School does not require students to purchase copies to complete the submission process.  However, some departments may still require/request copies.  Students can select any format for personal bound copies, however, for university use the 8 1/2 x 11 hardcover is recommended.  Payment for any bound copies is the responsibility of the student. 

After publication, bound copies will be printed and mailed to the address the student provided at the time of submission. Students can also order additional bound copies at any time through the ProQuest portal once publication is completed. 

Please contact [email protected] with any questions.

A thesis requires the completion of between 6-10 thesis credits.  Some departments have more specific requirements.  Students who enrolled for more than 10 credits will need to work with the Graduate School to withdraw the excess credits.  

Once the thesis is approved and submitted the department will submit a request to award the CR grade for thesis completion.  The Graduate School monitors thesis grades closely, but it is not unusual for thesis grades to remain incomplete until immediately before the degree is awarded. 

PhD students are required to register for Doctoral Research (999) each semester until their degree is awarded.  Once the dissertation is submitted and approved the department will submit a request to award the CR grade for the dissertation.  Please note that only the most recent registration of 999 will be given a CR.  All other registrations will have a IA grade. 

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How To Write A Dissertation Or Thesis

8 straightforward steps to craft an a-grade dissertation.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Expert Reviewed By: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | June 2020

Writing a dissertation or thesis is not a simple task. It takes time, energy and a lot of will power to get you across the finish line. It’s not easy – but it doesn’t necessarily need to be a painful process. If you understand the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis, your research journey will be a lot smoother.  

In this post, I’m going to outline the big-picture process of how to write a high-quality dissertation or thesis, without losing your mind along the way. If you’re just starting your research, this post is perfect for you. Alternatively, if you’ve already submitted your proposal, this article which covers how to structure a dissertation might be more helpful.

How To Write A Dissertation: 8 Steps

• Clearly understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is
• Find a unique and valuable research topic
• Craft a convincing research proposal
• Write up a strong introduction chapter
• Review the existing literature and compile a literature review
• Design a rigorous research strategy and undertake your own research
• Present the findings of your research
• Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Step 1: Understand exactly what a dissertation is

This probably sounds like a no-brainer, but all too often, students come to us for help with their research and the underlying issue is that they don’t fully understand what a dissertation (or thesis) actually is.

So, what is a dissertation?

At its simplest, a dissertation or thesis is a formal piece of research , reflecting the standard research process . But what is the standard research process, you ask? The research process involves 4 key steps:

• Ask a very specific, well-articulated question (s) (your research topic)
• See what other researchers have said about it (if they’ve already answered it)
• If they haven’t answered it adequately, undertake your own data collection and analysis in a scientifically rigorous fashion
• Answer your original question(s), based on your analysis findings

In short, the research process is simply about asking and answering questions in a systematic fashion . This probably sounds pretty obvious, but people often think they’ve done “research”, when in fact what they have done is:

• Started with a vague, poorly articulated question
• Not taken the time to see what research has already been done regarding the question
• Collected data and opinions that support their gut and undertaken a flimsy analysis
• Drawn a shaky conclusion, based on that analysis

If you want to see the perfect example of this in action, look out for the next Facebook post where someone claims they’ve done “research”… All too often, people consider reading a few blog posts to constitute research. Its no surprise then that what they end up with is an opinion piece, not research. Okay, okay – I’ll climb off my soapbox now.

The key takeaway here is that a dissertation (or thesis) is a formal piece of research, reflecting the research process. It’s not an opinion piece , nor a place to push your agenda or try to convince someone of your position. Writing a good dissertation involves asking a question and taking a systematic, rigorous approach to answering it.

If you understand this and are comfortable leaving your opinions or preconceived ideas at the door, you’re already off to a good start!

Step 2: Find a unique, valuable research topic

As we saw, the first step of the research process is to ask a specific, well-articulated question. In other words, you need to find a research topic that asks a specific question or set of questions (these are called research questions ). Sounds easy enough, right? All you’ve got to do is identify a question or two and you’ve got a winning research topic. Well, not quite…

A good dissertation or thesis topic has a few important attributes. Specifically, a solid research topic should be:

Let’s take a closer look at these:

Attribute #1: Clear

Your research topic needs to be crystal clear about what you’re planning to research, what you want to know, and within what context. There shouldn’t be any ambiguity or vagueness about what you’ll research.

Here’s an example of a clearly articulated research topic:

An analysis of consumer-based factors influencing organisational trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms.

As you can see in the example, its crystal clear what will be analysed (factors impacting organisational trust), amongst who (consumers) and in what context (British low-cost equity brokerage firms, based online).

Need a helping hand?

Attribute #2:   Unique

Your research should be asking a question(s) that hasn’t been asked before, or that hasn’t been asked in a specific context (for example, in a specific country or industry).

For example, sticking organisational trust topic above, it’s quite likely that organisational trust factors in the UK have been investigated before, but the context (online low-cost equity brokerages) could make this research unique. Therefore, the context makes this research original.

One caveat when using context as the basis for originality – you need to have a good reason to suspect that your findings in this context might be different from the existing research – otherwise, there’s no reason to warrant researching it.

Attribute #3: Important

Simply asking a unique or original question is not enough – the question needs to create value. In other words, successfully answering your research questions should provide some value to the field of research or the industry. You can’t research something just to satisfy your curiosity. It needs to make some form of contribution either to research or industry.

For example, researching the factors influencing consumer trust would create value by enabling businesses to tailor their operations and marketing to leverage factors that promote trust. In other words, it would have a clear benefit to industry.

So, how do you go about finding a unique and valuable research topic? We explain that in detail in this video post – How To Find A Research Topic . Yeah, we’ve got you covered 😊

Step 3: Write a convincing research proposal

Once you’ve pinned down a high-quality research topic, the next step is to convince your university to let you research it. No matter how awesome you think your topic is, it still needs to get the rubber stamp before you can move forward with your research. The research proposal is the tool you’ll use for this job.

So, what’s in a research proposal?

The main “job” of a research proposal is to convince your university, advisor or committee that your research topic is worthy of approval. But convince them of what? Well, this varies from university to university, but generally, they want to see that:

• You have a clearly articulated, unique and important topic (this might sound familiar…)
• You’ve done some initial reading of the existing literature relevant to your topic (i.e. a literature review)
• You have a provisional plan in terms of how you will collect data and analyse it (i.e. a methodology)

At the proposal stage, it’s (generally) not expected that you’ve extensively reviewed the existing literature , but you will need to show that you’ve done enough reading to identify a clear gap for original (unique) research. Similarly, they generally don’t expect that you have a rock-solid research methodology mapped out, but you should have an idea of whether you’ll be undertaking qualitative or quantitative analysis , and how you’ll collect your data (we’ll discuss this in more detail later).

Long story short – don’t stress about having every detail of your research meticulously thought out at the proposal stage – this will develop as you progress through your research. However, you do need to show that you’ve “done your homework” and that your research is worthy of approval .

So, how do you go about crafting a high-quality, convincing proposal? We cover that in detail in this video post – How To Write A Top-Class Research Proposal . We’ve also got a video walkthrough of two proposal examples here .

Step 4: Craft a strong introduction chapter

Once your proposal’s been approved, its time to get writing your actual dissertation or thesis! The good news is that if you put the time into crafting a high-quality proposal, you’ve already got a head start on your first three chapters – introduction, literature review and methodology – as you can use your proposal as the basis for these.

Handy sidenote – our free dissertation & thesis template is a great way to speed up your dissertation writing journey.

What’s the introduction chapter all about?

The purpose of the introduction chapter is to set the scene for your research (dare I say, to introduce it…) so that the reader understands what you’ll be researching and why it’s important. In other words, it covers the same ground as the research proposal in that it justifies your research topic.

What goes into the introduction chapter?

This can vary slightly between universities and degrees, but generally, the introduction chapter will include the following:

• A brief background to the study, explaining the overall area of research
• A problem statement , explaining what the problem is with the current state of research (in other words, where the knowledge gap exists)
• Your research questions – in other words, the specific questions your study will seek to answer (based on the knowledge gap)
• The significance of your study – in other words, why it’s important and how its findings will be useful in the world

As you can see, this all about explaining the “what” and the “why” of your research (as opposed to the “how”). So, your introduction chapter is basically the salesman of your study, “selling” your research to the first-time reader and (hopefully) getting them interested to read more.

How do I write the introduction chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this post .

Step 5: Undertake an in-depth literature review

As I mentioned earlier, you’ll need to do some initial review of the literature in Steps 2 and 3 to find your research gap and craft a convincing research proposal – but that’s just scratching the surface. Once you reach the literature review stage of your dissertation or thesis, you need to dig a lot deeper into the existing research and write up a comprehensive literature review chapter.

What’s the literature review all about?

There are two main stages in the literature review process:

Literature Review Step 1: Reading up

The first stage is for you to deep dive into the existing literature (journal articles, textbook chapters, industry reports, etc) to gain an in-depth understanding of the current state of research regarding your topic. While you don’t need to read every single article, you do need to ensure that you cover all literature that is related to your core research questions, and create a comprehensive catalogue of that literature , which you’ll use in the next step.

Reading and digesting all the relevant literature is a time consuming and intellectually demanding process. Many students underestimate just how much work goes into this step, so make sure that you allocate a good amount of time for this when planning out your research. Thankfully, there are ways to fast track the process – be sure to check out this article covering how to read journal articles quickly .

Literature Review Step 2: Writing up

Once you’ve worked through the literature and digested it all, you’ll need to write up your literature review chapter. Many students make the mistake of thinking that the literature review chapter is simply a summary of what other researchers have said. While this is partly true, a literature review is much more than just a summary. To pull off a good literature review chapter, you’ll need to achieve at least 3 things:

• You need to synthesise the existing research , not just summarise it. In other words, you need to show how different pieces of theory fit together, what’s agreed on by researchers, what’s not.
• You need to highlight a research gap that your research is going to fill. In other words, you’ve got to outline the problem so that your research topic can provide a solution.
• You need to use the existing research to inform your methodology and approach to your own research design. For example, you might use questions or Likert scales from previous studies in your your own survey design .

As you can see, a good literature review is more than just a summary of the published research. It’s the foundation on which your own research is built, so it deserves a lot of love and attention. Take the time to craft a comprehensive literature review with a suitable structure .

But, how do I actually write the literature review chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this video post .

Step 6: Carry out your own research

Once you’ve completed your literature review and have a sound understanding of the existing research, its time to develop your own research (finally!). You’ll design this research specifically so that you can find the answers to your unique research question.

There are two steps here – designing your research strategy and executing on it:

1 – Design your research strategy

The first step is to design your research strategy and craft a methodology chapter . I won’t get into the technicalities of the methodology chapter here, but in simple terms, this chapter is about explaining the “how” of your research. If you recall, the introduction and literature review chapters discussed the “what” and the “why”, so it makes sense that the next point to cover is the “how” –that’s what the methodology chapter is all about.

In this section, you’ll need to make firm decisions about your research design. This includes things like:

• Your research philosophy (e.g. positivism or interpretivism )
• Your overall methodology (e.g. qualitative , quantitative or mixed methods)
• Your data collection strategy (e.g. interviews , focus groups, surveys)
• Your data analysis strategy (e.g. content analysis , correlation analysis, regression)

If these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these in plain language in other posts. It’s not essential that you understand the intricacies of research design (yet!). The key takeaway here is that you’ll need to make decisions about how you’ll design your own research, and you’ll need to describe (and justify) your decisions in your methodology chapter.

2 – Execute: Collect and analyse your data

Once you’ve worked out your research design, you’ll put it into action and start collecting your data. This might mean undertaking interviews, hosting an online survey or any other data collection method. Data collection can take quite a bit of time (especially if you host in-person interviews), so be sure to factor sufficient time into your project plan for this. Oftentimes, things don’t go 100% to plan (for example, you don’t get as many survey responses as you hoped for), so bake a little extra time into your budget here.

Once you’ve collected your data, you’ll need to do some data preparation before you can sink your teeth into the analysis. For example:

• If you carry out interviews or focus groups, you’ll need to transcribe your audio data to text (i.e. a Word document).
• If you collect quantitative survey data, you’ll need to clean up your data and get it into the right format for whichever analysis software you use (for example, SPSS, R or STATA).

Once you’ve completed your data prep, you’ll undertake your analysis, using the techniques that you described in your methodology. Depending on what you find in your analysis, you might also do some additional forms of analysis that you hadn’t planned for. For example, you might see something in the data that raises new questions or that requires clarification with further analysis.

The type(s) of analysis that you’ll use depend entirely on the nature of your research and your research questions. For example:

• If your research if exploratory in nature, you’ll often use qualitative analysis techniques .
• If your research is confirmatory in nature, you’ll often use quantitative analysis techniques
• If your research involves a mix of both, you might use a mixed methods approach

Again, if these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these concepts and techniques in other posts. The key takeaway is simply that there’s no “one size fits all” for research design and methodology – it all depends on your topic, your research questions and your data. So, don’t be surprised if your study colleagues take a completely different approach to yours.

Step 7: Present your findings

Once you’ve completed your analysis, it’s time to present your findings (finally!). In a dissertation or thesis, you’ll typically present your findings in two chapters – the results chapter and the discussion chapter .

What’s the difference between the results chapter and the discussion chapter?

While these two chapters are similar, the results chapter generally just presents the processed data neatly and clearly without interpretation, while the discussion chapter explains the story the data are telling  – in other words, it provides your interpretation of the results.

For example, if you were researching the factors that influence consumer trust, you might have used a quantitative approach to identify the relationship between potential factors (e.g. perceived integrity and competence of the organisation) and consumer trust. In this case:

• Your results chapter would just present the results of the statistical tests. For example, correlation results or differences between groups. In other words, the processed numbers.
• Your discussion chapter would explain what the numbers mean in relation to your research question(s). For example, Factor 1 has a weak relationship with consumer trust, while Factor 2 has a strong relationship.

Depending on the university and degree, these two chapters (results and discussion) are sometimes merged into one , so be sure to check with your institution what their preference is. Regardless of the chapter structure, this section is about presenting the findings of your research in a clear, easy to understand fashion.

Importantly, your discussion here needs to link back to your research questions (which you outlined in the introduction or literature review chapter). In other words, it needs to answer the key questions you asked (or at least attempt to answer them).

For example, if we look at the sample research topic:

In this case, the discussion section would clearly outline which factors seem to have a noteworthy influence on organisational trust. By doing so, they are answering the overarching question and fulfilling the purpose of the research .

For more information about the results chapter , check out this post for qualitative studies and this post for quantitative studies .

Step 8: The Final Step Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Last but not least, you’ll need to wrap up your research with the conclusion chapter . In this chapter, you’ll bring your research full circle by highlighting the key findings of your study and explaining what the implications of these findings are.

What exactly are key findings? The key findings are those findings which directly relate to your original research questions and overall research objectives (which you discussed in your introduction chapter). The implications, on the other hand, explain what your findings mean for industry, or for research in your area.

Sticking with the consumer trust topic example, the conclusion might look something like this:

Key findings

This study set out to identify which factors influence consumer-based trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms. The results suggest that the following factors have a large impact on consumer trust:

While the following factors have a very limited impact on consumer trust:

Notably, within the 25-30 age groups, Factors E had a noticeably larger impact, which may be explained by…

Implications

The findings having noteworthy implications for British low-cost online equity brokers. Specifically:

The large impact of Factors X and Y implies that brokers need to consider….

The limited impact of Factor E implies that brokers need to…

As you can see, the conclusion chapter is basically explaining the “what” (what your study found) and the “so what?” (what the findings mean for the industry or research). This brings the study full circle and closes off the document.

Let’s recap – how to write a dissertation or thesis

You’re still with me? Impressive! I know that this post was a long one, but hopefully you’ve learnt a thing or two about how to write a dissertation or thesis, and are now better equipped to start your own research.

To recap, the 8 steps to writing a quality dissertation (or thesis) are as follows:

• Understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is – a research project that follows the research process.
• Find a unique (original) and important research topic
• Craft a convincing dissertation or thesis research proposal
• Write a clear, compelling introduction chapter
• Undertake a thorough review of the existing research and write up a literature review
• Undertake your own research
• Present and interpret your findings

Once you’ve wrapped up the core chapters, all that’s typically left is the abstract , reference list and appendices. As always, be sure to check with your university if they have any additional requirements in terms of structure or content.  

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

20 Comments

thankfull >>>this is very useful

Thank you, it was really helpful

unquestionably, this amazing simplified way of teaching. Really , I couldn’t find in the literature words that fully explicit my great thanks to you. However, I could only say thanks a-lot.

Great to hear that – thanks for the feedback. Good luck writing your dissertation/thesis.

This is the most comprehensive explanation of how to write a dissertation. Many thanks for sharing it free of charge.

Very rich presentation. Thank you

Thanks Derek Jansen|GRADCOACH, I find it very useful guide to arrange my activities and proceed to research!

Thank you so much for such a marvelous teaching .I am so convinced that am going to write a comprehensive and a distinct masters dissertation

It is an amazing comprehensive explanation

This was straightforward. Thank you!

I can say that your explanations are simple and enlightening – understanding what you have done here is easy for me. Could you write more about the different types of research methods specific to the three methodologies: quan, qual and MM. I look forward to interacting with this website more in the future.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions 🙂

Hello, your write ups is quite educative. However, l have challenges in going about my research questions which is below; *Building the enablers of organisational growth through effective governance and purposeful leadership.*

Very educating.

Just listening to the name of the dissertation makes the student nervous. As writing a top-quality dissertation is a difficult task as it is a lengthy topic, requires a lot of research and understanding and is usually around 10,000 to 15000 words. Sometimes due to studies, unbalanced workload or lack of research and writing skill students look for dissertation submission from professional writers.

Thank you 💕😊 very much. I was confused but your comprehensive explanation has cleared my doubts of ever presenting a good thesis. Thank you.

thank you so much, that was so useful

Hi. Where is the excel spread sheet ark?

could you please help me look at your thesis paper to enable me to do the portion that has to do with the specification

my topic is “the impact of domestic revenue mobilization.

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Thesis grade descriptions

Grade descriptions.

Here are some indications of how I, Adam Elga, personally understand various representative percentages for independent work.

(Adapted from Jim Pryor's guidelines on grades , with some language from Princeton grading documents .)

Significantly exceeds the highest expectations for undergraduate work. This thesis is either a practically flawless execution of an exceedingly ambitious project, or else makes a contribution that is incredibly original for an undergraduate. (As a baseline, I can report that having advised senior theses at Princeton since 2000, I have yet to give a grade in this range.)

Meets the highest standards for the assignment. The thesis is clearly written, cohesive, well-argued, and original. A thesis that gives a straightforward response to some philosophical or interpretative problem would not merit a 95%, even if it is extremely clear. The main argument of a 95% thesis has no obvious flaws, and has an interesting conclusion. A 95% thesis does something extra--but not at the cost of a clear treatment of the problem.

Meets very high standards for the assignment. This thesis operates at an advanced level. It is ambitious and clearly written. If there are any significant problems with the writing or the organization of the thesis, then it won't merit a 91%. This is because good clear writing and organization are not separable from good philosophical thinking. The thesis may have a couple of minor mistakes or confusions, or it may fail to unpack some of its arguments sufficiently. Perhaps it includes a small amount of irrelevant discussion. The thesis may have an intriguing original argument or interpretation, but if so, that will be offset by some other flaw. For example, perhaps there is too little philosophical back-and-forth (considering objections and challenges, and responding to them). Or perhaps the thesis is not as engaged with the texts as it should be. On the other hand, the thesis may not have such flaws, but if so, that will be offset by its having a less original or ambitious main argument.

Meets high standards for the assignment. This is a well-written thesis with nothing terribly wrong. The writing may have some small problems, or it may be flawless. The thesis may make some mistakes or have some ambiguities that have to be sorted out, but overall it will be a very good paper. An 89% thesis has a clearly marked main argument, which has some plausibility and interest. A thesis that just makes routine observations about a topic and spells out a fairly clear but straightforward argument, won't earn an 89%. It will show more promise or originality than an 85% paper, but nothing will make it stand out like a 91% paper, or it won't be operating at as advanced a level as an 91% paper. (Or perhaps the thesis would stand out if some of its ideas were fully developed, but as it stands they aren't.)

Meets most of the standards for the assignment. This is a good thesis overall. It contains some notable mistakes, unanswered objections, or obscurities, but no serious misunderstandings. The writing may not be super-clear. To earn an 85%, the thesis needs to make it clear why the problem it addresses is a problem, and offer some response to it. (It may be a straightforward or unoriginal response; it may not be a decisive response; the thesis may even end by showing that a certain response doesn't work. But the thesis must put forward or examine some response to the problem.) An 85% thesis does not seriously misrepresent the views of other philosophers.

Shows some reasonable command of the material, though there are moderately serious problems. Perhaps the writing is unclear or the paper is poorly organized. Or perhaps there are straightforward mistakes or misunderstandings about what the problem is, or about what other philosophers say. Or perhaps the paper presents the problem correctly, but doesn't really address it. Still, there is significant effort. The author has some understanding of the problem and of the relevant texts. The author does offer some argument. A thesis with no argument won't merit an 81%.

Meets basic standards for the assignment, but there are serious problems. Either the writing is really hard to get through; or the thesis has little discernible structure; or the author doesn't understand the text or the positions she is discussing; or the thesis doesn't really attempt to offer any argument. Alternatively, a 79% thesis might be written in polished prose but contain ideas that are obscure or cryptic. A thesis giving the sense that the author didn't put in much effort won't ordinarily earn a 79%.

Papers with more problems will earn grades of 75% or below. It is difficult to give a general gloss on those grades since the problems that beset these papers are quite varied.

Meets some of the basic standards for the assignment.

Falls short of meeting basic standards in several ways.

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Dissertations and Theses

The dissertation is the hallmark of the research expertise demonstrated by a doctoral student. It is a scholarly contribution to knowledge in the student’s area of specialization. By researching and writing a dissertation, the student is expected to demonstrate a high level of knowledge and the capability to function as an independent scholar. 

A thesis is a hallmark of some master’s programs. It is a piece of original research, generally less comprehensive than a dissertation, and is meant to show the student’s knowledge of an area of specialization.  

Document Preparation

PhD and master’s students are responsible for meeting all requirements for preparing theses and dissertations. They are expected to confer with their advisors about disciplinary and program expectations and to follow Graduate School procedure requirements.

The Graduate School’s format review is in place to help the document submission process go smoothly for the student. Format reviews for PhD dissertations and master’s theses can be done remotely or in-person. The format review is required at or before the two-week notice of the final defense. 

Access and Distribution

Ohio State has agreements with two organizations— OhioLINK   and   ProQuest/UMI Dissertation Publishing —that store and provide access to Ohio State theses and dissertations.  

Examinations

Graduate degree examinations are a major milestone in all graduate students’ pursuit of their graduate degree. Much hinges on the successful completion of these examinations, including the ability to continue in a graduate program. 

The rules and processes set by the Graduate School ensure the integrity of these examinations for graduate students, the graduate faculty, and for Ohio State. 

Final Semester

During your final semester as a graduate student there are many activities that lead up to commencement and receiving your degree. Complete the final semester checklist and learn more about commencement activities.

Graduation Calendar

Select your expected graduation term below to see specific dates concerning when to apply for graduation, complete your examinations and reports, submit approved thesis and dissertation, commencement, and the end-of semester deadline.

Applications to Graduate Due 1  : September 6, 2024

Examinations and Reports completed by 2  : November 22, 2024

Approved thesis and dissertation submitted and accepted by 3  : November 27, 2024

Commencement 4  : December 15, 2024

End of Semester Deadline 5  : January 3, 2025

Applications to Graduate Due 1  : January 24, 2025

Examinations and Reports completed by 2  : April 11, 2025

Approved thesis and dissertation submitted and accepted by 3  : April 18, 2025

Commencement 4  : May 4, 2025

End of Semester Deadline 5  : May 5, 2025

Applications to Graduate Due 1  : May 23, 2025

Examinations and Reports completed by 2  : July 11, 2025

Approved thesis and dissertation submitted and accepted by 3  : July 18, 2025

Commencement 4  : August 3, 2025

End of Semester Deadline 5  : August 25, 2025

Applications to Graduate Due 1  : September 12, 2025

Examinations and Reports completed by 2  : November 26, 2025

Approved thesis and dissertation submitted and accepted by 3  : December 5, 2025

Commencement 4  : December 21, 2024

End of Semester Deadline 5  : January 9, 2025

1  Applications to graduate include current semester or End-of-Semester deadline. Applications must be received by close of business.

2 Format reviews may occur electronically or in person at the Graduate School during announced business hours.  Both options require submitting a digital version of the dissertation or DMA document draft in a PDF format to  [email protected] .  

3  Approved documents must be submitted via OhioLINK and accepted by the Graduate School by the close of business before the Report on Final Document will be processed.

4  Students not attending commencement must complete the commencement section on the Application to Graduate to indicate how their diploma should be disbursed.

5  A degree applicant who does not meet published graduation deadlines but who does complete all degree requirements by the last business day prior to the first day of classes for the following semester or summer term will graduate the following semester or summer term without registering or paying fees

Still Have Questions?

Dissertations & Theses 614-292-6031 [email protected]

Doctoral Exams, Master's Examination, Graduation Requirements 614-292-6031 [email protected]

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• Masters Degree Grades and Assessments

Masters Degree Grades

Written by Mark Bennett

Masters grades in the UK are usually classified as Distinction , Merit or Pass .

This page covers the system used to assess and classify Masters degrees in the UK. We’ve also included some information on the grading systems used in other countries, including ECTS credits and GPA scores.

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Masters degree results & classifications.

In the UK, Masters degrees are classified as Distinction , Merit (or Commendation), Pass or Fail (with the exception of integrated Masters courses).

The following are the typical Masters degree classifications and the grades required to achieve them.

The exact grade bands and policy at your university may differ slightly from these examples. It's worth checking if you aren't sure.

Universities may use their discretion to accept grades of 0.5% lower than the stated requirement for each band. For example, if you receive an overall average score of 59.5%, your university might consider awarding a Merit.

Research Masters grades

Some Masters focus on independent research and project work and don't include many (or any) taught modules and coursework. This affects the way they are graded.

An entirely research-based Masters, such as an MPhil , will usually be classified as a 'Pass' or 'Fail' (much like a PhD). A course that combines taught and research elements, such as an MRes , may use the same classifications as a conventional degree.

Taught vs research

Postgraduate degrees are offered in different formats, allowing you to choose the mode of study that works for you. Our guide explains the difference between taught and research Masters .

Assessments & weighting

Taught UK Masters degrees are usually worth 180 credits , split between a number of modules - some compulsory, some optional.

Masters modules usually vary between 10 and 30 credits each, depending on their length and the amount of assessment they require.

Assessment types

The grade for an individual module is based upon the weighting of, and the grades achieved in, the module’s assessments. These could include coursework (such as an essay) or exams to test your core subject knowledge.

Some Masters programmes may assess your participation in taught classes. You may be required to deliver presentations or complete practical placements and internships . You can check the specific details for all of the Masters courses in our database .

Different assessments may be 'weighted' differently for each module.

For example, a module might be assessed by one exam and one piece of coursework, each worth 50% of the grade. In this case, if a student scored 55% in the exam and 65% in the coursework, their final grade for the module would be 60%.

Alternatively, one assessment might be worth a smaller proportion of your final grade for the module.

The dissertation

Most Masters programmes end with a postgraduate dissertation or thesis. This is a substantial peice of coursework based on your own independent research or practice.

In the UK, a dissertation is usually examined as a piece of written work. However, an external examiner (from a different university) is usually appointed to mark your work. In Europe, the dissertation assessment sometimes includes an oral exam. This is where you'll discuss and 'defend' your work (a bit like the viva voce at the end of a PhD).

Your dissertation is usually worth around 60 credits (one third of the total). The rest of the modules make up the other 120 credits needed to earn a UK Masters.

How do I get a Distinction in my Masters?

There's no one formula to achieving a Distinction at Masters level. But, we do have some tips that can help you increase your chances:

• Understand what assessments you'll be required to take at the beginning of your modules and plan ahead to meet deadlines. Many modules have coursework due on the same day so finding time to give each piece its due attention is important to achieving the higher grades.
• Talk to your lecturers and seminar tutors. They have a wealth of knowledge that's there to help you. Be willing to discuss your ideas with them about your essay structure, argument and research starting points.
• Read your feedback carefully. Academics spend a considerable amount of time marking your work and providing feedback so make sure to read it through and understand where you could have improved. Also, go talk to your marker if you're unsure about any comments.

Extra requirements

On top of overall grade averages, universities often put in place extra requirements . These ensure that Masters students consistently achieve strong results throughout their degree.

Dissertation requirements

As it forms such a large part of the course, universities often require Masters students to achieve a particular score in their dissertation. This means you won't be awarded a classification without achieving the corresponding grade in your dissertation.

For example, if you're on track to receive a Pass, you may need to achieve the minimum grade for a Pass (50%) in your dissertation. Similarly, you may need to gain at least a 60% score in your dissertation for a Merit, and at least a 70% score for a Distinction.

Universities may exercise some discretion in borderline cases where a student performs exceptionally well in their modules but narrowly misses out on the equivalent dissertation grade.

Consistent grades

In some cases, students do not need to achieve particular dissertation results. Instead, universities require students to score highly throughout the rest of their course.

You may need to receive certain grades across a certain number of your modules (or credits). For example, in order to award a Merit, a university may expect a student to score 60% or above in at least 90 credits of their degree.

Masters grades for PhD admission

In some cases, universities have specific Masters grade requirements for prospective PhD applicants. For example, they might require students to have scored at least 60% in a UK Masters degree, with a score of at least 60% in their dissertation .

However, it is more common for universities to simply require a Masters degree, without stating the need for a particular grade. This means that it may be possible to secure a place on a doctorate programme with a Pass grade at Masters level. Of course, you'll still have to meet all other PhD eligibility criteria and prove that you have what it takes to to a doctoral research!

If you are applying for a PhD without a Masters, you may be expected to hold a 2.1 or higher in your undergraduate degree. Having a Masters may help ‘mitigate’ a lower grade and allow you to apply for a PhD with a 2.2. or lower.

Failing a Masters

A Masters is challenging, but you're still unlikely to fail.

For one thing, universities won't admit students who aren't ready and prepared for the course. Your tutors should also be able to spot and assist with any difficulties that occur early in your programme (such as difficulty engaging with a module, or a poor first assessment).

If you do find yourself struggling with your degree, don't panic. It's likely that one of the following options may be available to you:

• If you’ve only failed one or two modules , you may be able to resit some assessments with the aim of pulling up your final grade. Try discussing this option with your tutor or supervisor.
• If you fail your dissertation , you should get in touch with your supervisor straight away. You may be able to resubmit a revised version of your piece later in the year, for example in the January or September assessment period. Although the grade for this may be capped at a certain level, it may be enough to pull up your overall result.
• If it’s looking like you’re going to fail your entire Masters course you might still be able to walk away with a postgraduate qualification under your belt. If an equivalent Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) or Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) exists for your course, your university may allow you to receive this qualification. PGCert and PGDip courses are shorter than Masters degrees, require fewer credits and don’t normally involve a dissertation. To find out whether this might be an option for you, try getting in touch with your department.
• If you believe your work was affected by extenuating circumstances such as illness or bereavement, you may be able to submit it late. You may need a valid reason for having missed the initial deadline.
• If you disagree with a result that has awarded to you, you may be able to submit an appeal for a remark. You may also be able to raise this through your university's complaints process.

The important thing to remember in all cases is that universities don't seek to fail their students. It's also highly unlikely that you will 'suddenly' fail a Masters at the end of the degree. Problems are usually apparent much earlier in your course; be sure to speak with your tutors if you are having difficulties.

Masters grading in other countries

Masters grades are calculated differently across the world. Below, we have introduced some postgraduate (or ‘graduate’) grading systems used in America and Europe.

For detailed information on doing your Masters in a different country, visit our guides to postgraduate study abroad .

Masters grading in the USA

Rather than calculating your final grade based on percentages, American universities calculate a student’s Grade Point Average (GPA) . This assigns a grade on a four point decimal scale to each piece of work you do. The points you earn across your course are then added up and divided by the number of courses or assessments you have completed. This gives your GPA score.

The big difference between GPA and other grading methods is that it calculates the final course for your degree as you go . Doing better or worse in subsequent assessments will raise or lower your current GPA.

The highest GPA a student can normally achieve is a 4.0, but this is very hard to maintain across a full programme. A GPA of 3.67 or higher on a Masters may be equivalent to a UK Distinction. For a more detailed look at how GPA compares to other grading methods around the world, read our full guide to GPA .

Masters grading in Europe

In Europe, progress on academic degrees is usually measured using the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation (ECTS) system. A full Masters degree is usually worth 120 ECTS credits .

Different European countries use slightly different final grading systems. They will either follow the UK classification system, or a numerical system in which ‘1’ is the highest classification, and ‘4’ the lowest passing score.

Masters grading in the rest of the world

Masters grading varies by country, and also by university.

If you’re interested in studying in a specific country, please visit our study abroad section which includes detailed guides to Masters degrees in a wide range of countries.

Search for your Masters

You can browse over 24,000 courses in our database, including detailed information on their assessment and grading systems.

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Applying for a Masters can feel a bit daunting. Here is a checklist of all the things you need to do to make sure you have everything covered in your Masters application.

Postgraduate study is often very flexible, with the option to study a Masters degree or other qualification part-time, online or through blended learning.

How do Bachelors and Masters courses differ? We’ve covered the main differences you’ll encounter when making the transition from undergrad to postgrad study.

All Masters programmes include some form of extended individual project or dissertation. This guide covers how to structure a Masters dissertation, word count, how the work is assessed and what you should expect from your dissertation supervisor.

Our guide explains how online Masters degree work, what the benefits of online learning are and how to choose what to study online.

Our guide tells you everything about the application process for studying a Masters in Italy.

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The formula for Masters Degree Grades

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Think Postgrad

Frequently asked questions.

It depends. If you’re looking for a job after completing your Master's, your grades wouldn’t matter that much. However, good grades will still give you a better reputation as a student and as a potential employee. If you are planning to pursue PhD after Masters, your grades will definitely matter as it reflects your overall academic performance.

Masters involve a lot of independent studying which is difficult to do for some students. There are also higher expectations for postgraduate students when it comes to coursework.

However, just like studying for a Bachelor's degree, students will be able to easily pass if they commit themselves to work hard and spend enough time studying.

Studying masters in the UK will be challenging but it will definitely be worth it.

Masters degree grades follow a pattern, but the grading system for degrees varies from one country to another. Here’s what you need to know about the formula for masters degree grades when it comes to studying a masters in the UK.

What are masters degree grades?

Your Master's degree grades are determined by creating a weighted average. A combination of your results from different assignments that you have completed throughout the course will affect your overall master's degree grade. However, if you’re studying Integrated Masters, your grade will be calculated differently. In Integrated Masters, more weighting will be applied to the latter period of your studies.

Every piece of work is graded differently and different factors will affect your grade depending on the requirements. For example, an essay will be graded completely differently than a presentation or an exam.

Assignments that form part of a degree assessment are marked according to standards that are required by the validating body. In the UK this is the QAA . Some of these will be ‘double-blind marked’. This means that two lecturers or tutors will be reviewing your work and then agree on a grade they would like to give you.

Assessment and weighting

Masters degrees in the UK are worth 180 credits in total. You will earn your credits through a combination of modules, projects, and dissertation - some will be compulsory and some will be optional.

Each module is usually worth 10 to 30 credits depending on the length and the amount of assessment they require. Most universities will have different ways of splitting those 180 credits. For example, you may have six modules each worth 10 credits in your first year. Then get three modules that are worth 20 credits each in your second year and 60 credits for your dissertation in your third year.

Assessments can include:

• Written assessments
• Examinations
• Presentations
• Bibliographies
• Reflective journals

All the mentioned assessments will be weighted differently for each module. The formula for achieving your masters degree grades will depend on your professor, your university, and your chosen subjects.

Masters degree grades and your dissertation

Most universities will require you to do a postgraduate dissertation or thesis during the last year of your study. A dissertation will usually be worth around 60 credits or higher. A masters dissertation is a lengthy written study or piece of coursework on a topic chosen by a student.

While creating a dissertation, all students will be guided by faculty supervisors or professors and will require an extensive amount of time for research and writing. A dissertation is usually divided into chapters and will usually have around 15,000-25,000 words depending on the chosen topic.

In some universities, students might not be required to undertake a dissertation. In that case, students will be required to score highly throughout the rest of their course in order to graduate and finish their Masters degree.

Masters degree results and classifications

Once you have finished your Master's degree, your credits will then translate into either a Distinction, Merit, Pass or Fail. Different universities may have different boundaries but as a general rule:

• Distinction - 70%+
• Merit - 60-69%
• Pass - 50-59%
• Fail - 40-49%

Students who study Integrated Masters will get different results from the one mentioned above. The grading for Integrated Masters will be similar to the grades given in a bachelor's degree:

• First-Class Honours - 70%+
• Upper Second Class Honours - 60-70%
• Lower Second-Class Honours - 50-60%
• Third-Class Honours - 45-50%
• Pass - 40-45%
• Fail - below 40%

How do I get a Distinction in my Masters?

To get a distinction in your Masters, you will need to have at least a 70% or higher grade by the end of your degree. Everyone has unique strategies on how to achieve a Distinction grade but here are a few things you can do to achieve your goal:

• Don’t leave your coursework and dissertation to the last minute. Assignments are given in advance at university to help you prepare enough and do your best on each assignment. Plan ahead and have a proper schedule on when to do your assignments.
• Make the most of the support available to you. You will have professors and supervisors who will be there to help you during your masters, reach out to them or other relevant academics for opinions, insights, and advice.
• Research your dissertation topic thoroughly, do not choose a topic mainly because of your personal interest.
• Explore different angles of various dissertation topics before you make your final choice.

Next Steps:

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How to score a good Masters thesis grade

So I'm about to soon submit my Masters thesis and I'm actually wondering what makes a thesis really good? I mean there's only so much you can put in it, but like what are they tiniest improvements one can implement to make it stand out? Just really curious on how I can improve mine, and hopefully this could help anyone else in the same path as me atm.

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Your studies

Master thesis/degree project.

Every programme concludes with a thesis/degree project. This is something that you write at the end of your studies and is for many the way to enter the world of work. You will receive information about what applies to your programme from your Student Guidance Counsellor or Head of programme/Director of Master's programme.

Regulations and learning objectives

Here you can read more about the regulations and learning objectives applicable for your thesis/degree project. Regulations and learning objectives differ depending on what you are studying.

Regulations

Chalmers regulations for theses/degree projects are based on the goals formulated in Chalmers lokala examensordning (in Swedish) and in the regulations for the theses/degree projects.

Master of Science in Engineering, Master of Architecture, Master of Science

Regulations for the use of AI tools in thesis work

Here you will find Chalmers regulations for the use of AI tools in your thesis work.

Find a thesis/degree project

You most often find a thesis/degree project yourself in consultation with your supervisor. You can get support from your Head of programme/Director of master's programme or the department where you write your thesis/degree project.

Chalmers master thesis portal

In Chalmers master thesis portal you will find available projects announced by both external parties and projects at our departments.

Application forms – thesis/degree project

The application forms apply to students on both bachelor of science in engineering, shipping, civil engineering and master's programmes. To be able to start the process with your thesis/degree project, you must fill in the web form "Thesis application form" and have it signed by the examiner and Head of programme/Director of master's programme. You must do this well before your estimated start date.

For more information and link to forms

Please note! Fee-paying students must, for Visa reasons, adhere to the dates according to the academic year when doing their Master thesis. You cannot choose individual dates. The academic year

If you need to prolong the dates to be able to complete your Master thesis, then you need to extend your Visa. Residence permit

Learning objectives

In the learning objectives you find valuable information that you can benefit from throughout your thesis/degree project. You can for example read about:

• Examination
• Conditions for starting the thesis/degree project
• Implementation
• Student responsibility

Digital work card and signature

A digital work card containing e-publishing agreements. Create your digital work card using Adobe and submit it to the department where you completed your thesis.

Find your digital work card

Instructions - handling of the digital work card, instruction - how to make a digital signature, master's thesis at the department of technology management and economics (tme), information regarding master's thesis at tme, students presentation of master thesis during spring 2024.

Presentation of master thesis

Schedule per institution of students presentations of master thesis

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How to defend badly graded master thesis?

My master thesis was the greatest sh*tshow that ever happened in my life. Fortunately I did manage to put it all together and submit it. After that I booked a defense date which is tomorrow. In the meantime, two days ago I got the reviews for my master thesis from both professors and I barely passed the written thesis with score of 3.7 (1-Excellent and 5-Fail) with a lot of questions about my approach and structure. I don't mind ending with a bad grade as it was not up to the quality.

But, I am now in panic and anxiety for the last few days. I don't know how I will defend my thesis. Would anybody guide me how to defend a bad graded thesis? I am based in Germany. What are my chances that I failed the defense despite passing the written thesis? My mind is blank at the moment due to anxiety as I did not get enough time to digest my results.

• 2 What did your advisor tell you after you discussed with them the review? –  FBolst Commented Jun 27, 2018 at 14:41
• Actually I am so ashamed of my result and my thesis I did not meet him to discuss the review. I got result from 2nd professor yesterday and 1st professor today. I feel so lost at the moment and feel like no where to go! They both wrote really harsh comment about my thesis in review. –  msterdefens123 Commented Jun 27, 2018 at 14:46
• At the least it seems you should focus on how your approach led to your conclusions. Not so much refute the questions, but clarify. –  Jon Custer Commented Jun 27, 2018 at 14:46
• I am planning to explain the process and my approch which yieled me this result. The main remark what did they give is that the result which i came up with is actully useful but I failed to provide the scientific proof in my dissertation(The result is about search user interface). –  msterdefens123 Commented Jun 27, 2018 at 14:57
• 5 This is one particular situation in which the advisor should be there for you. Avoiding him, avoiding a discussion with him before the defense can make things only worse. He has much more experience, including most likely the ability to read between lines. He can surely advise you on the strategy you should employ for the defense and for the discussion with the reviewers. –  user68958 Commented Jun 27, 2018 at 17:47

2 Answers 2

While I wish I could be more positive, the fundamental fact that is in the German grading system, a grade of 3,7 on a master's thesis is a disastrous grade that is essentially unheard of. Virtually all master's theses receive grades somewhere between 1,0 and 1,7. A grade of 3,7 is very much a "pity" grade that allows you to pass the master's program, but is essentially going to be an albatross around your neck. You will not be able to use the degree to pursue advanced study anywhere in Germany, and gaining employment with that kind of grade will be a lot more difficult.

You will want to check the Prüfungsordnungen (examination rules) for your program to determine if you are allowed to resubmit or repeat the master's thesis, rather than take a grade that low on the thesis. In that case, you may find that option preferable to having to deal with the consequences of a D on the thesis.

Be prepared with a short overview of your approach and structure. Practice saying out loud to a friend if possible. Ask for feedback, and repeat.

In addition, make a list of each reviewer comment. Then write a short response to each. Practice saying each of these out loud as well.

Finally, breathe. If you find yourself getting flustered during the defense, remember you can take a few breaths or a drink of water before responding. You can also ask for clarification on any question or criticisms you don’t understand to give yourself time to compose a response. The committee wants to pass you, so let them help you!

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