Question
What is it like to complete your final PhD defense? What happened and how did it feel?
Answer
At U. Michigan, for engineering, the stressful event is the "pre-defense" to the committee (no outsiders) about 6 months before the defense. All serious criticism comes out then and you have to go rework and fix everything the committee objected to (it's not really a debate: it's a "fix it or I won't sign off" hostage negotiation... your adviser may negotiate on your behalf a bit, but the committee holds all the cards and they know it... this is why it is important to get a committee of people who like each other, otherwise your thesis will become a pawn in bigger games). It is rare, but at this stage, there is a non-trivial possibility that you'll really get skewered and have to put in far more additional time than you expected. Didn't happen to me fortunately.
The final defense is mostly a formality and you know you're going to get through (so long as you made the negotiated fixes), so there is basically no stress. It's a very friendly and convivial event, with cookies and coffee. It is open to other attendees and your peer graduate students will often attend. When you're done, you wait outside while the committee deliberates for a few minutes behind closed doors and then they come out and shake your hand with, "congratulations, Dr..." In my department candidates call professors "Prof." and advisers will usually say something like, "you may now call me _their first name_"
It may seem archaic, but that little ritual of going to first-name basis was kinda nice, as a formal social acknowledgement. It is a surprisingly non-awkward thing. More informal professors/departments that don't maintain that status boundary during the research don't have such a convenient "social graduation" ritual.
There may be a few minor corrections at that stage, which you correct and then submit the hardbound copy to the degree office etc. That's another nice psychological moment, when you pick up your hardbound copies from the bindery and put 'em into the departmental mail for all receivers. That's the "okay, I finally don't have even paperwork to do..." moment.
Since I hate paperwork, that was my cathartic moment.
The final defense is mostly a formality and you know you're going to get through (so long as you made the negotiated fixes), so there is basically no stress. It's a very friendly and convivial event, with cookies and coffee. It is open to other attendees and your peer graduate students will often attend. When you're done, you wait outside while the committee deliberates for a few minutes behind closed doors and then they come out and shake your hand with, "congratulations, Dr..." In my department candidates call professors "Prof." and advisers will usually say something like, "you may now call me _their first name_"
It may seem archaic, but that little ritual of going to first-name basis was kinda nice, as a formal social acknowledgement. It is a surprisingly non-awkward thing. More informal professors/departments that don't maintain that status boundary during the research don't have such a convenient "social graduation" ritual.
There may be a few minor corrections at that stage, which you correct and then submit the hardbound copy to the degree office etc. That's another nice psychological moment, when you pick up your hardbound copies from the bindery and put 'em into the departmental mail for all receivers. That's the "okay, I finally don't have even paperwork to do..." moment.
Since I hate paperwork, that was my cathartic moment.