And then it varies depending very much upon where you are located. I know
that PhD's in the US are generally earnt in a quite different way to in
Australia and I suspect that there would be a big variation between
different countries as well as institutions within a country. For instance,
there was no coursework involved in my PhD and I did not sit any exams or
defend my thesis. I never used the descriptor PhD candidate though I know
others who did.....I have no idea if there is an official designation for
that description in Australia. This sort of variation makes discussions like
this very difficult because something that appears perfectly acceptable in
one context not be so in another context. I guess it will now be a case of
wait and see what IBLCE says is to be the across the board terminology for
those who have been accepted as candiates for "the exam,"  it seems
reasonable that there might be an acceptable descriptor.
Karleen Gribble
Australia


> There's even more to it than that.  In the PhD-granting
> departments/institutions I know of, a person must pass a qualifying exam
> to earn the title of PhD Candidate.  The qualifying exam comes a couple of
> years into the program, after a lot of study and work.  Those who don't
> pass might leave that program with "only" a Master's degree -- or no
> degree.  The "qualifier" or "quals" is very stressful, nearly as much as
> defending the eventual PhD dissertation.
>

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