Third Time is a Charm

Now that our closest family knows the news we are free to post them for the rest of the world to know (if anyone ever reads this blog anymore).
A few weeks ago Nick received a letter from the University of Central Florida informing him that he had been accepted into the Sociology PhD program. Not only was he accepted but he was granted full tuition waiver AND an assistantship with an annual stipend renewable for up to 3 years! I was so happy I cried when I read the letter. Those who are close to Nick know how much he wanted this and finally someone gave him the opportunity to achieve it. Nick will be starting his coursework in August full-time. His assistantship will take 20 hours/week so between that and his class work he will have his hands full.
The PhD will take about 4 years to complete. The first two years are just courses in various subjects. After the two years, he will have to take core exams to be considered "abd" which stands for "all but dissertation" and then he'll work on his dissertation. The dissertation will take another 2 years depending on the type of data he chooses to analyze. Once the dissertation is done, he will need to defend it in front of the faculty. If the faculty believe his research is methodologically sound and complete, then they will recommend him for graduation.
So, he will be a tri-UCF alumni...third time is a charm! :)