What are Plans A, B, and C, and how do I choose one?

For most students, Plan A and B are the recommended options. However, for some students, Plan C will be an acceptable alternative. 

PLAN A requires 30 credits to graduate, six of which must be from Engl. 6970: Thesis. Requires a thesis of 60+ pages, for which a proposal must be written, approved by the Supervisory Committee, and filed with the Grad School. Plan A requires a thesis defense, after which the thesis must be read and approved by the Grad School. Choose Plan A if, during your first year, you already have a project in mind that is large enough and interesting enough to require a treatment of 60+ pages; or if you have plans to do a PhD and want to preview the experience of researching and writing a long project.

PLAN B requires 30 credits to graduate, at least two (usually three) of which must be from Engl. 6970: Thesis. Depending on the specialization, Plan B requires either a short thesis of at least 30 pages or two papers of 15-20 pages each, usually written to be submitted to an appropriate journal. The format of the proposal is determined by the Supervisory Committee and the proposal is not filed with the Grad School. Plan B requires a thesis defense meeting between student and committee, but approval of the proposal need not be reported to the Grad School.
PLAN C requires 33 credits to graduate—three more than Plans A or B. Plan C is the non-thesis option, so none of the 33 credits may be from Engl. 6970: Thesis and there is no thesis defense. All students in the online Technical Writing program must choose Plan C. Students in other specializations who are interested in Plan C should consult Evelyn Funda or one of the other graduate advisors.