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ā€¢2 min read

Choosing a Final Project Topic Is Terrifying

final-projectresearchanxiety

i have to commit to a final project topic and it's giving me actual anxiety.

not because i don't have ideas. because i have too many ideas and they all seem simultaneously too big, too small, too boring, or too ambitious.

the problem

choosing a project topic feels permanent. like getting a tattoo but for your career.

rational brain: "it's just an undergraduate project, it doesn't define your life."

anxiety brain: "BUT WHAT IF IT DOES."

my options (spiraling)

option 1: continue my summer research (safe, known, probably works)

option 2: pivot to something more trendy like transformers for X (exciting, risky, might not finish)

option 3: find some completely new area that hasn't been explored (delusional, but fun to consider)

option 4: overthink until deadline passes and someone chooses for me

i'm currently doing option 4. it's not a productive strategy.

what my supervisor says

"your project doesn't have to be novel. it has to be done."

this is good advice. i'm struggling to internalize it.

the criteria (theoretically)

a good project topic should be:

  • interesting to me (will i work on this for 9 months?)
  • feasible (can i actually do this?)
  • scoped (small enough to finish, big enough to matter)
  • relevant (does anyone care about this?)
  • novel-ish (new contribution, even if small)

finding something that hits all five is... challenging.

where i landed (tentatively)

continuing the summer research but narrowing the scope.

instead of "use LLMs for scientific information extraction" (too broad), i'm focusing on a specific type of extraction from a specific type of paper with a specific evaluation framework.

smaller. achievable. still interesting.

my supervisor approved. i can still back out. but i'm committing. mostly.

the meta-lesson

choosing something and moving forward is better than endlessly deliberating.

analysis paralysis is real and it eats time. at some point you have to pick a direction and start walking.

even if it's slightly wrong, you can adjust. you can't adjust from nowhere.

topic selected (probably). now i just have to do the thing. nervous laughter