system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why are Masters and Doctoral students called "candidates"? It makes it sound that there is a chance they won't earn the degree

In university, the speakers were introduced as Masters and PhD candidate. I associate candidate with elections, such as presidential candidate (who is not yet a president). Does this imply that grad students may not all earn their degrees? But to become a candidate they must first be accepted into the grad program.
However, bachelor undergrad students were never introduced as candidate. Sometimes the term "Prospectus" is also used for diploma or other certification.
gpt
Well... yeah. The faculty of a university is basically a medieval guild, and a PhD candidate is a journeyman presenting his masterpiece- his dissertation- for their review, so that they can decide whether he's talented, skilled, and accomplished enough to be their peer. There is a very real chance that candidates won't be able to produce a dissertation that satisfies the review board.