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No feedback - only 5 days left to submit
B

Is it an electronic only submission or a paper one? Because if the latter, submission tends to take longer than people think. Printers don't work, binding goes funny, etc. So it's best to allow at least a whole day to make sure everything goes ok with that. Electronic only submissions can be an awful lot easier.

I honestly think it's too late for you to make significant changes now, and your co-supervisor is unlikely to come through with the goods now. You should have a frank discussion - face to face preferably, or email if not - with your main supervisor, and ask if he or she will approve your submission as it stands. Typically only one supervisor needs to sign a submitted thesis ...

Examiners said my corrections could be done in a week and I still haven't finished them! What to do?
B

You are worrying far too much. You have sent the corrections. Give the examiner time to deal with them.

Examiners said my corrections could be done in a week and I still haven't finished them! What to do?
B

No you shouldn't need to. Just relax :)

Too late to prepare for viva (tomorrow)
B

Congratulations :)

Examiners said my corrections could be done in a week and I still haven't finished them! What to do?
B

It should be a deadline for you. The examiner may take some time to check them. Be patient. Don't hassle them - it only risks annoying them, which wouldn't be good.

Good luck!

submission end of September: looking forward to this hell ending
B

Good luck!

I wanted to check though that you are getting proper professional help with the anxiety and depression. Because as DocInsanity wisely says, things are not necessarily going to get easier for you in future.

I have generalised anxiety disorder, so am speaking from some knowledge here. It was an issue for much of my part-time history PhD, but diagnosis and then effective treatment (a SSRI that really helped, and I'm still "me" personality-wise) made a big difference to me.

At the very least you should be seeing a medical professional about this. And they should be considering doing something concrete to help, like trying to find a suitable SSRI (don't be afraid to take pills - they can really help), and/or counselling, and/or cognitive behavioural therapy (though there are very long waiting lists for that, at least in the UK).

Too late to prepare for viva (tomorrow)
B

The most important question you are probably likely to be asked is what is the main contribution of your thesis. Maybe have a think about that if you haven't already. Look at your conclusions again. Try to get it into a succinct form.

Good luck!

Transfer Phd to another institution in the UK?
B

I'm pretty sure you can't transfer at this stage, certainly not without paying fees.

When my supervisor moved 500 miles away halfway through my PhD I looked at transferring to his institution. And I discovered there are rules about how much of a PhD needs to be done at an institution. Which stopped me transferring. I'd already done too much at my local one for the new one to take it on. And I wasn't nearly as far through as you.

Even if you did transfer the new institution would expect to get fees. They're not going to give you something for nothing.

I know you are upset, but you are so far through now. As you say you have almost finished the revisions. If you're not happy with your supervisors then stop seeing them. Finish your revisions, and submit them to the examiners yourself.

Yes you can walk away from the institution, but not to get a PhD elsewhere, without starting all over again, including paying those fees.

JUST FINISH THE DRATTED THING!

Examiners said my corrections could be done in a week and I still haven't finished them! What to do?
B

Just to clarify: if you include an explanation at this stage, (1) it's unlikely your examiner will think it's that adequate anyway given how long you've had; and (2) it will just draw further attention to how long you've taken, which the examiner may not be fussed about anyway.

Best thing is to say nothing, be polite and professional, and send in the corrections before the deadline, in a calm, professional manner.

It's similar to why people are advised not to draw attention to their own errors in a viva. Don't make things look worse for you than you have to.

Good luck!

Examiners said my corrections could be done in a week and I still haven't finished them! What to do?
B

No. Again don't explain unless you overrun. Just send them in, professionally.

Examiners said my corrections could be done in a week and I still haven't finished them! What to do?
B

Unless you are sending them in past the deadline don't make any explanation. Just send in the corrections, before the deadline, along with a covering letter listing all the changes you've made.

And get on with them! You won't have your PhD until your corrections are approved. Find time somehow. Even at weekends. And use your allotted time off wisely. And you don't need a complete week free to do them in. Draw up a list of what needs changing, and start working through it, an item at a time. This can be done in odd moments here and there.

Good luck!

Funding decisions for English PhD
B

Another point to consider is that a big part of making yourself more employable after your PhD is extra time consuming experience you pick up during the PhD itself. So e.g. teaching undergraduate students, going to speak at conferences, even organising conferences, also publishing academic journal papers. You're likely to have much more time to do that sort of thing, and complete your PhD in a reasonable time scale, if you have a full funding award. I'd doubt very much that you could do these "extra" activities so well with the Oxford offer you have. And these extras are important if you are looking for work afterwards, to make you a more tempting employment prospect.

How to cope with depression/anxiety first year PhD student
B

Firstly does your university have a counselling service for students? If so make time to use it! It should help you to talk your problems through with a trained professional.

More seriously, you say you've always had problems with anxiety. Which makes me wonder if it's a long-term issue that maybe needs medical treatment/support. Have you spoken to your family doctor about this? Have you ever sought treatment/help for it? I say this as someone who was diagnosed a few years ago with generalised anxiety disorder. In my case anti depressant SSRI drugs sorted me out - 1 pill a day of that, and I'm a happy bunny :) But cognitive behavioural therapy is another option available.

Please seek help. And make time to get help. Because as you continue through your PhD, especially into the second year and then the final stage before submission, your anxiety levels will only increase.

Not enough hours in the day...
B

Quote From IntoTheSpiral:
Changing from full time to part time during writing up is very university dependent. I haven't been allowed to :-(

...

For me, the best approach is just to get something submittable by your deadline. It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to convince your examiners that there is enough work for a PhD. I'm at the stage where I'm basically planning to submit something which the examiners will deem is PhD-worthy with a year of extra work - i.e. Major Revisions (or Revise and Resubmit) is my end game. It's very unlikely that I'll get a thesis worthy of minor corrections by my deadline, but that's okay because I'm working my butt off and making career progress.


Drat re the first bit above! And thumbs up re the second paragraph quoted. That sounds like a very good strategy to me, and very pragmatic, given your circumstances.

Good luck!

Not enough hours in the day...
B

Quote From SL1990:
I now have an (almost) complete first draft - I need to finish the discussion and conclusion and then I'm sending to my supervisors. Although it doesn't feel 'good enough' to me.!


That sounds as though it really shouldn't take you that long to finish up and submit. I wouldn't expect it should take the whole summer for example. Yes you've got to write the conclusions/discussion finish, but focus in that on "So what?" as my supervisor always said. What's the point of your research? Why is it significant? What have you found out? Honestly you should be able to type that up quite quickly, after a bit of pondering.

So I think you're really near the end. Don't be a perfectionist about it. You said that you are always feeling guilty, and that got me wondering if you might be a perfectionist in your writing, as well as your 'good enough' comment. It doesn't have to perfect. It just has to be good enough. And you can always tweak post viva, if need be.

Good luck!