I think you learn more about what's good as you go along, so you get better anyway. And, yes, asking other people to read your work - if they're willing - doesn't hurt. My supervisors are still offering to read anything I send in for submission, many months after I graduated. But I'm rather trying to stand on my own two feet at the moment. It could backfire spectacularly :p

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I took a list of my typos into the viva and handed it to the examiners and convenor at the beginning of my viva. All were grateful, and those mistakes were added to their list of very minor typographical corrections.

What's worse is finding mistakes after you've submitted the corrected hard-bound version :) But I don't care any more. I passed. Yay!

I left a full-time funded PhD in 1996, due to developing a progressive serious illness. My funding was still current then, so stopped immediately when I left. I didn't have to pay anything back. I had no obligations to the university or my supervisor, although my leaving and not completing would have reduced the amount of funded places my department would get over the next few years. But I couldn't do anything about that.

If you feel this bad maybe you should leave. But equally you are near the end. You'll also have to think how you explain the last 5 years on CVs and in job applications. That wasn't a problem for me because I'm too ill to work, though I did have to explain it when I applied for another PhD, part-time this time, and in a diametrically opposite discipline.

Talk honestly to your supervisor. I did this, and then made the decision to leave. I emailed my decision to my supervisor, which was the easy way out. I wish I'd had the courage to say goodbye.

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You can't be expected to memorise everything, so don't worry about that. I have significant memory problems - a form of dementia - due to neurological disease, so took a very fatalistic view to what I would memorise! Follow my advice in the other thread about 5 higher level issues you can focus on to cut things down. And you will have your thesis there to refer to, if you need it.

I went into the viva expecting any result at all, from outright failure up to minor corrections (ok I didn't think I'd have a perfect pass). So I wasn't optimistic either. But again I took the view that what would be would be, I'd done my best possible with the thesis in the circumstances, and would do my best in the viva. No-one can do any more than that.

I've posted lots of advice in the last day or so in the "Viva preparation advice" thread, as have other people. So do check that out. It's currently on the front page of the relevant section of the forum.

How do you feel about your thesis? I wasn't confident in mine, but felt I'd done my best, and what would be would be. I wasn't nervous in the run-up to the viva, because I figured the examiners were going to judge me primarily on my thesis. That may be an unusual reaction though.

Generally what people say who've been through vivas - myself included - is that they are much less scary than we anticipated they would be. So try not to worry too much. If you've been revising your thesis you *are* well prepared. Try to rest in the last few days beforehand, pamper yourself a bit, and try not to worry too much. I didn't actually sleep at all the night before my viva, so was getting through on adrenaline alone, but somehow managed it.

Good luck!

A PhD is very hard to complete, especially if your heart isn't fully in it. If computing really isn't your passion maybe you should look at switching, even if it will be hard.

Good luck!

My viva preparation involved reading a viva preparation book (Tinkler and Jackson) to demystify the process, rereading and summarising my thesis to familiarise myself with it and spot typos (I took a list into the viva on the day and handed it out - all examiners/convenor were very grateful), and thinking about and memorising my answers to 5 key questions: originality of my thesis, contribution to knowledge, methodology, weaknesses/gaps/mistakes, and what would I do differently if starting again. I found that higher-level approach to viva questions more helpful than looking at lists of dozens of potential questions that I would never remember the answers to.

I agree with Olivia that examiners have, by and large, usually made their minds up on the basis of the thesis. There is some room for maneuvre, and if there are doubts the viva can swing things. But the thesis forms the bed-rock. I actually found that incredibly reassuring. I wasn't that confident in my thesis, but knew I'd done the best I could, and - to quote Doris Day - "Que sera sera". So I was very relaxed in between submission and the viva. I only started to get noticably stressed 1 hour before :p

And make sure you take water in or something with you on the day. I found it helpful to drink from that regularly, often as I was listening to questions and formulating replies. And I took notes about the questions as they were asked so I wouldn't forget them, especially the longer questions.

I was actually in my wheelchair on the day, wheeled into the room by the convenor, and recovering from shingles on top of my usual problems. But I sat up confidently and made sure I kept eye contact with the examiners. That made me feel better, as well as making me look more confident.

There is a post-doc section of the site, and this post would have been good there ...

As for me I'm busy turning my thesis into papers. I can't work due to long-term neurological illness, and am knocked out for most of the time, and extremely ill. But I can spend an hour or so now and then thinking about how to adapt what I've done into papers, and do the necessary rewriting. I've submitted two more papers recently, and am now thinking about what the next likely ones will be, assuming the first two post-PhD ones are successful. I'm also hoping to do new research, as an independent scholar (quite a common thing in the humanities), to produce new publishable work.

Completing the PhD has given me a lot of confidence in my ability to produce interesting new research, and to have a valid reason to present those findings. I feel validated as a researcher, which I suppose is how things should be. On a personal note it also brought to closure a long-held upset at having had to leave a full-time science PhD after the illness developed. So it's been very positive all round.

A conversion Masters sounds like a good idea, though be warned that quite a lot of them expect at least first year undergraduate Psychology study in your first degree. You'd be looking for one that assumes no background knowledge at all.

I thought about suggesting a Computing/Psychology crossover, but I have the feeling that most options in that line might veer more towards the Psychology end of the spectrum than Computing.

Glad you've reached a decision, and it sounds as if you're happy with it. I walked away from a full-time PhD 14 years ago. It was the hardest decision I ever had to make, but as soon as I'd made it I knew it was the right one, and I felt a lot better. Sounds like that's happened with you.

Good luck for the future, including your job hunting.

I think you'd be very lucky to go from Computing to psychology or philosophy without a sound undergraduate training in them. They are difficult subjects, and you'd have no grounding whatsoever in them. It's quite common to go from Physics and the like to Computing, but not to switch from Computing towards other subjects like you've cited.

I went from computing first degree to history Masters and PhD, but started from scratch again and did a history degree with the OU, though I could do it very quickly because my first degree allowed me to ump straight into second year. So then when I went on to apply to postgraduate study I could show I had a thorough grounding in the humanities subject.

So, no, I don't think you'd get funding without proving your ability in the new area.

Computing is the better degree for job purposes. Psychology is incredibly competitive, with lots of highly trained (from undergraduate level) people fighting for a limited number of posts. And philosophy is like other humanities subjects and would be difficult to find many jobs in.

Could you maybe do a course with the OU to see if you like philosophy or psychology?

Great news. You'll feel great when it's finally fully handed in. Though, if you're like me, you'll still find typos afterwards :p