Fantastic news Keenbean!

What a great time for you! You must be so happy! 8-)

Glad that it worked! (up)

Hi Delta,
You should accept all changes in the document. I have vista, so I am not sure if it works in the same way with window, but you can try:
Click on the "Review" task pane, and then click on "Accept" - you will have different options here - select "Accept all changes in the document". You should be able to save your document now without surprises.

I hope it is useful!

I am not able to say whether a change at this stage is possible or not. I don't know anyone who changed uni close to completion, but I have been in a very similar position to yours. I tried all the possible avenues to make things working, but in the end I had to realise that I couldn't pretend more from my supervisor, because although he is a good lecturer, he was a poor supervisor in the first place, regardless of his area of expertise.
I tentatively tested the higher ranks to see what the alternative options were, but in the end I had to make a do with what I had, and I think that I have managed pretty well. Actually, I managed to submit a good thesis and passed the viva with minor corrections, which make me feel very proud, as I really had very little help from my sup. Obviously it's far from ideal, and very stressful!

If I were you however, I would ask your department if it is possible to have a second supervisor before trying more radical options, although if you are already registered for the "writing up" year, you may not be entitled to have a supervisor - not at my uni anyway - but you should definitely check with your institution.
 

Fantastic! You will be brilliant - adrenaline is still running high, so just keep going!
Remember to reward yourself. Here is a virtual mini-cake (mince)

Hi Ady,

No, I wasn't told at the beginning, although everyone seemed quite relaxed (including me, and that might have been due to the fact that I was stuffed with paracetamol as I had a bad cold), and so I started with a positive mindset anyway. (I also implemented the "que sera, sera" philosophy suggested by BB!)

They told me straight after the viva that I had passed with minor corrections, then they asked me to leave, and after ten minutes they called me back and handed me the list of corrections - points that I had clarified during the viva had been ticked off, so I won't need to change them.

My supervisor asked if I wanted him to be present, but I politely declined!

Do you know the date of your viva already?

Thanks Beajay and WanderingSage!
I am really happy to be able to share this with so many nice people.

I have already started tackling the corrections, so back to work as normal! Hopefully it won't take too long. ;-)

Hi Pineapple29! I am sure that people do not perceive you as a lazy person at all. Tiredness, stress, and the wish to move on quickly, are perfectly understandable.

Also, every person, every PhD, and the amount of work and effort involved, is different. I agreed with my husband before the viva that if I had major corrections to carry out, I would have taken the MPhil. Nothing to do with being lazy, my personal situation would not allow me to focus on the thesis for another year. I was lucky, and I was given minor corrections, and I am already tackling them.

I think that having a tight but realistic plan to finish by the beginning of the New Year must also help you to look forward to it, and think about the long-term future.
:-)

Thanks Keenbean and Catalinbond, you are very close to the finishing line too. The last few months are probably the hardest, because although you are close to the end, you feel that you are still far.

It's an emotional roller coaster, but if I learnt anything from this experience is that you must believe in yourself and what you are doing. If you work at the best of your ability and you are organised throughout, no matter what happens during the course of your PhD, the quality of your work is going to be recognised.

Good luck to you both - I will be expecting to read good news from you soon!

Thank you so much all of you! I finally slept for the first time in weeks!
Indeed it is a great feeling, but I suppose it will take some time to sink in.
Thanks everyone!

Thanks Ady, I followed your suggestion and add a thread!

I thought I would let the forum know that I passed my viva today with minor corrections, and that I am absolutely thrilled!!!

I honestly didn't think that this was ever going to happen, but hey, here I am! The viva was actually a very pleasant discussion on some aspects of my thesis, and none of the horrible questions that I thought would come up, actually did! Perhaps it's true that we are the worst judges of our own work. It's mostly typos or change of word kind of thing, no structural changes.

It went on for two hours, but it didn't feel a long time at all. I would like to take this opportunity to thanks the forum, and particularly Ady, Dunni, Keenben, BilboBaggins, Pineapple29, and surely I am forgetting many names. Your stories and suggestions have been of great support.

Good luck to those of you who are about to submit or have their viva!
:-)

I think that it's like a ritual of passage. At the end of the PhD process you are finally accepted in the academic world, and indeed you feel grown up.

I hope that Ingenieur does not mind hijacking his thread to say that I've just passed my viva with minor corrections, and to thanks all of the participants to the forum for their support!

Hi Eska,

I couldn't agree with you more, and you have certainly shown your strength by working to change your situation, and succeed. I wasn't suggesting that student should accept bad supervision in silence, but that many people do not have your strength, or their personal situation does not allow them - or they feel that way - to do anything about it. I know a number of PGs in my department who had to go through nightmare supervisions and didn't lodge an official complaint.

I agree with you, it is wrong, but this the way it is, especially in small departments where there is little choice of supervisors. I think that if stories like yours could be made available to other students - maybe through student support services - more people would feel compelled to step forward and fight for change. 

However, I still think that there is a mentality that need to change in academia that has been built over several generations, and that may be difficult to eradicate.

Good points. The fact is that there is a consolidated way of thinking that needs to be changed. Most universities have a code of practice that supervisor should follow, but this is seldom checked by anyone. If any problems arise the attitude is that of brushing the dust under the carpet.

I you are funded by a research council, don't be surprised if you will be asked to copy your annual report to your supervisor. Your supervisor though, will not be deemed to send a copy of his report to you. It is obvious that the system allows unacceptable behaviour to happen, but it is neither you, nor me or a group of postgraduates that are going to change this, not overnight anyway. I am not surprised at all that this thread did not receive many posts. I think that there is a mixture of fear and awareness that this is what you have to go through in order to be part of the academic world, and thus it is pointless to fight back.

There are many good supervisors out there, so we should not generalise, but it is obvious that the current system is unbalanced and aim to protect the "caste". On our side, I think that we should accept that a good researcher/lecturer is not necessarily a good supervisor and vice versa, and that striking a balance is extremely difficult.