don't give up! try to transfer the thesis. you can interrupt while you try and do that. if that fails then you can settle for an Mphil. you can tell your supervisor that you need to interrupt to work for the money (could this be an option?) or to think about the best way forward.

when you've interrupted look for scholarships at faculties you'd like to apply to. call potential supervisors. explain yourself and your situation and why you have chosen them and why they should fund you. a) its cheaper than funding all the way from first year b) you are a good student only that your financial situation is not great c) you are committed to finishing. d) show them that you are interested in taking up teaching. the key to this is : do not settle for the MPhil even if it means doing the PhD part-time. you don't want to waste the hours you've already put in or start studying a new topic :-(. you also want to maintain a decent relationship with your supervisor in the meantime. just don't discuss this move with them yet. unless you think it will help your cause.

your dream is not over. :-)try that and see what comes up. keep us posted.8-)

@Walminski - thanks. we have something like this. But before we even get to this stage there's the correction phase. For instance, how much literature should one have, are there any requirements of what examiners want to see regarding literature, what about argument, it is enough that it flows, what about hypothesis, should you be seen to have tested everything you mentioned in your thesis, what about those parts for which you know there is data but participants were unwilling to give it or to prioritise the urgency of it.... what do you do with these parts? can you include incomplete tables in appendices?

things like that.

what is the basic minimum you need to demonstrate to get a phd? i think that's what am asking.

Hi guys,

I'm coming to the end of my thesis and wondering how you know your thesis is ready for submission - apart from your supervisors saying so - which is not helpful for those of us with distant supervisors?

Is there a checklist one can use? I'm particularly interested in views from those in the humanities and social sciences (am only excluding scientists because our thesis styles and requirements are different).

What do you do in those weeks allocated for correcting the draft?

Helen - just to let you know you're not alone. i also suffer from anxiety but seem to be doing well so far in controlling it. like now i have just been sitting for hours doing all sorts of other things other than get on with the simple task of starting today's work. i find that i struggle to start, but eventually when i do start working on something, my anxiety levels fall.

i haven't read all the posts - as am afraid i could be procrastinating :-), which is another thing that fuels my anxiety, but i will share a method i have come up with that's working for me.

1) put it all in perspective. you're more important than this phd. so your health should come first. try caring less, for the sake of your health. do other things for a while. an extension or suspending the clock even for a few months will be enough. during this time try to figure out how you work best. don't just go on holiday because the problem will still be there waiting for you. take it easy, do the things you enjoy but slowly ease yourself back in.

2) an example. after taking a few weeks off during Christmas i almost had a panic attack just thinking about the thesis. now i have decided to ease myself back in. some days i only work for 20 mins and thats enough. when you do a little of it, you feel less anxious.

3) now the method: break whole thesis into tasks. what you have done (yes, you have done something) and what you need to do. quit perfecting what is done. you will come back to that when you get a draft. concentrate on what has not been done. break it down into small 20 mins tasks. e.g. task i)now am going to write a draft of the introduction. (it doesn't have to be perfect!) avoid open ended statements like now am going to work on my thesis. those will overwhelm you. then take a break during which you're going to do something finite. eg. come on this forum for 10 mins. be careful that the breaks are not too long. task ii) now am going to list the similarities between these two concepts. task iii) now am going to say what their differences are. task iv) i'll read through this paper and just note whats interesting about it. task v) i'll read through this paper and see if its any good. (you're putting yourself in control here. acknowledging that you actually know something and can tell whether a paper is good! and that's the truth.) etc etc.

4) determine to do at least a task a day. forget about word count. you will revisit this when you get the draft. don't worry about getting the phd, you will get it if you can complete these small tasks.

5) love yourself. let it be all about you. not all about the phd. and you will be in control. don't do it if its too stressful just work the 20 mins and don't allow anyone or anything to make you feel guilty. you will find that in a while you will be able to work for hours following this method.

6) think positive. come up with a mantra for each time when you think of something negative. smile and say, 'I can do this. am doing so well anyway.' and block the thoughts. respond to them. don't react to them. (find a mantra that works for you)

hope that helps.

J.

hey walminski..

am sorry to read that you are going through a difficult time. it can be particularly difficult when you have no one at christmas time. being an international student am alone every christmas. not that am short of invites, but it makes little sense to spend time around people who are not family, so i prefer to be on my own. right now am reading a novel at the library. partly because there's more company there from other people like me, who realise that their time will come. :-) it may not be now, but who says it will never happen.

re the sleep. this is a sign of stress. have you seen your GP. at the moment it would be unthinkable to accept a suggestion to take time off work and just sleep, but that could help you a lot and rejuvenate you for the new year. re finding someone you love and friends.. i have found that whilst there is a place in this life for friends and lovers :-) it does not mean that we are happier or less lonely with them, albeit for a moment. why not strive for personal completeness, that is, an ability to be happy and content no matter what. (am working on that myself) that way you will be happy and less stressed when you find yourself in such situations. and no.. you don't need to toughen up. you just need to be more aware of what your mind is doing and of your emotions. i quite like the way someone on here put it (sorry i don't remember who that was): "The most valuable lesson I have learnt is that you can't really control your thoughts very well (it's very labour-intensive) but you can control your actions. So when you have difficult thoughts you can acknowledge they're there but try not to get too involved with them - just try to see them as if they were passing clouds. In those situations you can take positive action - you can get up and do something relaxing or at least phone a friend or something." i think what you should do is actively manage how you feel. i always say to myself - its never that bad. and its true. its never as bad as it feels in the grand scheme of things.

to lift you up if it helps - i think that piece you sent me a while back is really good! so despite the what you feel, you have achieved something this year. and in time, every other thing will fall into place (friends & partner). but before then, we can't allow ourselves to be down. life is too short for that. do something that makes you happy - personally i have learnt to appreciate little things like sleep, tv, making a good meal for myself in readiness to make it for that special someone, just listening to music. because the truth is, it is a guarantee that one day this feeling will end. but before it does, we should not let this phase put us down.

ps: it is ok to moan once in a while. i find it useful to just let things out once in a while. thanks for sharing.
8-)

Is anyone doing anything on culture and using hofstede's criteria? my thesis is interdiscplinary across the humanities: business, anthropology, law, economics, sociology all come into play in various parts.

Phdbug - its helps to make a distinction between real life and research. and like i said, just because what am going through doesn't make any sense to you, it doesn't invalidate the reality of it or how i feel about it. and yes, am very happy that i have options. and am not about to apologise about that. as for people not liking to work with me - again you're being very presumptous.

Cleverclogs - "Personally I think blaming a country for one's woes is a sign of personal problems. Doing a PhD generally does bring problems, but the country is incidental."

That again is presumptuous and unhelpful.

@jinkim - no one is compelling you to respond to my post either. and yes, whoever told you am not on my way out lied to you.

Sneaks - once again you're very presumptous and unhelpful:

"It seems like you have been reading the Daily Mail to form your views of the British public which is very saddening, we are certainly not all anti-immigration."

First, that is insulting. I do not need to read a newspaper to form views.

Secondly, you have never met me. Therefore you have no right to put yourself on a pedestal and pretend you know anything about how I communicate. Don't pretend you understand what am going through, because from what you're writing, you haven't a clue. The statement below is totally pointless and doesn't add any value to this discussion.

"Understandably you come across very defensive, but maybe you need to reevaluate your style when communicating with your peers, as it may seem to others like you are putting up barriers."

Like I said, if all your post is aimed at is disgreeing with what am going through, it is not helpful at all. And by the way, it doesn't change anything about how I feel. I have been in a student in four universities in this country in different locations and the treatment has been the same. I feel sorry for those of you who have no option but to live in this kind of place. For me, I have come to the realisation that there are 190+ countries in this world to chose from. So I need not put up with your presumptions either about my situation.

@Jinkim - just because your experience has been different, does not mean my experience is invalid. If anything, my experience represents that of more than 90% of international students in this country.

In addition, a lot of the views on here just reinforce what am saying. It is unfortunate that prejudice and racism are very real in Britain and denied by the perpetrators and the rest of you everyday. Frankly speaking, I can't wait to leave this country and that is the general view shared by most international students. It surprises me that the British are constantly complaining about immigration and apparently 'toughening' policies when most of the 'immigrants' i know - because that is how you classify international students - are dying to leave this place. Who would want to stay here anyway? It is not a country where any minority wanting to achieve their potential can thrive. There's more to life than dealing with rubbish treatment and people who just aren't adult enough to acknowledge their weaknesses and the fact that we are all equal as human beings.

If you have nothing useful to say about what am going through, by for instance denying the reality of it, you do not have to feel compelled to respond to my post.

"In what ways do people seem to have problem with you not being British? M,x"

For instance, a while back I raised an issue about being patronised by a member of the department. What had happened was that we had been given different sections of a project to work on and the person I was working with pulled out the last minute saying they hadn't been allocated someone to work with. Ps: It was common knowledge that they were meant to be working with me. When I mentioned this to the person in charge, they went on to say that i shouldn't worry about it because British people are lazy and not willing to make an effort to interact with non-British people.

Again another issue came up and when I brought it up, the person in charge, instead of addressing the issue went on ask me if i was bringing it up because another minority had quit the course and therefore I was feeling bad about it. Goodness! I had never even spoken with them - as this was a new course and we had only been there for two weeks?! Why do people assume that because you are a minority you are a certain way? To me, this is racism. There is just no other way to see it. You can call it 'a different way', but call a spade a spade and not a big spoon!

Am disappointed by what my experience in this country has been. Despite being quite open minded when I came here, the people here are very closed minded towards people who are different to them. And the saddest thing is that despite being highly educated, they still can't overcome their prejudice.

Sneaks - i think your post is quite presumptuos.

1) Where I am from needn't matter.

2) My post has little to do with my kind of phd. And am not doing any interviews FYI.

I feel that since I've been studying in the UK my confidence is going down. People are so cold and difficult to interact with. My phd hasn't helped either. The never ending critique and appointments with people who can't get past my not being British when dealing with isses I raise doesn't help either.

:-(