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thank you for your reply :)

and I am also scrapping a chapter, because there's no time! so glad to know i'm not the only one. it's really helping me clear my mind, talking about it with you all.

Shani you are a star!!! thanks so much for sharing your story with me :)

that makes me feel so much better ! that you wrote your thesis from scratch in 4 months. so i am hoping i can do it in 3 months because i have a foundation for 2 chapters becuase of the papers i wrote.

thank you so much! i so very much appreciate your support. it feels really good to know, i'm not the only one :)

okay, i am going to put it all behind me, and work towards the sept 1st deadline. worst case scenario, if it's end of august, i will just tidy it up and submit it as it is.

thanks again :)

Thanks so much for posting and sharing with us! that's really inspired me and made me feel better!

I too had writers block for 4 months! I thought it was procrastination and laziness, but everytime i sat down at my desk, i just couldn't write anything.

nice to hear that i'm not the only one!!!

thanks again everyone! I especially appreciate the support regarding how long i've been doing this. thanks so much, really means alot to me :)

Thanks again everyone! Yeh alot of poor advice and bad judgments. Thanks to everyone who's been so nice and encouraging about the fact i've been doing this phd for 8 years.

you're right, i should just wrap this baby up! ;) and just get it over and done with. I am just about to email the graduate tutor and ask them if i need to, can i get an extention, but i will work super hard the next few months and just get it written. and yes you're right, worst case scenario, if i dont fail, i might just get thrown back a "re-write" and that gives me another chance.

i shudder to think what the examiners are going to think about all those years. i'm worried how i will defend myself to explain why it's taken 8 years.

i didnt know about the RA job and the phd student status should have been suspended. and i cant tell my uni, because i wouldnt want to get my supervisors into trouble.

i am going to take the next 6 weeks and write a first draft of my entire thesis.

I wish I had thought of "suspending my registration". because I'm writing my thesis at home, and I worked as a RA for a year to save up money to be able to write my thesis. During the time I was working as a RA i was told i would have plenty of time to work on my phd (but my RA took over my whole life).

lots of poor judgements.
but i have composed an email and i will send it tonight. and see what happens.
but yah i like the advice, to just keep it simple and to the minimum ad leave out things that will take far too long and are too complicated.

Thanks again everyone!! I really appreciate it :)

Thanks for the advice! I will write to the graduate officer and my graduate tutor about my situation and see if I can get an extention.

The problem is my phd supervisor is at another university. my lab and boss and supervisor moved universities, but my registration remained with the first uni.

during the move:
I was told by my supervisor to transfer to writing up stage, a few years ago, so they didn't have to pay my registration fees! hence why the uni is saying, I should submit, as i have been on "writing up stage" for more than 2 years. but it was during those years, that i really got all my data together. but i can't really tell them that, as you're not meant to do experiments during writing up stage.

Awwwww wow I am so touched by all the wonderful helpful and supportive messages, you all are so kind! I really appreciate it!

Sorry I cannot respond to you all individually, But I want to thank each and everyone one of you! :)

Okay, basically its quite embarrassing, but i've been doing this phd for 8 years! I know pathetic. but in my defence, i've had really crappy projects given to me.

my first year was completey discounted, and my project was bad, all the postdocs in my lab and the other boss thought so too, and my supervisor was quite horrible to me. So I started again in my 2nd year, with a new project and another supervisor. but that project was crap too! and finally I made up my own project with the help of a visiting professor who really helped me!

Only in the last few years that I was able to get good data.

....

I got a letter from my uni, saying if i don't submit by sept 1st, they will remove my registration and i will fail my phd!

i keep having panic attacks, i have 7 chapters to write and i am scared i wont be able to complete my thesis by the deadline.

I've written two papers which I will turn into chapters, (both me being first author) but took me in total 2 years to write them. but i need to expand on them big time and turn them into "thesis" chapters, and make them longer, so they feel more like a thesis chapter.

And now i am working on my 3rd (and last) results chapter.

they assurred me, it's better to write papers and get them published, and then turn my papers into thesis chapters...they wanted me to write a 3rd paper, but i will now say no!

i am panicking

early this year, my father got sick, so for a few months i could not concentrate on my thesis.

i hear it takes 1 year to write a thesis. and i only have 3 months :(

what shall i do ?