As I didn't want to get a job :$

Sadly, I still had to.. I just put it off for an extra 3 years!

1) If you find a paper you think is interesting but not entirely relevant, make sure you STILL save the URL / details of that paper, as your research changes you might find that paper is more relevant than you first thought but then spend 2 days searching the net for it as you didn't save the relevant details.

2) Start writing from day one - A number of pages of my thesis came from my first year transfer report.. and my transfer report came from a 3 month report I did after I started my PhD. If you think something is interesting, investigate it and see if you can write something that is relevant to your research.

3) Manage expecations with your supervisor - my supervisor expected me to be hungover and not in the office before 10:00am - I didn't let him down :$ , nor did I let him down when I said I would do something, I did it - manage your supervisor as well as managing yourself.

4) Don't compare yourself to other PhD students, every research topic is different - some of my mates had a 200 page thesis with 50 references, I had a 380 page one with 400 references... we both got there in the end so comparing chalk and cheese is pointless.

5) Never, ever lose sight of the fact you need to 'prove' everything you had written... you make a statement - can you back that up? where? how? why is that source valid? - get into that habit of questionning your own research early, makes it easier when your viva comes round.

6) Buy the book 'How to get a PhD' - I found it very useful to read when I first started

You can get through this.

I remember when I was aproaching my viva and I was crying hysterically on my bed, thinking that if I failed.. my life would be over - Yes, people are right when they say 'Other things in the world are more important' but at the time *my* PhD was *the* most important thing in my life... I mean, we do it over a number of years, day in.. day out - so I think should you have every right to feel like it's a big part of your life and don't feel guilty for that.

You are probably faced with an awful lot of self doubt, worry, and fear: Can you finish this? What still needs to be done? What if you fail? How will you tell people?

Ignore them and focus on primary question:

What can I do to make me pass my PhD?

If you feel your research has lost direction, stop.. and refocus... if you feel you are being pulled in too many directions, stop and make some decisions... There are usually ways to sort these things out and sometimes the BEST thing you can do is take a break, even for 24 hours, a weekend... clear your head and before you go... ask yourself 2 or 3 main PhD questions you wish to solve. Then, after your break, you come back... and you tackle one or more of these questions.

You have to drag yourself up as noone else will.. you need to think about your graduation day, think about how happy you will be that you can call yourself 'Doctor' and think that once your viva is over, the pressure lifted from your shoulders will be immense - only you can get to that day... so don't panic, break all problems up and keep going.

I've said it before, but the biggest challenge of my PhD wasn't the intellectual stuff ( 'cos I am not that bright) it was the flipping determination I had to show.. day after day... revision after revision.. it was utterly, utterly crap - but I am very glad I didn't give up and that was the right choice for me.

Best of luck :-)

I finished mine at 25 and am in the UK - I think it depends if you do a Masters degree inbetween as well as if you take a gap year and go straight through etc...

I don't plan to ever have children so I guess my age of graduation doesn't matter - one thing that has always puzzled me though (and this isn't a criticism, just a personal observation) if you go to Uni for 6 years minimum.. surely it would be nice to put those degrees to use for a few years before having children, unless your partner is willing to be a stay at home Father?

Don't feel depressed - feel relieved you don't have to go through your viva again. My viva was 50 mins and it barely even touched the surface... cue the examiner at the end saying 'I wasn't sure whether it would be minor or major corrections as you have to write another CHAPTER about research methods'.

12 weeks is loads of time, and if you manage your time well, you shouldn't have any problems - just manage your time and actually aim for 10 weeks, that's due to the fact you might have issues with your internal examiner approving your changes in time.. so don't work write up until the line, only to realise your internal has gone on holiday for 2 weeks. Congratulations on passing your viva :-)

Don't apply to work for IBM... they pay you crap and treat you worse... I speak from experience on that one... trust me..

'PC_Geek - the documentation states that references and appendices aren't counted - maybe that is why?'

Different Unis, different rules... including my appendicies and references it comes to 98,500

I imagine yours will be more concise than mine.. mine was a lot of waffle

How weird.. I did a computer science one and mine came in at 87,000 - Max was 90,000... arts had 130,000 to play around with! I think I had about 350 references in total...

One of my mates submitted after his supervisor 'read it', he was referred as although his viva was sound, his thesis was poorly written.. why? as his supervisor had lied, hadn't read it and my friend now has to re-write the entire thing. I'd reccomend you get someone in to read it in a similar area as they will pick on things you didn't even thing of as you're 'too close' to your own research.

My Supervisor was a lovely guy, however he was awful at checking things - I'd send him a thesis chapter and he would reply, having suggested about 2-3 spelling changes.. 'capital letter here', type thing - like that matters :-S. Thankfully my 2nd supervisor was changed as one left, so my mate stepped in.. he tore my thesis to shreds and I re-wrote which took a year.. he was also in Computer Science but totally different area and God, it was worth all the heartache.

Coming at it from the same angle but with different knowledge, he was in a great position to read it without knowing too much about it, therefore could clearly see if I didn't explain my concepts clearly enough.

'I often feel incredibly stupid'

I'd say this just means you're not up your own a**e or full of your own importance... I don't think having a PhD will make much difference to your cleverness level 'cos you are what you are, surely?

I'd say every job has its pros and cons and indeed, politics. I'd be pretty ruthless to an extent... which would pay better, which do you feel would offer you better job security and whilst happiness is certainly a large factor.. remember, it's just a job and unless you live to work... long as you have money to live, it's not the be all and end all.

Also, think long term.. would a post-doc harm your chances of going into industry? would going into industry harm your chances of later doing a post-doc if you change your mind.

I didn't think there were that many post -docs out there and they seem quite scarce and in high demand.. so perhaps it's also a good idea to have a 'backup' plan in case it all goes to pot? (hopefully it won't!)

Probably just me... but what does 100% level mean? or 80%?

'But I don't understand why "some people view a PhD as a very long master's thesis..." "is very, very wrong"?'

Wouldn't know I'm afraid dude... never did a Masters

3 years full time... one year working full time and writing / editing thesis.. and 6 months between submitting, viva and corrections... so just over 4.5 years in total...

I'm kinda half agreeing, half disagree with you guys (sorry! )

Intellectually, I found my BSc much, much harder.. Maths, logic and programming are still alien concepts to me and I struggled an awful lot - even now I doubt I could pass my maths A level :-S

The PhD was mentally draining and was also the hardest thing I have ever, ever had to do.. but not because it was 'intellectually challenging' - it was just bloody crap having to edit and re-edit and re-edit stuff again and again and again. Due to it being 'research', I was able to tailor my research to my strengths (no maths, logic or programming) so it wasn't as challenging academically.. but man.. it was a hard slog and it takes so much effort to keep the motivation going after the 6th rejection of a paper or a thesis chapter..