It depends on your area, but what about a research masters?

I use Chicago so all my references are listed as footnotes

Annoyed because I found out today that footnotes count towards the final word limit (they didn't for my Masters) - thought I could dump a lot of stuff in the footnotes and stop myself going over the limit

How weird! I've got seven incl. intro and conclusion, so five main chapters (purely by accident)

Blasphemy H - never doubt the PhD Team!

Shopping spree in Karen Millen for me - feck travelling and reading, I want new shoes!!!

Anybody else feel they spend more time editing footnotes than writing the actual thesis???

Didn't even see the date on the post H - they've probably had their viva by now LOL

cont...29 is not too old at all - I know several people in my depart at the moment (I'm an IR PhD student) who started in their late 20s/early 30s.

A lot depends on where you want to work eventually. US PhDs are accepted in the UK, but UK PhDs are sometimes seen as 'inferior' in the states because there are no comprehensive examinations involved in the UK PhD, whereas in the US you will have to complete a set of relatively diverse exams within the discipline; UK candidates can be seen as too narrow in their specialism. My husband has a UK PhD in political science and he found it easier to get a job in he UK despite being an American citizen.

The US PhD takes longer due to these exams. However, in the UK a Masters degree is necessary for an international relations/political science degree and you would have to complete this first - it isn't like the sciences where you can go straight from undergrad. Professional/vocational postgrad qualifications are unlikely to count - mine didn't.

Some subjects in the social sciences require a Masters, but I don't know about geography

My PhD is a million miles from my Masters dissertation and another million miles from my undegrad dissertation - it was never a problem for me. I was able to demonstrate some excellent marks in units I'd taken related to my PhD thesis proposal so they didn't have a problem with it.

Liam to win

Brian is definately heading for the 'thickest' title

The supervisor relationship is really difficult to define - the PhD is your way of showing you manage your own project independently, but the supervisor is supposed to guide you in achieving that. Where the boundaries between too much/little guidance fall aren't clear. I think you need to talk to your supervisor about your expectations - don't see it as a confrontation, but as a discussion where you go over what each of you expects from the relationship. Tell him you feel you haven't had support in certain areas and discuss what can be done, but you have to calm down and not see this as an argument. You're obviously feeling let down, but your supervisor may see it a very different way

I worked PT and studied FT when I did my Masters - did two days a week work permanent and freelanced on top of that (anything up to an extra three days a week)

I find courier really difficult to read

Got it - cheers!