I don't find word counts very helpful either. Too often I'd come in under my target, and would get thoroughly dejected!

Personally I find the better thing is to set a certain target for writing time, even if in my case it's just an hour or so every few days (I'm part-time, and very seriously ill, so only able to work for very short periods). Even at that pace, if I can keep it up regularly enough, I can make progress, albeit slow.

Slow and steady gets me there, rather than a sprint. And I submitted 10 days ago :p

I can't comment on the annual tuition fees at my uni for the main years, but if a student over-runs the main funding period then there's just a 90 pounds matriculation in continuation fee where I am. I just had to pay that once. So nowhere near 500 pounds.

Ah just read your reply. Seems strange. Ok then I'd say the references don't count to the word total.

I've never included references in an abstract before. I refer to academics in the abstract by name, but don't give more precise details.

Brill news! Huge congratulations 8-)

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Have you considered speaking to a counsellor at your university? This might help you let off steam, since you say your friends and family don't understand how much it's affecting you. And if you could let off steam, maybe it would be easier for you to get through the final few months? Counsellor discussions are confidential, and you wouldn't get in trouble for anything you say. Most universities have a counselling service for their students.

Good luck.

Fingers and toes crossed!

I really don't think that comment's on, and I'd tell him what I think of it if it was me!

I've a slightly different perspective on this, having increased my body weight by 50% over the last decade due to constant high steroid doses to control a life-threatening auto-immune disease. My dose will have to stay high, and there's no way I can shift the weight gained as a result.

But my husband is a darling, and never complains about it, and doesn't make comments. We married 15+ years ago before the disease struck, when I was much slimmer. He seems to like me just as much as he used to, and is really sweet about it. I hate seeing photos of myself, and don't like mirrors now, but he's brilliant.

I missed pancakes on Pancake Day cos hubby was away on business. So have just bought some ready-made ones now (I am *so* lazy!), ready for him coming home tonight. We'll probably munch them after dinner tomorrow. Have 2 packs of 6 in the fridge, so that will probably be 2 pancake sessions! And a brand new fresh supply of maple syrup. Yum!

Thanks both. I have a meeting with my supervisor on Tuesday, so will ask him about it then.

Don't know why, but suddenly had a brain thought in the middle of the night that I should check for a specific thing in my thesis. And it was wrong. Just a caption (should have been a figure, not a table) with one of my few in-text references wrong as well. Something I did late in the writing, but didn't pick up on, despite lots of checking at the time.

And it doesn't feel so bad. I was scared to look at the thesis before now in case I found anything wrong, but this is fine. I can draw up a list of such minor errors, and take them into the viva with me.

I'm sure I'll find more when I start to reread the thesis properly ,-)

Good luck in Celtic land! I have travelled in the opposite direction, and struggled to exchange Scottish money to something that would be recognised by English shops, and not looked at very very oddly! Having said that, I like Scottish notes. Something a bit different.

Reread first, then you'll be best prepared to answer the generic questions?

Well that's what I'd need to do anyway, to refamiliarise myself with the thesis.

I've just been going through my viva preparation book for the first time in several days (have had a little break since submission), sticking post-it notes in on the pages describing activities which I particularly need to focus on.

These include big things like larger issues/questions that the examiners will be looking for, and I need to be ready for. Then there's the obvious rereading of the thesis, to refamiliarise yourself with both content and layout. The book recommends doing that just a couple of weeks before the viva, so the thesis is fresh in your mind at the time of the viva. I don't have a viva date yet, but would plan to start rereading at least 3 weeks before the viva because I'm a very slow reader now and can only work for a very short time each day. I plan on sticking post-it notes in my copy of the thesis, to identify the different sections quickly, should I need to flick to them in the viva.

There are other things recommended in the viva book, like thinking about things I'd do differently and questions to mention the examiners. It's good to start thinking about this properly.

If you've passed so many tests before now Siwee, including presumably your supervisor reading thesis drafts, then I wouldn't worry about this late-stage reviewer feedback.

I had a major problem with my writing style, which my supervisor highlighted early on in my thesis writing (my Masters had been fine though). I was able to correct it. I've not been criticised since.

Also put me down as another one who doesn't like to reach for a dictionary while reading a paper. I'm a humanities student, but I still think academic work should be straightforward to read, and not needlessly convoluted, as some academics seem to think it should be!