I was hoping for some feedback from anyone who may have been in my position (I was given major corrections - see my earlier post for extensive ranting!)

One of the recommendations in my viva report was to basically combine my two major theories into one theory (Foucault + Feminism = Foucauldian Feminism). I am writing a new chapter specifically on this but it also says in my report to use this new theory "more explicitly throughout the thesis". I am finding this quite difficult. They haven't asked me to take anything out or change anything that I'd already written. I'm therefore slotting in my new theory by adding to my current chapters - this ranges from adding a few pages and/or paragraphs to each chapter where I (somewhat awkwardly) bring in this new theory. It all seems a bit of a jumble to me but I appreciate that, as a PhD candidate, I have to master this.

What I wanted to ask was has anyone been given a similar challenge and, if so, did you go about it the same way as me?! Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, thank you! :)

I was given major corrections and can't see much difference between R&R and major corrections so will give you my story anyway.

I've been asked to add two new chapters to my thesis and also merge two of my theories into one (Foucault & Feminism if you're doing Sociology by any chance?!) and discuss this throughout the thesis as a whole, so basically slotting in more paragraphs where necessary.

Everyone's corrections are different and, with a positive attitude, you can plough through them more quickly than you think. However, there are some days/weeks...even months where you feel like you're just not going to get the PhD (how I feel at the moment). The success stories give you the will to carry on fighting though.

Good luck :)

I completely understand how you feel - I'm in the same state as you, other than my corrections being classed as major (see my recent post).

I think some days are easier than others. A few days ago I was working on my corrections and getting loads done so felt generally positive. Then today I've been sat at my laptop for about 4 hours and written a few sentences. And yes I, too, have cried many tears and wanted to throw many books (including my bound thesis) out of the window!! Truth be told: on the day of my viva I almost threw my thesis in the university pond I was that angry!

However, I've learnt a lot over the past few months that I wouldn't have experienced had I passed with no corrections. With your corrections - is it a case of just doing them and sending the thesis to your external again or will it be marked internally? At least you don't have the risk of another viva...that's the nightmare that has become my reality.

I hope things get better for you - feel free to message me if you want to talk as I think we're in pretty similar positions. Good luck! :)

I had my viva last December and was given major corrections which I was gutted about. Since then there has been a load of drama with my school - long story short: my viva report was lost by the chair (who failed to have a back-up copy) and the school didn't get my report to me until nearly 4 months after my viva. Due to this I have lost job opportunities and money as I turned down extra teaching hours in order to work on my corrections but seemingly couldn't because I had no report to work from.

Anyway, I'm writing up my corrections now (which broadly consist of adding an additional 2 chapters amongst some additions to old chapters) and am feeling completely lost. I had been feeling more positive over recent weeks as it was good to finally get to work on the corrections etc. But after a couple of days tearing my hair out trying to find academic work on particular areas that seem impossible to find, I'm feeling like this could all be for nothing.

I might have a second viva which is down to the discretion of my external examiner after she reads my revised thesis. That thought alone is terrifying me. If another viva does happen and she still can't find the will to award me the PhD, my only other option would be to go to another institution, pay another 2-3 years worth of fees and resubmit the thesis all over again to a different examining board. After what will be 5 years of full-time PhD study, that thought is unbearable.

Maybe I'll finish these corrections and the thesis will pass (hallelujah) but my heart says that it won't be that simple. I suppose I'm looking for anyone's similar experiences or uplifting stories to give me a bit of hope and positivity! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi JStanley, thank you so much for your response. Hearing stories such as yours helps me immensely. The general consensus I'm reading from you and others is to get on with my corrections - this certainly seems to be the safest bet. I've just finished writing a two page document for my examiners about my corrections. I'm still in talks with my supervisor as to whether I can contest my corrections or not - the above responses have definitely put me off having the 'audacity' to do such a thing! In the document I have discussed about 50% of the corrections they've given me, often asking for more clarification as to how to approach the corrections instead of actively contesting them. For example, for one point I've put the following:

"In regards to the exploring the figures of the ladette (discussed on pages 20-22), Playboy (discussed on pages 7-8), metrosexual (discussed in terms of the ‘new man’ on pages 11, 108 & 254) and the girl next door (mentioned on page 15) – in what ways should I develop these discussions further and incorporate them into the thesis?"

Do you think raising issues such as this is completely futile? As you can see in my example, I feel like I've already talked about these figures & am confused as to how to develop them further.

Thank you again for telling me your story - it offers a much needed light in my current PhD darkness! I think I might even print it off and look at it when I'm feeling like I should give up!! :)

P.S. It's been over 10 weeks since my viva & the school still haven't provided me with the official copy of my viva report (they lost it & both the examiners & the chair didn't have a back-up copy). All I've been given so far (only got it last week) is an unofficial reiteration of what they said on the day of my viva.

I feel like I'm the only person in the world to have contested their viva corrections. I don't agree with a lot of them (about 70%). For example, my examiners want me to explain how my thesis contributes to the field of Media Studies. I am not a media studies student and I wrote my thesis for the fields of sociology, gender & sexuality studies, cultural studies, feminism and critical sexology. I really don't want to take my thesis down a media studies route simply because it's not the field I'm writing for, nor is it my area of interest or expertise.

If anyone has contested their corrections please let me know because my school has no guidelines for this and still won't confirm whether I am able to write a report outlining why I disagree. Help!!

I know every thesis is different and school rules can vary drastically but I wanted to ask how long other PhD'ers thesis' are?! Mine is currently around the 130,000 word mark which was just - and only just - able to be bound. I've been given major corrections and my examiners want 2 extra chapters amongst other parts thrown in which I think will put the thesis up to at least 160,000 words. Many academics I've spoken to have agreed that this word count is far too big even for a PhD thesis.

What's even more annoying is that shortly after my viva, the school implemented a word limit of 80,000 words but because I submitted after this time the new rule doesn't apply to me. I'm pretty angry as it means that I technically will be writing double the word limit to get my PhD.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

I had my viva over 7 weeks ago and am yet to receive the official report. Long story short: I have been chasing the report for weeks as I'm told it's unusual to have to wait this long.

The chair of my viva said that he submitted the report to the office weeks ago but that it has been lost in the university's internal post. When I requested for him to simply send another electronic copy to the office, I have been told that he is off on sick leave (has been for 3 weeks) and will not respond to any emails. My second port of call was for the office to contact my internal examiner who - I thought - would surely have an electronic copy of the report to hand. However, she hasn't and merely forwarded me five one sentence bullet points that I already have, simply serving as a summary of the official report. I have been advised to make a formal complaint which of course puts me in a very awkward position. All I want is my detailed viva report so I can get on with my corrections and it seems impossible for anyone in the school to provide me with it. I could be waiting another month or two at this rate, which would put me at a 4 month wait - very upsetting for myself considering I wanted to finish my corrections within 6 months. I've turned down full-time teaching hours and opted for part-time hours in order to work on my corrections yet I've spent the last 2 months still waiting for this report.

Could someone please tell me how detailed their viva report was? With major corrections, is it normal to get 4 or 5 short bullet points thrown at you, or should you be given much more description than this? I would very much appreciate any advice anyone has on this!

I had my viva 5 weeks ago today and still haven't received my viva report back. I - supposedly - passed with major corrections but am yet to have that confirmed in print. I need to get working on the corrections ASAP in order to complete them by the end of the summer and hopefully start a full-time lectureship in September. I have been chasing the report as much as I can but admin keep brushing me off and my supervisor has told me to stop asking for it. I was wondering how long any of you have had to wait for a viva report if you've been in this position? Also, has anyone contested their viva report? I don't think there's much I can do but from what I remember of the blurred and growing distant memory of my viva, my examiners wanted my thesis to go in a very different direction. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you all so much for your advice and words of encouragement - it has helped me enormously. Today is my first day back since the Christmas break and, although this wasn't how I was hoping 2015 would start, I feel more motivated to get on with my corrections and get to the end of this PhD.

Unfortunately I still haven't received my viva voce report which details exactly what my corrections should entail. I have been pushing for my school to send it over but they're taking their sweet time which is already proving very irritating. I'm also feeling a bit agitated over the fact that my supervisor has said he'll find out if I can be awarded an MPhil instead. Although I appreciate having the option, I haven't slogged away for the past 4 years to get an MPhil. It almost feels like he's given up on me but perhaps I'm overreacting. Either way, I've decided to continue so will let you all know how I get on as the months roll on.

Hope you all have a successful 2015 and all your PhD goals are achieved!

I had my viva yesterday was which an exhausting experience. It's taken me 4 years to write up my thesis and I finally felt that I was at the stage of closure. I'd had 7 practice viva's with various academics in my department and all were very happy with my performance. My thesis had been approved by both my supervisors and - the impression I got - was that I would pass with minor corrections.

As the title of this thread states, I ended up getting major corrections. My viva lasted an hour and a half (this is the maximum amount of time allowed as per the new school rules) and then they kept me waiting over an hour for their decision. I sensed that there must have been a disagreement between my internal and external examiners for the decision to take this long. Also, at the risk of sounding melodramatic, I really felt like my internal examiner had it in for me (or my research should I say) from the start. It was very demotivating.

I'm feeling really low now. I wanted yesterday to celebrate the end of a very long journey but instead it has prolonged it. I've recently been offered a research assistant job alongside increasing my lecturing hours but am going to have to turn both of these down in order to work on my thesis...again. I feel like I'm putting my career on hold and all the exciting things I wanted to move onto after my PhD have to stay where they are - static.

The thought of going back to writing chapters again seems unbearable at the moment. The last time I was actually in PhD writing mode was 8 months ago so I don't even feel capable of writing chapters any more. Also, the chair in my viva said the examiners would decide whether there would be another viva later down the line. That thought alone is soul destroying.

Any similar experiences or advice would be greatly appreciated.

I'm after some advice from anyone who has completed or is near completion of their PhD. Mine is in Sociology & Communications and is broadly based on gender, feminism & sexuality. I am 3 and a half years in and the end is nearly in sight, or at least I thought it was. I had a meltdown at about 2 years in and felt like I couldn't cope with my topic as it's quite heavy (a lot of it is about pornography which, as a woman, ended up having quite a detrimental effect on me). Also, my style of writing became difficult to read and it was like I was making everything over-complicated. I've just had my first whole draft of my thesis back from my supervisor today and feel beyond awful again. I seemed to have been making progress over the last year - the small parts my supervisor had read were given more positive feedback and I passed my confirmation (mock viva) with no conditions. I was really happy to hand in the first draft a month ago and felt like getting this PhD was actually achievable. However, having read some of my supervisor's comments of the draft today I feel like this is a never-ending task. I knew there would be lots of edits to be made but the way my supervisor has worded some of his comments come across as quite aggressive, as though he is completely fed up of having to endure reading my thesis. I just feel really demotivated & alone - my supervisor barely saw me this past year and I've had no support at all from my school. Has anyone else felt like this? If so, how did you get through it? I'm meant to be submitting in 3 months - I feel like I need another 3 years.

I started writing up my chapters a few months ago and ever since beginning this process my PhD has been incredibly stressful. Initially I think I went into panic-mode and was producing 15,000 word chapters where I was just rambling and generally making little or no sense. Although I feel I have improved a lot and am trying to write with much more clarity than I previously have, I have those days (like today!) where I just feel like I am never going to finish my thesis. For example, the chapter I am currently working on I have revised about five times already and my supervisor is still sending it back to me with loads of questions and amendments. Although I am hugely appreciative of his input, it makes me feel like I'm going round in circles because there just seems to be more and more parts that need changing. Is anyone else feeling this way because right now I feel like I'm the only PhD student to have ever lived that is going round in circles?! :-(

Thank you everyone for you invaluable advice. You'll be pleased to hear that two months on from this post I am still doing my PhD and decided to keep at it. I still get the odd week where I feel like everything I have written is useless but I'm going to keep soldiering on. Thank you again! :)

I am almost two years into my PhD in Sociology & Communications and over the past couple of months have been hit hard by some form of writer's block. It's not necessarily that I can't write anything, it's just that everything I do write makes little or no sense. I seem to have lost the ability to write precisely and am therefore getting nowhere fast with writing my chapters and have fallen behind all my deadlines that I set. I'm not sure whether it is because I am suddenly panicking about writing up the first draft of my thesis or whether I have just had enough of academia now. Every day when I go to work on my thesis I feel is wasted as I am making no progress. I am also extremely worried about my lack of employability from staying in academia for so long. Unlike the majority of PhD students, I don't want to go into teaching or have an academic career. I am 24 now and will be 25/26 at least by the time I've finished with no work experience other than the part time job I've had since I was 17 as a sales assistant (something I don't think many employers will be ecstatic about).

The thought of walking away from this PhD makes me feel very heart broken. I do love my subject and am passionate about my research topic but the whole process seems very lonely and futile at present. I fear that, if I continue, I will end up wasting a lot of my life and may not even pass my viva at the end. But if I leave, I fear that I will forever regret walking away from something I desperately wanted to achieve.

If anyone is feeling like this now or has been in this position before I would really appreciate any advice or insight.

Thank you!