Mine was 90 000 plus or minus 10%. I applied for an extension as this limit included everything (refs, appendices) and my word limit was well over. I handed in with the max 110 000 (extension).

Jojo, I am not sure how far off submitting you are. My initial chapter drafts were way longer (12 000 - 16 000) than my final ones. I did some serious editing at the end and maybe you could do the same. Apologies if you have already done this.

Hi Rick

Sorry, I didn't mean that you were vague as a criticism. More that it may not be as similar as you think (as Nimrod has suggested) and therefore not such a big problem.

I am sure you can rethink better hypotheses and it is great that you are taking a positive slant on this. Good luck!

Hi Rick

How annoying for you, you have my sympathy. It is really hard to answer your question without knowing specifics. Would it be possible to perhaps put a different slant on your proposal to make it different? Surely that would be better than starting again and would add something new.

Well, you could certainly be a Research Assistant, although I don't think you will have as much as autonomy over the project as you may have now (your own PhD). I was an RA before I started my PhD and even whilst I was doing it too. I also know of people who are Research Associates and Research Fellows who don't have a PhD but most are working towards one.

I think it is possible to have a career in research without a PhD but obviously it will be much harder to progress etc. Good luck Angie, no matter what you decide.

Good for you Jojo. I meant quit and not quite by the way (sorry!) I hope he actually reads the work and makes some constructive comments this time. Happy paper writing.

Another person saying don't quite now. I am really shocked at what your supervisor said, that is so unhelpful! Clearly he has never heard of constructive criticism! I hope you manage to get this sorted and follow up some of the great suggestions people have made.

What a pain. 404 has some good advice. I hope this works. If not, I would be tempted to speak to your director of studies about this and see what he/she thinks. It is a miserable position for you to be in. Hope it gets sorted.

Thanks Pea, much appreciated. I am sat here trying to 'revise'! I will let you know how it goes.

Thanks Oz, Blueunderneath and Rick.

I know you are right and I submitted less than two months ago so the gap is not huge (in terms of forgetting stuff). I will keep you posted. I do think I need to calm down with the preparation a little as this seems to be triggering further stress. Thanks for the spa/sport idea. Wish me luck for Thursday. I have a feeling that I won't do well for the mock but I am hoping it is like the last lesson before your driving test where you mess everything up and the real thing is ok!

I upgraded in Nov 2004 after starting in April 2003, but I was part time. I think that was pretty quick for my Uni though. I think the 'norm' here is 12-18 months full time.

Hope that helps.

Great news about the job and PhD offer. I did mine (still doing) as an RA and I found it really helpful due to the cross over in work.

I have my viva in two weeks and I am starting to panic big time. I have read through my thesis and made notes. I have also tried reading relevant papers but the sheer panic is preventing me from being effective.

I spoke to my supervisor today and he asked me some 'practice' questions which I completely messed up. I do have a mock viva on Thursday and another practice session next Mon.

I know this is normal but I can't help feeling I will fail. Some of my chapters have been published so I know I am not completely off the wall (not meant to be boastful). I can't help feeling I know nothing and that I will just crumble under the pressure. I am much better at written communication than defending my stuff orally and this is what particularly worries me. There is so much at stake in the viva.

Sorry for the panicky post. I know that only I can do something about this but it is good to 'talk' to like minded people. Everyone keeps telling me that I will be fine but I just can't believe it. The more I read, the more I panic.

Sorry to hear you are still in hospital. I hope you get discharged today.

Goods

I am not sure if this is any consolation but I can honestly say that the last chapter was the one I struggled with the most. I even posted on here about it. It was so much harder than any of the others to write, and like you, I thought that I had it all wrong etc. Now that I have submitted, I think it was my final 'can I really do this moment?'. Please don't beat yourself up. I managed it. I did present the first draft of this chapter to my supervisor with a note saying it was rubbish, which I was duly told off for (in a good way!)

This is not a constructive reply but you are definitely not alone. You will get through this. Just try writing bits at a time and not focusing on the whole thing, that is what got me through.

Take care and good luck, you CAN do it.

Sorry about the arm, that is a major pain.

Congrats on the PhD though, it must be a relief for it all to be accepted etc.