my aim

finalise the summary:
check it and reduce it further if possible. currently at 65 pages. but it's all mainly bullet points.

half way through at the moment.

once its finished. will take a break. and make a set of new aims for the rest of the day.

"but you'll be surprised at how much you've been soaking up as you go along.
" i hope so ! that makes me feel better

thanks for the kind words and encouragment though, really appreciate that!

i am stressed though. i have this dread and fear that i simply don't have enough time to get my thesis written. i'm having trouble sleeping. i keep thinking, im running out of time and there is so much to do. and i have to leave at least 2 weeks before my deadline for printing and binding. and i dont know where i can get my thesis printed, or i dont know where i can get it bound. and then i stress what if my thesis isnt completed by the time i have to get it printed and bound

i'm just afraid that i dont have enough time to get it all done.

Thanks HazyJane! I really appreciate that.

well to be honest, my first reaction, was not as productive as stated in this diary. but just getting "used" to it now i suppose, still angry on the inside though

but logically i know they are only saying those things to "help" me.

yah you're right its better to meet them now then later, because will be more stressful later down the line. i'm just really really dreading it!
but gotta face to fear so to speak.

yah i feel like right now, i wont have any answers to their viva questions. but will make a note of the questions so that i can keep them in mind for the actual viva. and answer them in my own time.

at least its an open book exam lol. i've read that you're allowed to refer to your thesis and you're not expected to know every minute detail, you can have it tagged etc, at key points. obviously you're meant to know the fundamentals.

what is the deadline they have given you ? is it end of september? which is usually the case.

i think he would be the best person to ask for advice on what your options are.

i think its crazy for the university not to let you have 3 month extention to submit your thesis. i mean seriously what is the harm? what do they lose in granting an extention.

your other option would be to try to submit a thesis as best as you can by their deadline and hope the examiners then give you the 18month for corrections to improve the thesis. if the uni really are not budging. that is risky though, as some examiners might just give a downright fail and not allow further corrections.

some of his articles:

http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/postgraduate/story/0,12848,1169926,00.html

"The missing links
Too many postgraduate students suffer from inadequate support and end up failing. John Wakeford has investigated a number of complaints about shoddy supervision. Here he details some of the worst cases "
-------
"Nowhere to turn:
Cross swords with your supervisor and you can find yourself alone, rejected, without support or referees."

http://education.guardian.co.uk/egweekly/story/0,5500,557465,00.html

maybe contact John Wakeford who is head of the Missenden Centre for the Development of Higher Education

email [email protected] or [email protected]

he has written EXCELLENT articles for the guardian about phd problems, poor supervision etc.

apparently he provides "Confidential advice to doctoral students"

his website is:

http://www.missendencentre.co.uk/johnw.htm

i havent personally contacted him, but someone who wrote an article about phds gave me his name.

i highly recommend all his articles in the guardian. very well written and researched and highly indicative of the current situation most of us have found ourselves in!

i agree learn all the stuff whilst you're doing a phd. learn on the job so to speak.

i am in my final months and still have no clue how to do stats!

you learn as you go along. no need to do a Mres , if its a phd you really want to do! go with your motivation and enthusiasm.

well done tractor girl for ploughing through and getting it done! that is so great!!!

but when i finally do have to meet with them, havent seen them for like 6 months. but will try to be professional and stick to the point and if they get personal, just be totally detached.

i am even thinking of using my mobile phone voice recorder to record the meeting. not so much as a way of recording the meeting, but to keep it professional. they might be less likely to attack me if they know i am recording it. dont know how they will respond to that. cant afford a proper dicatophone at the moment, so will just use my mobile phone, can record for an hour. its pretty good.

will go into the meeting, prepare an agenda. like the advice for the viva states, go in there confident, and prepare yourself as if you're a lawyer.

tractorgirl, thanks for the messages!! always nice to read something in my diary from other forum members

aww thanks for the kind words with regards to the posts about the links and advice that makes me happy

you're absolutely right, i should worry about the viva later!

thanks for the encouragement regarding the summary. you're right. just need to get it done, and then get the feedback and meeting. although i am SO not looking forward to meeting them as they seem really annoyed with me at the moment! with the barrage of negative emails they are sending.

i know the nature of emails, makes people think the isnt a real human being on the recieving end.. some psychological cause of it. the detachment - cant remember the theory behind it.

hour and half of writing is super!! seriously. as joan bolker states no one can write for more than an hour or two without needing a break

i love this face, describes my mental state perfectly right now
lol

okay finished summarising each paragraph in each chapter, and each figure and table. its 71 pages !

which i know my sups will be peeved as they would NOT want to trawl thorugh 71 pages, as they are super busy.

so i will have to cut it down even further. i might aswell do it now. and then i can start fresh tommorow on actually working on my thesis

gonna take a quick break though

okay just finished chapter 5. and omg my summary is 60 pages! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh i need to cut it down further. i will finish chapter 6. and then go into chopping mode for the rest of the chapters.

my supervisors wont be happy with a 60 page summary. they were pissed at a 180 page draft.

i will try to go back and cut it down further.