Hurrah, finally got my date today after even more chasing! 18 weeks since I submitted. Relieved but it's still not over so I will be trawling through all the viva preparation threads now.

Thanks Stressed. I'm stressed at the moment! I've not had a reply from the postgrad research officer which I think is very rude, but she was copied in to my supervisors message, so maybe she is waiting to see if that puts pressure on the internal. If I haven't heard anything by the end of the week - even just an e-mail to say why there is no date yet, I will be seriously p***ed off!

My supervisor has sent him an e-mail today asking for a date by the end of the week so if I don't hear, I will contact him directly. Hopefully I will soon know then I can get started on preparing!

It's now 14 weeks since I submitted and have still not had a viva date. The last correspondence I had was two weeks ago with the postgrad research officer and she was going to chase the internal and contact the postgraduate director. But I have heard nothing since. I'm getting very stressed. I'm applying for jobs and I've got loads of commitments so I need to know a date so I can start planning. I just know that it's going to clash with a job interview or something and I'll have to request a change of date, which will make me look stupid after chasing a date in the first place.
I've e-mailed again today asking as a matter of courtsey for a reason for the delay. I think I am entitled to that.

Congratulations. It's great to hear a positive story about a viva. I hope you are having suitable celebrations.!

Hi Hope,

I moved nearly 200 miles away from my uni part way through my PhD, and had a three hour journey there. My family live near my uni so I had somewhere to stay and used to go up regularly at first for teaching and to see my supervisor. But for the last couple of years I only went up occasionally and managed to work from home quite easily. I think this is more possible in humanities/arts where it is easier to work remotely.
Sconul access is great and if you have another uni library near you you can take advantage of that. I would say if you think it is the right uni and supervisor then this is more important than how far away you live and an hour and a half isn't that far really.

That is a fantastic viva story - well not that you were nervous, shaking etc. But as I read it I was excited for you and it gave me confidence for mine (when I get a date for it). The champagne from your supervisor and your family waiting were all lovely as well. So even though it sounds mega stressful in some ways it sounds like a perfect viva. Well done again.

Thanks for your replies. I've been in touch with my supervisor and she has contacted my internal to see if he has heard anything. So I will give it a bit more time. It's annoying because my friend submitted on the same day and passed his viva last week so has been celebrating. We we were hoping to both be able to graduate in December. But even with minor corrections (hopeful!!) this probably won't happen now. Oh well, I've waited five and a half years for this, so what is a few extra weeks!

Congratulations!!

It's nearly 12 weeks since I submitted and I haevn't had my viva date yet. I have chased this up with the postgraduate office and they are looking in to it. The policy at my uni is that vivas should be with 8 weeks of submission ideally and a maximum of 12 weeks. I'm worried there is a problem with my thesis!! Any experiences of having to wait ages and what do you think I should do next? I've contacted my supervisor to see if she know anything or has heard from my internal who has an office near her. Has anybody got any idea whether supervisors and internals are allowed to discuss it and whether any info can be passed on to me?

Hi Sunflower12, I felt just like you as I entered my 5th year this year. But you will be pleased to hear that you can get through it. I submitted at the end of July and never thought i would ever manage that.
First of all you have got this far so you are obviously cut out for a PhD. Sometimes it's the long hard slog and the not giving up which is what gets you the PhD rather than being hyper intelligent (not that I am suggesting that you are not of course!) Do you have a submission date yet? That really sobered me up and gave me the determination to finish but it was still frightening.
What I also did was write a clear list of everything that needed doing for each chapter and another tip I was given was start to think of the thesis as a whole rather than individual bits. I put everything into a folder and then I could see where the gaps were and worked on these. I did have a lot of work to do and felt overwhelmed but I could see that some chapters were ready and others weren't so I concentrated on starting at the beginning and making sure that I filled in gaps so that the chapters flowed from start to finish and if I found I needed some work on specific areas i would go away (metaphorically as I was chained to my desk) and do that then slot it in where it was needed, then carry on going through things methodically.
I don't know whether this will help but there are other threads that might help you with this. I started a 'Final Push Diary' and there is 'One Goal Thread'. These might help. Good luck. you can do it.

Well Done! 'm still waiting for my viva date - 9 weeks after submission! It will be good to hear more about your positive experience.

Congratulations. It's such a relief isn't it? I haven't opened my thesis since and my supervisor said not to do so until I had a viva date, which I am still waiting for.

Hi Grit84,

I started a thread called My Final Push Diary, which quite a few people joined in with. It gives an idea of what we were all going through up to submission so it might be useful for you. I was working almost full time as well and found it a struggle to finish but like you I realised I had to draw a line and hand in something, which I did, and am now waiting for my viva date. Just keep at it, make sure you factor in time for proofreading and printing and look forward to that sense of relief when you submit. Good luck.

I'm expecting my viva to be in October too so this will be a useful thread.