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My research was entirely qualitative and it has been hard to keep my thesis to the limit. I'm currently making final changes and it's 100,674 words. The findings chapter vary but on average they are 10,000 each. I think the longest is about 12,000 and the shortest is just under 8,000.

I just met with my supervisors and they told me that I could submit my thesis now and it would pass but with four weeks more work it will be a much better pass! I got so overwhelmed when they told me that I burst into tears and had to go to the toilet! I am so, so, so, so, so HAPPY! Quite a bit to fix up in the next four weeks but mostly just formatting and that sort of thing. I actually am in a state of disbelief!

I am applying for a postdoc at the moment and my would be supervisor is keen but has advised me that recent applicants have had multiple publications and entire books published so we may not get the funding! I have one book chapter so I am in agreement that may chances are not so high :p It seems kind of ridiculous - I know very few Social Science PhD students with solo-authored publications.

As others have said - definitely go for it! Good luck :-)

Thank you for the advice. I'm terribly irrational sometimes! I emailed them and, yes, they were just disorganised. So we are now meeting tomorrow afternoon. Fingers crossed for not too terrible feedback!

Hi all,

I submitted a first full draft of my thesis to my supervisors three weeks ago. They had seen the majority of it before, just not all together and so far their feedback has been very positive. When I sent it to them three weeks ago they said that we could arrange to meet early June to discuss what needs to happen next. I badly want to submit by the 15th of July or I will have to pay the university more money in fees and they are aware of this and my financial situation.

Anyway - so much for meeting early June. I've heard nothing. My primary supervisor goes to the UK on Thursday for three weeks for conferences so that gives us two days to meet. I am a bit worried as they are normally really good with feedback and meeting up. I have got myself into this paranoid ridiculous state where I think that they are not arranging anything because my draft was so terrible that they are ignoring me as some sort of punishment! They are both really lovely people and we have never had any problems before so it really is quite silly that I think this but the thought keeps entering my mind and stops me from emailing them for an update.

Do you think i should just bite the bullet and email to ask them or should I wait it out a little longer?

Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks!

Amazing news! I was having such a downer of a day and then I read this and it has cheered me up. You totally deserve this - congratulations!

Hey,

Good to hear how everyone is doing. Dunni that is soon but just think - soon it will all be over and done with. Easy for me to say though!

I am a bit stressed as I am still waiting for feedback and the anxiety is just building up about what is going to happen. I've noticed so many errors in my thesis since I submitted it too which isn't helping increase my confidence! When I sent it in they said two weeks for feedback and it has been almost three weeks and still no meeting date. I know they have lots of other work on but I am going a bit crazy! Anyway, hopefully not too much longer.

Hey,

Good to hear how everyone is doing. Dunni that is soon but just think - soon it will all be over and done with. Easy for me to say though!

I am a bit stressed as I am still waiting for feedback and the anxiety is just building up about what is going to happen. I've noticed so many errors in my thesis since I submitted it too which isn't helping increase my confidence! When I sent it in they said two weeks for feedback and it has been almost three weeks and still no meeting date. I know they have lots of other work on but I am going a bit crazy! Anyway, hopefully not too much longer.

Great news Dunni!

(up)

Pineapple - It's weird because I was just reading that article a couple of days ago and I thought it was terrifying! Try to put that out of your head.

I reckon you should have lots of treats this week as you prepare and just try to keep it in perspective. I am the worst person for focusing on the negatives so I can totally relate. It's so easy to focus on the 5% bad rather than the 95% good. Whatever happens - finishing a PhD is a huge task and many people don't even make it to submission. You have shown determination and strength of character to get to this stage and one day I reckon you will be looking at your big, awesome, successful thesis sitting on a shelf somewhere and thinking that it was all worth it in the end.

Good luck

Thanks everyone.

I have decided I am going to do it myself but a friend has also offered to have a look over it for me so I think this is the best plan.

I have to use this research money by the end of the year which is partly why I was thinking about getting a proofreader (I won the money in a writing comp but it had to go towards something research related and it was quite a lot of cash - would have been way more helpful for fieldwork etc two years ago. Anyway - that's another story!) I've decided to go to a conference overseas in September which will use it up nicely and allow me a free holiday. Not sure why I didn't think of that before!

Thanks Dunni, that's helpful to know.

They have both said two weeks and usually give me feedback when they say they will so hopefully it will come back to me next week. I just need to submit before the 18th of July or I'll have to pay more fees so fingers crossed. The have both seen almost every chapter more than once so hopefully there won't be too many changes to make - touch wood!

This is one of my main concerns too, Slizor. It's a huge amount to trust a stranger with.

I got a quote from someone that has just come through and it isn't cheap. She also gave me some inaccurate advice on APA.

On the basis of your responses and my own concerns I am going to can the idea and just schedule in a whole week to go through it myself very carefully.

Thanks a lot for helping me think it through. I think I was just panicking needlessly about getting it done, but it does make more sense to do it myself.

I kind of unsure and what you are saying makes sense. I just keep worrying that I am going to miss stuff.

Bilbo - how much time did you factor in to proof the whole thing?

Thanks for the advice :-)