Something to consider - there is no point applying to Oxbridge for a PhD just for the name - you need to be interested in the particular areas of research that the relevant superviors undertake. Are you sure that these are the best places to pursue your particular interests?

Take care that working is permitted though. I'm not allowed to work other than in the dept - and I know this is actually enforced.

Too true Algae. I cannot move (mainly husband's job, but also child going to school) and that seriously decreases my job opportunites. Once you put kids into the mix, long-distance is unworkable. I think my husband would just about put up with me moving away for a postdoc - but he would never let me take our daughter and I certainly wouldn't leave her behind. So that's that.

I think it's a bit unusual to have so little unput from your supervisor for a an experimental science PhD (I get none - but I've gone to the dark side 8-) )

Bit worrying that you say the whole group seem to be slow and drifting - sounds like a serious lack of leadership from your sup all round. Looks like you are going to have to be more proactive about getting meetings and feedback on ideas - say explicitly that you need to develop some sense of direction and would like their feedback - but throw out some ideas to get them talking.

How do you set up a mock viva - was it someone in your dept?

Do you have any idea what kind of data you might use? I found that looking at the realistic possibilities wrt data necessarily focussed my research question - i.e. I had to be able to answer it with data I could actually get. So time spent looking at data options might help, espeically as it's something different to what you've been doing.

The relationship which has worried me most is not the one with my husband but the one with my small daughter. It's OK - but the balancing and guilt have been tough. My husband is very keen on me doing this but also eager for it to end! Some friends are positive about it - some people seem to feel it is a personal insult to their intelligence for some reason and can be a bit sour - and some, like family - think it's just a calossal waste of time. One of the great things about getting older is caring so much less about what other people think.

I think if your relationship is going to work it will weather a PhD - there are a lot of tough and tougher life experiences that can rock a relationship.

My funding ran out last Sep and I'm now in my fourth year. I think it's pretty normal to write into your 4th year - the problem of course is funding loss. I really hoped to get done by Xmas but there was no hope of that. Now I'm aiming for March - but it will be very tight. I got very demotivated in the last year - 18 months. Just really jaded and fed up with the whole process. I'm feeling more emthusiastic now - partly because I'm just writing and organising my final thoughts (and consequently rediscovering what interested me about all this in the first place which I'd really lost sight of) and I'm glad to be done with the analysis which was largely very, very repetitive and got very tedious - and partly because I think I can see this thing finally coming to an END yay! No way I could also do job/grant applications or teaching as well so I will just have to be more frugal this year (and very nice to my long suffering husband).

I could have worked harder - but I might have gone really (even more?) bonkers. We all have our limits. You can only push yourself so hard.

I think doing this in isolation without others to talk to about your work is the hardest part. I'm only 7 miles from my dept, but I see my sup about 3 times/year for 20-30 mins with no communication in between. Like tortellini I have a young child so I simply cannot attend anything I don't have childcare for - and when I do have childcare I need to be working on my thesis and I work from home. I would dearly love to be able to have 'professional conversations' with someone. My husband reads drafts and I talk to him - but it's not his field so there is a limit. All the same, if you can find even one person - friend or family - locally to act as a kind of personaly trainer (i.e. nag about deadlines) come sounding board - it does help.

If you were applying for a PhD straight off maybe it would matter - but for a second masters I don't think there would be any problem at all.

I did one year of a PhD which I confess I did completely edit out of my CV. Some years later I did another masters and I'm now finishing a PhD. During my PhD I did confess my earlier experience but my supervisor was not interested and asked no questions about it (maybe he wasn't listening ;-) )

I graduated in 1983 :p and stil got references!

I have definitley become a bit scruffy through the combination of having a baby and doing a PHD mainly from home (not that I was any smarter when I went in to the dept - but being at home you can sink to new lows.....). My husband, on the other hand, wears a suit and tie every day. When I drop my daughter with her childminder then he picks her up we must seem a very odd couple. I read somewhere that wearing tracksuits make you 'look as though you have really given up'!! They are comfy though;-)

I'd really like some 'real clothes' - and maybe a proper hair cut. I guess I need to get a real job.... :p

Todays ensemble: brown jeans (from a charity shop), ancient white T-shirt under fairly ancient green cotton jumper. Brown socks, purple slippers.

Completely agree with Pam. I've read 2 books cover to cover and I'm hoping to submit in March.

Ah yes - ups and downs indeed! My thesis is quite math-heavy - that tends to make for a shorter count probably.

I'm interdisciplinary with a limit of 80,000. I have 35,000 so far in 9 chapters and hope to stretch out to 50,000. My supervisor agrees that will be enough. Right now I can't really see where the extra words will come from but I'll just keep going and have faith....