I've been studying towards an MPhil in English Literature for a few years now, and have encountered a number of problems with the university (big gaps in supervison). As things stand, I have good supervision, and have until the end of June 2011 to submit. I also have 30 ECTS from an exchange programme I did at the beginning of the MPhil.

However, after about 25,000 words so far, I have lost all motivation to finish the thesis, and I frankly hate looking at it now. I also no longer care about what i'm writing about. The finished article should be 50 - 60,000, and the thought of doing any more makes me ill.

I'm weighing up the idea that I could either submit a shorter thesis and try for research MA (combined with my ECTS), or settle for a PGDip and make it into an MA at a later time and at another uni?

I realise the best thing would be to just finish the damned thing, and I still have that option open of course. But I don't care about how it looks on a CV, nor do I intend to go for a career in academia (the whole process has put me off!). I really only pursued my MPhil subject out of my own interest and (then) passion for the subject, but I feel very tempted to leave in the best way possible to preserve my mental health, whilst still having something to show for it.

Any suggestions apart from the obvious?

Thanks

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I'd recommend you try going for the MA. It justifies the time you spent doing it, doesn't look like a gap period on your CV and if you ever decide to go back to higher education one day (who know? You may do later in life) then you have your MA as a stepping stone for something else. Either way, especially that you say you cannot stomach writing another 40k words, then an MA is your best bet. I wouldn't recommend going for a PG Dip.

Hi TP, I can't remember where I read this online-but I did read it and it really struck me as a useful piece of postgrad information. Someone (who had a doctorate) was discussing aspects of the doctoral journey or aspects of the thesis and he commented that at points during this journey, you would feel as bad as you ever had in your life. Basically his theory was, whatever depths you had plummetted previously for whatever reason (be it depression, grief, or some related difficulties), at points in your thesis you would sink as this low.

His theory was not that the thesis was causing it but the unique conditions of writing a thesis and the various difficulties experienced would inevitably bring on these feelings that hitherto had been felt in some other desperate situation. He claimed that the worse you had been through, the worse these experiences in the thesis would appear.

It struck me as quite sensible actually. Ive only completed a 25000 Masters and yet at points in that journey, I was absolutely gutted-almost as gutted as I had been at many points in my life. Anyway...my point is...if you can separate all this angst and bulls%$T from your actual MPhil thesis and recognise it as part of the process, it might just give you the final impetus to either complete it or go for the research masters if you really need to. I agree with Baltar, don't do the PG Dip. Not that there is anything wrong with them (Ive got one and a PG Cert as well-they are fine) but you were talking about passion and interest and what a shame to allow that passion and interest to be defeated by disillusion with the academic process. You deserve to have a thesis at the end of all of this-perhaps going the research masters will be a happy compromise. Good luck...