Hi...I should be starting my PhD in October, and have just finished my masters. I was really excited about starting my PhD but have been having lots of doubts lately. Basically yesterday I had my master's degree viva...and it did not go too well. The comments were mainly that scientifically it was very good and they could not fault it...however they had lots of editorial issues...where things go...some referencing (although they were impressed by the list of references...one examiner who is an expert in the field said I had referenced all the contributions he knows of in the area, they had some comments about some mistakes in the references e.g. 1 incomplete reference etc), and a lot of places where they said I wrote too much detail...others where I did not explain myself that well..etc etc. I did not get a rewrite...however I have a number of changes I have to do ebfore final submission. Nevertheless the mark is out...I got a Pass with Merit...my supervisor said it was just 1 mark from Pass with Distinction (which got me more down). Now I am not sure I am all that suitable for a PhD. (as a side note I did not have much support from my supervisor since he was dealing with some health issues in relation to his wife, but nevertheless I still feel I could have produced better work!) :S

Well, congratulations. These "mistakes" are minor and can be corrected in fuiture work. You have a merit, you clearly research well, and your scientific methodology was good. All this points to a promising PhD candidate.

And, to be blunt, if you are having doubts over a few missed incomplete references - wait until during the PhD when your supervisors rip your work to piecces wholesale as part of the learning process! So, enjoy having passed with a merit and look forward to the PhD! :)

Thank you for your comment...I (think) I actually would have preferred having been ripped up before by my supervisor...rather than having been told that all is OK...I will probably be really up to it in a few hours/days' time...it was just that it was unexpected...but anyways! I have much more to learn...and PhD here I come!

Yes PhD is definitely still the way if you want it! You PASSED (up) and that's the main thing. One of my friends is a PhD examiner and they told me the other day that they examined a Masters dissertation a couple of weeks that needed major write ups because the candidate had omitted a major theory in the field that they were writing about. Even so, the rest of the dissertation was reasonable and the panel agreed to a pass so that candidate will be starting a PhD in October too. SO at the end of all that my point is, from what you've said in your post it seems that the things they commented on were mainly superficial like referencing and maybe writing styles which you have at least 3 years (or more - don't know how long your PhD is) to work on and perfect before you submit your final thesis. Things like incomplete references are easily corrected anyway. As an aside, I was awarded distinction for my masters degree and it hasn't made one iota of difference to anything so don't be too bummed about that. I don't even think I've ever said the words 'with Distinction' except to my mum and dad!!!

If I were in your situation I would be making my changes and then kicking back, enjoying my success and looking forward to the PhD! 8-)