I am nearing my submission now. My supervisors already had a look into the literature review chapters and hardly had much comments but now I got my draft thesis back with so many comments - really frustrating when I do not have much time left for the final submission. At this point, I not only lose my motivation but also lose my confidence. Did any of you have such experience that supervisors who had no problem with the chapters having issues later? It's really frustrating!! I wonder why it was ignored earlier...

Hey Swetchha! I had all of this before I submitted. I think once your sups realise that you are close to submitting, they scrutinize your work even more closely because it might be the last time they see it before you hand it in. Or they're just in a different mood than the last time they looked at it! I often found that on a final draft of something, my sup would make loads of comments on things that had escaped her notice on the first two drafts. All you can do is your best- respond to those comments that seem most salient. When I was finishing my discussion chapter I simply didn't have time to respond to everything so just did what I could, and what seemed to make sense to me. Chances are your examiners will pick up on entirely different things and not even notice those things that you don't quite have time to re-do. Just remember- you have to draw a line somewhere! Good luck, it's a really tough time right before submission. Look after yourself! KB

Everyone I know who had decent supervisors went through this. It's only when they read a full draft that they read the argument in full and can see the gaps / problems. If you think about it, if you only read one chapter of a book then your ability to critique the whole thing is limited. They are also now reading with the knowledge of who is going to examine it - knowing the quirks of the examiners can also make them think you need to add a bit to forestall a predictable question. Don't let it get you down, just try and respond as best you can.

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As far as I could make out mine spent less than an hour reading my entire thesis and comments / changes were minimal and I mean minimal over the three years. In my opinion, this was not good and I did not and do not believe my supervisors read my thesis in any depth. I found the viva very, very tough, had my main supervisor in with me and if my examiners were in any way astute they will have clicked that my thesis wasn't read in any depth. I passed but felt humiliated at viva but I could not fault the examiners as they did their job. Sadly, I don't think my supervisors did and I'm still seething about it. What I'm saying is it is better if your supervisor spots flaws, mistakes and problems in your thesis, rather than your examiners.

Yep!

A good way to deal with it is to prioritize, because you can't do everything! I would add one more thing to what Keenbean wrote: In my experience, I made a list of my sup's comments, and then organized them in order of importance. I focused on getting the top of the list done. Anything at the bottom of the list that I didn't get to were items I was prepared to discuss if, during the viva, the examiners asked about shortcomings, things I would change, etc.

Hope that helps.

Hang in there!

Swetchha, I feel your pain! I have similar supervisors, not bad people, but not really always giving their full attention. This results in them telling you you're doing well, then realising you're going to submit and telling you there's some flaw they didn't tell you about when you were running the experiment or when you first submitted a draft. I have a couple of suggestions, feel free to ignore them :)

Personally, I would fix any typos and the like first. These can be quickly fixed, build up your confidence again and are the things that everyone notices. Next I'd try to fix any larger issues, like the flow of your lit review or something similar. Anything beyond that is a bonus. Plan the time you have left and do as much as you can. Remember that you might not actually agree with all the comments made :)

I hope this helps, even if it is only in knowing you're not alone. Good luck!

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Oh yes, what you describe sounds terrifying similar!

The last few days, were for me, the most stressful. My supervisor had "a quick look again" at my lit review two days before the agreed submission day. He used track changes and when I opened the thesis up it was like he had bled all over it it was so covered in red! I remember having to get up from my desk and do some deep breathing as I literally felt like I couldn't breathe for a few minutes. After that I panicked. Anywhere he had a wary comment I just highlighted the text and deleted it. I'm not actually sure my lit review even made sense when I submitted my thesis with the result that I had to re-visit it in some depth post viva.

Do what you can and then submit your thesis and know that it is your best effort at that point in time. Wishing you well(up)

Hi Swetchha

I can't say I had the same problem as my drafts always came back red, even though I've always amended to their specs. It is very frustrating but like others said, you need to prioritise so that you can still deliver a good piece of work on time. You need to give yourself time to edit, etc as well so just see what they want you to change, do as much as you can but make sure you have enough time to proofread, bind, etc

Good luck!

Hello all,

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and also for your suggestions. I would prioritize the things that need to be changed in the thesis. In the mean time, I need to polish my literature review chapters which is going to take the most of my time. Need to send to supervisors again. When I sent the full first draft 2 months back, there were no issues in those chapters - the only issues were on Conclusion chapter. They wanted to have a look into the draft again and now they say the best chapter is conclusion ! I have no choice other than accept whatever comes ahead. Now, I am accumulating all my strength to go back to those two chapters...I won't have enough time otherwise. There are many corrections in other chapters as well which were not picked earlier. I will have to prioritize them as u all said. Thank you all once again !! Swetch

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============= Edited by a Moderator =============
Guys, if you need your thesis edited or proofread, you could approach *link removed by admin*. They are affordable and they do a decent job but you would have to give them time. They will not do it in case of emergency.

First line of schoolassists website 'Being conceivable and convincing, invariably defines one's finesse and expertise. However, its not everyone's refreshing cup of tea and in fact is sometimes a haunting pill.'

Why oh why didn't I contact them to proofread my thesis!

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