Hello,

I just had my Viva yesterday, and was quite shocked to have been given a referral. At this university a student is given 18 months to resubmit. My supervisors who have been pretty supportive throughout the whole process, were also completely surprised.

As with most PhD students at the end of the proverbial road of the PhD journey, I'm exhausted, burnt out, drained and now very frustrated. Although I haven't received the report yet from the internal examiner as to what needs to be adjusted, I'm not sure if I want to continue any further. There is a possibility upon resubmission that I would have to do another Viva, and this would be the last chance. Anything else is either a fail or an MPhil.

Nothing positive was said about the work during the Viva, other than "It's an interesting topic". The external examiner did tell me, though, that she would be happy to answer any of my questions along the way to rewriting parts of certain chapters. I think I will be required to do further research as well.

So this could be an opportunity to either learn a lot more, or set myself up for another huge disappointment. Sometimes I think there are signposts in life that say "Go a different direction", and I think this is one of those moments.

I'd so much appreciate anyone's input or insights.

TK

Hiya, there are a few recent posts on similar topics in the forum, if you want to have a look for these as well.

Can anyone on here who's been through a similar experience offer any advice?

Hi Tenzin, sorry to hear about that. I can only imagine how disappointing it must be for you. However, until you get the report, its too early to give up! They need to tell you exactly what is wrong with your thesis and how to fix it. Then, its either going to be the case that you do what they ask or not. think about it: at least you didnt fail! And the external will help you if you need.

I think its too early to see this as a sign to 'take a different direction'; if a PhD was easy, anybody could do it. You should take a break, recharge your batteries, so to say, and develop a plan of action based on the feedback from the viva.

Hi everyone again!

Thanks very much for the advice and kind words - I think what is so utterly confusing about this is the great sign off on the thesis I got from my supervisors before I had submitted.

So, yes, I will wait to see what report says. I have a meeting lined up with the internal examiner to 'informally' take a look at the corrections list that will have been sent to the administration for approval. In the meantime, I've gotten informed about the whole process, prospects of failing completely the second time around, my rights as a student (not many apparently!), etc.

I'm also taking a break now to settle down more emotionally.

I'll post again in a couple of weeks - hopefully my experience can benefit someone else in a similar situation!

Tenzin

I'm back on the forum after 16 months of furious writing, rewriting, crying some and writing some more.

And I'm almost done - my supervisors are very pleased with the new thesis, and I feel a lot better about it.

There is only one chapter that is still giving me fits; and now I'm in a real conundrum. One of my supervisors took over two months to get back to me on this chapter, which was a disaster (I still do that!). Three weeks ago we had a Skype meeting after she finally returned the chapter comments to me. I've rewritten the chapter and sent it off to be looked at. Only to discover that both of my supervisors are on strike until mid-March. I live in the US now, so this was quite a surprise to me.

I am to resubmit mid-April. This is cutting it sooooo close. In addition, my father is extremely ill and has only been given a few more weeks to live.

So I don't know what to do. Any advice?

I'm very sorry to hear about your dad. Due to your family circumstances - and quite possibly the strike action too - I imagine you could get an extension. It would probably be wise to talk to your university about it sooner rather than later too. For one thing, they need to be informed because it's possible your father's health will deteriorate very close to submission, which could well mean you miss the deadline anyway. My mother-in-law passed away in January in similar conditions (after being given a few weeks to live) and I couldn't even contact my employers for a few days because it was all so fast and there were so many more important things to do - it can really send you off the grid when these things happen.

Anyhow, best of luck and I hope everything works out. It sounds like you've made great headway on the PhD and are so close to the finish line! Take care.

I would imagine that it may be possible to get an extension if you talk to the postgrad centre.
Sadly the striking lecturers have decided that completing students and final year undergraduates are legitimate targets in their battle with the university authorities. The impact on the immediate careers of both could be utterly ruinous for good students aiming at 1st and 2:1 levels. Of course failing students back the strikes because they are likely to get blanket passes in the exams if any are cancelled (which is a distinct possibility).
You have been caught in the middle of this sandwich of nonsense.
My daughter has been caught up in this as well as a final year undergrad. Fortunately only one of her lecturers was selfish enough to deliberately sabotage her future so she will be fine.

I think I might have to get an extension - I feel like my head is about to pop off some days! Today I realised that I forgot to send in the exam form for submission of the thesis - this is due at least 3 months before the final due date and I've got 1 1/2 months to go!

Will keep up with this site in the meantime - there have been lots of encouraging words here!

Well, I got the extension, which took a lot of pressure off of me. I would have not been ready by the due date.

And my supervisors have now given me a big OK to submit. So I'm happy about that - I'm just checking over and over again. And I'm going to let the thesis just sit for a while and take another look.

This is nerve wracking because it's my last chance on this one. But the thesis is 100 times better than the original, which was, now that I look at it, really not good at all.

Fingers crossed. I'll report back when I submit! I'll be really nervous about it! But I really didn't think I'd make it this far.

All the best, Tenzin. I am sure your perseverance will pay off in the end...

Good luck! Keep us posted x