======= Date Modified 18 Aug 2011 13:20:38 =======
This morning I received an official letter from my university basically telling me the outcome from my viva voce in June (why are they sending this in August?!).

I nearly had a heart attack as the letter starts with 'I'm sorry to tell you that'....

The last official letter I received from my university outlined that my viva voce was cancelled due to an overly long thesis. As a result,  I instantly thought this meant they've changed their minds and decided to award me with an MPhil!!

Much to my relief, the letter states when I need to submit my corrected thesis and that I need to pay (!?!) to submit again for re-examination FOR A PHD (not an MPhil)- mental note to self.......

There's no way I'm taking the full year to complete this PhD. NO WAY! I sooo want this done before Christmas.....

Anyway, feeling calmer now.....but yikes, my university definitely seems to prefer to play havoc with my blood pressure

I think unis are just really slow. I had my viva right at the beginning of November, and submitted my corrected copies sometime in December. The letter telling me I'd passed didn't arrive until February... :-)

Now I start to be concerned that I won't graduate until next July! But it is true that they are awfully slow. I shamelessly e-mailed Registry and asked if they were going to send any official notice with the outcome of the viva, and the letter materialized the day after. I will use the same trick after I submit the final copy in the hope that it will work!

I can understand your state of mind - on the positive, the clock starts from the date of your letter, so if for any reason you need more time to complete your amendments, this is your safety net. ;-)

However, I am sure that you won't need it. This is your official deadline (tree)!

Well it is encouraging to actually have the viva outcome in writing, hang on to that letter! I think we have all found that academia progresses much more slowly than the real world :p I waited 2 weeks to get my post viva letter which also detailed the minor corrections. I dealt with the corrections and submitted the final version for checking at the end of July and I am still waiting for the corrections to be checked. They need to be signed by the end of this month for graduation this year for which I have had to purchase tickets. So I am in complete limbo, are the corrections ok and will I be attending graduation in October? I cannot keep telephoning or emailing, surely.

Glad you are much calmer now and the letter clarifies your re-submission for PhD. Now grab that motivation and get going, you can do it!