======= Date Modified 14 56 2009 06:56:34 =======
this is my first post! too bad it's a sad one. sorry.

my master's viva was took place this morning and i don't know what to make of the outcome, but i made a smeary-faced mess of myself during the meeting with my supervisor afterwards.

just for background: the way a viva is carried out here (in Malaysia, or at least my uni) is that the student waits outside the exam room while her supervisor meets the examiners first and discusses the dissertation. i.e. first line of defense, liek. then the student is called in to meet the examiners.

well, i waited and waited and finally, my supervisor strode, or stormed out, i should say. then the postgrad staff took over proceedings and i never met my examiners!

i was told that major changes needed to be made because the internal examiner was adamant about them, despite the fact that i've written 4 papers on my data and had 2 accepted in ISI-rated journals. i mean, she's known for being a tough customer, but come on :(

so, i've received the examiners' reports, have major changes to make and will resubmit 5 copies in a few months. boo on that.

my question is: am i a fail? i didn't even make it to the exam room! i don't know what to make of it. i appreciate any comments and suggestions to make the hurt go away. thank you very much and keep truckin'

edit: okay, i didn't fail (fingers crossed for the next viva), i meant to say that i feel like a failure because i didn't even get called in to defend my dissertation even though it was supposed to be MY viva etc. invited to a party and couldn't get through the door. blah. just wanted to get that off my chest. thanks for reading, everyone!

hi lara,
How's your thesis now??

hi Ammat,

are you a postgraduate in Malaysia too? wherever you are, how's it going?

i've addressed the examiners' concerns in my rewrite, and my supervisor has sent off yet another paper on the main issue of contention. the reasoning is that if an ISI-rated journal accepts my finding(s), then a mere varsity examiner (ahem) shouldn't have any argument against that! those were essentially his words, not mine :P

so, waiting on the journals/ replies with all fingers and toes crossed way hard!

hope that answers your question and have a nice day.

p.s. sorry for the late reply, was soul searching, in a fashion. heh.

dear Lara,
Yup..currently i'm doing my master. I almost finished my data collection+analysis. I wish i can start writing my last 3 chapter after this Hari raya:). Regarding on your viva...I think that you have a strong back up since your papers were accepted by ISI-rated journal. They (examiner) can't really argue about your work.Wish you all da best.