======= Date Modified 19 05 2010 14:05:14 =======
Have you ever read another PhD students work and realised it was just generally much better than yours? No subjective analysis involved- maybe the writing style was more engaging or clearer, their aims were better defined or they'd read much more widely around their field (or all three, as in the case I have encountered :-))
My mid-point review is coming up and a friendly fellow PhDer gave me her report for guidance. I knew I had a lot more work to do, but the disparity in quality of mine with one week to go before submission, with hers is huge.
I'm not looking for sympathy here, or for people to tell me it's all in my head (:p), just wondering how other people have felt in these situations and whether it reflects the varied quality of theses generally?
(I should add- for my own sense of pride- that as far as I can tell I've had a lot more on in my first year and a half than she did, academically but outside the thesis).

Right, well, where do I start? Yes! I speaketh the truth when I say that I've read other work which is just far better written, better referenced and flows much better. I tend to avoid it now though, since I don't enjoy feeling like an undergrad :$

Some of the seminar presntations I have seen at my department have been amazing, and I wonder if and how my work can stand up to them, but perhaps that is a matter of a lack of confidence on my part.

I wouldn't worry too much keepcalm, I'm sure if your work was bad your supervisors and yourself would have noticed by now. Sometimes people are just naturally good writers, sometimes people are very lucky and their work just flows like manna from heaven...one guy in my office submitted and had a postdoc within 2.5 years of starting....
Just so long as you are doing the best you can now wth your work then you should be ok. You might find your aims become more defined as you get on, for a lot of people things only start to click in final year. You can increase your reading if you feel it's really necessary, although reading 3 or 4 papers in the wider field may let you know quickly if it's worth it or not...your reading may not need to be as broad as another persons. Just remember your project is different from everyone elses, and while there are certain similarities between all phd's, you can't judge your work too much on how others are getting on with theirs :-)
Good luck for your review!