Hi everyone.

This is my first time writing on here and I am currently heartbroken after my viva yesterday where I was told I have been given a revise and resubmit verdict.
The viva itself wasn't too bad although it was very rushed at points as one of the examiners was very late and didn't really like me pausing to think which just lead to me being cut off and looking a bit dumb at times.

However from the viva I could tell they already made their mind up regarding the thesis with suggestions like all my graphs were in the wrong format or how I did my figure legends or the placement of one of my chapters.

I'm horribly upset as this thesis was read by my supervisors and I feel like this should have been picked up on but I haven't had the best of relationships with my supervisor for the past year including complaints to various student support after he made the decision that he would only read my thesis once, in all its entirety and that's it. Didn't even want to see corrections or anything and from his comments I know he didn't read the last 2 chapters.

However I am now in a position where I can't be a student forever and will be leaving the country in a few months as I can't afford to live here anymore and need to get a real job.

The feeling of failure and loss of confidence is fully ingrained within me now and I can't really shack of the feeling of just throwing in the towel. I just don't want to cry anymore so suggestions/advice would be greatly appriciated.

Such a result is more common that you thing (I have to resubmit too, along with at least 3 other students from my department). All I can advice you is you do the corrections exactly the way they ask you to do them and resubmit. You have given way too much money and time to quit after such a result.

I'm trying to build myself up. It was very distressing as I haven't heard of anyone doing resubmission in my department and so it's a very lonely experience also knowing that I can't depend on my supervisor.

I have already started contact with my examiners to get the information and meetings rolling so I can start corrections as soon as possible. Still feel awful but starting to think of it as the examiners can help me where I haven't received help before and make me a better researcher.

Sorry to learn about this :-( Although you are devestated thinking the end was in sight, you are totally right to see the positives in that the examiners comments can help lead you to that end goal. I hope the next part of the process goes more smoothly for you. You've done most of the hard work already xxx

Try to keep your relations with your supervisor as good as possible. Starting to move on from the verdict to getting stuck in to the corrections sounds really positive. Figures and chapter structure will be easy to fix. Will there be some more fundental stuff for that result? New/different analysis or further work? Do you need a second viva, or can you just resubmit?

Keep at it, you will be the better person for it, and it will be so good to get that closure.

You will get surprised with how much people want to help you. After I got the verdict I was given a full list of corrections by the examiners, I have had the supervisor's support (I was always in good terms with her and I know she did and does her best) and I was even given a copy of my thesis in which the internal had highlighted with pencil all the problematic areas that I needed to change. To conclude, just stay positive, do the work and don't argue about the result (unless of course you suspect that the decision was not fair). You will get more back if you don't argue, in my opinion (talking from personal experience here).

I have tried for years however I think he might have dusted his hands of me a long time ago.
According to the general report that I was sent has stated highlighting areas that they feel need to be highlighted, altering figures and legends and of course the grammatical and spelling errors. There maybe some new statistical analysis that I may need to do however they are going to clarify what they think I will require done.
It does state that they thought I did a substantial amount of work butI have a lot of rewriting to do.
Depending on the quality of the resubmission they will decide whether I need a second viva.

I really hope that the next part goes smoothly and I'm trying to think of this time as gaining the support that I asked for a long time ago and did not receive. I'm definitely going to try and work hard with the examiner and their corrections and hope it can pass eventually. I'm just so terrified from my limited time/finances and failing again.

From what you've written it seems a bit to a give a revise and resubmit verdict, seems like a pass with major corrections would have been more appropriate. Good luck with the revisions.

Hi there, yes, it's not easy to tell what the verdict would be in your case. When I had my viva the examiners said to me that there are issues with my thesis. They wanted me to add more bits and bobs, but to do that I had to turn a big part of the thesis into tables due to word limit, so R&R that was. In any case I would like to advise you to stay POSITIVE and please,stay confident. We are doing the PhD to learn, to make progress with our learning, making mistakes is humane. Also do not make the mistake and compare yourself to others, your PhD is different and may be more demanding than other doctorates in other fields. Good news is that you may not need a viva after all. I was told I need a second viva to start with, and now the supervisor says I won't need a second one as long as I give them a fool list of how I have handled my corrections. There are people on this forum who have made it after an R&R and they encourage us to carry on (pineapple, where are you?). Please feel free to contact me via pm if you need to talk.

oops, sorry for the mistakes... I typed my message at 5 am, when apparently my right brain hemisphere was sleeping.

Hey :)

Thanks for the mention Marasp!

I managed to pull through my resubmission and graduated this July. It is possible!

In my case, I received very positive feedback from my examiners and during the viva, they said they didn't feel a second viva was necessary. I just needed to cut out a few chapters and rewrite large parts of my thesis to bring it down to the 100,000 words. No additional data collection or analyses required.

Resubmissions happen. It could have been worse (MPhil or outright fail). I was delighted with my resubmission verdict as I was expecting an MPhil (which my supervisor said may happen immediately prior to my viva! grrrr).

A few tips....
- Deleted/deactivated facebook. Pictures and status updates of successful PhD stories along with updates on engagements, marriages, pregnancies typically left me feeling pretty low. Also a massive source of distraction. Deactivating it allowed me to focus on my resubmission.
- In my line of sight above my desk, I stuck a big sign of 'I CAN DO THIS'. This helped me stay positive.
- I reduced almost all contact with my sups as their doubts affected my motivation levels.
- I played motivational tunes on a loop whilst taking a break. 'I'm a survivor', 'keep the faith' etc etc.
- Towards the end, my family (dad) kept asking how it was going. I isolated myself in my bedroom as I didn't need his constant 'have you finished yet' comments.
- Focused on the positive feedback from my examiners. Examiners had the power to fail me, but they saw the merits in my work and awarded a resubmission verdict for a reason.
- Worked constantly and consistently on working through each and every correction
- Towards the end I was working stupidly long hours (4am- 9pm)- NOT recommended! However, I found the early hours of the morning very productive as it was so quiet!
- Zero hour contract job enabled me to take 3 months off to rewrite my thesis.
- Focused on my unique PhD and tried to limit comparisons with other PhDs.

Best of luck :) Feel free to PM!

You are in the same position as countless other PhD students, past present and future. You are very close to getting your PhD. Just put the bad feelings to one side and make the corrections requested.

Thank you all for your help, suggestions and advice! I have taken loads of the positivity onboard and am ready to work on these corrections. Some of the suggestions I can't do due to other commitments (international family/friends/relationship and no way of living without income) but I can definitely see ways to help motivate myself!
I haven't cried since the day of the viva and have really been trying to move forward emotionally and with my work. I have had to go to my job (need the money) but its actually been nice as it helps me focus on other items for a short period of time while I wait to get more information. I do think about it when I'm not doing anything in particular but I don't feel fear or dread, more contemplative.
The examiner has been really nice and I have already set up a meeting with them next week to discuss the corrections in further detail along with deadlines for chapter corrections (preliminary dates sorted, all by suggestions of the examiners). I feel very excited about it all now as I haven't had this support before and humbled by the results experience. I only can hope that I can do it this time.
Now I feel like how I did when I first started my PhD which I am not sure whether it is a good thing or not!

Hey Sadface I'm sorry to hear about your ordeal. First things first, marasp is absolutely right: this outcome is in fact VERY COMMON! The 2 most common outcomes are pass with major corrections and R&R. I passed with minor corrections that only my internal was required to approve but went thru a horrid experience of waiting for months prior to approval (as documented here). Will use my experience and keep it short:

1) Several ppl in my department got an R&R so it's common (one in fact was not allowed to resit and had to either accept an MPhil or leave!)
2) Use this as an opportunity to enhance your work and maybe get at least a couple of publications out of it.
3) Ppl who get R&R, as noted above, do tend to receive more support from their department, as one of my PhD cohort colleagues is currently after getting that verdict.
4) Don't blame your supervisor or yourself. If I were you, I'd try to improve relations with him/her at this stage as antagonism is unhelpful (and may harm you when you need references for applications in the future whether postdocs etc...)
5) As Pineapple30 said: forget Facebook and don't look at others! I'm currently doing that myself as I try to get papers published: it's a weakness that I myself struggle with but I am deactivating Facebook as it's detrimental in every sense of the word.
6) Follow the examiner's Joint Report recommendations TO THE LETTER!! That's fundamental: after doing my corrections I wrote a separate several thousand word report explaining how I tackled each one of the 6 points! You can use that in your 2nd viva to present your case.

We're here for you, and if you need any info do let me know as I know firsthand how demoralising this experience can be at first- STAY POSITIVE you'll get the PhD for certain.