Hi everyone,

I am preparing for my viva at the moment - am sooooo scared, but also feel a bit excited. I didn't ever think I'd get to this point, but here I am. I have been reading through my thesis and am making a list of typos, corrections, and any points I think I should expand on (or be prepared to expand on). I am also writing a list of positive and negative points about the different methodological decisions I have made. But, although I feel a little better for doing this, I still have an immense feeling of fear. I am no good in interview situations, I can't even hold a glass of water. Feel totally scared about the whole process.

If anybody can suggest anything, how I can make myself feel at ease - have been working and am worried I have left everything until the last minute. But I was so tired/exhausted/wound up about my PhD when I submitted, that I couldn't face looking at it for a while. I have noticed what I would consider to be some very major problems - but I often predict the worst for things (just my natural way of thinking!). So I'm not sure if they are awful problems, or me going overboard with stuff, or a mixture of both.

Anyways, if anybody has any suggestions I'd really appreciate it. Thanks for reading this.

Hi Annieslim! Mine is coming up too. Like you, I don't feel comfortable in interview situations. I think I'm better at expressing my ideas in writing. Tomorrow, I'm going to try discussing my project with a friend, and plan to record the conversation. I just want to practice speaking, as this seems to be the most challenging part of it for me.

Good luck!!!

I'm about half way through my PhD and have been terrified of the viva since starting! I think the best thing you can do is practise discussing your thesis with friends, academics and your supervisor/s. It's important to be aware of what you think could be the main weaknesses of your research so you have a defence prepared. Just getting to the viva stage is a huge achievement in itself so well done, you should be very proud of yourself! Good luck, let us know how you get on! (up)

Apart from academic things - try Rescue Remedy (from any decent chemist or health food shop). Four drops as often as you feel you need it - works wonders! 8-)

You can also try kalms or any other herbal remedies.

Also, you're saying that you naturally worry about things and expect the worse. So maybe there's something about you acknowledging this and remembering times when the expected catastrophe didn't come true. This way, you can maybe teach your brain that, just because you think or believe in something, it doesn't mean that it's going to happen...

It is normal to feel anxious about the viva though. I think many of us, certainly I for one, have/have had times when we think/have thought we didn't deserve our phd or that we couldn't do it. The reality is that, it's unlikely you'd have arrived at this point if that was true. You've done the work, all you need to do now and talk about it and justify why you took route A rather than B...

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

======= Date Modified 17 Apr 2012 15:59:19 =======
This could have been me writing this post last week, as I felt exactly how you feel. I, like you, never thought I'd get to the viva stage. Throughout my PhD, I have been utterly convinced that I would eventually be found out for being rubbish, and would not be allowed to continue. During my write-up, my supervisors commented on specific edits they thought I should make, but never told me whether they thought my work was up to standard/correct length/good enough for thesis etc, so I felt a bit lost and didn't have much faith in my thesis when I submitted. People kept telling me that if I was allowed to submit then it must be of a good enough standard, as my supervisor is a well-respected prof who would not let a terrible thesis be sent out, but I still didn't have any confidence in my work.
So, as my viva date approached I worked my a**e off to make sure I knew my thesis, my references, and any newly published work inside out, as I felt that this was the only chance I had of not failing my PhD entirely. I felt sick with nerves for the entire week before my viva, and on the actual day I thought I would either pass out or explode from the built-up tension and anxiety. But once I was in there and the questions started, I realised that actually I do know what I'm talking about after all, and all the 'catastrophic' errors that I had spotted since submission were never even mentioned! The examiners made some nice comments about my work, and an hour later it was all over and I now have my PhD.
My viva was only yesterday so I'm still on cloud 9, but I already have more confidence in my work and in my abilities.
This has turned into a mammoth post, but I just wanted to show that no matter how you actually feel, your work IS good enough, YOU are good enough, and all you have to do in the viva is remain calm enough to show that. I tried visualising myself being congratulated after my viva, to try and gather some 'false' confidence, so that I looked calm and collected even though I didn't feel it! Breathing exercises can also help (get on Google!), and I found sipping lots of water during the viva itself helped to keep my brain focused as it gave me the opportunity to take a moment and breathe! ;-)
Best of luck, and remember, the viva is only two or three hours out of your entire life, and then you can enjoy life as a Dr!! I had built it up in my head to be the most horrific thing I could imagine, when instead I should have been focusing on how to show off my thesis to the best of my ability (this is how my examiner described the viva to me when I first walked in, and it really struck a chord). So keep calm, and make sure you do yourself justice!

Hello - I don't think I met anyone in my graduate studies that was as scared of the viva as I was. I am not going to go into that now but honestly my fear was out of proportion - thinking about it now I should have seen a counsellor to get some help :-)

I passed my viva a few weeks ago with no corrections. One day before the viva I felt sick while reading it and intermittently cried a bit, I was convinced I was getting major corrections. I kept thinking of literature I hadn't discussed, of epistemological problems, of analysis issues etc. In my head there were major flaws. Noone bothered with them.

...Surprisingly enough I entered the room very calm, and it was way too easy - I was actually a bit disappointed as I was expecting an very challenging intellectual conversation. It was not that challenging.... They gave me strong hints I had done well at the very beginning (i.e. we really enjoyed it, great writing style, interesting and novel topic) so I felt more secure. They were friendly - nothing like the horror stories i had been reading! They did ask for a lot of clarifications, discussed things I didn't focus on and also focused on some broader issues, and it just lasted 70 minutes!

What they asked me in the end is whether I was expecting something different from the viva procedure I told them about those questions everyone prepares and they laughed - they said people overprepare sometimes and they fail to see this is a discussion where they basically defend their work, explain it better to other people, and get some helpful comments too. They only asked me about my original contributions btw.

I didn't do much before my viva as everything related to it was making me anxious. I read it 2-3 times - I love my topic but I found extremely boring to read it more than once. I then briefly practised speaking about some topics I thought they would ask about in the last evening and that was it. I too felt I could not handle speaking there but it all came naturally. Honestly, it's a cliche but you know your topic more than anyone else, and you'll be great!

Hi,

I had my viva in mid-March, which I passed with very minor amendments. I had to wait from end of October, when I submitted the thesis, until mid-January to be given the date, and spent the Christmas holidays going through potential questions and answers. I think the greatest cause of anxiety is the fear that one would either not know the answer to one of the examiners' questions, or dry up completely.

The examiners don't necessarily ask the questions you might expect, but it is really important to remember that no-one knows your thesis as well as you do (this has been said many times before - but it is true!), and when it comes to the actual event you will rise to the occasion. You may even surprise yourself by actually enjoying it once you get into the swing of things, and especially once you realise that the examiners are not asking questions simply to trip you up, but because they are really interested in what you have written.

I am a very over-anxious person and both of my examiners evidently recognised this and went out of their way to give me time to adjust to the situation and put me at my ease. They were also kind enough to let me know at the beginning of the viva that I had passed, and the viva itself only lasted an hour and a half.

It may sound a bit frivolous, but it's a bit like going to the dentist - not as bad as you think it is going to be.

All the best:-) and let us know how you get on.