Viva preparation

M

Some advice on viva preparation would be very welcome.
My supervisor has given me a large list of questions to go away and find the answers to which cover additional areas to my thesis content. Whilst I appreciate knowing these inside out and back to front would be great, this is turning out to be a mammoth task. I'm a little concerned that I'm spending too much time looking into areas which may or may not come up in the viva, rather than concentrating on what's actually in my thesis. I suppose my question is, will the examiners expect my knowledge on a specific area to be exhaustive??
I feel like I am expected to know the answer to every possible question which may relate even remotely to a specific area.
Any typical viva questions and advice would also be appreciated.
Thank you

M

Also is the feeling that youre absolutely going to fail normal? (genuinely) or have I just realised that I am indeed absolutely going to fail......:-(

S

Hi Moomin, first of all, I also feel like I am absolutely going to fail, so there are at least two of us! Some people on the board have had horrible experiences with vivas, but in my personal experience I have only known one person in my field who failed outright. They appealed and were passed.

I can't help with the other question as my viva has yet to happen, but I can empathise. Do remember though - even if your examiners are experts in your subject you have spent 3-4 solid years in the literature and they probably havent. Don't panic, good luck!

B

Quote From moomin:

Also is the feeling that youre absolutely going to fail normal? (genuinely) or have I just realised that I am indeed absolutely going to fail......:-(


From what other people have said here before that is perfectly normal.

Wishing you luck. I'm about 1 month away from submitting, so expect my viva to be in about 2 months time - eek!

M

your best friend is your "self-confidence", good luck!

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