Viva Unclear
Hi all,
I've just had my viva report come back and I'm wondering if my issues are legitimate.
Firstly, its only by the external, my school stated I will not be getting an internal report.
Secondly, there are corrections added which were not discussed at viva, basically being asked to add a body of literature which I was never questioned on at viva, thus not given a chance to defend its absence
Thirdly, there are no specific instructions (in Chapter 1, in Chapter 2 etc), just general comments
Fourthly, the external has told me to remove stuff which actually aren't in the areas suggested
Fifth, the corrections will change the entire trajectory of the thesis if followed in the way suggested. It seems impossible to not rewrite the entire thesis in this regard, yet my corrections are "minor"
Lastly, the "report" if that's what it could be called is a few paragraphs long, almost stream-of-consciousness
The protocol of my university means I cannot contact the extern for clarification. The internal, isn't submitting a report. I'm sick with worry and have no idea what to do
Ok so I'm not nuts for thinking that these are serious issues? My concerns are legitimate. Just a colleagues reaction was "meh, get over it, do the corrections"
Nobody gets two separate reports - what you have received will be the agreed joint report of both examiners, so if AFTER you've spoken to your supervisor, there are things that are unclear, it will be ok for more normally your supervisor (or you) to ask the internal for clarification. If you've just received the report, you are probably as your post suggests you are doing, channelling catastrophe scenarios. Hopefully your supervisor will help you to see that if that the requested changes are not as major as you think. Honestly PhD candidates are so paranoid when they get the examiners' report, that almost certainly you are reading things into it that are not intended. Have the weekend off, book an appointment with your supervisor, and try to chill out a bit. It will be a) ok and b) very doable if they've given you minor corrections.
Thanks. I'm still waiting to hear back from my supervisor.
The main issue is that I have to insert a 5000+ piece of literature in the first chapter. This is going to change everything. It is by no means "minor" in my eyes as every single chapter is going to have to be rewritten to accommodate this.
I literally can't bring myself to them, I'm seriously depressed about having to rewite my entire my PhD under a "minor corrections" heading. I tried to today and just end up crying in front o the computer.
The fact that is literally not one job in my field, nothing at all, zero! means I can't even see a light at the end of the tunnel.
