Hi guys. I'm a bit paranoid, help would be appreciated.

Had a nightmare with my masters dissertation/supervisor last year, but am now onto my PhD (same institution). On Friday, a lecturer who is taking a class I'm auditing made a comment about me 'struggling' last year and suggested that I'm lucky to be on the PhD (since i didn't get the distinction i was expecting). Now, this could only have come from my supervisor. I never told him my marks, and he was not involved with my masters dissertation. He said it in a really patronising 'sympathetic' way which really annoyed me. I couldn't really respond though, just ignored it.

What I'd like to know, is how much do lecturers talk about students? Is my reputation already tainted? Or do they not really care about masters students? I know I'm being paranoid but i feel like my old supervisor might have tried to to prevent me getting in. I know it doesn't matter because i AM in, but i really hate the lack of anonymity in this university. (And it's a big uni!) Any one had a similar problem?

Thanks guys.

I quoted an indirect source ie X claimed in 1932 that "...." (quoted in W, p96). But W is missing from my works cited page.

if you quote someone in-text, and acknowledge the name and page number but accidentally leave them out of your works cited page, is that plagiarism? will it be treated severely?

Definitely. IF you got good grades, a good ref. then you'll be able to. I'm swapping disciplines for my PhD. You're still in literature so it won't be a problem, but you will need a good proposal which suggests that you know your American lit. Good luck

Can someone tell me how much several typos, a missing reference, some stylistic problems will affect the grade of an MSc dissertation. Just (stupidly) read through mine. There are a lot of mistakes (maybe 15-20) in a 15,000word diss. Literature subject. Otherwise, i think its pretty good. Need a certain mark for my PhD condition though (a distinction). I think itw worth of a distinction, but will the errors hammer my grade down? I've got a sticker on it that says i'm dyslexic, but that they shouldnt change marks due to that.

Hi all.

I've just finished my masters dissertation, and I've had a nightmare with my supervisor. What started off as an excellent student-supervisor relationship turned very sour for various reasons. At times things got a bit confrontational, he said he thought my work was inconsistent (sometimes excellent, sometimes pitiful), we've had a bit of a stand off. He doesn't like me, although I do respect him (which he knows). I Took an extension for personal reasons and i think he interpreted this as me slacking off. Now, I need to start applying for PhDs. Is it cocky/stupid to ask him for a reference? How personal do academic references get? I kind of need one from him, so I thought if i approached it in the right way, he might oblige? ANY ideas on how I could go about this, or do you think its a bad idea? Max

I'm composing an email apologising for being completely under-prepared and useless in an meeting. I don't want to gush though. Can any one think of a good word to describe my being generally rubbish which isn't too self-deprecating?

Thanks, i feel reassured. I'm in the UK, but we're both from North America. I'll think about a bottle of wine. See how the grade goes maybe!

Two questions:

1. How long to plan and write a 15,000word dissertation? I have 8 weeks. Research is mainly completed. Is this possible?
2. Is it customary to get your supervisor a gift when you finish, if they've been helpful, or does seem like brown-nosing?

Right, if anyone can advise on this i'd like to hear. How truthful are supervisors in letters of recommendation?

Mine doesn't have much time for me (I can tell), but always agrees to help, and answers emails (He couldn't make it more obvious that its out of obligation, rather than genuine interest) and we've had a few unproductive meetings lately which have made me reluctant to see him again. I'm not making the best progress either at the moment, with a deadline rapidly approaching. I'm not submitting to his proposed mini-deadlines (I can't).

I do not doubt that i can get it done (but only in my own weird way) but i get the feeling he thinks i am a walking disaster. I need this guy to give me a really good reference. In your experience, do they tend to just say positive things?

Hi all,

I need some advice. I'm writing my dissertation and it's not going that well. Now, one of my supervisor specialises in the field and topic (the EXACT topic). I know his opinion better than I know my own (seriously).

He has basically told me to use his book to shape my argument. I'm happy to do so. It's a very good book. It is however, very new and there is a lot of other criticism I could be using. What i want to know is, is this an ego boost for him? Is he trying to make it easier for me to get a good mark, or is he trying to indoctrinate me? I feel weird about citing him so much, will he think i'm a tool if i tell him this? Can I admit that i think his book is great but i feel like a suck up using it? Is it normal to feel like that?

Thank you for your replies. Sleepy head that makes a lot of sense. Any one of those issues which you pointed out are applicable to him. He is very busy, with post-graduate research seminars/classes which I know must be very time consuming. Also, I think he works in a lot of different fields, and since I am pretty sure he only got his phd 5 or 6 years ago, I can't imagine he has led many people if any to completion yet. So perhaps that is why they want him to be the secondary supervisor.

Thanks a lot.

Hi everyone, I really need some honest advice from somone who knows a bit about how things run in academia. I am a current History MSc student (a fairly good one), who has just applied at the same institution to do my PhD in History/English lit., after a lot of encouragement and support from lecturers in History, and in English lit. (I have 2 people who have agreed to supervise me - one in each dept., my primary in History).

I was a bit shocked when I got a letter saying that I had been rejected on the grounds that there was no one appropriate to supervise me. I immediatey emailed saying 'But I have TWO supervisors', and they wrote back explaining that my primary supervisor (history) should be changed to my secondary - thus putting me i the English department, meaning a new application, and changing my proposal slightly. This is ludicrous. My supervisor has told me to just do what they ask and think of the bigger picture and just getting in, and he will do all he can to help.

I am suddenly worried though, that the problem is not me (just given all the encouragement i've had, the head of dept. even told me he was very excited about it etc)- do you think it could be the supervisor I have chosen?? He is fairly junior i think. I'm now applying though the English department, but can someone tell me honestly what they think the problem might be? Is there politics going on here? I'm not sure whether to stick with him and do as he says (go along with it), or just ask for another supervisor...