Hi all,

I'm sad,shocked & want 2 stop crying. I had my viva 2 weeks ago. It lasted for 2 hours. During the viva I felt that I am doing great. Then by the end of the viva i was given a resubmisson within 12 months! I was/and still am shocked, thought that it was a joke, i went 2 my superv. And she was shocked 2.
I am not sure what 2 do, am i a failure?

They told me that i havent fail, & i dont deserve a lower degree but i need 2 work more on my thesis.

What shall i do? What will happen ? I am lost, feel that i want 2 screem,keep on crying.
What 2 tell my family? No one will understand!

My superv. Wants us 2 wait 4 the report and see what z required,. I am afraid , and dont know what 2 expect. All my life my mom keeps on saying always expect the best, but this time i am not sure.

Any advice? Please.

Hello, I read your post and a recent conversation with my supervisor popped into my head. Don't get me wrong, I understand how difficult it must be to face this, but my supervisor just recently returned from a viva and he stated that he and the other auditors are usually very surprised when students who have to do a resubmission are upset about the entire ordeal. He said that he understood why it can be frustrating since the viva is such an important event in a doctoral student's life but he did not comprehend how some students think that they are simply turning in a masterpiece. Pieces of scholarship are living bodies of work-they are written, then they are commented on by peers and superiors, and then they are rewritten until they are the best that they can be. When scholars and other types of researchers attend conferences, they are criticized by dozens of people and often times made complete fools in front of those whom they are sometimes competing with and others whom they want to please. Anyway, they write down the comments, make changes, and submit their work and life goes on. This is the concept of scholarship-writing, editing, rewriting, editing, etc. -you know that! You wouldn't be a doctoral student if you did not understand that. It is obviously difficult to face the truth of your situation, but just remember that every scholar has been there or will be there at some point in his/her life whether it is in front of a viva board or an entire audience of listeners at a conference. As for family issues, I completely understand given that my parents did not even know which university I attended for some time and still think my doctoral studies are simply 'topics I am interested in' instead of actual work that I am doing on a serious level. Families hardly ever understand :D

Oh yes, and another one of my supervisors who got his PhD at Harvard Uni. had to do a resubmission. He said he just sucked it up, did it, and now the PhD some 30 years later is like a flip book he sometimes goes to to try to understand what he was ever trying to say in his thesis, and yet he continues to be flummoxed to this day-has no clue what point he was trying to make. But he got over the thesis, and went on with his life. Whatever! Why not just take the day/night off, go out to eat a favorite meal of this, have a drink, sit down for a movie and just finish the bastard while holding your breath!

In other words-its no big deal!

I haven't been through this yet, so find it hard to advise, but I just wanted to offer you a huge hug ((((((()))))))))))))) I'm so sorry that you're going through this and are obviously so upset. Please, listen to what's been said, its a HUGE deal now, the worst thing imaginable, so much more work, so much time, so much unknown as yet, and no title. But yes, in time this will be just a blip, like when you fail your driving test the first time (or was that just me lol?) In time, when you're a Dr, all this is behind you and you have your career you may well look back on this and say thank God they didn't accept that first thesis - in comparison to what I produced with a bit of extra work, although at the time it was a nightmare, it was so worth it and I'm so proud of what I achieved.

Listen to your supervisor, wait for the report, sit back, try to relax, see what they have to say, then rewrite it, work on what they had a problem with and it'll all be fine and you'll have a much better thesis for it. Families don't understand, they never will, wing it with them, they don't need to know the details, just that it needed some additions and some revision to make it a bit better, but that you aren't being downgraded - that is the main thing to remember, they AREN'T downgrading you - you WILL be a Dr, and soon!

I can completely see that the very last thing in the world that you want to do after all the work you've done is to get it out again and work on it, just grit your teeth, get through it, and it'll all be really really good - your mum is completely right :-) always expect the best, and EVERYTHING, in some messed up and weird way, always seems to happen for the good - we just can't see it when we're stuck in the cr*p

Take care, breath, you're gonna be a Dr soon, it'll all be just fine xxxxxxxxxxx

That was a wise post by Eueu. Listen to it.

Went through the same thing myself very recently. I have to resubmit now by 3 June. It was such a deep emotional feeling welling up inside me the night I left the uni after my viva on my own. I couldn't speak, I didn't want to speak. I wanted to disappear. 'Will nobody rid me of this turbulent thesis' entered my head again and again with deep feeling. My song since has been Nina Simone's 'I wish I knew how it would feel to be free'. Finally two months later I got the Report from the examiners and I'm basically being given 8 days to have the final corrected version submitted as my supervisor also said not to do anything until the Report comes back. And I had to put pressure on my supervisor to follow the Report up again and again.

You are far from a failure, but I think in your heart of hearts you know you will be absolutely fine. We all get corrections, many of us get lambasted. C'est la vie. It's hard not to take it personally sometimes but I find reading a review of my examiners' own works by their peers was very comforting. ;-) I found the waiting around for the Report and the attendant uncertainty about the extent of my corrections was the worst thing. Once the Report came I had a clearly defined objective. I knew precisely what had to be done. That made things so much easier. You need to get that Report asap. You also have a right to push your supervisor a bit more towards helping you achieve the PhD and make no mistake about it that she needs you to pass as well as it reflects really really badly on her if you do not. Do you have to have another viva? Or is it a matter of resubmitting the corrected thesis to a nominee of the Board of Examiners?

My supervisor used exactly that phrase used above: we have to "suck it up". The sooner we do, the better. The worst thing is the wait. You will be fine if you keep your eye on the ball - i.e keep writing/doing the work and keep setting and meeting your deadlines for submission. You have to give yourself those targets.

Only tell people who you want to know. Anonymous boards like this are good for all the obvious reasons. What's happening to you and me is normal. You are taking it too personally. The point now is to get that report and start writing asap and don't stop even if an earthquake hits you. You have to reach that line. You have to submit asap for the good of your mental health. You have to reach freedom.

wait for the report! who knows, maybe things are not that bad after all - a friend of mine got major revisions, but once he got the report, the work could actually be done within 2 months. He resubmitted and that was that! Try not to think about it too hard, until you know where exactly the reviewers think you need to do more work! Good luck! and don't despair!!!!

Hi all,
First i would like to thank you for your kind thoughts. indeed you all were able to relax me a bit. I will wait for the report to come and see what it has to say.
For those who asked about my superv. as i said before, she was shocked and thinks that i dont deserve a ( re-submission)!
I will stick by your advice Eueo and will "suck it up" and see what will happen.

Thanks everyone

I will keep you posted.

Best,
-E

Hello there. You shouldn't feel like a failure because you're not. I am at the end of a re-submit process - I was also given a 12 month re-submit with a second viva. After the second viva I was given minor corrections and I'm nearly finished - I have about 6 weeks to got. I know how you feel, it is miserable to think you that you have to spend even more time on your thesis when you'd thought you'd nearly finished. But as others here have said, wait for the examiner's comments and then do exactly what they tell you to do. Until you get their comments, have a rest and try not to worry. You will get there so keep going (up)