I have my viva in three weeks. I've prepared quite a bit, but I find that on reading my thesis I think it's actually very weak, poorly argued, and I'm really not sure I can defend it. I was very poorly supervised, with very little of my written work ever inspected (I ended up submitting the thesis without it even having been read by anyone, for reasons of time pressure), and am now deeply concerned that I will fail, which would be a devastating experience.

Are you sure your thesis is really that bad? Pretty much everyone thinks that their work is rubbish, but often it isn't and you're only seeing the few inevitable weaknesses. At least you've seen the weak points now while you have time to formulate a good answer.

Sorry to interrupt, just a quick question: Is the Viva in the Uk open to an audience or is it between the candidate and 2-3 professors?

Thanks

I don't think I've properly understood the social theory I've tried to use (a lot of Foucault and Lacan). I think anyone familiar with it, and the surrounding literature (as my examiners are) would absolutely slaughter me. And I have a case study approach that tries to deploy that literature to analyses particular cases, where I think it is very obvious I don't really know what I'm doing. Bit late now though; wish I'd spoken up when I was trying to write it instead of pretending it was all going OK.

Did your supervisor give you a mock viva at all? If not, ask for one, even if it's done by someone else in the dept. I think your fears are normal, and it may be that you end up with more major corrections being asked for than you'd hoped, but it's highly unlikely you'll fail. Hard as it may be, try and chat to your supervisor about your fears and check with them that they agree you're ready for your viva.

Scamp, the UK viva normally consists of at least 2, and normally not more than 3, examiners, of whom at least 1 is external. I think you can have your supervisor present if you request it (but they must not comment). Vivas are not open to all as far as I know.

http://www.postgraduateforum.com/showmessage.asp?thread=3457

I think kc is right with regards to the mock viva. I would definitely speak to your supervisor about this. This should at least prepare you with the types of questions you may be asked in the real thing and hopefully you can contemplate some responses in advance that can be tailored on the day to suit the question.

Good luck!

Well, after all that stress and worry about my viva, the real thing comes up this Tuesday (Dec. 12th), 2.30-ish. The mock viva went perfectly well so I am a lot more confident about the real thing. I'll still be happy with 6 months of corrections. I've also been told that, in reality, the decision about corrections has already been taken in advance of the exam and the viva itself very rarely influences or alters that decision, it is merely to confirm that you know what you're talking about.

I am glad that the mock viva went well and that you feel more confident. I will be keeping my fingers crossed for you on Tues.

Good luck!

Good luck wj_gibson. If it's any consolation, I just had my viva and didnt even prepare for it that much because I was ill during the run up to it. I just read it through a couple of days before and couldnt believe what crap it was, decided the whole thing was very shakey, prepared myself to fail etc (I also had minimal supervision and felt like I'd done it alone). But in the end it was fine and I'm sure yours will be too. Its probably normal to have these last minute worries

Is it true or not that the decision about corrections has already been taken in advance of the exam and the viva itself very rarely influences or alters that decision ?

i'd say - not to worry - whenever i write my chapters i think they are really bad, and when i pick them up later, say three months later having discarded them, i realise how good they were... if only i had submitted them.. Go for it.... best,

Jojo.

Huzzah, I passed with 1 month of minor corrections! Mint!

Nice one!