Congratulations. I hope to be there in the near futres, so it's nice to see people going through ok. :-)

Thanks Keenbean and Catalinbond, you are very close to the finishing line too. The last few months are probably the hardest, because although you are close to the end, you feel that you are still far.

It's an emotional roller coaster, but if I learnt anything from this experience is that you must believe in yourself and what you are doing. If you work at the best of your ability and you are organised throughout, no matter what happens during the course of your PhD, the quality of your work is going to be recognised.

Good luck to you both - I will be expecting to read good news from you soon!

Well done, Corrine!(up)

Awesome job Corrine, well done!

Thanks Beajay and WanderingSage!
I am really happy to be able to share this with so many nice people.

I have already started tackling the corrections, so back to work as normal! Hopefully it won't take too long. ;-)

It must be so lovely to tick off those corrections, knowing that with each one you are getting closer to having the whole thing finished.

Can I ask a [nosey] question? Were you told at the beginning of your viva that you had passed or did you have to leave the room and await the decision? If that, how long were you waiting? And one more (!!) was your supervisor in the room during the viva?

Hi Ady,

No, I wasn't told at the beginning, although everyone seemed quite relaxed (including me, and that might have been due to the fact that I was stuffed with paracetamol as I had a bad cold), and so I started with a positive mindset anyway. (I also implemented the "que sera, sera" philosophy suggested by BB!)

They told me straight after the viva that I had passed with minor corrections, then they asked me to leave, and after ten minutes they called me back and handed me the list of corrections - points that I had clarified during the viva had been ticked off, so I won't need to change them.

My supervisor asked if I wanted him to be present, but I politely declined!

Do you know the date of your viva already?

Ady, I had to wait til the end for the decision. They did tell me that they were impressed with my thesis at the beginning but I didn't take that as a pass! I went out of my viva for about 30 mins with my supervisor and had a quick comfort break and debrief while waiting. My uni sup was present during the viva, though not my external sup who was working clinically on the day.

Love to hear how this compares to Corinne! Do people hear straight away?

That's good to know guys, thanks:-); just trying to get a feel for what it's like in there! In my place the school secretary sends an email around on the morning of the viva saying that the room will not be available as x is sitting their viva [normally people have their coffee break there]. Usually she puts something in the email to the effect of "we'll let you know when there's white smoke". Needless to say I will be contacting her beforehand to ask her not to send this email!

No viva date yet Corinne as I have yet to submit but normally in my uni it's within two months. I'm very jealous of you and Dunni, but in a nice way;-)