======= Date Modified 12 Feb 2009 12:57:40 =======

i can totally relate to how you feel and your position! i also started my phd in my early 20s, fresh out of my Msc and was very naive! i started in 2001 i think, and alot of bad supervision and bad projects meant that the phd took longer than it really should have, the powers that be really should have pulled the plug on my phd, but they didnt. last year i got a stern letter to write up my thesis. my supervisor also had no confidence in me, and said i wouldnt be able to write my thesis. but i had no choice, either attempt to write a thesis or just fail by default. so with alot of support from my friends and family and alot of crying and self doubt, i just did the best i could and submitted a "thesis" my sup said it was crap, but i submitted it anyways.

theres a huge part of me that thinks i will fail, but another part of me, that thinks, better fail by trying, then fail by not doing anything. i also thought about the mphil route, but really its no different, because you will STILL have to write a thesis and i looked at the guidelines and they are quite similar to phd guidelines, you will still have to put in ALOT of effort to write a good thesis for a mphil.

so my advice is this. write up your thesis, as to the best of your ability and just submit it. and then let the examiners decide your fate. IF and i hope thats not the case, they say its not good enough for a phd, LET THEM decide to give you a mphil, dont you decide for them, then you have no where to fall back to. its like reaching for the highest branch, if you miss, you might fall on the lower branch but not fall on your bum on the ground, or something to that effect.

you are essentially ME, last year. ignore your supervisor, because its YOU that has to write the thesis, and doesnt matter if he has no confidence in you or not. do it for yourself. i know what you mean, about having your life on hold , i've had my whole 20s on hold because of this phd, and its like a dark cloud over your head all of the time.

thats a good thing that your sup pushed back the time to submit, gives you more time to improve on your thesis. write your thesis , work hard on it , give it to your supervisor, when your supervisor is satisfied with it, then submit it. i know it seems right now that you just want to quit and move on with your life. but you might regret it. just give it your best shot and see what happens.

best of luck! (up) eventually one day you will get a letter from your uni admin saying YOU MUST SUBMIT BY X DATE or you will fail. they wont let you carry on like this forever, because student registration does come to an end, so even if your sup keeps saying thesis isnt good enough to submit, there will come a time, when you will submit regardless of your sups permission or not.

are you full time phd or part time? you not recieved a letter from admin about your submission date?

hmmm yah it would make more sense to do a MSc instead of another Bsc, because Msc is higher up, and you do a 3 month research based project. i also got a 2:2 from my degree from imperial, and went onto doing a Msc at ucl, and then applied for phd positions.

im not sure how it will look though, you quitting your bsc and then doing a msc, might make it seem like you're abit unsure as to what you're doing and abit flaky. you can get onto MSc with a 2:2.

i guess since you're only slightly into your 2nd year of your Bsc, you could quit and then omit it from your cv, just not mention it, maybe just focus on the fact you've been working during that year. and yah apply for MSc

i'm not from a social science background, so dont know about funding and phds and stuff, so maybe someone better can advice you
best of luck(up)

you're welcome, glad we could help :-) i understand about lack of jobs, but i suppose all you can do is keep applying and going for interviews. what type of volunteer work do you do ? maybe you can use that as an example of the type of skils you can bring to a RA job, even if its not research or science related, work is still work

dont worry about the gap, just go for it, and start applying, whenever you apply for a particular research project, read some articles around it to get a rough idea of the type of background information, that way you can weave it in the interview. and besides you only just graduated last year in sept, hardly a big gap!

good luck and keep us posted on how job hunting is going :-)

most bosses when it comes to RA jobs just want to see someone that has the enthusiasm to learn and work hard. if you're finding it difficult to get RA jobs, you can if you want, as a temp basis apply for lab technician jobs, that might get your foot in the door and onto bigger things, pay is less though and lower down in the ladder, but its a fall back plan. best of luck
(up)

======= Date Modified 12 Feb 2009 01:52:09 =======

i agree with smoobles, doing a RA would be much more beneficial, you will get hands on experience for doing research and learning new experimental techniques. and sometimes you get offered to do a phd if your work/project is going well. alot of my friends started out doing a RA job and then got offered to take it further as a phd, i know personally 3 of my friends that this occurred, but they were in academic labs.

so like Smoobles has suggested, check out some RA jobs , they are usually for a year or so, so that way you aren't tied down. and if you're interested in cancer research, you can look for cancer research based projects (up)
best of luck!

======= Date Modified 12 Feb 2009 02:05:57 =======
======= Date Modified 11 Feb 2009 18:56:21 =======
======= Date Modified 11 Feb 2009 18:51:33 =======
Well done Heifer, on getting alot of the writing of the lit review done. i hope you have a nice time at your brother's wedding! and see you next week and great that its at a level to show supervisors, YAH you!! :-)

thanks for your support about the viva qs ideas - well i have compiled a long list of viva questions from various sources, from people who have had their viva, from this board, from the book - how to survive your viva by Murray, and also various internet sources, especially one website that had a list of "nasty viva questions". i will be posting a new viva question everyday, so feel free to jot them down

well i'm clocking out for dinner and a long break :-)

so far , i read 6 pages of my thesis, read 1 paper and made a few notes on my viva question, dont think i answered it very well, but its a start
i will be clocking in again for the night shift later on.

how is everyone else doing?

btw thanks everyone for the support and encouragement to keep at it. it actually feels good to have studied today instead of procrastinating. i havent been studying all day long, hours on end though, but i did what i did. i made an excel sheet, where i "clock in" and clock out during the day, when i clock out for a quick break, i type up in one sentence what i accomplished during the "productive time" im at my desk.

so far i have studied for about 2 and half hours today.
--

edit. clocking out for today. going to bed now, dont want to up too late. i took the whole evening off! i just came back now, and quickly read through another paper, lucky for me, most of it was irrelevant so really only had to read 1 page that was relevant hehe.
nite folks, see you tommorow!

i would recommend looking at a collegue's thesis to get a rough idea of the sort of thesis layout. when i was writing my thesis, i had a few pdf files of sample thesis, from friends and collegues. most people are happy to send you their thesis pdf file, cause no one else will be looking at it!

that should give you a good starting point as to how to format your thesis.

also its a good idea to get your margins correct on your word document from the beginning, as when you start inputting figures and diagrams, it will save the hassle of having to redo it

Thanks Heifer hehe i might just do that on friday ! I also emailed the journal where my 2nd article is going to be published asking if i can buy just the one issue, they said i could , cause usually you have to subscribe for a whole year! and thats way too expensive cant afford that. i just like the idea of having the entire issue hehe. its not out till april i think though.

Thanks Armendaf for the advice. you're right i need to understand the whole process.
---
you both sound very clever by the way when you were describing your thesis. went whoosh over my head hehe.
--

my aims for today:
1. read 6 pages from thesis: am on pages 67-72
2. read 3 papers
3. make notes for viva question of today which is " Why did you do this project?"
(i've decided to start making rough notes for viva questions, even if i dont answer the question properly/fully or accurately, it might help to jot down "something" and then maybe later on i might get inspiration to answer the question more fully later on - so i'm compiling a list of viva questions and rough answers in a word document).
4. make some notes from papers.

Maybe you can directly apply for Research Assistant jobs in either academic or industry, they usually only require bsc/msc level. that way you get to do research and not have to think of proposals and stuff. i dont think mphils are all that common to be honest, they are usually seen as stepping stones to do a phd.

======= Date Modified 10 Feb 2009 22:05:00 =======

Thanks Armendaf!! but i've been slacking on the reading lately though , not been doing much i'm afraid :$ but i hear ya about familarising yourself with the whole thing again and re-reading here and there. i totally get what you mean about needing a plan, thats how i feel, i feel like im just wandering around aimlessly, i need a proper battle plan, havent quite figured out what it should be.

just feel that im drowning in papers at the moment.

ps its great to have so many people posting their aims and trials and tribulations !

miss spacey hope you're feeling better and that marathon session you had planned when went.

ruby how's it going? i had that stressed smiley face the entire time i was writing up. its so apt

possum welcome abroad!
===

okay my aims for tonight, so today isnt a complete washout.
1.read 6 pages from thesis.
2. read papers.

======= Date Modified 10 Feb 2009 21:46:18 =======

hehe they already do - sort of! they have one of my journal articles, but i've never actually checked it out - i've not actually looked at the actual journal and flipped to my article. i should do though next time i go, which will be on friday! i didnt go today, my plans got changed. i have done absolutely no work today at all!!! nothing - zip zata zilch. i've been a lazy so and so!

feel guilty so i'm about to do some studying now though. so bored of it all though, so so so boring. im being a spoilt brat. :p but im just bored of studying for the viva :$ i just need to get over myself and just do it

======= Date Modified 09 Feb 2009 20:01:01 =======

hey Heifer! lovely to meet a fellow procratinator!!! the only thing i'm an expert at is procrastinating :p and never feel you cant join in because of the procrastination, becuase being a procrastinator is one of the requirements to sign up here! hehe

well i've been very very lazy today and have not done anything but read 6 pages, feel so sleepy and tired. lol im so lazy. gonna take a quick power nap in the hopes it wakes me up, and then going to do some reading. going to the british library tommorow, actually looking forward to have a change of scenary, and to "study" someplace different for a couple of hours.


good luck with the lit review!

======= Date Modified 09 Feb 2009 13:55:41 =======
Hey Girls!!! wow i'm impressed you both have been working away on your thesis.

aww thanks Ruby for saying that about how i should take breaks now that i've submitted. that made me feel so much better :) 3D movie was so much fun! i had a really nice weekend, relaxing. i did read the 6 pages daily quota from my thesis, but thats all i did naughty me.

a late start for me today. feeling very hungry right now though, so will quickly read the 6 pages and then grab some lunch.

Ruby good luck with your methods chapter, you will feel heaps better once its done and dusted! you're deadline of 27th feb is very doable. you're nearly there!

miss spacey good luck with your deadline in may, plenty of time, you can do it! (up)

my aims:
1. read 6 pages from thesis.
2. read papers.
3. answer 1 viva question

======= Date Modified 07 Feb 2009 14:09:08 =======
Hey Ruby! good luck with your writing today, and good idea to do something that doesnt make you run to the hills. and i feel sluggish today aswell, i think its something to do with saturdays, maybe our subconcious knows its a day off for everyone else but when your writing, everyday is a work day.
-----

Thanks Ruby for your kind and encouraging words! i keep forgetting what i've read in the papers, and dont really fully understand what they are saying. but then thats what revising - is there for, so that the next time you read through it, it will be more familiar and things will start to sink in. its a slow process, but one that cant be rushed.
from monday onwards, i'm going to start making notes to answer "viva" questions. i'm still really scared about the viva and feel that i wont be able to answer any of the questions. but i try not to think about it, but just focus on the task at hand.

tonight i'm going to the cinema with my friends, going to leave the house for the first time in about a month!! i've practically been in hibernation. so that will be nice :) i'm really looking forward to it. its a 3D horror film! cant wait :)

i think being cooped up in my study room for weeks on end, is probably not such a good idea. as it can get abit depressing and lonely. and most days i feel like i cant be bothered and whats the point and have nothing to look forward to. so now that the weather is getting abit better, i'm coming out of hibernation. i was so afraid of catching the flu or cold, and it disturbing my study time, that i didnt want to leave the house! if i carry on like this, i might start suffering from agoraphobia and and germaphobia!!

my aims for today
1. read 6 pages from thesis
2. read papers

======= Date Modified 07 Feb 2009 01:29:46 =======

thanks Ruby :-) haha yah. funny how we are studying completely different subjects, but go through the same pain. that's phd for ya, bonds all kinds of scholars together no matter what subject, we all experience the same trials, and tribulations , pain and frustration.

======= Date Modified 07 Feb 2009 00:00:47 =======
congratulations!! well done! you worked so hard and were well prepared you totally deserve it!

and btw , BEST viva title for thread i've seen!! :-) lol I concur with Ruby!

what was the time difference between the mock viva and the real viva? how did you go about preparing for your viva? and who gave you the mock viva, your sup?