Hi,

I know there are lots of threads about supervisors but I can't find any answers so thought I would start a new one to add to the collection.

I am about half way through the finding of my PhD and feel that I am having issues with my supervisor. My problem is that every bit of written work that I submit is rewritten so much that my input is no longer recognisable. This includes large and small pieces of work from publications to the wording on my progress reviews. The supervisor does this to everyones work so am hoping that this is not a reflection on my inability to string words together. This has become a bit of a problem and instead of being happy that my work is written for me I have become lazy and don't bother to spend much time on things as the same feedback is given no matter how long I spend on a piece of work. I have also heard them brag about having to write previous students theses so that they passed and I don't want to be the next victim as I am sure I can do it if given the right guidance.

One other student has spoken to him about this a couple of years ago but this ended up in the opposite happening with little input given and the student being labelled a "bad student who will never be a researcher" because they couldn't take feedback. I don't really fancy the same fate as that student had a much harder time afterwards.

Is this sort of input expected from supervisors or am I right in thinking this is a bit dominating? I apologise as this is more of a rant but any advice of people in similar situations or any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Ali(up)

Hi
I was given an offer for a PhD in July and since accepting it the University has started to change some of the terms such as the start date even though it was discussed in the interview that I couldn't start any earlier as I am still finishing my MSc. They are also questioning large parts of the original proposal used for the application and I haven't heard from the potential supervisor since the interview. Is this normal behaviour? Getting a bit worried that this is a taste of the three years to come. Anyone else have problems before actually starting?
Cheers