Hi. I am brand new user here, but really need some advice from fellow students. I came to the UK a few years back to do a Masters degree but it just wasn't for me and I ended up moving back to my home country to start a PhD programme. Because my MSc dissertation wasn't due until after my programme here started, my present university (the same one I completed my BA at) accepted me on the strength of my BA, meaning I didn't technically have to finish my Masters. In the summer between programmes I found out I was pregnant and with that and the transcontinental move, I asked for and was given an extension on my dissertation. I finished all the coursework for my MSc with Distinction and fully intended to finish my dissertation by the extended deadline, but for whatever reason, I just didn't. I didn't even do the research.

The problem is because I am well-known in my department and everyone knew I was going to the UK for my Masters, everyone here thinks I finished the degree. And, I have gone with that and out and out lied about completing it to my supervisor, the head of my department and even fellow students. It's been a year and a half of walking around with this huge secret and now my university is hounding me about getting official transcripts from my UK programme, so I am about to be exposed. I don't think they can kick me out of the programme here as I didn't technically have to complete the Masters as part of my admission, but it is not going to go over very well.

I am a really good student and am doing very well in my current programme. I don't really know what happened with my Masters. I was severely depressed and uninspired and at that point I just didn't care. I knew it was going to come back to bite me, but no matter how much I told myself to pull it together, I couldn't find the motivation to do anything about it. Then, once the reality of what I'd done (or hadn't done) set it, it felt to late. I honestly don't even know what my choices are. My UK uni has offered to just award me a postgrad diploma or I suppose if I begged and pleaded and provided medical documentation they might let me write and submit a dissertation, but I still face being caught lying to people who have a massive amount of influence over my career and whom I need to work with for the next 2-3 years.

If anyone has any words of advice, I would be really grateful. Please don't tell me how stupid I am or that I shouldn't have lied. What's done is done - now I just need to find a way to deal with the fallout.

======= Date Modified 04 Feb 2011 08:54:17 =======
jbird01, nobody is here to judge you. I understand your story and I really feel for you. I had a baby in the middle of my PhD, plus serious health problems, so I can understand your difficulties, depression, etc.
I suppose that it also depends on how you were awarded your PhD position. Was it an unconditional offer or you were offered the place on condition of completing the MSc? If they ask you for the transcript it may well be that you had an offer on condition.
However, at this point how long would it take to complete a thesis now? and above all -do you feel like doing it? I think that it is a step that would worth an extra effort, even if not required by your current department. If you go along that line, you can always say that you had completed all the course work, but that the thesis took a bit longer to finalise as you no longer leave there/ have contact with supervisor etc. Obviously you need to be really focussed and give yourself a strict deadline. Dismissing an MSc with Distinction would be a real pity at this point, and in the end the length of a thesis for a Masters degree is equivalent to a tiny part of a PhD. If anything else fails, I would take the Diploma and say the truth. They will not be happy, but I think that they will appreciate it. If they are happy with your progress with the PhD work, this should be enough. In the end you have started the programme and they will want you to finish it. But expect to be put under pressure when it comes to deadlines.

======= Date Modified 04 Feb 2011 09:38:18 =======
Gosh you poor thing, a really difficult dilemma.

Being pragmatic, if it were me I would first find out if you will be definitley be awarded a postgrad diploma on the strength of the work you did at the UK university. With that info confirmed, I would request a meeting with your supv team, be honest with them and tell them your situ. I would sooner that than be 'exposed'. I imagine they will need time to mull it over but by giving them the facts and your options (ie a postgrad diploma) in a logical, composed manner. they hopefully will accept what's done is done and move on - all of you. If possible, keep calm and explain the problems you had during your masters but don't labour them - ie these were my problems, and so this was the reason I didn't complete. Realistically, it's not really an option to write up a dissertation for a masters long since completed while also being part of a different PhD?? If it were me, I would take the postgrad diploma option (actually I would grab it with both hands) as I feel this would put that era of your life behind you and enable you move on.

I wish you the best of luck with it. For me, being proactive would be infinitely preferable to continuing as you are but being terrified every time the phone rings or one of your supvs come into the room.

Good luck

Edit: I have just re-read Corinne's reply and our advice is pretty different so in a way it just reinforces that ultimately the [tough] decision is yours but I really do think you need to make 'a' decision, otherwise fear will stop you progressing well with your current project. It must be constantly in your mind, I feel for you.

I do really feel for you - and I totally understand how things can slip so that a small stretching of the truth turns into a lie that you feel trapped by, especially when there was so much else going on in your life at the time. This is going to be a difficult situation to deal with, but I think the best thing will be to talk to your supervisors about it. Be honest, be logical, try not to get upset when yuo talk about it (difficult, I know, when you're feeling so much pressure about it). I think being relieved of the fear of being exposed and the burden of having to keep up with a lie will take a great deal of pressure off you, and that will help you face whatever you decide to do next.

As to whether you should take the diploma or try to get the dissertation done and get the Masters, I really think that's going to depend on how much work you think would be involved in doing the dissertation, whether you think you can do that work now after this gap in time, and how that will sit with your current supervisors and current workload. I don't know if you have the kind of relationship with your supervisors where you could talk through these options and see what they suggest - if so, they may have some ideas about what would be better for your career long term.

Whatever happens, I think you do need to come clean about this now with your supervisors, and relive yourself of the burden of trying to live up to this lie, especially as it's clearly going to be revealed soon. Get in first and claim the moral high ground, and it may even be that your supervisors respect you for the way you handle the situation from now on.

I'm inclined to agree with the last two posts. I don't think you can make it through the PhD without this problem raising its head; and at least if you're honest you'll appear more conscientious. The alternative is living with the fear this situation will damage your career, which will likely affect the quality of your research. I think from an administrative perspective the situation is perfectly salvagable; and I also think the university won't want a student to fail to complete that is already part way through the programme (of course, nobody on this forum can offer any guarantees).

I would arrange a meeting with supervisors, take a deep breath, and explain the circumstances. At least that way you'll know where you stand, even if the consequences are catastrophic (which would seem unlikely). Otherwise, you'll only have wasted more time researching if this all comes out later and it doesn't go down well.

Best of luck with it, but I think you'll be fine, especially if you're progressing nicely with you current work... (up)

I would just like to clarify that I am not saying that she shouldn't say the truth, but that the "when" and "how" should be given careful consideration. Registry has certainly better things to do than chasing students for transcripts that are not necessary after over a year. So if the completion of the MSC is an issue for her current Uni after all, she should find out and think about what to do next.
Obviously, she will have to talk to her supervisor/s and be honest about it, but I think that she should clarify the situation with Registry first, as their answer may change the attitude of her department.

Hi Jbird01
Yes, it feels awful when living a lie and not knowing how to get out of it. I think the first step is to be kind to yourself and to say "we human beings make mistakes" and the important thing is how to get out of it again. I would say you just need to be very honest and tell what has happened. It feels that fullfilling peoples expectations as a good student is sometimes really hard and one has the feeling of disappointing the others. Just tell them and you will feel very released.
All the best!