format errors in thesis- what will happen?

L

I have submitted my thesis although I knew about some formatting errors, simply because my scholarship will end up soon. I had spent much time trying to correct them but several were still not ok, to be precise, a few sentences broken and jumping to a new line) and a few tables being consequently pushed down making only the heading or the heading and one other line show at the bottom of the page and the rest moved to the following page. I am now wondering how seriously this will be taken? Is is a sign of irresponsibility or carelessness? Or is it one of 'minor corrections' to be pointed out?:-(

C

======= Date Modified 27 Mar 2012 00:07:50 =======
Well done on your submission! :-)

I wouldn't worry too much about it. I passed with typo corrections I had:
Numerous typos. One which changed the meaning of the sentence to the opposite!
One table where the formatting had gone very wrong and half the data was missing
Half the tables in one chapter were numbered wrong
a couple of references where end note had gone a bit funny
An entry in my contents page that said ###UNDIFINED LINK (or something like that) instead of the page number
Graphs where because I'd photocopied my thesis the two columns were coloured black and black instead of black and grey

They hardly noticed some of these, and things that were picked up were dismissed as unimportant and things that could be changed for the final submission.

L

Phew! I was thinking: I have to defend my thesis and above it I have formatting issues! They might think I submitted too early and be taken less seriously!

That's good to hear. Aaaah... One burden off! Now I will focus on the thesis itself in preperation for the viva! Thank you again.

C

Its no biggy. I had a few formatting issues like this. 

In particular, my wife, who proofread my entire PhD the day before my submission, added a subclause to my last sentence by way of encouragement. Unfortunately I was so tired by the point l got up to my conclusion at 5.30 in the morning on the day of my submission I missed her little addition.

Anyway my examiners had a great laugh at my viva that with the last 3 words of my thesis I had told them I loved them. They told me to fix my formatting errors and also consider deleting my final sentence but not to spend more than an hour on any corrections. It was my mistakes that broke the ice and set me up for a great viva.

They are more interested in your argument than how pleasing it looks on the page.

Good luck.

A

Quote From chippy:

Its no biggy. I had a few formatting issues like this. 

In particular, my wife, who proofread my entire PhD the day before my submission, added a subclause to my last sentence by way of encouragement. Unfortunately I was so tired by the point l got up to my conclusion at 5.30 in the morning on the day of my submission I missed her little addition.

Anyway my examiners had a great laugh at my viva that with the last 3 words of my thesis I had told them I loved them. They told me to fix my formatting errors and also consider deleting my final sentence but not to spend more than an hour on any corrections. It was my mistakes that broke the ice and set me up for a great viva.

They are more interested in your argument than how pleasing it looks on the page.

Good luck.


That's hilarious Chippy - sure it made for a very interesting viva;-) Considering they passed you with such tiny corrections you probably did love them!!

L

Quote From lania:

Phew! I was thinking: I have to defend my thesis and above it I have formatting issues! They might think I submitted too early and be taken less seriously!

That's good to hear. Aaaah... One burden off! Now I will focus on the thesis itself in preperation for the viva! Thank you again.

LOL!!! Souls have added "I love you guys!" at the end of my thesis! ?but on the whole, it sounds that the examiners aren't as picky about format as I thought. Thanks!

21987