One more thing- make sure the admin person/supervisors (or whoever) sends you the examiner reports. The admin person forgot to send my examiner reports (she sent the official uni letter and invoice though!). I received my examiners report eventually after some chasing.

I've got 10 pages of corrections to work through and I'm struggling to see the final finishing line today. Most of the corrections are to do with typos, cutting it down, organisational points and adding a few sections.

I would also be grateful for any more tips on speeding up this whole post-viva thesis corrections process.

Nightmare! Anyway, must keep swimming........

======= Date Modified 29 Nov 2011 21:30:26 =======

Hey Naturalme (great name by the way!)

Agreed- IF I get through this, trust me, I'm going to celebrate :)

Nice to see I'm not alone on this post-viva thesis corrections journey....I've been working on this thesis since the early hours of this morning and I'm shattered! :( Early night for me!

The thought of my examiners rejecting my thesis revisions is keeping me awake though! :S and putting the fear of God in me!

Anyway, I'll keep taking a day as it comes, setting little goals for myself, working on my self efficacy and try and think more positively (ie remember very positive feedback from examiners and viva outcome could have been an MPhil or fail outright)

I initially hoped to finish my thesis corrections by Feb/March, but realistically, I'll probably end up submitting on the summer deadline.... which is a truly depressing thought! However, I still intend to put in serious amount of hours in before my progress meeting in January and show them that I've made significant progress with my thesis.....

Best of luck Naturalme :) With you all the way!

I have a mid January deadline that I'm desperately trying to work towards- so I thought I would join you all in the race to meet a January deadline.

I'm post viva, but I'm PAINFULLY trying to follow my thesis corrections which involves loads and loads of re-writes. Not fun at all. I have until August to make all the changes, but I want to finish this monster of a PhD asap. I'm trying to cut out words and reduce everything down. Definitely not easy. Given the amount of changes I still need to make to my literature review chapters (ie need to cut out around 20,000-30,000 words for my literature review chapters alone!), I don't think I'll be celebrating Christmas, New Year or my birthday in early January.

At the moment, I'm working Fridays, Saturdays and part of Sundays which leaves the rest of the week to focus on my PhD thesis corrections. Feels like I'm living in some sort of hell dimension at the moment- and I'm CHOOSING to put myself through this!!!

Anyway, I've been through the stress of producing a PhD thesis ready for submission, so I can totally relate! Best of luck to those of you submitting shortly.
(sprout)

Just wanted to wish you the best of luck 404. I'll be thinking of you! (sprout)

I'm fighting back the tears at the moment as I have many many corrections to work through, mostly cutting down but loads of re-writing and restructuring my literature review chapters. Just never seems to end, no matter how many hours I put into this thesis.
Oh well, keep plodding on I guess!

:(

======= Date Modified 28 Nov 2011 11:49:50 =======
Thanks Cakeeater for your post. Good idea about considering this whole revise and resubmit process as an extension- definitely something I should think about. I spent some of this morning beating myself up over 'failing', but in the grander scheme of things, its not the end of the world and at least their given me a second chance (it could have been a lot worse!). Still making good productive progress, despite these small hiccups of insecurity and unhappiness.
;-)
It's very encouraging to see that people obtain minor corrections after a revise and resubmit verdict. Congratulations on reaching the very final stages:) (I can only hope I'll be in your shoes someday!)
(gift)

Hey 404,

Thanks :) Because my literature review chapters were so long, I had to start again with a new document, pull out the main points and slot in some of the detail from my submitted draft. I either summarised the extra detail or deleted it completely and thinking about moving some of the historical stuff as an appendix. I've also restructured my literature review chapters which reads better- or 'flow's better. So all, in all, many many changes- but a MUCH better thesis than my submitted draft (well I think so anyway, not sure what my sups will say!). Given the level of changes, my examiners (and sups) will need to re-read the entire thesis- but most of the changes are to do with the literature review and discussion chapters and a few bits in the method chapter.

IF I ever reach the end of this thesis, I need to submit a detailed report with my resubmitted thesis on every single change I've made for my examiners to see. This requirement for a report came with my bulk of stuff from my university along with the viva result.

Assuming I keep this standard up, I should be ready by Feburary/March time, although my sups want to see my progress shortly after Christmas, so I'm putting in serious amounts of hours to bring this thesis up to 'passable' standard.

Nightmare though. Burning the candle at both ends lately!

======= Date Modified 26 Nov 2011 07:36:11 =======
I don't have any tips 404, but I just wanted to wish you the best of luck.

I'm 9 months away from my resubmission deadline (but I intend to resubmit far sooner than that!) and although I don't have to go through another viva, I'm already starting to feel a bit anxious about adverse outcomes following my resubmission, especially as this will be one and only chance. eeeek. I have a feeling this whole resubmission process is going to be more stressful than the lead up to viva! :S (and that whole leading up the viva was the most stressful experience I've ever gone through!)

Is there any chance of taking a few days off from work to focus fully on your thesis?

Hello there,

Yesterday I received an offer from my new university to supervise 8 students on an MSc in Health Psychology course on their MSc dissertations. Obviously delighted and very flattered that they've put me forward for this.

Just wondered, does anyone have any experience of supervising MSc students?
a) On average, how much time did you devote to per student (obviously depends on a student by student basis),
b) were you paid for your time?
c) How often did you meet with your students in person? (Again, depends on student perhaps!)
d) Did you use dedicated office hours for helping students?
e) Has supervising MSc students helped your career at all? I'm not keen on staying in academia, but I think supervising and managing others should boost the managerial aspects of my CV.

I would be grateful for any experiences!

======= Date Modified 19 Nov 2011 10:53:20 =======
Also, several people on this forum received a resubmission verdict and received (or will receive) their PhDs and went onto postdoc positions, which is a great source of inspiration for me (but I'm not staying in research!). So, I know that it is possible to receive a PhD after a resubmission. I felt like the only one who received a resubmission, but there are others out there in the same boat.

Furthermore, some people do fail their vivas and leave with MPhils or are failed outright (with no degree), so at least you have another opportunity to leave with a PhD eventually. Sounds like you've got some good feedback to fall back on as well which should give you some motivation to keep going, namely they said there isn't much to change, whereas with mine, I have loads of changes.

Best of luck and feel free to send any PMs if you want to talk about this in greater detail.

======= Date Modified 19 Nov 2011 10:34:40 =======
Hey, wow, your situation sounds very similar to mine.

VIVA

In my viva,  I was told almost immediately that although I had done an enormous amount of work for a PhD, they can only award me with a resubmission mainly because of the sheer length (approx 150,000 words, nearly 500 pages ) . I was however, delighted with the resubmission verdict as I was told to prepare myself for the possibility of an MPhil leading up to the viva . My examiners were both confused and shocked that I would think it would fail outright or leave with an MPhil as they were very complimentary about it and want me to publish my work in at least 5-6 journal papers/book chapters- which shows how wrong I was. I asked the examiners whether I would have to go through a second viva and they said no. They mentioned something about a meeting after I've resubmitted, but not another viva (hope they haven't changed their minds!).

I have until the summer to make the corrections, but I'm pushing forward to resubmit by around Easter time.

I was told at the viva that I need to keep in frequent contact with my supervisors in order to bring my thesis up to standard and I'm allowed to contact my examiners at any time if I have any questions.

I have an absolute word limit of 99,999 words which I'm struggling to meet at the moment!

POST VIVA and reflections

After a few months of reflection, soul searching and rest, I received an official letter from the university stating that they will not be awarding me with a PhD at this time (which put me in serious panic mode!!)  but are giving me the opportunity to resubmit one year from the date of this letter. I received a resubmision form and an invoice for 200 pounds which needs to be completed and paid before entering the examination process again. I will also need to submit a report to show my examiners what changes I've made (and my goodness there's LOADS of changes since my submitted draft!).

I'm meeting with my supervisors shortly who want to see my progress (eeeeek!).

Anyway, I know a resubmision is defined by some as a 'fail', but I'm viewing it as a pass (or deferred pass or second chance) in that they could have easily awarded me with an MPhil or failed me outright. My supervisors were delighted with the resubmission verdict though as they overtly fearing an MPhil or fail outright.  My examiners however, said its definitely worthy of a PhD, but I need to cut it all down either by taking out sections for publication in journals etc, writing more concisely and moving some stuff to an appendix.

As you can see from my posts, I'm finding the post-viva stressful and tedious, but considerably less stressful than the lead up to the viva. Assuming I resubmit a strong thesis in accordance with my examiners request, I now know that they will award me with a PhD eventually, which I did not know before the viva. So at the moment, it's just a question of chipping away at my thesis, generally just trying to improve my submitted draft and following my examiners feedback points exactly. I have the occasion wobble, but I'm trying my best to remain positive and focused on the task at hand.

It is however really very difficult to see friends of mine who started the same time as me receive minor corrections and people starting a year after me passing their vivas and probably graduating before me. So maybe this is something you will face during your resubmission journey. But, I'm trying to focus on my PhD rather than comparing myself with other PhD candidates.

Feel free to vent away if needs be. I completely understand/ relate to your situation. Definitely take a break for a few weeks/months if you can. Ideally a holiday or something. I wasn't able to afford a holiday, but I should have found the money somehow to take a real and definite break from everything.

======= Date Modified 16 Nov 2011 14:58:29 =======
Hey all,

Forgive me, but I'm feeling a little blue today. Just got back from my first day on my new job and feel like crying :(

I recently started a part time job for minimum wage supporting older adults in a community care facility. I'm desperate for some money and this was the only sort of job I could obtain.......how depressing is that! This job would be great experience working with people and should help with my psychologist career plans (I hope!). There are some good points to the job- ie I enjoy chatting to the residents, but I wasn't prepared for some of the job description tasks.

I feel bad for complaining considering unemployment rates, but at the same time I'm finding this all very soul destroying. Have a put myself through years of postgraduate study and PhD stress just to obtain a minimum wage job!?

No jobs at my university- or at least that's what I'm told.

Anyway, just wanted to vent....

:-(

======= Date Modified 14 Nov 2011 23:13:48 =======

Hey :) I'm doing fine thank you! (I like the Joey reference if intended!)

Seem to be enjoying some productive days on my literature review chapters at the mo- just hope it lasts.
:-)
I actually made myself sick with worry and suffered from numerous panic attacks over fearing a failed viva and leaving with an MPhil, so I know exactly how the pre-viva stress feels like. I think if I redefined the whole situation differently (ie not the end of the world if I received an MPhil) and continued seeking counselling etc, I probably would have been in a better state of mind for my viva. Anyway, happy to be on the post viva side of the fence and working through corrections for PhD award. Never ever for one second believed I would get through a viva in one piece with a relatively good outcome (considering the state of submitted thesis anyway!).

Just keep swimming folks (aka Dory the fish stylee!)- well that's what's helping me through at the mo anyway! :)

======= Date Modified 14 Nov 2011 14:34:56 =======

Hey Catalin :)

For the 3 years I spent as a formal MPhil/PhD study, I put 'researcher' at university X (2006-2009) , loosly defined the subject area and some of my research tasks. In the lead up to my submission (2009-10) I worked as a 'research assistant/associate' and the lead up to my viva, I cared for my dad (recovered from a serious injury) and volunteered for victim support. During my MScs etc, I also volunteered as an Assistant Psychologist and worked on paid research assistant projects so in general there isn't big gaping hopes in my cv. I also took out my publications and any reference to MScs, my PhD and practitioner training.

Also, these jobs are poorly paid and I'm taking a massive pay cut (considering what I was paid from my last job), so in comparision with highly competitive graduate jobs, these organisations are probably not as fussed about gaps in cvs etc. It feels like I'm going backwards career wise (in some respects), but I desperately need relevant experience so willing to take a substantial pay cut for at least six months to build up some client-based skills. I'm having to swallow my pride here though and believe these jobs are very temporary rather than long term. I can't really afford to be fussy either- I seriously need some money and I need some relevant experience, so I need to suck it up and get on with really! :) I'm just pleased I now have some money coming in which willl help clear my overdraft and pay for my uni fees.

======= Date Modified 14 Nov 2011 13:20:27 =======
Just thought I would give you all an update.

Well things PhD wise seem to be improving- I started again with my literature review chapters by transferring only the basic essentials into my new draft and either summarising or deleting the extra detail. I'm also ensuring to be evaluative all the way through. Looking through completed successful PhDs has really helped me see the sort of standard expected and is also helping me to see how much work I've actually put into this PhD.......(Ok not trying to blow my own trumpet here, just trying to build up my self confidence a bit :))

Really hoping to have a complete resubmit draft by March 2012 with a view to graduate in July 2012 (although realistically, graduation will probably be in November 2012)

Job wise, well after months of fruitless job searching, I've now managed to obtain 2 part time non graduate jobs which will definitely help build up experience working with people for my eventual career as a chartered psychologist. In total, roughly around 24 hours a week. I reluctantly had to take all my postgraduate qualifications off my cv (MSc, MSc, PGCert, PhD) to land these jobs. Anyway, at least I've got some money coming in I guess and I know this experience will show that I haven't just worked in research or in academic settings! These jobs are extremely relevant to my PhD stuff, so I'm hoping this will also benefit my thesis. I had to start looking for work as I can't keep living like this with literally no money! I already feel like some sort of sponger relying on the good will of my dad and family, so at least I can pay my way to some extent.

However, I'm going to have to be super efficient with my time management skills if I'm going to pull this off! Yikes! Just hope I'm not taking too much on here.

Again, need to keep focused on the extremely positive feedback from my examiners and that they will award me with a PhD (and not an MPhil) subject to complying with their requests.