Viva Wait - how long?

scopper

I'm currently waiting for my viva, thesis submitted in December, and was wondering what kind of waits people have undergone (or are undergoing)? My department tells me the thesis was sent off to my extern in Feb. and that there is a 2 month peroid for him to read it. They also told me that they aim to have all theses defended within four months of submission but I can't see that happening. My friend had a 7 month wait for his...so I'm just trying to get some kind of insight. I'm in the humanities.

convert

I'll have been waiting 4 months by the time I have my viva next month.

djpbarry

scopper wrote: »

I'm currently waiting for my viva, thesis submitted in December, and was wondering what kind of waits people have undergone (or are undergoing)?

Four months seems like a longish time to go without hearing anything (although academia pretty much shuts down for December), but this could be a result of a variety of factors – how long the thesis is, how busy the examiners are, how involved your work is and how familiar the examiners are with the topic, etc. But I certainly wouldn’t be panicking – I know it’s stressful and it’s not nice being in limbo, but these things can take time.

woodchuck

I was waiting about 2 months for mine and the date was sorted very soon after submitting. My supervisor basically took it upon herself to contact the examiners and find a date that would suit everyone, but I'm not sure if that's the norm or not. I'm in science btw, not humanities, I don't know if that makes a difference. Hope you hear something soon, seems like an awful long wait

scopper

djpbarry wrote: »

Four months seems like a longish time to go without hearing anything (although academia pretty much shuts down for December), but this could be a result of a variety of factors – how long the thesis is, how busy the examiners are, how involved your work is and how familiar the examiners are with the topic, etc. But I certainly wouldn’t be panicking – I know it’s stressful and it’s not nice being in limbo, but these things can take time.

Oh I did hear about the basics such as it being sent to the extern and so on, but not much since. Sorry for not making that clear, but yes it feels very much like limbo and that I can't really plan to do anything at all at the moment.

scopper

woodchuck wrote: »

I was waiting about 2 months for mine and the date was sorted very soon after submitting. My supervisor basically took it upon herself to contact the examiners and find a date that would suit everyone, but I'm not sure if that's the norm or not. I'm in science btw, not humanities, I don't know if that makes a difference. Hope you hear something soon, seems like an awful long wait

Oh that sounds how I wish it had happened. My supervisor is not known for his swiftness sadly. I have the same supervisor as the guy who waited 7 months and had hoped that the furore it raised might have had an effect on him...seems not though!

woodchuck

Would it be worth hassling your supervisor about it? Maybe if there are certain deadlines in mind (eg a date to have the viva completed by to make a particular graduation ceremony) it might spur him into action a bit. Or if you tell him that you’re trying to apply for jobs but essentially being in limbo is making it more difficult for employers to consider you?

Technically it should just involve a few emails back and forth to sort out a date… sounds like he’s just prioritising his own stuff and putting it on the backburner

Red Alert

I had to wait nearly 3 months for mine.

scopper

Thanks guys. Still waiting. My supervisor tends to just ignore emails as a rule - no matter the situation. He is a nice guy but you have to ambush him in person which I can't do as I am not in Ireland at the moment. It being May this is the fifth month I am waiting

H2G2

As a supervisor I would normally expect to schedule the viva within 2 months of submission, 3 at the max. I would consider it cruel for one of my students to wait any longer.
If more than 3 months, I would say its time to start hassling your supervisor...

katmcl

well, I handed mine in on feb 28th and the viva is tomorrow aarrggghhhh