I failed my thesis.

[Adelaide9216]

I really hope the examiner submitted her report yesterday, and my university will see it on Monday. that's my hope. If on Monday I still get no news, I will do what you've just said. But I've already sent multiple emails to the departement, even sent to them a recommended letter by mail to stress on the importance of the situation. I cannot contact the examiner directly (conflict of interest). The university has also contacted the examiner multiple times in order for her to submit it on time. It's on the examiner's side. My family and I are considering going further than that (they're liable like you've said) if my lose my admission offer and scholarship because of the examiner. I am advocating for myself, but there's not much I can do at the moment. I will let monday come and if by the end of the day, I get no news, I am emailing the Dean.

[PokePsych]

5 hours ago, lkaitlyn said:

I'd contact the department head and director of the grad school, personally, to let them know what's going on re: the deadline. No harm in CC'ing General Counsel (the university's legal department) either. If they're breaking their own policies and that causes you to lose your scholarship, that makes them liable. Probably better to contact them now instead of after the deadline. I know that sounds aggressive, but advocating for yourself is really important, and it's better to be prepared by contacting people earlier than having to do it later, IMO. Wishing you luck.

I don't think its aggressive given how the university is making a mess of things (I don't know if you have an Ombudsperson Adelaide, otherwise get them involved too..)

[Adelaide9216]

6 hours ago, Psygeek said:

I don't think its aggressive given how the university is making a mess of things (I don't know if you have an Ombudsperson Adelaide, otherwise get them involved too..)

It’s not the university, it’s the examiner! She s external to my university. The university has sent her multiple emails too.

 

yes there is an ombudsperson, I will email them as well.

[Adelaide9216]

Still no news. I'm waiting until 4:30pm today and tomorrow, my supervisor and I will be contacting the ombudsman, the dean, etc.

I am eating ice cream to deal with the stress lol

[lkaitlyn]

Hang in there. We're all rooting for you. ❤️

[Adelaide9216]

I PASSED!!! WITH AN EXCELLENT GRADE!!! PHEW!!!

[Adelaide9216]

I AM SO RELIEVED

[BTF]

Well thank fuck!

[Adelaide9216]

THANKS EVERYONE FOR THE EMOTIONAL SUPPORT! I learned a lot from this experience even if it was difficult and I will be able to carry that knowledge on to my PhD studies

[lkaitlyn]

So glad you passed! Well deserved.

[TwirlingBlades]

SO happy to hear this! Congrats!!!!!

[Sigaba]

On 8/5/2019 at 2:32 PM, Adelaide9216 said:

I AM SO RELIEVED

Please keep a very close eye on the flow of paperwork you need to have on file until you receive written confirmation that your offer of admission and scholarship are secure.

As @telkanuru points out, it is the summer --a good time for administrators and worker bees to lose a bit of focus. (But I'm not bitter.)

With all the bad turns in this ordeal, Murphy's Law could easily rear its head one last time.

...And as much as it may turn your stomach to do so, send your examiner a note that expresses an appropriate amount of thanks. Double check  your note for unintentional irony.

(I would recommend not reading the latest round of comments until you've had the time to rest, recover, and reflect.)

[dr. t]

1 hour ago, Sigaba said:

Double check  your note for unintentional irony

And also intentional irony ?

[Adelaide9216]

I actually thanked the examiner in my acknowledgements! My thesis is much stronger in terms of quality now and I am proud of my work.

[maxhgns]

Félicitations!

[MarineBluePsy]

Wow it took forever to find this thread as I found myself wondering....what the heck happened.  CONGRATULATIONS!!!!  I'm happy to hear that after all of the stress, misery, and general suckiness that your hard work paid off and you are moving forward with your PhD.  I sincerely hope your PhD experience is better than this one.

[Adelaide9216]

I got my diploma! It's official now and no one can take it back from me lol

[avidnote]

On 10/30/2019 at 10:02 PM, Adelaide9216 said:

I got my diploma! It's official now and no one can take it back from me lol

Congratulations on your thesis passing Adelaide! ? Rejection is part of academia unfortunately. I remember the first time I received a rejection from a research journal that I submitted a paper to, it's not a pleasant feeling, but you have to persevere! Will you be doing your PhD now? Let me know if you need any advice.

[Adelaide9216]

9 hours ago, avidnote said:

Congratulations on your thesis passing Adelaide! ? Rejection is part of academia unfortunately. I remember the first time I received a rejection from a research journal that I submitted a paper to, it's not a pleasant feeling, but you have to persevere! Will you be doing your PhD now? Let me know if you need any advice.

I am in my second semester of my PhD.  

[avidnote]

9 hours ago, Adelaide9216 said:

I am in my second semester of my PhD.

Cool, I am sure you will be done in no time . The first two years of my PhD were my favorite.

[Adelaide9216]

1 hour ago, Nannkin said:

You need to calm down, prepare well and not be nervous. You will succeed!

Hello, I passed. I am in my second semester of my PhD studies 

[Bioenglover]

Hi @Adelaide9216, really wanted to thank you for this thread.

I am sure it wasn't easy to open up and tell us about your journey in MS studies, and I am so happy things worked out for you!

Good luck with PhD and I hope you enjoy every minute of it

[thetardis]

@Adelaide9216Congratulations and good luck with your PhD work. 

Edited July 1, 2020 by thetardis

[fossati]

Hey, I have a question, and I know this is so long ago. But can anyone elaborate or add some commentary.

On what grounds would someone fail their Master's dissertation? 

Edited July 17, 2020 by fossati

[Adelaide9216]

On 7/16/2020 at 7:12 PM, fossati said:

Hey, I have a question, and I know this is so long ago. But can anyone elaborate or add some commentary.

On what grounds would someone fail their Master's dissertation? 

Actually, I did not fail. I used the wrong term because at the time, I felt like I had failed. I was told that I had major revisions basically. If I did not address those revisions the second time around, then I would have failed for real. 

It felt like I had failed because I am a type A student. Even now, for my doctoral coursework, I only got A+ in all four of my courses. I do realize now that there were a lot of external factors to me as to why that happened. 

Someone could fail their dissertation if they don't do the work or if it the person doesn't show enough critical thinking skills or for a lot of other reasons. I did not fit into neither of those. I truly did the work and worked hard and seriously and did not procrastinate. There are people who fail, but it happens rarely to be honest.

In my specific case, my supervisor did not offer the support I needed throughout my master's studies. I have a sense that she overestimated my ability to do this so she felt like I did not need as much support although I kept saying during the entire academic year that I needed support. There's also other factors that were at play regarding the sole person who evaluated me (that I won't go into for confidentiality reasons), and the school of thought of my university/department that differs greatly from the ones of the evaluator (who is teaching/trained at another university).

I don't resent my supervisor for it, but at the time, when we learned I had major revisions and could potentially not get my degree, my supervisor spontaneously apologized to me and said that it should not have happened to me. The week before I got my evaluation back, my supervisor said they had zero concerns regarding my ability to succeed. They did not say so, but it is clear to me that they did not read the entirety my thesis before I submitted it (and they should have), because again, overly confident that it'll be all good. I know academics are busy, but it looked bad for the supervisor as well. All the professors that have had me as a student were deeply surprised that this had happened to me. 

So that in and of itself speaks to the fact that it was not a "typical" type of major revisions situations. 

There were other factors as well that I won't get into for privacy reasons. 

I truly believe that it had nothing to do with my ability to succeed. However, I learned a lot from that experience and have a better sense of what's expected of me in my field when it comes to research and academia although my research skills are always a work-in-progress.

Edited August 15, 2020 by Adelaide9216