Help me settle a dispute - finishing MSc dissertation with 10 minutes to spare

I don't know if you are unreasonable or not but I do know my son got his submitted with seconds to spare. I still have heart palpitations at the thought of what he would have lost if the system had glitched and it had been late! I don't know how people can live with that level of stress!

I had several uni friends do this. I remember one having to get a taxi to the university to hand it in as he didn't have enough time to walk there!

I couldn't do it - I learnt not to when I had a recurrent illness so I could never guarantee being well enough to do something. So it got me into the habit of doing things early, which also took the pressure off and allowed time to do other things.

And, also, it often ends up costing more if done at the last minute. And I was on a v limited budget. Especially in the days of hard copy submissions if you had to pay for an express service (or a taxi!). I remember handing in my MA dissertation a week early as I had to book train tickets to take it in and make sure it was printed and bound well in advance of that as I couldn't have afforded to pay for a walk up train fare.

Well it's may be not ideal, but you have done it. Just be proud of yourself.

completely common - including pulling an all nighter to edit :-)

No, what it actually shows is that everyone works in different ways and some are more deadline-driven than others.

I had two terms to complete my dissertation. I wrote the whole thing in four days and handed in the hard copy 15 minutes before the deadline. I also handed in all my coursework essays to similar timescales for the duration of my degree course. In most cases we had to hand them in at 9am, and I pulled all-nighters to get them done.

And guess what? I also got a 1st.

People all produce their best work under different conditions. That's why some people perform really well in timed exams and tests - it's the ticking clock and the need to just do it now that spurs them on to produce their best work.

Once your actually working handing in projects and data in with 10 min to spare when you have a deadline will not go down well.

It depends on the kind of job you do. For your kind of role, then I'm sure your approach is best.

But I work in a field where we have to turn round very accurate and well-written work at very, very short notice, so being able to get stuff done in a mad dash at the eleventh hour is an absolute must. People who are more comfortable with a lot of pre-planning and finishing things days before they need to submit them really, really struggle in my line of work and don't perform well (plus it's horribly stressful for them).

When we recruit, we get candidates to complete a timed task at their interview, based on material they've never seen before - if we asked them to plan or prepare something in advance, it wouldn't test the skills we need to see from them.

We're all different. What's right for you isn't necessarily right for everyone.

😂😂 was literally about to post that I wrote both my dissertations in my final year in one weekend on no sleep, fuelled by pro-plus and Red Bull, ran to submit them and then straight out on the piss. Sussex student!

No it’s not ideal, and I couldn’t work like that as I’d be too anxious to press ‘submit’ but the main thing here is that you’ve done it! You might be disappointed because you wanted to work differently, but YOU’VE DONE IT!! Well done 🍾😊

During my BA we had 2pm deadlines and hard copy submission on the other side of campus. I once walked in to the library at 09.30, grabbed some books off the shelf, opened them up and started typing. I made the deadline and got a great grade, too.

The next semester, I thought that perhaps pacing myself would get even better grades. My marks went down. I have to have pressure to do my best.

Yep, this is exactly how I operate. Was having my undergrad dissertation bound an hour before hand-in. Genuine fear is my only real motivator.

Lots of people submit with little time to spare, but for most it's a case of frantically reading it one more time and fixing any mistakes rather than actively writing new content.

In any case, congratulations, it's done!

Many - yes.
Most - unsure and haven't seen research.

On the course I am on currently, our deadlines for assignments is always 1pm UK time on a Monday. My "in my head" deadline is 5pm the previous Friday. That means that I have the weekend free of stress if it all goes through fine, or the weekend to resolve issues if it doesn't.

The very idea of leaving things until 10 minutes before a hard deadline brings me out in a cold sweat.

This is exactly how I work. Don’t stress about it, it’s done now.
congrats on completing!

When I did my diploma in Arbitration's exam, this was the subject of the imaginary dispute.

The imaginary legal dispute was about whether a document handed in at the minute of a deadline complied with a contract or not.
As arbitrator I agreed with the case of the imaginary writer, that just in time, is on time.

I passed that Arbitration exam and got a prize for best student (did that exam whilst 7 months pregnant, with my baby kicking throughout the exam!)

So, I agree with you that 10 mins before is on time!

I did the same for most of my assignments, dissertation I hate to set a fake deadline with my tutor a week beforehand otherwise I'd have keeled over from stress. I so have diagnosed adhd though plenty of my cohort did the same and don't!

I used to run the undergraduate dissertation module for a big degree cohort at a big (Russell Group) uni and the first year we went to online submission only I remember just sitting and watching the submissions on the online portal go from a few dozen to hundreds in the hour before the deadline - with loads submitted five minutes before the deadline. I was a bit shocked/horrified - I was the kind of student who would have uploaded mine days beforehand - but it definitely isn't unusual, OP.

I think it depends how you submit it. I had to submit a paper copy that had clear directions on which font to use and how much space should be left at the side for binding etc. So If u left it to last minute or would have been too late and I would have been marked down .

we are allowed tyo upload ours up to a week early, and then it takes whatver is there at the deadline

What if interenet goes down? 10 mins to go could well mean submitted late and NIL points.

so i think whilst a lot of students do this, its a very risky move with no back up plan/no way to appeal if you lose your interenet.

(i have submitted the exams with 1 hour to go, but those are 24 hour ones so expected, even then best to upload the night before a pretty good draft to polish off in morning without worry)

I'm completely the opposite and handed my dissertation in a week before it was due. I was stressing about that to be honest! Anyway, you've submitted it now so just enjoy yourself and don't fret too much about how you got there.

Currently working on a final project for a Pg Dip and will be doing the MSc next year.

Submitting with 10 minutes to go is madness. Internet issues, website issues, all manner of things could go wrong and you have left yourself 10 minutes to sort it out? Agree with others it shows exceptionally poor time management - you have MONTHS to do the MSc dissertation and to be still working on it with 10 minutes until the deadline shows very poor planning.

Congrats on getting it in!

I was exactly the same with my UG and PG dissertations. Plus every other essay throughout my studies. In fact pretty much any deadline I ever have. I can plan and plan until the cows come home, but with terrible procrastination will leave the actual finishing work until the absolute last minute and pull all nighters to get things done.

I too have a referral for suspected inattentive ADHD. I've been able to "manage" for many years, but the combination of poor health, parenting two kids plus work means my carefully constructed world is falling apart somewhat!

I did OU over 6 years and submitted plenty of assignments at the last minute, usually well into the late grace period. The only thing that matters now is you've done it and submitted it, bloody well done 👏

I have ADHD and I finished my MA dissertation right before sending it in, and got a first class honours. This was the pattern I followed for both of my degrees to be honest and I always did really well, but it would ALWAYS be down to the wire. I had a friend who started hers(literally wrote the first words) on a Friday morning and it was due on the Monday. I was stressed FOR her but she did well!

I do sometimes end up being last minute with work tasks too but I've done well in my career so far, so it hasn't gotten in my way.

Just in time = in time.

If you handed it in a few days early, wouldn't you always be thinking "I wonder how much better a mark I could have got if I'd spent a few more days on it?"

I know I would!