Academic common room
Holiday before or after the viva?
TomUI · 10/03/2017 21:08
Hi,
I'm planning my holidays in advance and I'll be submitting my thesis soon. I was wondering whether it is better to take a holiday before or after the viva? The holiday would either be 3-4 weeks before the viva or 2-3 weeks after the viva. Which one would you go for?
impostersyndrome · 10/03/2017 22:21
Depends on the timing, but I'd advise taking time during the preceding week to prepare, so probably after is better.
MajesticWhine · 10/03/2017 22:25
I would take it before. You've earned the break. Afterwards you might want to be getting on with your amendments.
adanac85 · 10/03/2017 22:31
I took my holiday befire, bit it was five weeks and then i had another month or so after i got back before my viva. If it was a shorter period, id say have the holiday after otherwise you'll be stressing about tge viva.
LRDtheFeministDragon · 10/03/2017 23:50
Before! There's nothing you can do in the dead period before the viva, except stress.
Afterwards, you might be landed with more corrections than you expected and you won't feel like a holiday - or, if you sail through with no corrections (!), you'll feel perfect without needing one.
Good luck!
TomUI · 11/03/2017 08:03
Thanks everyone! I thought you would all say after the viva, but it seems by then people are more eager to get the corrections done than go on holiday? I'm a bit torn. It would be nice to go once viva is over and I know what the result is, but at the same time, I don't want to be too over prepared and stressed prior to the viva too ...
user7214743615 · 11/03/2017 12:56
It depends on the field, LRD. In my field it is very common to have only trivial corrections (typos) as work in theses has already been published in journals.
Best not to rely on having no corrections, though, in any field.
flumpybear · 11/03/2017 13:00
Personally I'd go afterwards but you should have sufficient time to do them before you leave
If they're minor corrections - good luck!
Lules · 11/03/2017 13:02
I would go before. I was exhausted after submitting and it was nice to have a break from worrying about it.
LRDtheFeministDragon · 11/03/2017 16:58
user - I know. Even typos need correcting, though! My brother's a mathematician and in his field, corrections can be very minor, too. But you still don't want them hanging over you, do you?
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