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

[iloveruby]

So, I've just submitted my dissertation with 10 minutes to spare. I've been up since midnight finishing it.
My partner thinks that lots of people work like this - I think he's wrong. So, what do you think?

YABU - lots of students will be finishing in a rush
YANBU - being so close to the deadline isn't typical.

To avoid dripfeeding - I have worked so hard on this and felt I had enough time but really struggle with concentration, especially when I'm stressed. Sometimes can only focus for 10 mins at a time. I feel really disappointed in myself because I just wanted this time to be different.

It’s exactly how I finished my dissertation! And all my friends too. I don’t know anyone who wasn’t working on it down to the wire.

Literally 10 mins? Not great if there are WiFi or server issues or turnitin glitches!

I frantically finished my BSc dissertation with 3hrs to go on a midday submission after pulling an all nighter. I was queing with two copies in my bag at the printers to have it bound at 10am with lots of other students (this was 2003, no electronic submission accepted) and handed it in with about 30mins to spare.

So no, you're not alone but yes, it's not the norm for most people.

I think it depends what you were doing! If you were still writing the content then that's not typical at MSc level. Imo. But sorting the formatting and bibliography etc, I wouldn't be too surprised!

I have ADHD so this is absolutely normal for me. I think it depends on the person though.

I know a teacher who was complaining about students uploading reports 10 minutes before the deadline but to me 10 minutes before the deadline is still before the deadline.

Everyone I know was working /checking their dissertation on the morning of submission.... Whether they had finished 10 mins or a month before.

In fact a couple of folk who submitted a few weeks early asked for them back as there was other stuff they suddenly remembered they wanted to add.

Normal for me. Twice.

I mean it's not great, but it is how I used to work, although not always that close to the wire - I am a bit better now because now I am in my 40s I just can't put that lastminute sustained effort in, I physically would not be able to work all night anymore. I do remember sitting on my friend's floor proofing her (two!) dissertations and putting the pages in order for her as they came out of the printer with minutes to spare before she had to leg it down to wherever you had to hand them in (In those days you had to hand in a printed copy, don't know if you have to now).

I never leave things like that to the very last minute but I have always felt like I was the abnormal one! I submitted my masters thesis a few days early and then had to twiddle my thumbs for days until
my friends submitted theirs and we could actually celebrate.

We are all different.

Some obviously wouldn't have left it so late, I would have.

But look on the positive, you have a marriage which brings in both ends of the spectrum of organised vs less organised - the yin and the yang. You can both learn from one another the positives and negatives of each stance - and yes, there are negatives of being too organised, usually a perfectionism or a propensity to be inflexible

Sorry but this just shows terrible planning and timing to complete your dissertation. 10 min is insane any thing could happen and you have zero time to fix it. 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.

When I did mine I handed it in a week early (I also have quite bad dyslexia and refused any extensions) and got a 1st, a few people I know of on my course handed them in with a couple of days left at the maximum. Deadlines are not a target sorry.

I voted YABU, because you have just submitted your dissertation and should be feeling proud about that! Forget how you did it, you did it! Sure, maybe there are things that you can take from this experience and use to improve future deadline work - but that's what this process is about. It is to teach you how to plan, carry out and, most importantly, actually complete a project. You learn how to do it by doing it - you're not expected to have all of the necessary skills beforehand. And everyone is different with deadlines - some people need a deadline to complete work, and are working right up until the last moment, and other people like to have everything completed well in advance. At the end of the day though, you made the deadline in time. Congratulations!

Did my dissertation in a few days. I have ADHD , that makes me leave important things til the last minute.

I was writing it, or at least parts of it :-(

I can't believe it after all of the time I spent. It is interesting about the comment re: ADHD as have been referred for a diagnosis.

I feel so sad about it because I worked so hard (and I promise I'm not stupid or lazy - just struggle with time!).

Good to hear that I'm not alone though and that others have also experienced the last minute panic.

I was just about to comment about how it's normal for me but I have adhd.

It gets easier to burn out with the last minute rushes, as you get older, I find.

You're right it does show bad planning - but honestly, I had a timetable for the last 3 months. If I could have stuck to it then I would have been fine, I just seem to get stuck.

Don’t be sad, you handed it in! That’s what matters.

I was ‘ lucky’ in the sense that I was not required to submit hard copies in addition to the online submission (pandemic).

However, if you are actually talking about reviewing and checking the final submission with one that has been previously checked already in the portal, then I guess you are not bu. But if there’s nothing in the portal then I guess you are.

I'm going to make an effort to go to my graduation and acknowledge to myself the results of my hard work, because I often focus on the negatives like how I have to do everything in a panic

Ah, fond memories of legging it along a busy city street from the library to hand in my undergraduate dissertation, held together with a series of staples as there wasn't time to get it properly bound. By the time of my MA dissertation either I'd learnt my lesson (slightly) or the hand in time was later in the day, because I managed to get it finished by lunchtime and make use of the spiral binding machine. Got a First/Distinction on both so obviously the last minute pressure worked 😇

Don’t feel sad OP! Feel proud for getting it in. The best dissertation is a finished dissertation. Done is so, so much better than perfect!
And I bet it’s better than you think. And even if it isn’t - who bloody cares, it’s over! Go and celebrate (or sleep!) Congratulations!

Normal but ughhh my stomach is in knots just reading through title of you post! 😖

@iloveruby Well done any way, my comment was just being honest. Far to many people may just comment to make you feel good. Just use this as a learning experience, like me you may need to take longer. I always tell my boss I may need a little longer due to my disability but I always endeavour not to need it. We learn and we grow, good luck with your results.

Don’t feel sad, you did it! If you think you have ADHD then there are almost certainly different coping strategies you can try. But please don’t beat yourself up. Thinking about how to do better about deadlines can wait for another day. For now can you plan a little celebration that’s it’s done and submitted?

YABU. Work expands to fill the time available for it. Sometimes in the weirdest way. For my PhD (filing two copies on special paper) I thought I'd anticipated all contingencies, even had a boyfriend in tech support get me a spare toner cartridge just in case. On the day sure enough ran out of toner, only to find out BF had confused the printer model and the cartridge didn't fit! Made it to Grad Division with a similar ten minutes to spare, there to be told to take another leisurely look and come back the following Monday 😀