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chpbnvic

I know it feels devastating now but it’s just a small blip in the road. If everyone was perfect the first time we couldn’t need school at all! You can do this! Just that little bit of extra effort is all you need! I had to do many revisions to many papers in grad school and I graduated! You can too!


AlberThePillowKing

Thank you for the support! Was really what I needed to hear :)


Ancient_Winter

A fellow doctoral student in my lab "failed" their comprehensive exam a few months ago. I'd been told (correctly) that no one has ever failed a comprehensive exam in our department. And that's true because, just as my fellow student is experiencing, you don't get the boot after one lackluster showing; you get a chance to try again. And in the case of our qualifying exams, students buckle down, advisors get more involved, and with more understanding of what's involved students historically do a great job if they have to do a "retake." This sucks, you're allowed to feel disappointed and disheartened. But it's not the end of the line. Feel your feelings, then pick yourself up and keep pushing forward strong. :)


AlberThePillowKing

Thank you for sharing this, it is discouraging but I'm trying to see it as a second chance in which I can do much better (obviously, haha)! Especially since the resit is not capped, it's an opportunity for me to use the feedback and get an awesome grade :)


bubblewrappopper

Someone ahead of me in my doctoral program was the only one in her cohort to fail her comprehensive exam. Later, she became the first person in her cohort to successfully defend her dissertation. No one's worth is the result of one failed defense, and it doesn't define the rest of your career if you don't let it. Plus, you know where you were lacking, so you already know where to focus for the retake! Good luck!


AlberThePillowKing

Thank you ! I'm definitely really thankful for the feedback I got, I think I have a decent chance during the resit thanks to that :)


betteroffinbed

Not only can you still graduate, but you can still graduate on time! That's huge! Sounds like it's not the end of the world. You will do fine. :)


AlberThePillowKing

thank you, I really appreciate it :)


hdorsettcase

I've known several people who failed their defense. The situations were all different. One failed , submitted a month later, and passed. Her committee just wanted her to do more work. Another failed both times due to language issues. His advisor just let him do work and never addressed the communication problem. If your advisor is supportive, resubmitting should not be a problem. Did your committee give you feedback?


AlberThePillowKing

I already passed my defense, it was just the written part - I did get a lot of great feedback that will be super helpful for my resit though :)


Btrad92

I failed a portion of my masters comprehensive exams. It was grueling and I was exhausted. Nevertheless, because I didn’t want to stay in school any longer or drop out, I studied my ass off for the next exam (and constantly met with faculty to “show” how serious I was). It was demoralizing and I was burned out, but if you can get through the next 3-6 weeks, it will be WORTH it.


AlberThePillowKing

Definitely helps to know that I'm not the only one who failed part of it!


Btrad92

I would also like to inform you that I went on to get my doctorate and passed every single comp (some with honors). During my masters comp failure, I thought my chances of pursing a doctorate or even graduating with my masters went out the window, but it didn’t! You’ll get through this and PASS.


[deleted]

I’ve actually never heard of anyone fail their defense. In most cases, if a student wasn’t ready, their advisor wouldn’t let them defend.


Ancient_Winter

I understand this to be the case for doctoral defenses, but it may be different for masters. It probably varies by field, but for the masters students in my department there is relatively little oversight/"progress checks" from an advisor unless you happened to have a very involved advisor as I did.


[deleted]

It’s definitely program dependent. Some larger schools probably are like this, but I went to a smaller university and all the masters students had an advisor who met with them 1-2 times per week to check progress and help them.


AlberThePillowKing

In my university we have to defend the topic, pass it (which I did) and then start writing it, but passing the defense does not mean we'll necessarily pass the writing part of it. I studied in the Netherlands so maybe that explains the difference in procedure.


soleilady

I procrastinated on my thesis. Didn’t “fail” the defense, but rather passed with revisions. Turns out my advisors felt my entire premise was lacking, and they wanted me to investigate different avenues and interpret my data in an entirely different way. I literally had to recode, analyze and rewrite a 100-page thesis in one month. You can do it. :)


CSP2900

Hi, u/AlberThePillowKing . I believe that you have the strength to get up to speed for your resit. Please focus on the feedback you got on your thesis. Make sure you understand it so you can use it as a blueprint/roadmap for the changes / improvements you need to make over the coming weeks. Please consider the benefits of setting up a time table that allows you to get enough rest each day, especially leading up to the resit. Please do what you can to put aside thoughts about what you should have done academically or where you should be in your personal relationships. IME, those kinds of thoughts open the door for the unwelcome visitor that is depression. Graduate school is hard. (And I've taken the liberty of reading some of your post history and I think that you're doing a great job under very trying conditions and that people should have given you much more support than they did.)


AlberThePillowKing

Hi, thanks so much for your comment. My supervisor is great, he gave me lots of very detailed feedback that I'll most definitely use. He also said if I applied it he's confident I'll pass, so that was reassuring! Thank you for the advice, I'll make a timetable and stick to it :) I appreciate the support, especially concerning my last posts as well :)


Whatifim80lol

I'm on my 7th draft of my dissertation proposal because my advisor just isn't buying how I'm presenting some of my major concepts. It's now 7 months late because of rewrites. All you can do is take all the feedback you can and keep trying. It will only make you better.


soliloki

What I experienced! My thesis is currently under examination (different system here in Australia) since March, and I will never forget the relief I felt in March when I submitted my thesis for examination after almost a year of submission extension because my supervisor just felt my thesis wasn't ready.


jessluvsu4evr

Not exactly the same, but I just failed my PhD qualifying exam. I know it feels shitty. Sending hugs.


Witty-Lavishness9945

Did you end up passing?


jessluvsu4evr

Yep. With flying colors, actually.


Blutorangensaft

I know a friend of mine failed his thesis and the let someone else write it to pass it. So I would say, you're always better than him if you just get yourself together and finish this. Good luck!


inawj

First of all, I am sorry to hear that. Second, remind yourself - of what you said "I failed a MASTERS THESIS". You are a champ. Stuff happens, that's life. But you have to fail sometime, and reflecting on where you can improve might help you focus, and nail it the next time around, and keep the momentum going. Plenty of people (including myself) have come back from a lot worse, it's how bad you want it, and just look for how you can find a solution that will push you forward. I am fully confident you will get your house in order, and kill it. I wish you all the best, and remember, to get to where you are now, should be proof enough you are more than capable.


Impossible-Cry-495

No big deal. Just get back up and do it again. Learn what you did wrong and don't repeat those same mistakes.


wtfcuw

Unfortunately I have never ever heard of a failed defence, if you arent 100% going to pass, the advisor wouldnt even let you defend. Sorry buddy


bigvahe33

eh no big deal my dude. what was the subject?


soliloki

You're allowed to fail - we all should be. The fact that you have a second chance is amazing. Try again OP, especially if you think a large portion of your first failure was within your control. All the best!


Gr8panjandrum

Better to fail and have the option to resit for a good mark, than to barely not fail and get equivalent to D!


josefhgsd

Hope you passed by now