<p>On Friday I successfully defended my master's thesis but was told I had a lot of work to do before I could submit my thesis to the graduate school. </p>
<p>I was told by one of my three committee members that I was a horrible writer and my defendable draft of my thesis looked like it was the first of 4-5 full drafts of a submittable thesis. My thesis advisor told me that my thesis was 99% of the way there when I submitted it to my committee, so I believed that I had done a good job and was told I didn't need to prepare much for my defense (it was supposed to be 'fun' he said...but he has told me many half-truths in the past) and that it would just be minor revisions from then on out.</p>
<p>I was told by committee members (not my thesis advisor) that the structure of my thesis was way off and very confusing to a reader that didn't know the background to my area and needed a major overhauling and rewrite before I could submit it back to my committee members for final approval. </p>
<p>Two weeks from now, I start my PhD program and will not have very much time to work on my revisions once classes start and I'm responsible for teaching, attending classes, and research. So I'm trying to honor as many of my committee's suggestions before class starts. </p>
<p>There are two problems I can see right now...</p>
<p>1) One of my three committee members is sending her marked up copy of my thesis to my advisor for me (she was 'at' my defense via telaconference across the country). Well, I just moved half-way across the country and it will take probably a week or more before I receive her copy (I do have the notes I took during my defense as to her major suggestions though).</p>
<p>2) In the graduate handbook it states:</p>
<p>"After passing the Final Oral Defense, the thesis/dissertation should be printed in final form (unless it already is). The Major Advisor is responsible for verifying that changes required by the committee have been made. The approved Final Copy is then registered with the Graduate School. A copy of the abstract and title page must be submitted to the Secretary for the student's departmental file. In order for the student's thesis/dissertation information to be included in the GeoRef Information System of the American Geological Institute, the number of pages/introductory pages, plates, references, and the number, type, and scale of fold-out maps must also be submitted to the Secretary."</p>
<p>This preceeding statement implies to me that since I passed my defense, my committee members do not need to see my thesis again before I submit it to the graduate school, only my thesis advisor needs to approve. However, I was told by my committee that they all needed to see it again before it was submitted. I am worried that once I make my corrections, they will find X-number of other problems making this a never-ending process delaying my graduation and taking from my studies for my PhD.</p>
<p>The main reason I'm worried about never-ending revisions is due to one of my committee members who even wrote on my thesis: "thesis is not in shape for 'final polish'".</p>
<p>Has anyone here completed a thesis-based MS/MA program and dealt with a similar issue? If so, how have you approached it and do you have any advice for me?</p>
<p>I'm sorry this post is a little disjointed. I'm still upset from my poor defense.</p>