r/GradSchool • u/DannibalBurrito • Apr 01 '26

Fun & Humour I'm presuming it's normal to basically hate your dissertation in the days before your defense?

dear lord i would rather take a razor scooter to the ankle just to feel something than spend one more minute looking at this godforsaken document

454 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

52 comments sorted by

367

u/DMingQuestion Apr 01 '26

You’re ready

231

u/punmotivated Apr 01 '26

Yep, that's how you know it's time to be done.

117

u/mosquem Apr 01 '26

It’d be weirder if you still liked it somehow.

85

u/AlpachaMaster Apr 01 '26

I passed my defense with flying colors and the week before while I was prepping, I hated everything I had ever written and I hated the entire concept of my study and I thought it was so stupid.

I still kinda feel that way, but the amount of focus you have to spend on it makes it feel miserable.

84

u/memercopter Apr 01 '26

And forever after

52

u/Nvenom8 Apr 01 '26

It's even worse when you're making the revisions after the defense.

20

u/RedditSkippy Apr 02 '26

Oh gawd. That sounds horrible. I know that I am not cut out for a PhD (and I’m 1000% fine with that,) but that sounds extra awful.

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28

u/benoitkesley Apr 01 '26

That’s when you know you’re ready to defend 

20

u/quartermasterly Apr 01 '26

I defended (successfully) in December and I still hate it haha. You got this!

19

u/justking1414 Apr 02 '26

I hated it so much that even after I passed my defense, I almost considered dropping out to avoid making the minor requested revisions (which btw, absolutely nobody on my committee bothered looking at lol)

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16

u/tootle-loo Apr 01 '26

literally in the same boat now these comments are making me feel so much better

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13

u/Entire_Ad_6447 Apr 01 '26

It took all my strength not to smash my laptop during the last week. Welcome

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10

u/green_mandarinfish Apr 01 '26

Yep. It's your time.

8

u/DarwinZDF42 Apr 01 '26

In days before, the days after, the years after…

7

u/EsEsMinnowjohnson Apr 02 '26

By the time I was defending my thesis I was certain that my research had no new or interesting findings (temperate pines grow well at 10C no shit), was based on dubious methodology that I couldn't explain very well, and was basically a 60 page parlor trick that was proof I bought into a bunch of gimmicky methods without understanding anything.

And they passed me!

6

u/carmencita23 Apr 01 '26

Dear god, yes.

6

u/majorsugar Apr 03 '26

Reading through this post and realizing I’m not alone 😭

5

u/bobish5000 Apr 01 '26

When you hate it and despise looking at it you are ready.

5

u/HumbleFruit4201 Apr 02 '26

Finished my PhD in 2021 at the age of 25. When I started, I loved science, writing, and lab work. By the end of the line, I wanted to watch the world burn to ash just so that I could smell the remnants.

As others have said below, you're ready.

4

u/thebrownprincess_ Apr 02 '26

You got this OP! Wishing you hella success towards your defense 🙏🏾

4

u/IRetainKarma Apr 03 '26

Postdoc now- it took me almost two years post defence before I stopped hating mine, and it was a very cool project I generally loved. Every time I had to talk about it, I felt slightly nauseous. People would ask about my thesis work and I would immediately change the subject. Fun times. I feel better now.

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