Will I finally be done with my dissertation soon?

Desertgirl

Well-known member
I have been in dissertation hell for quite some time. My committee has made it very difficult for me to graduate, and nothing seems to please these people. It is very stressful for me as I keep thinking I'll be done soon, then I get the run-around from them. I ran this horary today.

Click this link to see it: https://dissertationpic.shutterfly.com/

I'm not sure where the significator for this question would be.
Any insight would be helpful.
 

heidy26

Well-known member
From my POV, this is a 9th house matter. And Mars is placed in the 8th of fear, in detriment.
Jupiter, your sig, is also in detriment.
Mercury, the ruler of 4th applies to Mars. But the square is prohibited by the aspect with Venus, which is also in detriment and disposited by Mars.
Mhm....doesn't seem to happen.
 

IleneK

Premium Member
I am inclined to agree with heidy's analysis and that it may not be soon.

The primary significators, you/Jup and the dissertation committee/Mars, are also averse by sign, being one sign apart. This is often described as not being able to see, or regard each other, with the two significators being side-by-side, so to say.

So there may be some not seeing eye to eye between you and your committee before you complete your dissertation.
 

Desertgirl

Well-known member
I'm curious...why is Jup my sig? Isn't it based on the AC ruler?
As for not seeing eye to eye, that's been the theme since day 1.
Thank you.
 

heidy26

Well-known member
Rising sign is Pisces. Jupiter rules Pisces. And it's in bad shape. So as the Dissertation, disposited by the ruler of the 8th. Even more, Jup is not as debiliated as Mars. At least he's in angular house. And I thank Ilene, i forgot to say about the sigs being averse.
If this was true since day one, it will be a long time from now on.
 

waybread

Well-known member
Speaking as a retired academic, I'm not sure how helpful it is to blame your committee for your delays, unless they've been really irresponsible (like sitting on your dissertation draft for months without reading it, which has been known to happen.) Their credibility is on the line, along with yours; and it doesn't help your supervisor's own career to have your graduation delay too long or fail.

I wonder, with Jupiter (you) in detriment in the 7th house of open enemies, whether you might actually be in an adversarial relationship with your committee. If so, see what you can do to improve this situation.

The moon shows your stake in the matter. It is void of the course, suggesting that you current situation is unlikely to change. What strikes me, though, is that it is in Taurus (fixed earth) in the third house of communication. Without even meaning to do so, do you think your committee might see you as stubbornly unwilling to make the corrections they've asked for?

I would strongly urge you to make appointments with your committee, and see if you can't communicate better with them about what they want. After all, these are the people (at least your supervisor) who will be writing your letters of recommendation in the near future.

Sadly, I saw a couple of cases in my career where the break-down of communication between the supervisor and grad student was so poor, that the supervisor washed her/his hands of the student, and simply let the student fail the oral defense. This happened when the supervisor felt that the student was truly unwilling to take direction.

Desertgirl, I hope I've been mistaken in this post! I may have judged your situation completely wrong. But if any of what I've written seems to fit, I hope you can try to see your dissertation progress from your professors' perspective.
 

Desertgirl

Well-known member
Way bread. Thank you for your feedback. My main problem with my committee is that the three members cannot seem to agree on anything. They each want me to do something completely different, then they argue about who is right. It's a bit strange to observe. One of them is completely unavailable and never gives me feedback on anything. I called him the invisible man. The other two do not respect each other at all. So I'm left in the middle of their issues. 😳
 

waybread

Well-known member
What does your supervisor say about the situation? Or is s/he one of problems? Ideally your supervisor has got your back. Is there any way you can accommodate both of the disputing members? Generally it is possible to replace a committee member with someone more helpful, although it's a touchy process. But without your doing something different, the situation seems stymied. I don't know what field you are in or even what country-- and each discipline is a bit different. But if your department or college (aka faculty in the Commonwealth) has a graduate studies advisor or associate dean (respectively) that person would be a good place to start in a quest for advice on how best to proceed if your supervisor is at a loss.
 
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