Thesis Writing Time

tntcoder · 27 May 2010 at 12:15

Hey,

I have to write approximately 70 pages for my masters thesis due in for September, im essentially free from now until then to work on it (free time f.t.w

). Assuming I have all the research/practical side done, how long should it take to write the main text including all the editing + final touches e.t.c?

I have just over 3 months from now to get it all done (including research), if I leave say, the final 3 weeks for writing it all up does that sound like enough for 65-70 pages? Or are you supposed to start the writing much earlier and develop it up slowly with regular supervisor involvement :confused:

Just trying to put together a rough time plan for the summer.

Thanks.

ntg · 27 May 2010 at 13:15

You will probably need to send your supervisor a chapter for comments/advice. That means you will have to prepare something long in advance before you finish - i.e. write as you study.

It's going to be easier that way anyway.

As for the sample to send to your professor I would suggest the introduction and the conclusion - that is where you get a good or bad grade from anyway.

semi-pro waster · 27 May 2010 at 13:52

I've not done a masters myself but I'd suggest starting writing what you can fairly early on to make full use of the supervisor that you have been assigned so send them work regularly and get their comments/criticism to improve from. If nothing else it will confirm to you that you are on the right track.

manic_man · 27 May 2010 at 14:26

I wrote my masters thesis in a fairly leisurely fashion in about 4 months.

Having said that it ended up at around 160 pages (80 pages of actual content though).

With 3 months I would start in earnest now if I was you, just because you have the content doesn't mean putting it together in a cohesive and readable fashion isn't still difficult!

J.B · 27 May 2010 at 14:29

Hey tntcoder, quick question mate, what masters are you doing?

I'm thinking of doing Information Security at Royal Holloway and I know you know your stuff from server and ents and networking sub forums so assume you're doing something similiar?

Crixus00 · 27 May 2010 at 15:41

I think this depends on how well you can apply yourself when you get to work.

tntcoder · 27 May 2010 at 17:10

Thanks a lot guys, sounds like it's worth putting the effort in fairly early on and writing it as I go along then as opposed to doing it in one big student-style chunk at the end

Busy summer it is then

J.B said:
Hey tntcoder, quick question mate, what masters are you doing?

I'm thinking of doing Information Security at Royal Holloway and I know you know your stuff from server and ents and networking sub forums so assume you're doing something similiar?

I'm doing Information Security at UCL, I had to pick between offers from UCL and Royal Holloway. If you want the better course then Royal Holloway is very well established content wise, but if you want the one that looks better on your CV from a top rated uni then it's UCL whom have a slightly weaker course but top notch reputation. Feel free to msn me if you wanna discuss it further, I know it's not an easy decision to make!