This case study shows how three Master’s students engage affectively, behaviourally and cognitively with supervisor feedback on thesis drafts. The data sources are students’ drafts, supervisor’s oral and written feedback, and student interviews. Six themes of student engagement are identified in the data, namely (1) gaining reassurance from the supervisor’s compliments, (2) trusting the supervisor’s feedback due to his position of authority, (3) following the supervisor’s advice selectively, (4) engaging with academia by incorporating more citations, (5) not fully understanding the feedback and (6) ‘letting it go and moving on’.