Oh my God Pamplemousse - where are you based? I'm so jealous...xx

Hi Lighthouse,

Well, having an MSc from IOP will definitely go in your favour I would say! I'm at ICN/ UCL.

I think that if you really want to do it, and are genuinely interested, then this will shine through!

Best of luck :-)

Okay, well, if you want to apply for funding, its definitely too late for this year's intake, so you would be looking at a Sept' 2010 start. I happen to know that IOP have already had their interviews and offered their places.

Even if you wanted to start this year, you might be pushing it. I don't want to dishearten you too much, but the truth of the matter is that the exam grades that you have aren't brilliant and leaving it this late doesn't look good. You have to remember that competition for places such as the IOP are extremely tough, and standards are very high.

With regards to contacting potential supervisors, I recommend that you read their work first. They are very busy and do not entertain people who do not know what they're talking about. I happened to be in the room just before Christmas when my supervisor (who is partially based at the IOP) received an email from a prospective student. She laughed at the lateness of it.

So, now, with all of this in mind, I recommend that you do some research now, and find out what really lights your fire. Then, I'd contact potential supervisors for a possible 2010 PhD. This way you'll look keen and organised, as opposed to giving out the vibe that "you couldn't think of anything better to do". I don't mean this is how you are, but this is how it will come across to them (the academic ego is a sensitive thing - treat it with care :-)).

Finally, I would spend this year getting some RA work in order to show that you are keen and enthusiastic about your subject (I know you have a masters and I really don't mean this in a mean way, but your grades aren't impressive, and they're going to want to see a hell of a lot more to convince them). Good references will go a long way too.

Out of interest, where are your BSc and MSc from?

B.xx

Okay, do you need funding?

Hi guys, am having a mini-melt down...

By next Friday I need to have a new experiment programmed, the first chapter written and 25 essays marked.

I just don't know how I'm going to get it all done.

The programme needs to be done for Evil-Supivisor (so no negotiation there), chapter for Nice-Supervisor (deadline set a few weeks ago, so I really should do it. Its been slow coming as I'm having to read and incorporate a lot of brand new material from a slightly different field). Absolutely no choice with the marking. Has to be done next Friday. Supervisors will not be sympathetic to the marking situation, as they don't seem to understand that students have to do this in order to earn extra money to live (they begrudgingly allowed me to become a demonstrator, on the understanding that marking was to be done "in my own time". I haven't even told them that I'm a Seminar Leader in addition :-()

Am feeling very stressed. Just don't know how I'm going to get it all done, along with other tasks that have to be done.

Heeeeeeellpppp!!!!!

Hi there,

I'm doing a PhD in Psychology

Well, first question is when would you want to start?

Have you identified potential supervisors already, or potential institutions?

B.xx

I think its the credit crunch..."hey, shall we go out tonight?" "No, let's stay in and do something free..."

:-)

======= Date Modified 25 Feb 2009 11:08:47 =======
Sorry, I don't mean it as if to say I wish that I was off doing what people at school were doing and wishing my own life away - I am happy with my choice (well, depends on what day you ask me :-)), but I guess it just seems at times that I'm a little "stuck behind". It just seems odd that there are so many people who all of a sudden have jobs, houses and foetuses!



B.xx

My word - I actually don't think I know of any girls I went to school with you aren't bloody married and pregnant!

I feel slightly ridiculous still being a student. Sigh.

Why am I doing this?

PhDBug - I don't mean to sound rude, but I think you might be a little more qualified to answer this when you are further into your PhD.

I think its fairly standard practice to aim for an early completion, because nearly everyone finds that it takes longer than you expect. So, if you aim for 2.5 years, you might be done in three...

======= Date Modified 13 33 2009 16:33:40 =======
Hi chaps, I wonder if anyone can help me?!
I agreed to become a 2nd year Seminar leader as they were getting a bit desperate - I was told that it just involved leading a one hour seminar per week and marking 3 essays per student (there are 9 students) per term. This all sounded fine. However, what I didn't realise til today was that how you spend the seminar is completely up to you (though they have suggested that the students might like a lesson on essay writing, exam essay writing and presentations skills). I think I assumed that there would be a list of things to complete and the materials with which to do it (clearly, this was naive). I have NO teaching experience, and I thought the seminars would be structured. I'm completely bricking it as I have no idea what to do! Also, I don't feel I could "teach" someone how to write an essay - I mean, I can mark them, but I don't know if I could actually take a group through writing one!

Does anyone else have to plan their own seminars?

Oh, I feel very sad at this prospect
:-(

Yup. It gets easier. You'll find that you'll get quicker the more you read papers generally, and if you're reading papers on a particular topic, you'll become quicker reading more on the same topic. You'll soon find that you can pick out the relevant information with out reading too closely, and the more you learn about a topic area the easier it will become to be critical with the work you read. Its normal to feel snowed under with it, but my advice is to read, read and read (boring, I know, but it really is the only way). If you are working in a particular field, I would recommend writing a short paragraph summary of each paper you read (with aims, what was done and to whom, and what the outcome and conclusions were). Its invaluble when you come back to writing, and saves you digging out the original papers in the first instance (saves you scanning irrelevant papers again!).

Is your MSc Psychology based (I'm in Psych)?

Good luck.

Argh!!!! I'm so nervous I feel sick! Argh argh arghhhhh!!!!

Oh well done! Mine's next friday, I have a feeling I'm going to collapse and die before the title slide :-(

I've been writing a paper that is now going to comprise my upgrading report for months. I've had it back AGAIN from my supervisor who says that its not structured in the way that she thinks make sense. Problem is, I've been doing it for so long, and I've re-written it so many times, that I just don't know what she wants. I obviously am just not capable of writing up this literature in a cohearent way. I've just had enough. I want to quit. I don't know how much more of it I can take. I've asked her to explain what she means, but everytime she tells me, I make the modifications, but its still not right. I'm at the end of my teather. I don't know what to do any more.