It appears my last message was too long!

To finish my section on when to apply for an MSc. I was saying that I was offered a place 2 days after my interview and 9 days after I finished my BSc so things can happen really quickly.

I hope this helps! I think there are many different routes to follow after graduating from Psychology and it is not always clear what one we want/need to follow. I know after I finished my BSc I was interested in the DClinPsy so was also building up my clinical experience. I even completed a year in the NHS between my MSc and PhD which included a clinical PG (Cert) so you never know what lies ahead :-)

Hello Llacerta,

I'm currently a second year PhD student in Psychology and I was having the same thinking as you a few years back. I'll try my best to answer your questions under different headings so it is as clear as possible.

Academic

In our department we have one PhD student who went from BSc to PhD and coped with the transition very well. She did study her BSc at the same University and that appears to be in line with what others have said. I know at our University, the guidelines are very strict. Even if you have an MSc in a related field or within Psychology/Research Methods from a different University you must complete two Postgraduate Statistics modules. This is to ensure skills in Statistics meet University requirements. I was very fortunate as I studied my MSc at the same University so did not need to complete these modules. It was tough for other students in my year to complete both of these alongside the full time commitments of the PhD. It is worth checking with Universities you apply to whether they have a similar system in place.

As for entry requirements, I know many funded PhD studentships I looked at require an MSc. There are also some courses that require the MSc with Merit or Distinction. I know at my University, if you do not have a 1st at UG then you must have a 2.1 with a minimum of a good Merit in the MSc. I'm self funding my PhD as I wanted to work part time alongside it to improve career prospects and my MSc is in Developmental Psychopathology. Luckily, this MSc included 4 modules in Research Methods and 2 modules in Statistics so I met the research requirements. I believe most people have a MSc in Research Methods when applying for funded PhD studentships.

Funding for PhD

I have found this works in two ways. The first is that you apply for a funded studentship with a set supervisor on a set project that has been awarded a research grant. These are often advertised on jobs.ac.uk. The second is approaching a supervisor (or sometimes they approach you) with a research idea, applying for funding with a research council (normally ESRC for Psychology) and seeing of you are awarded a studentship. Both of these methods are very competitive but then what isn't these days! I have applied in both of these different methods. The first I came second place for the award which was very upsetting at the time but I didn't want to study full time anyway. The second method was with the ESRC, you get points awarded to you for your background, supervisors background and scientific merit of the proposal. Each of these are awarded a grade from A+ to E-. We achieved an A- in all three categories, however due to limited research funding, only the A+ (and not even all of them!) candidates received funding.

Funding for MSc

There are many graduate loans or career development loans that can be applied for now with local banks. If you are certain you want to apply for a PhD after the MSc, you can always look into ESRC 1+3 funding. This will cover both your MSc and PhD funding. I studied for my MSc full time and worked part time at the weekends which was doable. I did take a loan out and I have paid around 40% off in the last 2 1/2 years. If you really want to do the qualifications and progress in your career, then this is certainly one way to do it.

When to apply - PhD

All funding bodies have different deadlines, I applied for MRC/ESRC studentship that had a deadline of December (starting in the October), ESRC had a deadline of April and open competition was around June. Specific studentships open appear soon after award dates so it is worth knowing when those are.

When to apply - MSc

I applied for two MSc courses during my final year of my BSc. I believe one had a deadline of March and the other accepted applications until the August so it does differ quite a bit. I applied to one MSc in the April and had an interview within the month. I was sent my offer letter within 2 days of the intervi

Hello Pjlu,

Thank you ever so much for your reply. From reading your post, I really do need to shift my mindset and focus on 'becoming an independent researcher'. I think part of my problem is that I have been in education since the age of 4 (coming up to 26 now) with no true break from it so I am *very* focused on receiving feedback/a grade as I have done on many of the occasions before. I was warned by a very close friend that this is not something that happens on the PhD (I.e. given a grade) which did prepare me a little. Even before I started the PhD, I completed a PG (Cert) alongside full time work in the NHS and this was 2 weeks after submitting my MSc dissertation so I haven't had too much time for reflection (which I feel is very much needed at the moment).

I see your point about publications. I have had 2 conference presentations so far with a third in the Summer. Then I'll be working towards writing up my work for journal publication. I do see this as something to work towards and something to strive for. My supervisors are very keen to get a journal publication for me as well. I know or at least think I know, this is something I really need for when I finish the PhD and wish to get a lecturer post. My part time job is a course tutor on a postgraduate course at the University which I have been doing for 14 months so far and thus allows me to teach, prepare workshops, marking, interviewing, and work on handbooks/timetables. I am very lucky to have this opportunity as I hope it will help me acquire a post post-PhD. Anyway, back to publications, I see this as something that will act as affirmation for me, even if individuals in academia are the only ones to see or value it.

Taking criticism is something I'm really working on. I could and can always take it when it is a general piece of work, however find it hard not to take comments too much to heart when it's all my own work in the PhD. I am never defensive about it but sometimes take comments too much to heart when I really shouldn't.

Yes, I do believe in my work for the most part and am really working on how I explain it to others. I am apparently OK at doing this but often forget that sometimes I need to give more detail on certain things as people won't know the whole picture as they haven't been reading into it as much as I have.

The reward system does sound good! I think all too often I complete something, totally devalue that and then work on the next thing on the to do list. I am currently taking a week off from the PhD as I believe we can take up to 4 weeks a year off and I haven't taken any time off since January (I have from work!). This is really helping me to evaluate things and what I want from the PhD. On the whole, I am really enjoying it and am making progress. Sometimes I can see through the perfectionism and actually value what I am doing. After all, my parents or family have never been pushy and it is for myself that I have done these various qualifications.

Yes, that is very true! Having perfectionist tendencies or standards does help when it comes to certain tasks in the PhD. I have found I really enjoy writing up and seeing how that comes together when you invest a good amount of time and precision into it. I do not have a perfect writing style, however this is something I see as a challenge to better and work hard on.

Thank you again for your response - it really has given me a few things to think about and reflection on.

Hello all,

This is an odd topic to post about, however it's something that has been affecting me over the past few months. I'm a second year part-time PhD student and started Jan 2011. I have almost always met deadlines, worked as hard as I could and often get good to very good feedback. I normally get things right by the second draft which I know is very fortunate. There are of course times when my feedback is mediocre and that gives me a push to better my work! I have recently completed a presentation on my research and received very good feedback from the audience. The Head of PhD also gave good feedback with suggestions on where I can improve my performance. I guess my point is, I'm doing well and get on with my supervisors (only VERY rarely receive a snide comment), yet feel very bad about any or all corrections that I get back. I know this is a large part of the PhD and I do not think I'm perfect, yet perfectionism seems to distort my view a lot. I really beat myself up, even if things are very good, I want people to say excellent. I think striving to be better is good, however this mind set isn't!

I have always been a student who HAD to have a set grade e.g. This performance is an A or a B etc to tell myself I am doing well. I am finding it almost impossible to see how well or not well I am doing for the PhD. I have received positive comments from my supervisors and am on track with my PhD plan. I set myself daily, weekly and monthly plans so I know what work has to be done and when it has to be done by. Currently, I have submitted two large pieces of work so am waiting for them to be returned. I feel very guilty or think I am not trying my best if I have any down time due to this.

I also work part time in a very busy institute with a perfectionist manager. I know how well I am doing by her feedback and I think I'm trying to find the same in my PhD!

I understand this post raises very little cause for concern and I feel bad even posting it as some individuals seem to have a real cause for posting a message like this. I guess I just need some advice on how to manage this as I very rarely see other PhD students due to work and testing off-site a lot!

I need to be able to accept this process I guess?

I have just found out I was unsuccessful and have requested my individual marks. Good luck to everyone else!

:-( I am starting to lose the will in checking my emails now...

Sorry to hear that no one else has heard today either...

Good luck for today everyone! Has no one heard yet?

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Thanks for your post Stressed - has cheered me up about it all. Good luck for tomorrow everyone! Looks like it shall be Wednesday for me now.