Hi Folks

In order to give myself an idea of the standard required, I have had the mad idea of reading old Theses - am not a student at the minute, so am not planning to copy!

Are most Theses published on line nowadays?  Is there a link which I could access to have a look at some?

My subject area would probably be the Social Sciences.

Angelette  8-)

Hi GivePraise

I think you should be very, very wary of giving up your employment.  For anyone over 50, getting a new job, after several years out of the job market is extremely difficult.

This, I think would be the situation, no matter how well qualified you were. In some cases, having a PhD can even be held against you, particularly if potential employers are less well qualified.

Angelette

Hi Snowdrop

I am in my fifties as well, and am investigating how to go about getting a PhD. For me, it's not to improve employment prospects, that's a bit unlikely now. It's rather for my own personal sense of achievement and satisfaction.

I will be self funding whenever I start, so serious frugality is essential from now on.

I think we 'more experienced' students could possibly be more relaxed than younger ones. We have only ourselves to please now!

As for what to wear when you are out and about - you wear what you like girl - but don't forget the safety helmet!

Angelette 8-)

Hi Folks

Does anyone have experience of financing themselves through a PhD, with no other funding. How difficult have they found it?

Angelette8-)

Hi Student 1234

Basicaly people shouldn't be allowed to eat at University, or any other library computers. It's very unhygenic.

Are there any notices up in the library pointing this out?

Angelette8-)

Hi Alisadixan

It might be wise to think about earning some money in the UK, whatever kind of PhD you decide on.

Translating or language teaching, working part time for a college or as a private tutor are obvious starting points. Language skills can be in short supply here.

Good luck

Angelette

Hi Marking

I could not comment about the actual University, but York has got to be one of the most beautiful cities in England to live in.

Angelette

Thanks for this folks.  It's as well to know what they may be thinking of next!

Angelette

Hi Hadi

Living in Chester is usually a lot less expensive than living somewhere like London.  Like any place, there are some expensive lodgings and some cheaper ones. You have to investigate before signing up for any rental contract.  The University probably has a list of approved landlords and landladys.

It's a lovely little city. It has usually been a busy one too, since the days of the Roman Empire!
There should be scope for part time work.  There are many pubs, hotels, bars etc. It is a major tourist city in the North West.  You just have to be flexible in the kinds of part time you can do. Also check out the wage rates.

Regards

Angelette  8-)

Hi Brutus

I'm afraid bragging is not confined to academia.  Plenty of it occurs in most workplaces/ sports clubs/ interest groups etc.

Try not to let it annoy you.  This person is probably annoying other people as well.  Just remember 'empty vessels make most sound'.

Angelette

Hi Folks

When I did my MSc - 20 years ago, there was just pass/fail, no other options. Now I understand there is pass/merit/distinction grading at Masters Level - for some universities anyway. I hear this trend may be going further, into the same grading as for first degrees, with firsts, 2.1, 2.2 etc available. Is this correct? If so, it's got to be an example of grading/mission creep!

Angelette 8-)

Hi Dancing

At the moment I am just considering the possibility of doing a PhD.

If I went ahead, my situation would be very similar to yours, so this topic has real resonance with me.

First I would contact the student advisory services at your university - can they shed any light?

Then compare what they say to what the Citizens Advice Bureau says.  CAB advice is not always accurate. They might not have encountered such a specialised situation before.  So you need to have a spread of advice if possible.

It's probably worth while checking out the general advice available from the Tax credit web sites as well.

Are you a member of a trade union - can they do any checking for you?

Best luck

Angelette8-)

Hi Folks

I've just seen an ad which read

'.....is one of only 21 accredited Doctoral training centres in the UK'

I had maybe naively believed that virtually every UK University offered PhDs. Is this not so?

Does anyone know which centres these 21 are?

Regards

Angelette8-)

Hi Folks

Are there any published ratios of applicants per PhD?

Here's my starter for ten,

Funded Science/Maths 8 applicants per vacancy
Unfunded 4 per vacancy

Funded Arts/Humanities/Social Sciences 12 applicants per vacancy
Unfunded 4 per vacancy

Does anyone have any hard information on whether this would be correct or not?

Regards

Angelette

8-)

Thanks for the replies folks. It's useful to know what is actually being advertised!

Regards

Angelette8-)