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I was always advised that even if they don't read it, it's a good thing to have attached to a CV as you can get more of an idea about people than just a CV. And always write covering letters! Certainly if you are sending a generic CV; I found with my PhD covering letter it was basically a really short summary of my research achievements, and what I could skills I could already bring to the group and then said something like "It would be an amazing opportunity for me to start my career at XYZ University allowing me to take my first footsteps into world of research" basically something to show that you have taken the time to change your covering letter!

I don't know whether they still do, but the student room website offer a free service by "PS helpers"- basically students who have gained the respect on the student room (and have the time...) to look through personal statements. Might be worth just looking to see whether they still do it!

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so I'm sending an academic CV I have drafted (which needs a few more corrections) :-) and I've written a tailored cover letter for this particular phd because I feel I need to go into detail and mention papers I've read (cause I did my dissertation on something very very similar) so they know I know the topic. Initially it was 2 pages long so I cut it down to 1. Too short? What's the max length? I was thinking 2 pages?

My problem usually is that I get so excited about the topic that it all gets too much in my head and I don't know what to say :$



I'll look into that. Thanks for the tip and all the advice. I'll keep you all posted!!

The PhD I'm applying for has listed 2 supervisors on the advert, the main supervisor and 2nd supervisor. After contact with the main supervisor I found out that my application will be examined by a committee. My question is this, who should I address my cover letter to?? Cause I need to know who I'm addressing it to in order to set the tone for it. Any suggestions?

What about "Dear Prof. X and colleagues..."

I'm in the same boat too unfortunately looking into forensic anthropology and archaeology with the difference being that I want to go straight into a PhD after my undergrad. I too cannot afford a MSc :-( . From speaking to various potential supervisors it seems as if they are not interested unless you have an MSc under your belt whatever your grades which I'm assuming is due to the enormous competition. I have been advised to get as much work experience and, if possible, try joining any relevant societies. I probably won't be much help but nice to know I'm not the only one! Best of luck!

You are certainly not alone. From my class nobody has gotten a job in a relevant field. A couple of them went to do a masters at the same university i graduated which included exactly the same topics we did on our final year. I chose to keep looking and work a bit simply cause I can't afford it. I think we should try to motivate each other to apply cause the process is loooooooooooooong and exhausting!!!

I have managed to get a 4 year BBSRC PhD straight from BSc. It is possible, one of the reasons I think I was successful in getting a PhD straight from UG in that I have 1) Attended Conference 2)Presented a poster and won a poster prize 3)Already have a publication under my belt.

I have since found out that at the interview for the PhD I got offered, I was the only UG student being interviewed and that I was a "Wild Card" interviewee. After speaking to a few supervisors, it is in a supervisors interest to get younger students who could potentially go onto bigger things in their careers, which helps their's as they helped you get there. I was interviewed by NIMR and they make all their applicants sit in a hall until their interview and it's amazing how many people are after PhDs with varying amounts of experience.

I think the key is to stand out against other students that have applied. I.e. Masters in a different country, Nuffield funding, etc

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Well Elmo I got nothing like that :-( and not because i didn't want to or i couldn't but because as I mentioned in a different post my supervisor was utterly horrible to me. He made me pay (out of 10 students doing similar projects) about £100 cash to cover supplies in the lab!! In the end he even refused to give me references! All of it because he was favouring a different student over the rest of us, who was American and he was trying to fulfill his own personal ambition of expanding his career in America. On top of that he hardly bothered to stress the importance of sterile conditions in a lab and 2 of his other students, who failed their exams in the end, contaminated all my samples and after a year and a half of research I had no results to present! And P.S.: my own supervisor could hardly speak proper english!

I have been extremely unlucky with supervisors and that's why I've been so hesitant in applying for postgrads. Plus, I've studied at 2 different universities and what i learnt was that lecturers couldn't care less most of the time. A good example of that is when I was considering of applying for a masters at my last university. There was only one lecturer i could speak to about it and he wouldn't bother to reply to my e-mails. I had to practically "stalk" him to get 10 mins which were reduced to 5 cause people just kept coming in. I didn't do that masters of course cause what could that supervisor have possibly have to offer to me when he can't have 10 mins to discuss the degree.

Apologies for the venting but i've been frustrated about this since my dissertation. The guy has scarred me for life! I don't apply for phds cause I'm worried I'm gonna end up with a guy like him again.

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--spam--

I really feel for you, I haven't had a lot of luck with lecturers either unfortunately (one supervisor off in the US and another going on maternity leave!) and have mainly been brushed off by those I have contacted to show an interest which is so disheartening. I have been warned against taking a MSc that is too closely related to my degree due to massive overlaps in content.
I went on placement to get work experience but, due to the lack of my research involvement it hasn't helped me as such. Same story where student gets stuck with the rubbish jobs unfortunately so wasn't as valuable as I hoped. The students that didn't go on placement, none have gone into relevant jobs to my knowledge.
I have basically just taken my own initiative and used as much of my spare time to research into possible places for volunteering/work experience/summer projects/weekend projects anything really and e-mailing anyone and everyone!
At the minute doesn't seem to be the best time for contacting lecturers since most seem to go on absurdly long holidays so I'm mostly getting out of office replies but I haven't given up yet!

Also look out for potential employers that may fund you part-time. I didn't know this was available until I went on placement where I discovered the company funded students through BSc, MSc and PhDs. Unfortunately its not related to what I want to do otherwise I might have thought about going back!

Hope you are having more luck :)

Just a little update.. It's the 20th today and the interviews for the Cambridge PhD are on the 26th and I haven't heard anything so I'm assuming that's a no. Thanks for your help with this application. I'm looking around for something else but I'm losing hope.:-(

Sorry to hear that! But don't let it get you down, as said most people apply for loads of PhD's before getting one, I applied for about five and only got one interview even though I had relevant work experience and the needed qualifications. If it's what you really want keep trying!

Perhaps you could consider sending in your own research proposal to potential supervisors to start next year? Although I had a friend who did this and even though she had the grades and the supervisor was keen he told her she had to get an MSc to get considered for funding... it's a tough world out there just now! She did get the funding in the end though (in fact she got to choose from two funding types!) so there is hope!

Or perhaps consider a part-time masters where you can work along side it to pay it? That's what I ended up doing as I couldn't afford a straight off masters, although it has taken me longer than I'd hoped it all worked out in the end.

Hope you have some luck soon!

Caro

Thanks for the support Caro. I have already considered the part-time Masters option but unfortunately I live in a town with 2 universities and another 3 in towns nearby and neither of them has anything relevant for me!! It just shows that universities focus on "what's in fashion" rather than good old science, which means I would have to move to a new town to do that (which is an idea I'm still exploring).

I'm turnign 30 in a couple of days and I feel like I missed the boat when I think of how many students are out there with same or better qualifications than me and younger! (I'm not even sure if that plays any role but it's just depressing).

I'm still looking for any relevant topics but there's not much of what i know how to do around but we'll see how it goes.


thank you all for the support and the sharing.

If it helps my part-time PhD was at a uni technically 300 miles away, I only had to go there for 8 weekends a year to get taught courses and the rest was at home. I think it was quite topic-specific but perhaps there is a Universitiy offering distance courses in your topic?

You're talking as if 30 is old, it's not! I'm closer to 30 than 20 and I so will technically be a 'mature' student. I think most supervisors prefer students that are more mature as they know they will actually have some life experience and know how to work hard! Reading this forum people have done their PhD's at all ages, and I know science PhD students tend to be younger but I think that is just because there are a lack of mature students in science!

And remember you don't need to be an expert in the PhD topic before you start it, you just need an interest and some enthusiasm. You'll become an expert later!

=)