... power steering and airbags? Am I just going to be treated like a child and have to rely on the credentials of parents for another 3 years? Will I only be a fully-fledged and respected member of society once I convince a panel of academics that my research is of a high quality, and finally shake off the burden that is 'being in full-time education'? Are there ways around this, or do I just have to accept that this is how it's going to be, and my dreams of truly being an independent and financially acceptable person further off than I thought?

Thanks for listening, if you managed to stay with me to the end haha!

As a lowly undergraduate, getting by on £5,000 per year amassed from student loans and bursaries, driving a 1990s bucket of a car, and living within the increasingly frustrating parental household, the prospect of a PhD sounded great, particularly the financial side.

Suddenly, I'd no longer be getting by on far, far less than you'd get working minimum wage in ASDA - I'd be getting a tax-free stipend of almost £14,000, with the opportunity to earn an extra few thousand through teaching and tutoring. I would finally move out of the parental home, become truly independent, and maybe even get a better car. I knew I wouldn't be going into a graduate job like some of my fellow classmates, but I didn't think life would be much different for us financially, since the tax-free stipend, with no council tax, and additional earnings would probably bring myself and my graduate-job-classmates into the same playing field where 'take-home income' was concerned.

However, with just a month to go before I actually start my PhD, I'm beginning to think that this initial excitement may have been more than a little naive.

I've moved out alright, and now pay rent in my own flat. But I had to get a guarantor to secure the lease. This week my old bucket of a car finally caved in and failed it's MOT, and is now on the way to the scrapyard. But I enthusiastically found a decent car and attempted to secure finance for it... only to find that I was rejected by every single company, and my only hope would be to find somebody else to put their name down for the finances (like a parent).

I just don't want to do that though. Clearly, it's not that the finance company feels that I'm unable to afford the car, because even with the repayments I'd still have more disposable income than most people. I have a spotless credit history, having never missed a payment in the past few years of paying phone bills, internet bills, car insurance and, more recently, credit cards.

So I went about looking for personal loans, and it turns out that if you're a student and don't own your own home, then you have absolutely no chance of securing one.

It's quite depressing. I thought I would be an independent person, finally a fully-fledged adult capable of dealing with his own finances without having to rely on the credentials of parents. I thought I'd be on a level playing field with classmates going into graduate jobs, and I thought the world would finally take me seriously. But no, I'm still being treated as a wreckless child where finance companies are concerned.

I just find it absurd that after all my hard work up until this point, I'm nowhere near reaping the social/financial benefits from it. It feels like the carrot, which just a few weeks ago seemed to be relatively close, has actually just been placed on a much longer stick.

So I guess I'm just here to ask you guys... is this what it's going to be like for another 3 years? Am I never going to be able to secure a car with power steerin

Generally with any Doctorate, career progression and starting point is improved vastly in the Engineering sector. This is at least the case for PhD, so I'd imagine it would be the case too for the EndD (if not moreso than the PhD, since it tends to be more professionally relevant).

I have been informed by prospective supervisor that gaining a doctorate will do more for you than entering industry as a graduate and going through 3-4 years of promotion. i.e. imagine you and one of your peers were at the same point, one of you goes for the EngD, and the other goes straight into a graduate role. Later, once the EngD is completed, the person who gained the doctorate joins the same firm. Usually, they'll start at a higher position than the person who has been there 3 years since graduation, on a higher salary, and usually with faster career progression.

In engineering, a PhD counts for around 1.5 years experience towards 'chartered' status, and I'd imagine at least the same (again, if not more) applies to the EngD. You certainly won't be back to graduate roles, at least, not at the same levels as people leaving with undergraduate Bachelors/Masters.

None of this, however, is from personal experience. This is the information I got from prospective supervisors I spoke with when I was sorting out my doctorate.

Hello, all!

Just registered for the forum, so thought I best pop in and say hello.

I just graduated in June this year with a first class B.Eng in Aeronautical, and begin a PhD in October in Space Systems Engineering. Looking forward to it, and will probably be popping into this forum throughout the duration of it!

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GSM