Its your BSc/Masters that they will look at especially your dissertation. NOT A-LEVELS

Does it then mean that non EU citizens have no reasonable chances of funding?

If you think that's bad, what do you do when you start the PhD and the supervisors become even lazier? I'm ecperiencing this and it's no joke. If things don't change, what do you do, start kicking arse or start looking for another PhD? And how does the latter reflect on us 'victims of laziness'?

At last! A proper/interesting discussion on this message board.

Most of us maight have been through such experiences. So please share your experiences with us so that we may find some remedy to this (hopefully someday) sort of nonchalant attitude by our prospective supervisors.

I am doing MSc as well aft getting 2ii n work for 3 years. I managed to get a phD post but trying very hard to get scholarship. Guess that is the difficult part.

My guess is that supervisors will take your whole application as a package. A-levels are just one part of your profile and so the rest may just have to be that little bit better to compensate.

The best advice given to you here is to contact the individual Admissions Staff as to how much weighting they give A-levels. No doubt it varies considerably.

As a new immigrant I wish to do PhD immidiately while I arrive in canada. Is there any systematic way for applying for funding?

As far as funding goes (i can only comment on the US), you would usually be a TA (teachers assisstant) which pays really well (~$1000 a month) but is a lot of work. Get a good group and the money will be there though

Hello mate, i did my placment year in the US and felt hat i would want to go back to do my PhD there. Although i could have gone back to the same place with 'funding' there are a number of things to consider. In the US for example, you MUST do a MSc first (2 years!!) before your PhD (5 years!!) - thats 7 years

Yeh that is exactly the situation that i am in with one uni (mention no names!). Its like they want me there, but wont commit to it just yet, but, at the same time, they dont really want me to go anywhere else. What is the answer though i ask? do you badger them until they give you a straight answer? or do you just sit tight and wait? lets get some proper discussion on this board, rather than the same old messages from students who cant be bothered to do their own research

Its high time our prospective supervisors learnt some punctuality. I had attended an interview regarding a Ph.D. position in November2002, and that kind person at the other end responed yesterday giving me a lame excuse saying that he was out of station attending a conference. Agreed that he was out of station , but was he at such a remote corner of the world that he could not even mail me? What irritates me is that they try to keep us on tanterhooks, giving optimistic sounding noncommital replies while we eagerly wait for some sort of communication from their side.

I'm currently doing my year in industry and should graduate in 2004 at Swansea University, Wales. I plan to do a PhD but would like to do it abroad. I was wondering when and where I should apply for funding. I would also like to know more about applying for a PhD abroad, where would I get this info from?
Lastly, is there more competition for applying for a PhD internationally?

I am just interested in peoples experiences with this. I dont know about you lot, but i get a little annoyed when certain supervisosrs (i.e. prospective PhD ones) get very lazy with replying to e mails. I am currently in 'talks' with a number of people at a variety of institutions, and i have a real chance in one. However, some are so casual about stuff that if it was up to them, they wouldnt offer you a place until two weeks before it, where as i wanna know a little befeore that if possible!! who agrees?

This should't matter. However, it will depend on the competition for the Ph.D you are applying for. My 2:1 was high but the University did not check what grade average I got - they were just interested on whether I got a 2:1!