Hello,

Hope everyone has enjoyed the holiday season and not worked too hard. I really want to gain a fully funded PhD in Social Policy or a related area. I am currently studying an MA in Social Policy part-time and after a year I'm averaging a distinction. Fingers crossed I can maintain that average. However, at undergrad I got a high 2.2 in Economics. My degree in Economics has proved extremely useful in my master's however and I have used economic theory in most of my essays.

My original plan was to compete for 1+3 ESRC studentship this year. I originally had an idea and emailed a few professors, who appeared interested and didn't seem to care about my 2.2 in light of master's marks. However, as the time is approaching to bid for funding I have changed my mind on the topic and lost confidence in my chances of securing funding. I am now planning on saving up to do the MA in Social Research Methods. My thinking is that it will give me that extra edge when competing for funds. Universities appear to not discriminate between offering +3 and 1+3 studentships but surely everywhere would prefer to only have to fund 3 years instead of 4?

What I am wondering is: is it worth investing in the MA in Research Methods? Will it give me that extra something to compete for a studentship? I have some minor research experience already co-authoring a report with a professor over the summer. I would hope to gain more next year when I did  the MA in research methods next year.

Any other advice on obtaining a fully funded PhD would be greatly appreciated. Sorry if I have rambled on and thanks for reading :)

Well, I thought I was pretty clued up on the whole process but now it has come to the time when I need to start planning for next year to meet my aspiration to undertake a PhD I have realised I am actually clueless and would appreciate some help with the whole process. Here's some questions I'm curious about:

1) Do you identify a supervisor before you apply to an institution?

2) Can you apply to several institutions?

3) Can you begin a PhD while you wait for your master's result?

4) The one I am most curious about ..... Does anybody know anything about the amount of people that apply for each quota nomination. It will obviously differ between each subject area but any information anyone has on the number of people they were up against would be greatly appreciated.

As part of a module on my taught master's degree I have to review a social policy article from the past 10 years. It should not, I hope, prove to be too difficult a task. However, I am struggling to find any reviews of articles to show me how I should structure a review. Could anybody out there point me towards some reviews of articles preferably social science.

Thank you

I really hope to a PhD after I finish my master's degree. I have noticed that London studentships do not offer London weighting, are there any London PhDers out there? Is it a serious struggle compared to those studying in other parts of the country?

I hope this post doesn't offend all those people working hard on their MAs. It has occurred to me that the grades in my uni where I'm studying for my master's seem a lot higher than they used to at undergrad level. I am however studying a different subject, my degree was in economics which perhaps may have a lower average than my current subject. It could of course be that master's students work a lot harder than undergrads, postgrads generally appear to be long past the partying phase of uni, this is bound to have an upward trend on grades. What do other people out there think?

Hi,

I've just come across this now so sorry this reply is so late. I'm a part-time student and I also work part-time, my job is on a contract so I researched whether I would be entitled to benefit if the worst came to the worst and I lost my job. People who have said that you're not entitled to JSA are correct as this has the stipulation that you have to be actively seeking full-time employment. However, you may be entitled to income support which does not come with the same stipulations as JSA. I'm sorry I don't have a link to post but I remember reading on a government website that part-time students (may) be entitled to income support as this is a means tested benefit on a person's circumstance. Hope this helps.

Good to see that others have taken a long journey towards academia,

My first serious career ambition other than become a footballer was to become a computer programmer and this influenced my A level choices (Maths, Computing, Business Studies) After 2 years of bumming around I realised I had picked the wrong A levels. My main interest throughout school had been history and politics and so I decided second time around my subject choice should reflect this. I studied Sociology, History and Business Studies. I've also studied English Lit. and Psychology but that is another story! I then proceeded to study a degree in Economics, towards the end of my degree I narrowed my career options down to teacher and accountant. Teaching seemed the easiest option with regards to entry and so I opted for that

After a year of teaching I concluded it wasn't for me, for various reasons. I then decided to enter accountancy which took a while so after several stints on building sites I broke into accountancy. I found this soul destroying and after a 'quarter-life crisis' concluded that academia was the only place I belonged. I'm currently studying for a Master's degree in Social Policy and hope to do a PhD when I finish!

Is there anybody else out there that has let Christmas completely get in the way of their Master's coursework and faces a mountain to climb in January as a result? Be good to hear from you so I know I am not alone. My situation is made worse in that I am a part-time student and have to go back to work on Monday! I planned to use the 2 week Christmas break to devote all of my efforts on my coursework but the festivities have gotten in the way and I have done nothing because of either partying or being hungover from partying!! Please let me not be the only one out there suffering . . . .

I'm actually stronger at Social policy and don't really fancy quantitative research too much! Very annoying! The ESRC actually pay economics quantitative researchers £3000 more a year as they have a massive shortage of academic economists

Hello guys,

I was wondering if any of you could shed any light on my fears. I would really like to undertake a PhD when I finish my master's degree. I am studying the master's degree part-time so I will not complete it until 2011. By then whoever wins the next election will have started to make some serious spending cuts and I fear funding for PhD students will be an easy cut for the government to make over something like schools for example. I am a social policy master's student with an undergrad degree in economics. The government has stated it wants to incentivise the study of science, I'm guessing this means more money will be directed at science and less at the social sciences. Does anybody have any idea how hard it will be to get funding in 2 years time? Also as a matter of interest does anybody have any rough idea what proportion of students, out of those that apply, are successful in getting funding in general for PhDs, be it from universities, research councils, CASE studentships etc?

I find myself in a paradox. I have just read a few threads and everybody seems to be really busy with their MA/Msc. I am now very worried as I don't seem to be busy at all.

All of my deadlines are after Christmas - most in February! I am a part-time student so I only have half the workload of full-time but I've read that part-time students are also very busy. I do of course have a job to contend with! Do people out there think I'm taking things too casually? I have just written a formative essay (1500 words) that does not count towards my final grade and not much of the reading I did will be relevant elsewhere! So I have not really done any reading for my master's yet. Should i get cracking? Am I in danger of falling seriously behind? Or are there others out there that found the beginning of their master's programme quite easy going?

Hello Guys,

I have just started a Master's degree in Social Policy part-time over 2 years. I am really committed and want to do as well as I can. I really want to achieve a distinction to help my chances of obtaining funding to do a PhD. I am hoping to hear from successful MA graduates on their tips for success. My main query is should I aim to study every day or is it important to take a couple of days off a week? I will be working 3 days a week in a college unrelated to my master's. However I only have half the modules to complete that a full-time student has. Am I in danger of burning out if I commit every available hour to my MA or is that the price one has to pay to achieve the best grade?

Hey Guys

This is my maiden post on the current master's as opposed to prospective master's forum - a major milestone lol!

Well my title is pretty self explanatory I hope everybody else starting is also enjoying it so far. It's very early days I know, but after spending four years in the working world, I truly feel I am back where I belong and just wanted to share my joy with you guys :)

On the downside I'm part-time so I still have to go to work at the end of each week but on a positive note I get to spend two years on my master's instead of one! I wish everyone success and if everybody else out there is loving it as much as me I think we should all use our enthusiasm productively and get studying asap!

Hello guys,

Next week I will commence a master's degree after having spent the last four years in 'the working world'. For those of you that have not been there yet it's a dreadful place most of the time. In any role or early stage of a career you carry out the most mind numbing, stifling tasks. Day by day your intellect and skills of analysis and reasoning are crushed by the sheer monotony of the tasks your employer wishes you to carry out. In light of having spent four years in this regime I am very worried about getting my essay writing skills up to scratch. I would really like to hit the ground running with my master's degree. Is there anybody out there who returned to do a master's after spending time away from academic study? I would be very grateful for any pointers that could help me get to the advanced level of analysis once again.

Many Thanks

Martin

I've recently been accepted on to a masters degree. The university where I'll be studying is advertising an internship from a local college working in an area I intend to graduate in. As part of the internship the master's degree will be paid for which is excellent as I will struggle with the fees. I think I've a reasonable chance as any since I have some relevant experience. However that may be part of the problem as I graduated 4 years ago and the internship is targeted at recent graduates. Does anybody out there know of slightly older people that have done an internship?