======= Date Modified 27 Jan 2009 11:48:32 =======
Yes, it's LaTeX.

I was asking about it - although I haven't used it as it was a little complicated for me to grasp in the short period of time I have to finish my thesis, so I'm reluctantly sticking to MS Word.

Hi,

I need to draw some diagrams for my thesis. A few posters in the past recommended MS Visio, but I can't really get to grips with it. My trial copy of SmartDraw is actually much better for my needs...but it's expensive!

Does anyone know of any student outlets etc. that sell this at a cheaper price?

I think you just have to move forward. You have what you have in terms of qualifications, and you can't change that.
A 2.1 plus a pass at 50% isn't necessarily going to work in your favour, but it equally doesn't exclude you from being successful at PhD level. Your experience with lack of supervision/support is nothing new, and many students find themselves with lower grades because of it. E.g. I did my masters thesis with one 10 minute meeting with a supervisor - this lack of supervision cost me my distinction by 1%! Many years later, this still pisses me off.

You need to be pragmatic with yourself and assess whether you have the ability/drive/determination etc. to do a PhD, and most importantly, whether you can cope with researching and working by yourself. At PhD, you may find yourself with less support than you have experienced at masters level.

Secondly, you need to exploit your strong points - for instance, get that dissertation published. A published article would certainly make up for your poor masters performance, and immediately says to any admission officer/future supervisor that you can produce publishable quality work.

Thirdly, with respect to cover letter etc., use the careers service at your old uni, I'm sure they'll help you out with applications. Also, if one of your supervisors is friendly, then ask them for help too.

Also, on a side note, just a friendly warning: be careful about mentioning your class background - this doesn't sit well with some academics as they view it as nothing more than an excuse. Of course, there is class system in academia, (Brown has recently admitted it with respect to working class graduates being unable to afford unpaid internships and disproportionate admissions of private schools kids into the top 20 uni's etc...) but just be careful about it.

======= Date Modified 26 Jan 2009 23:45:55 =======
I was shortlisted for a postdoc position at Oxford, so my experience is probably quite different to the DPhil. I thought I was presenting in front of a panel (of three/four people), but was told the day before that I would be presenting in front of department's full staff, so I had an audience of around 15 people.

The interview was brutal and no one got the position! However, I'm sure DPhil interviews are less rough and they'll be more interested in hearing about your ideas/research.

If you are an Oxford alumnus, I'm sure you'll have very little trouble getting a place. Oxbridge do favour their own.

======= Date Modified 21 Jan 2009 17:14:17 =======
If you go to amazon.com, rather than amazon.co.uk, they often have a search facility for scanned books...although it doesn't bring the whole book up, it can be helpful.

I'm not sure what's going on with the Google Book search, obviously they have scanned whole libraries but now can't show them due to copyright. It's very annoying when just a three line preview is shown. I assume at some point they'll do deals with publishers to sell copies...

I wouldn't say it's a big deal at all. If you have the confidence and the material to present - then go for it.

Hi Chris and Lara!

I'm pulling an all-nighter too! I'm trying to write my intro and abstract...

======= Date Modified 21 Jan 2009 01:33:17 =======
I didn't know postdocs/lecturers were on the shortage list. Do you have a link with this info? I can find some lists that include postdocs but not lecturers. Needless to say, I'm interested in working in another country (Oz, NZ, Canada).

I do not have any personal experience of research in NZ, but my cousin did study a PhD over there and never came back!

OOoo I hate personal statements and cover letters. I'd say sell yourself as much as you can without appearing arrogant or talking about abilities/achievements you cannnot support (i.e., although embellishing on the truth seems common practice these days).

I was watching an interview on TV featuring the new 'Carol' from Countdown. When she applied for the Countdown job, the first line of her personal statement read 'I'm from the top shelf'. IMO, this is type of approach is arrogant...though she got the job, so who knows...

======= Date Modified 19 Jan 2009 05:51:44 =======
If I am assuming correctly, you are deciding on your choice of university based on status and general knowledge that they do the research you're interested in, in which case you may well be putting the wrong foot forward. IMO, you'd be better off contacting potential supervisors at both universities and sending a general research proposal to determine if they are interested in you and whether you meet their entry standards.

This will also give you the chance to determine which supervisor(s) you prefer, and whether you opt for another institution (e.g., after meeting a Cambridge supervisor and not liking the general vibe, I opted for another uni with a much better supervisor).

With respect to the masters issue, you may want to consider that many (if not most) students do not finish their PhDs bang on 3 years. While a masters will take an additional year, it may give you the knowledge/skills that will actually speed up the completion of your research and thesis in the long-run. Additionally, having a masters may also give you the additional edge for winning funding.

You say there is a chance you will come out with a 2.1, in which case your chances of getting into Oxbridge would be very slim for a highly competitive discipline without an excellent masters degree.

======= Date Modified 16 Mar 2009 06:16:31 =======
I have acquired lots of moneysaving tips from www.moneysavingexpert.com (hopefully this non-academic link doesn't constitute advertising).

I've mostly saved money with respect to train fares and hotel rooms, and using voucher codes for online purchases. Lots of people who post on the forum at the above link talk on about something called 'Quidco'. This gives 5/10% back on any purchases you make online, which I imagine adds up over time.

My main money drain comes from buying books/photocopying. I now use my digital camera to take copies...saves me a small fortune!

======= Date Modified 16 Jan 2009 15:00:07 =======
Hi Cindy,

Some MBAs will take you on without work experience, but inevitably they won't be the very good MBAs. You could always look at doing an MSc in Management...often these are more tailored to a small start-up business, rather than the MBAs that seem to focus on working in large companies or MNEs.

Aussiechick, self-plagarism is a real issue that does exist (though to some extent unjust). From what I can gather it involves two issues:

First, if you publish a piece of work, eg. in a journal, some universities will not let you carbon-copy that publication into your thesis without it being referenced/acknowledged as being published elsewhere. (Linked to this situation is the bigger issue of copyright, but this would involve you and the publisher, not the university).

Second, self-plagarism concerns submitting a piece of work for assessment that has already been assessed. This, to me, seems to be a more justifiable reason for self-plagarism rules. For example, if you write a 60,000 word MPhil thesis, you cannot re-use that material into a PhD i.e., you cannot get academic credit for the same piece of work twice.

Some uni's have no rules about self-plagarism, others have compromise rules (e.g. no more than 10% of previous work can be used), and others have v. strict rules.