Me too, all points same as Olivia, just dnt have the issue with cars on the pavement thankfully!

Have had fire alarms at 2 am in the night a couple of weeks ago, somebody left the pasta to cook itself while the snoozed. But honestly, i cant afford anything else (cant means, i actually cant, there isnt any money, its not like i am trying to save money or use it for other purposes...)...for me its a question of putting most everything on hold and do a fast phd....and yes, if it means all this rubbish, so it is...I am young, will have a phd at age 26, and then can hopefully live life.. at least better than right now..

But am dreading the holidays....everyones going off home, i cant...and to top it all, its christmas, my birthday and new years in a span of 7 days...so yes, a deserted residence hall makes year end look so delightful for me..


Gosh, i have sounded like a real mop here, but cant help feeling a bit sad and just a bit scared at the thought of 4 weeks of pretty much being alone through the festivities....

(hmmm...thinking aloud.....is this my first sad post on this forum?? :) )

Hi, will just comment on one aspect of your question. I dont think its possible to apply to grad school in the US without the qualifying entrance tests, which in your case is the GRE and perhaps even a subject test.

Fantastic! I intend to apply in a couple of years so was wondering if i could ask you a few questions about what kind of proifle one could target to build so as to make a strong application. If you give me a green signal I could PM you...

Anyone here who has applied for/intends to apply for/knows anyone who did apply for the DAAD? Its the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst or the German Academic Exchange Programme.

More specifically i am speaking of in-phd academic exchanges.

Anyone?

wow.

great.

me in exact same state as izzim.

I am a PhD who finished her masters a couple of months ago. I dont know what you'd call a really good grade (i have a class mate who was depressed because he doesnt have a 80 in his fav paper, yes, yes believe me)...I have a 70 + in all except one, and I think thats good enough for me!

What'd i do for that...hmm i'm not sure i fully get your question, or how you have figured out a list of 6. These shortlists are very diff to prepare, and you can get at a meaningful selection only after a pretty high amlunt of reading and appreciation of the field and its debates. In other words its not a question of which are 6 people who;ve been writing on this issues and let me get them together in a single room.

assuming you've decided on those 6 people based on not themselves per say, but their own unique (or not) entry points/positions/approaches to the subject in question....wow then u already have your answer. If at all the selection of these 6 was a conscious one, you must have a working knowledge of :

1. Why are these people important instead of others?
2. What is it they agreed on?
3. Where it is that they (would have) disagreed?
4. What were the top key points, theoretically and methodologicaly that they've been making?
5. How could thse be argued against?
6. Finally, once you've spotted the divergences, maybe you could look for possible routes of (thoughtful) convergence?


I always find it very very fruitful to make scholars come into a room and have a conversation with each other, in my head, when i write, its only then the debates emerge, its only then that things start looking interesting.


PS: All these are lessons learnt from my supervisor who is a great advicate of seeking out the debates, making sense of arguments, and then searching for positions of convergence..


Good luck. This was my strategy for my Masters and something that helps me endlessly while critiquing theory and/or method. Dont know what will work for you...

Usually, as others say, by not doing anything except DOING THE ESSAY.

Cant afford it :( wail waill....

ohhh this is so fantastic!!!! I love love love HP too and have read the books zillion times! (My friends have often said Hermione was modeled on me :) ) Hehe...so I am sad too!! (apparently)

oh oh oh i hear dumbledore???????? liminalplace r u a HP fan? (or use any other word in place of fan?) I so totally wish there was a Hogwarts...

I would have to absolutely disagree. I know tons of brilliant scholars who by sheer dint of an inquisitive mind and a commitment to learning, and above all, with a great deal of humility, have got their PhDs at early ages and are immensely succeful in their fields of study. I also know many people who have joined the PhD after collecting years of widom and have not necessarily been very wise with their work. we shall find exact oppsoties to this as well, which just proves I think what all of us here in this discussion ahve been tryint o say: it makes no sense to fix lines of age EITHER way, this way or that.

I work with a supervisor who is a phenomenal success in our field got her PhD at a relatively young age in those days, and today I stand to get a PhD in 2011-12 at the same age as which she got hers. In no way has anything been difficult, on the contrary, youth provides many advantages(just as experience does).

Fixing age-marks for things like these? an MBA needs ro measure professional experience which is why the requirement for years of work, a PhD measures intellectual preparation and supervisors and boards have experience enugh to realise what they are taking on. MBA programmes mention years of experience not age, their philosophy is to focus on what you have done not how old you are (the two may coincide thats a different issues). I say this as the child of a parent who is at the heart of these decisions in a 'respectable' B School. much in the same way PhD programmes have a more qualitative way of deciding intellectual preparation, and again, not age.


I stand to receive my PhD at the age of 26. I have friends who will receive theirs at the age of 46. We have fantastic intellectual exchanges. Fixing an 'age' line is ageist whether it privileges a certain age this way or that way. It is 'other' things that need evaluation, and PhD programmes and MBA programmes both do that in their very distinctive ways.

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Hi,







Hmm I didnt know u didnt have a Masters, so my comment was just my own story. Hmmm...i think a BSc completed at 21 is fine, I completed mine at 20 exactly and had PhD options, didnt take them for I wanted the masters work. So, as i said then I did two masters, adnd joined a PhD at 23, which is quite Ok I guess considering all the degrees packed into this.







Its entirely a question of personal choice. Though, on a different issue, phds are meant to be relatively obtuse usually, and not a direct question of being 'covered' in masters courses, which at the most provide some generic field or niche related background which doesnt hurt. My phd topic has most nothing to do with anything that was 'covered' on the masters, (unless anyone thinks one 50 min lecture on 'New media and internet' delivered to 160 MSc students has covered the topic of 'interpretative pathways on pragmatic 2.0 devices' ) but yes I have a grad level disciplinary backing which allowed for some thinking time on what I thought I knew but didnt know really. Honestly, I feel more enlightened than I did at 20, which is when I got my Bachelors degree. And, well, i dont mind doing the 2 masters if I could stil start a phd at 23.







But it boils down to personal choice. My only point I guess is, youth is usually a good thing to have on your side, there are cons as well. And, no phd topic is ever 'covered' on masters courses, which are at best, only indicative of large field related debates. And these indicative intellectual moments are if not mandatory/essential are, if well taught, desirable/useful to get to know the field. Not for a moment saying people without masters are drowning, or those with masters are ruling the roost.

Hi All,

Hmm...i did my Bachelors, and then two masters degrees, and still started my PhD at 23. this is in the social sciences. It has not only not been a problem, I am absolutely at par with all others..performance wise..

Hi Liminal place, and everyone, my home lappy does not let me press reply either here or on FB or anything else, so am writing fewer things these days (from school)...hmmm...what works pretty well i think is to write "thoughts"...It sounds so foolish, i know, but just write them. I actually call them thoughts and pl believe me, they have travelled from being disjointed paras to 3000 essays through my masters till the start of my PHD.

in 10 mins i have a supervision, where i shall be reading out 6 mins of thoughts...in fact a 1500 word piece...it works, seriously...i tried putting them together all refs added...i wont say i am too unhappy woth the 10,000 words produced in the last 6 weeks or so...

best to all, p'bug :)