I totally agree - 25 is the line for when things start to go wrong (and saggy, wrinkly and grey!

Took my 26th bithday REALLY badly

Age shouldn't matter

26

Worked as a journalist and then as a political lobbyist before starting my PhD - not really related to my thesis, but really glad I 'worked' first

Thanks for all the support guys!

Harry Potter (if you haven't read it already)

If you did know what you were doing after 10 weeks we'd have to shoot you for making the rest of us look bad.

I'm at the same stage as you and I have no idea where this is going

bazzab - I read around 5 articles and didn't get anything out of them

If you're counting absolutely no work whatsoever (not even random reading), I've probably gone around 3 weeks

I get told I'm avoiding 'real' work, but I work four days a week and fit in PT study!

I don't expect people to understand what a PhD involves, but I do expect them to respect the fact that it IS a lot of work and that I have the same commitments as anyone else. I have one friend who is getting stroppy with me because I can't visit her at the moment (she lives the other side of the country) - she doesn't understand that with Xmas deadlines looming I don't have the time or the cash.

In the past on this forum when I have said that studying part-time was a tough yet rewarding experience, what I actually meant to say what studying part-time is fecking horrible and crap crap crap. I'm so knackered trying to fit study around work, I haven't talked about anything by work/study in months and all the full-timers are well ahead of me ARGHHHHHH!

I didn't go to the Uni, but lived there for 18 years and I would do anything to move back there - the city is fantastic. I've only heard great things about the Uni, but check out your departments RAE rating

Ironically, Dan B would be the person to speak to as he went to Bath - oh Dan!

A week is nothing - I had a bad summer where I didn't really achieve anything for around 2 1/2 months

The secret history by donna tartt

Never heard of it

I would be cautious about taking lower level qualifications after a PhD. Mista G actually has a very good point about working - if you go to an employer and you're taking Master's qualifications after a PhD they will question why you didn't focus in this new field in the first place, why you feel you are still at the Masters level (lots of academics change fields after their PhD, but you're supposed to have the study skills to take on new research independently after the PhD) and also it may undermine your PhD by going 'down a step' to Masters level

To me it would imply you don't have confidence in the research skills you've acquired at the PhD level

Check out the postgrad life forum for lots of tales of crushes!

Didn't see the pea comment - poor pea! And poor golfpro!