I don't see the issue with asking personal status questions in surveys.. it's anonymous so who cares? Also, isn't it informative for the researcher?

call them? pop into their office? how long has it been since you emailed them?

On what basis is your offer conditional?

I think you cease to be a student as soon you as you take a fulltime job because then you are going to be eligible to pay tax once you have passed the personal allowance threshold.

Being registered as a student at a university isn't a legal status - there is no national register of students that the university contribute to so there is no way the government know who is a student and who is not unless you tell them (council tax is a separate issue and I am aware universities send updates to the council for this).

As HazyJane says, you can take a fulltime job any time even if you are a fulltime student.

It depends how important it is I guess. If it's really important you should put it in the literature review, otherwise just refer to it and summarize the most important information. I think appendices are only for your own research.

Are you sure you understood correctly that the discussion was to be between you and the supervisors, and not between the supervisors about you?

I would send a follow up email since you need to know soon.

Bristol is one of the best unis in the country and has a really nice campus too (although more dispersed than Exeter as it is not separated from the city), which is less than 1 mile from the city centre. The city is also great - really compact, nice waterfront, so many things to do and lots of transport links for exploring. Every type of restaurant you can imagine. Pubs, clubs and bars are great. Great music scene. It's a fairly expensive area though and Cardiff is probably cheaper.

Most postgrads don't live in halls. Campus/sports/eating/societies are very similar as listed for Exeter. Desk space for PhD students varies by department - some get their own and some don't. Some get PCs and some don't. Library isn't open 24/7 but offices/labs are.

Exeter sounds good... it's one place I will be keeping my eye on for post doc opportunities...

You don't say what field you are in, but most fields can get funding for conferences. I got 1500 pounds to attend an international conference by joining 3 scientific societies for about 20 pounds each and then applying for their travel funds. You can also often apply directly to the conference organisers for scholarships.

sounds like you would be better off with a masters in psych, but you should probably speak to a careers' adviser at your school.

You can't convert GPAs to UK grades, the system is too different. A 2.1 is 60% or above in an undergrad degree; this will seem low to people in the US, but I guess you can think of it as a B.

What qualifications do you have?

I know you said that you have only been feeling this way recently giddypig, and if you feel that something has changed and you are not always like this, then go with incognito's comments. However, if you have felt like this from time to time in your life before then consider my comments.

I am often exactly the way you are describing but I don't feel bad about not wanting to go to the pub with people because I would feel awkward or would just rather be alone, because there is nothing wrong with that. I am strongly introverted and I don't like to be around others all the time - so I might like the one to one social interaction with people I care about but not superficial pub chat with people that are not my friends. Society often sees this as there is something wrong with people like me and so there is a lot of social pressure to be sociable. Once I realized it was ok to be myself, I was much happier. Try reading 'Quiet - the power of introverts in a world that just won't stop talking' by Susan Cain. It's brilliant.

Maybe ask a specific question and we may address it.

Or, since legally I believe you are permitted to see letters of recommendation anyway, ask him to give you a copy and you can amend it as required, get him to look it over, sign it and then you can send it off. The content can't vary that much so it shouldn't be too arduous.

I think publications do make a difference. I've always been told by my university that one requirement of a thesis is that it must be work of a publishable quality, ergo if you already have it published you can tick that requirement off the list and use this to defend yourself in a viva if necessary.

Maybe mention any teaching experience you have had an how you approached this. If you haven't taught anything, think about what makes a good teacher and mention this. Highlight aspects of your research that might be particularly interesting to engage students or that might be fundamental to the basic knowledge of a subject.

That sounds horrific speccybear. I hope it will all work out in the end. As long as you do the corrections as asked I think it should be fine.

I thought choosing an internal was supposed to be a joint decision between student and supervisor though, or do they just appoint them randomly at your institution?