Hello,

I graduated from Birmingham uni with a 2.1 Msci in geography almost two years ago now. I am hoping the wise users of the website (apologies for the poorly disguised flattery) will be able to give me some advice.

After graduating i had been working in a supermarket for just over a year while studying to get as-levels in biology (i got A) and chemistry (i got a C), in order to prepare myself for further study. I’m also studying for an as-level in mathematics right now for this reason. My question is am I really well qualified enough to even think about attaining a phd? And if not what more if anything should I do before going for it? I loved doing the research for my degree and although I got pretty good marks for the dissertations I had to do, there is the glaring fact that my mathematical abilities are very poor, and I spent a large proportion of the time pulling my hair out trying to do use the most basic functions of SPSS. I am also lacking in my basic scientific literacy as a result of having chosen what in retrospect were not the right gcse’s and a levels for the future that I now want for myself (although I did learn more about research methods in a-level psychology that in my entire four years of study at a respectable university!).

I am hoping that somebody will be able to give me advice regarding what I should be studying in terms of fundamental math and science. I know that statistics will be crucial in the field I am hoping to go in for, but I am not sure about other avenues. I say this because as you may remember, when studying for a-level there a different pathways which you can choose.

Robin :)