MANY CONGRATULATIONS EMMA !

Open yourself two good bottles of champagne: one to drink, and or to "baptise" your new Dr-self !

Thanks for sharing your story, it seems you went through huge efforts to achieve it -- really glad for you ;-)

Doc and Hunt - interesting experiences, thanks for sharing. I suppose it is about results at the end of the day, and it depends on each institution to provide the right framework, so everyone can do what is expected of them.
I was thinking about having a chat with some PhD student in the university I'm planning to apply for.... is it normal to do that ?
I know the professor of the department, and could ask her if it would be OK to contact the student to have a coffee over "PhD life" etc. Or would that be completely inappropriate ?
This is all being very helpful - many thanks!

Mark - that's a great way of explaining it, thank you! We do hear that kind of thing but it's hard to grasp. You made it easier, thanks.

Surprised no one mentioned difficulties in the preparation/notes taking. I struggled A LOT until I created a system in excel. That was the difference from poor results to very good results. Interesting no one seems to have the same issues...

Thanks everyone. It makes sense now -- science labs would have "stuff" to be done, hence the office.
Sounds terrible though, how many nasty teachers are out there. I always thought academia was different or "safe" compared to the corporate world. It seems one has to watch out every step of the way.
Eds - Windowswill - that's good advice, thank you! I'll keep those in mind if I ever that there...

Eds -- I am a mature student, have a MBA, and started the MA in view of moving onto to PhD, so researching a lot about it because I'm uncertain yet I am capable of it. Even though I got a 83 in my essay, the experience of the MA was much harder than I imagined.
I just found this forum, hence all the questions.

Hello there-

I've been reading about 'work' PhD students are expected to do for their supervisors, and how they have to be at the 'office' most of their time. A bit confused on what exactly are the responsibilities of a PhD student ? What is exactly the "contract" between student and institution?

I thought you spent time doing on your research, and met supervisor to support/enhance the quality of it -- am I missing something?

How normal is it that students spend most of their time at the university, and doing things that are not related to their research?
Do PhD students also do any teaching assistance work ? (btw, PhD in History)

I'd love to hear your experience on it!
Thanks,
Sofia

Many thanks Mark. Makes sense.
I've got a distinction in my first essay, but my word, it took time & effort. The topic was a well-known piece of primary evidence no-one had quite analysed, apart from one book published in the UK 2011. I've got a 83, but I don't know if it was because of the original topic or really because the work was good.
It was a hard assignment, and I'm not sure I'll come across another 'original topic' and even so, how much harder should I expect things to get. If expectations stay the same, I should be able to manage it, but if not, then not sure I can do the MA while working, at least well enough for an overall distinction.

Thanks Eds. Would you have any other insights into how frequent is a Distinction ? You seem an expert ;-) Reason being, I do want to move onto a PhD and since I my BA is not history, I feel a need a Distinction if I dream of getting any funding.

thanks Eds - the thing is, how to make sure you are achieving a "higher quality" if each coursework is marked against the average. That's my main concern.

Thanks HuntAnthem -- I'm working too and it is very demanding indeed. The research/topic I'm OK with, but I prefer to take notes of everything and structure the essay before start writing... it def takes time!

Thanks TreeofLife -- I read that Distinction is given against the average of students of that year, ie., they mark the average to use it as indicator for the top and bottom of marks. If that's correct, then "outstanding quality" becomes a different ball game...

Done !

Hello All,
I'm in the 1st year of MA in History, and finding coursework quite challenging (I come from a non-history BA)

I was wondering what are the key challenges (and marks) for students in MA modules in History or Ancient History in the UK... wondering how my experience is going in comparison to you guys.... Here some questions:

a) Are all modules/coursework set too hard to achieve Distinction?
b) What is the hardest challenge of all ? (finding topic, research, organising notes, writing...?)
c) Do marks improve as you go along, or do coursework gets harder? What's your average beginning to end?
d) How often is it to get Distinction in say, 3 modules ?
e) How often is it to get Distinction in dissertation ?

Many thanks everyone - get forum btw!
Sofia