Hi, it's the first time i ever write here. I finished my BA in Greece, and got my MSc from Bristol, UK, in politics. My aim is to do a PhD, but I have no clue what to do next. My main problem is that I don't have a high grades. My BA was 6,7/10 and my MSc just "pass". I have 2years of experience in a shipping company and 6months as an intern researcher. I am thinking to apply for a second MSc preferably in a better uni,Chicago,Oxford,Camb,etc. after completing 1,5year of internship which I am applying now for. Is that going to help being admitted in a better uni in UK?e.g. having a MSc from Chicago makes you a better candidate for let's say Warwick?or LSE?or something like that? Some unis also offer MPhils. Is it better to pursue a MPhil than a MSc? Does that make you more eligible?

Too many questions? sorry guys and girls,but I am completely lost and need some advise. thanks again anyone who replies :-)

Why do you want to do a PhD? Is there any reason why you think you haven't done that well in either degree thus far and so the marks don't reflect your ability? I'd just wonder about the wisdom of pushing further and further with a subject you've not been doing brilliantly in when your talents might lie elsewhere.

To be brutally honest you have very little chance of getting into Oxford / Cambridge / LSE with those grades - they are so oversubscribed that they can pick and choose from their MA/MSc applicants. A US university might be more achievable if you are extremely wealthy (the fees for MA programmes are very high) AND you do very well on the GRE (especially on the maths section as maths skills are very inportant for US-style political science). But again they're selective and your transcripts won't help. As far as the UK is concerned, I'd suggest looking at MA Politics REsearch courses i.e. the 1 bit of a 1+3 PhD as the next step (unless that's what you did in Bristol). But really do stop and think about why you want to do a PhD in Politics. I have one and I really can't think of any careers other than an academic one that it would particularly help with. And as you wouldn't get UK funding with anything less than a 1st / distinction at Masters, it's quite an expensive commitment.

Hi!thanks for your reply!

I don't want to justify myself nor I am the kind of guy who puts the blame on other people. The thing is that I grew in a different educational system.Exams and learning by heart is the greek model of education. Logic,arguing,using references etc. seem too revolutionary.The first time I ever wrote an essay was in Bristol.By that time i didn't even know what referencing was. Essays, jstor, journals, google scholar, all these things are not even heard in Greek universities. i really enjoyed ?t although I really had to struggle and study my ass down.I really enjoyed my dissertation, I enjoyed doing research,i really like it. Yes, i think that i have really few chances of making it,but i want to try.I mean,i prefer try and fail than don't try at all. I don't think that LSE is that selective, i know a lot of people who got selected, they didn't all have great grades.i had a friend admitted with almost the same grade as me with 2prof. years experience.

What do you think for the "1+3"?I 've checked some and it looks really interesting? What do you think about MPhils?are there any usefull?

What's up with the rankings?e.g. doing a MSc in a top uni makes it easier to apply for a PhD in a lower ranked?

thanks again for your reply!

p.s. I got admitted in Bristol cause I had really good grades in the relevant area, 9,5/10 and I was offered a place for a Diploma.I managed to upgrade it although i was told only 20-25% of non native english speakers manage to do it.so i think of myself as a fighter :-)

Well the LSE says the lowest mark they accept from Greece is 7/10 and I don't think a pass grade at MA would change that. The Politics courses are competitive to get on (some of LSE's MAs i.e. the ones still accepting applications now are much less so).

As for the Politics Research MAs, you'd need to do some research into where staff are, who could conceivably supervise whatever topic you eventually want to do for a PhD, so that you could work with someone relevant for the dissertation and then hopefully persuade them to accept you onto a PhD or write a good reference for elsewhere. If I can offer one piece of advice, it's to not get too obsessed with prestige but instead look for a dept that suits your research interests. There are some excellent politics depts in universities that you'd normally not rank that highly eg Essex or Aberystwyth.

I'd still say though do your homework on what a PhD is actually like to do - read these boards for a start! It can be a very tough experience and unfortunately with Politics, the employment dividends are not what you might call large. I've struck lucky and got a postdoc and will start a lectureship in september, but a lot of my friends from the PhD years are really struggling to find any work and as public sector and NGO jobs (the usual alternatives to academia for politics phds) look to be very thin on the ground for the foreseeable future across Europe, I'd hesitate to self-finance a PhD.

i know that and that's a problem.I mean the work in a dept can be really rewarding and tough,as I consider the work in Bristol but if it's not high in the rankings then you don't get the recognition. Apart from the rankings what can else can be useful? I have heard about Aber that it's really good,but the dept it's low in the rankings.How do these come together? How important is to have a MSc or a PhD from a prestigious institution? Can it give you more access to jobs?

How about MPhils?