Hi all,

I already have got PhD position in Oxford University, my offer is conditional due to English language requirement condition. My professor suggested me to take ielts as soon as possible and also told that negotiation can be done if achieved scores would be little less from the norm. They want 7.5 overall in ielts and 7 in each, another thing is I have not got any scholarship yet to fund my studies at Oxford, I think it would imp. priority for me to get another offer letter before the end of this year so that I could apply for more scholarships.
But what should I do now, would it be okay to inform my professor about my 6 bands ielts scoring (without any practice) or should ask for another offer letter??
Can anybody suggest?
Thanks..

hi Rupika,
congratulations on your oxford university phd offer!
From what I've read, you scored band 6 for IELTS and you already have one offer letter from Oxford, but no funding; and you need another phd offer to apply for more funding? Is this correct?

Since you already have an IELTS score, I think its ok to inform your professor. You should also discuss funding with him/her as well, to explore all the available options.

About asking for another offer letter, I'm not so sure what you mean.
Good luck
love
satchi

I think that you can still apply for scholarships with a conditional offer.
You should probably buy the IELTS pricy books and take some classes before sitting the exam again. Apart from spending all that money for a useless certificate, it is not very hard to achieve a 7.0 at all the tasks. I think it is worth giving one more try.
I had to go through this procedure a couple of years ago. First time I only scored 6.0 or 6.5, therefore, the second time I had to take private classes with a friend. I used to work full-time at the time and usually I would go to the class without having completed my exersices :$ ... and she would look at me like that :-s. I was such a pig, I would not even turn my mobile off during the classes!
Refreshing my rusty knowledge a couple of hours per week for 2 months was more than enough. I was hardly in a proficiency level when I quit studying English a decade ago.
Once I sent the results, my offer turned to unconditional. Try to watch some English movies (without subtitles), read the english newspapers on your way to work.
Congrats for the offer and good luck with the scholarship hunting! (sprout)

@Jeckyll thanks for your wishes and guidance..After my IELTS exam I felt like would be able to get 7, but things turned really bad..:(

@saachi Well thanks saachi, I thought in the same way that I should inform my professor about my scores but afraid that I am already lacking any kind of financial support/ don't have any scholarship award in hands...suppose if I would inform him it should not be the case that he would refuse to assist me in future (he may think I am not good user of English (as per ielts result), which is not practically true..
I mentioned here about new offer letter because I may need it from the Oxford again. My present offer letter having course commencement date of October (for this I have already applied to all scholarships, now don't have hopes from any), whereas for next upcoming scholarships for the year of 2011 I need to have valid letter with course commencement date of next year...(2011)
so if I consider the lately mentioned then there is no point in informing my professor about my ielts score as they (the university) will ask me to show 7.5 bands next year...
on the other hand I am considering to inform him about my scores and want to request him to get me new offer letter with valid date of next year, so that I could apply for upcoming scholarships...but really worried if he would show some kind of negative response due to my 6 bands..:(

What's the right way? What should I tell my professor   

   

@satchi I beg your pardon.. misspelled you name..

hi rupika21
thanks for your post; so its another offer letter from Oxford but different commencement date.
I think I would tell my professor the truth; at this moment I scored band 6 (without practice) and I may need an offer letter to apply for funding. Dont feel bad about getting less than 7.5 the first time :-)

I also had some hiccups in the past (but different kind), I always told my supervisor everything, and we managed to work around these issues.

best of luck
love
satchi

Hi Rupika,

Congrats for the offer. I was also in the same condition, waiting for scholarship next year. Luckily, I got the full funding in the second round. In my experience, supervisor would rather support. Since English is our second language, I believe yr supervisor would understand. In fact, for getting scholarship, you may need a recommendation letter from your potential supervisor too. Therefore, making him clear would be better. Good luck !
Swetch

Hey Swetchha.. congratulations for a great achievement, I have informed my professor about my ielts scoring and offer letter with amended date, so that I could give another attempt.

Really more afraid now, just informed him, don't know what would be his response. He has already cleared that the department is out of  funds, thereby can't help me by any means...
Which scholarship you won?