I have a studentship interview.

Just realised that the fact I have no applied anywhere but this Uni might not be looked upon so well.

I havent applied anywhere else mostly because I have officially been accepted for the phD and the interview is for funding only. When I found out I got in, I 'post-poned' my applications elsewhere on account of the fact that this institution is my first choice.

So when they ask me the dreaded 'have you applied anywhere else' question and I gleefully reply with 'noooo' they are blatantly going to retort with 'why not, you cant be that serious about you're career'

clearly this will culminate in a downward spiral of - o so you think you're going to get the funding do you?- what if we reject you?- havent you missed deadlines for other uni's?- and so on

Even if I had responded with 'yes i have applied here here and here' their retort would be crappy.

I know I've put all my eggs into one basket but I'm clinging onto the fact that I have an offer... anybody with a similar experience/ more strategic way to phrase what Im trying to say?

Oh dear! you appear to have got yourself all worked up over nothing

Just make sure you are clear on why you want this one!

If it bothers you that much either a- lie and say you applied to other posts or B- quickly apply to some and then say you've applied

I don't see what difference it makes, they are not assessing your ability to apply for PhDs, they'll be trying to figure out if you are the right person for the job and thus get the funding - so focus on why you are the only person they should consider.

And if they ask you if you've applied to others you could say, you are being very selective and only applying to PhDs that particularly interest you, then tell them your interests etc etc

good luck

S

I really doubt this will be a problem. I only applied for one place and neither of the funding bodies I applied to (got one) asked anything about other applications. They DID ask if I had applied for all possible types of funding - but not other places of study.

A lot of funding bodies will only support an application for one project at one particular institution so you can affectively only apply to one place anyway. If you apply to another, then you have to try a different funding body. That was my situation so there was no point in applying anywhere else.