Dear All,

Following my PhD interview last week I sent an email to the course coordinator today to find the sleection results. Please see my response and her response and can you tell me what to interpret out of this and if I have been successful or not?

Dear XXX
Following my interview for PhD in ______ it would be helpful to know if the successful and the unsuccessful candidates have been informed already?
And I got the following reply:-

Dear YYY

The letters relating to this studentship have been posted to all applicants today. You should receive this before the end of this week.


Best

XXX

So what should I expect? Positive or negative

I think it's as neutral as distilled water; there's nothing to suggest you been successful or unsuccessful. Good luck (up)

First, I thought the same: that the words used in the answer mail are neutral about the outcome. But then I wondered (although not 100% sure how the decisions are made): If they have 1 place, they need to decide for 1 candidate. But wouldnt they contact that candidate first to see if he/she accepts the offer? As if that candidate declines, they might offer it to the 2nd candidate on their list. Only option if sending out all answers at the same moment would be to write the 2nd candidate that he/she is not the 1st on the list but the 2nd and if the candidate on place 1 declines, they would come back to candidate 2.

Hi all

I was unsuccessful ;( I dint make it and you all were right they came back to me by email cos I had sent them one asking to expalin why I was rejected cos this is valuable to me to learn from my mistakes and they said that I was the final 2 and it was tough for them to decide. They think I had done very well in my interview so tehy dint see any flaws in me. However, the only reason why I dint make it was because I was more broad focused (for that research) and they needed a more specific focus on that issue and I demonstrated a broad but not specific focus to it. :-(

But you know what I never wanted to do a PhD in the UK anyway for a bunch of reasons so even though this project was so good and I really liked it but I would have never been happy about my choice to move to the Northeast of the country. So now I am applying to other countries and otehr projects. And I even have 2 or 3 interviews in the next 2-3 weeks. So, fingers, toes, and everything crossed for me guys!!!!

thanks all for your support!!!!

AJ