Hey everyone,
I posted a while back saying that I had received an offer of a PhD place at Strathclyde in environmental engineering. I have since declined the offer after much deliberation and nerve shredding. The plan was, and still is, to await the next round of funded places in environmental science. I received my MSc results today (after being delayed twice I might add!). They are not as good as I had hoped. I had an average weighted score of 63% (very consistent with a couple of outliers in either direction) in the taught component, and was awarded a 58% for my thesis. This has brought my average weighted score down to 60.77%. Given this, I thought I would still scrape a merit, but after reading the small print, because I did not get a merit in my thesis, then I have been downgraded to a pass. Angry does not begin to describe how I feel and because there was no academic impropriety, I can't launch an academic appeal. I should be happy given that I have passed, but the celebrations have been marred by this latest revelation.
What I want to know is how likely is this to impact any future chances of my getting a PhD offer? Anyone else in, or has been in a similar situation? I had three interviews at well respected universities prior to my being awarded an MSc, so I like to think my chances won't have been harmed, but you never know. Presumably, this was on the back of getting a 2:1 in my BSc and the promise of further study?
Thanks for taking a look, and for your advice.