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What if ....What if.... What if ........................????????

P

I am in the application process yet and havent attended any interview. I am not sure of how positive can it be? Anyways I have been told by a uni (which I am hoping to get into because of the project that is being done there)told that they would shortlist the applications by next month and will be notified. I have put my best application;however we should think of both sides of the coin. I am reading the stuff related to the project, what if they dont call me for the interview.All my efforts could lead me nowhere. Have any of you guys experienced it earlier.

S

I'd leave it be until next month then contact them. There's really nothing you can do now but wait. In the meantime, you might want to consider covering your bases by applying to other places so you have a fallback in case this application doesn't come good.

S

I am in EXACTLY the same boat phdaspirant, its HELL waiting for a reply which may not even come!!! Wish i had some good advice for you, but all i can offer is EMPATHY!

P

pity us

S

If you don't have an interest in the field, doesn't that tell you that its a pretty stupid career choice then?? You really believe that you can spend at least 3 years doing a PhD in a field you are not interested in, AND then work in that field for the rest of your working life?

You seem to be a typical example of someone that wants to do a PhD to get the 'Dr' title, or just because you can't find a decent job right now, but doing a PhD firstly, doesn't guarantee a decent job, but requires a lot of commitment.

Perhaps you should rethink your options

S

Also, the fact that you are not that interested may be evident to the universities you apply to, and thats why you are not getting offers.

A

I disagree with Stu and Mia. Muvi probably hasn't got the posiblity to apply to most projects. It's easy to say you should only apply to projects that interest you if you have a choice.

Most PhD projects are interesting, once you get into the subject. If Muvi is comitted to working scientific as a PhD student he/she will probably do just as good a job as anyone else here on the forum. You can't always just do the interesting/fun things in life- not even (or should I say especially) while doing a PhD.
Muvi also has the posibility to change field after the PhD.

G

'Muvi also has the posibility to change field after the PhD'.

So true. My sister had a pal who got 4 A's at A level, a 1st Class in Physics from Oxford and a PHd from same. Nasa were very interested in him but he was in CND so that was a non-starter. He now sells life-insurance.

A

What does CND stand for?

A

Mia- what would you do if you had to choose inbetween not doing a PhD and doing a PhD that you're not really interested in?

S

Not doing a PhD.

I had a few job offers as well as the PhD offer, the PhD was very interesting, so I took that. But had it not have been in my interests, I would have chosen the jobs, no doubt about that. The idea of having a PhD is not appealing if you have to spend three years doing something that doesn't interest you, as that reflects upon the field you will enter after PhD, and you could still not be interested. I know some people change fields after PhD, but that does defeat the whole point of even doing one if you plan on changing fields after PhD when you haven't even started a PhD yet!

A

CND = campaign for nuclear disarmament?

Golfpro- so your sister's pal didn't get a job at NASA? Quite frankly- I don't get it either- what does that have to to with changing fields after your PhD? He/She probably didn't get the job because of internal NASA politics- not because he/she changed his/her field. Or because NASA found someone else they thought was more quilified for the position, or a number of other reasons ...

G

The CND bit was just a bit of colour. I was merely demonstrating [quite badly perhaps] that people's interests can change over time. He was I am informed background checked by the FBI who rejected him - some more colour.

A

Ah- that was a misunderstanding on my part then- I thought the comment "So true" was meant sarcastic. Just shows once again that meaning is transported not only by words alone.

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