Quote From pm133:
I would not recommend anyone taking on a PhD with such poor grades. Really you need to be getting a first. Having said that, people do manage to turn things around but you are making a very tough task much harder if you dont have a first.
I find it mildly disturbing that you keep going around telling people (in this thread and in others) that no one should be doing a PhD without having obtained a 1st.
I got a high 2:1 in my undergrad because I didn't do all that well in 3rd year (dissertation was a 22/23 though), then I got offered a research masters with tuition scholarship during an internship without even applying. I passed my viva last month with minor corrections, and am now working with my supervisors to turn it into two papers. I will start medicine soon, but am also considering a PhD instead from next year on because I've really come to like research (problem is I prefer a field related to but still substantially different from my BSc and MSc, so need some preparation first).
And you want to tell me I'm unsuitable for a PhD because I didn't get a 1st at undergraduate? My supervisors certainly didn't think so, and neither did the examiners during my viva (they were quite eager for me to publish and mentioned they'd have loads of research for me if I did medicine at our uni).
The only reason I am writing about myself here is as an example to demonstrate that your exclusively grade-focused mentality is counterproductive. Some people are great at research projects but not particularly good at memorisation for exams - they can still make good scientists. Some people chose the wrong undergraduate and were perpetually bored in many modules, leading to suboptimal grades, but they may discover a field they love later on and still excel in it - again, who's to say they shouldn't do a PhD? You?