Hi. I was never an academic. I never struggled, but I was never that interested and a scrapped by. I passed my degree (law with a 2.2) without ever putting in much effort at all.

I now think - 12 yrs later - that i let myself down badly at the time. I fell into a law career, and surprisingly I am now very successful and work in an area of law i love, but have never formally studied.

I would dearly love to start a Phd in this area because I love it and want to prove to myself (and the world) that I have what it takes and make up for my time wasted a younger man.

Do I have any hope of acheiving this?

Would have to be part time as I work full time and have a young family.

Be glad to hear your views.

Thanks
DH

Hiya there. It sounds as though you have a real passion for your subject, and they say a PhD is 10% intelligence 90% perseverance. Try to make sure you're doing it for the right reasons though - have you thought realistically about what you would like to study, and what you want out of the PhD? It's a long journey, and you'll need to do it for you, no one else. Maybe look about and see what sort of things to expect so you can make an informed decision. BW, Purpleflower x

I wouldn't advise doing it just to prove something, whether to yourself or anyone else. If you love the subject though, and are prepared to devote a lot of time and effort to it, then go for it! Performance at undergrad level isn't necessarily an indicator of how you'll do in a PhD, as it's a very different thing, and also you're now at a different stage of life with different motivations, and hopefully a better idea of what you want to do.

I think it would be difficult to do while continuing to work full-time though, would you be able to have some flexibility or reduce your hours at work to have enough time to devote to the PhD?

Hi there!

it is always inspiring to hear people coming back to study, after a while and during a professional career! I think it shows a genuine love for knowledge ! I would totally say "go" but also remind you, that a part-time PhD can take up to 5 or 6 years or even more, it will cost some money and it will take time away from your young family and your personal free time.

I agree with previous posters, you don't have to prove anything to anyone, and a PhD is definitely not an indicator of intelligence (probably the opposite).

You don't want to gain anything out of your PhD, you probably do it for the shake of doing research. If I were you, I would contact potential supervisors, considering their research interests, make your proposal clear. Start with a trial period like two months to form your proposal, a period where you actually spend a number of hours per week reading papers in the library and see if it fits into your program and if you can handle it.

All the best

The above is it in a nutshell.. if you've got this then you're on the right track ... i've just posted on another thread in much the same tone.

However, you've mentioned family commitments and this is a big issue. How does your partner feel? It will be a team effort and in many ways tougher for others than you.

I love the suggestion below.. pretend you're doing a PhD for the next few weeks... spend, lets say, 15 hours each week, reading, researching your area of interest .. at the end of that time write something.. that critiques what you've read.. what's interesting, what's not... then think could i do that for X years.

There is always hope. Chuff

Hi DH. I was offered a F/T PhD studentship post BSc (1st) years ago but had to turn it down due to health issues. I went on with my career and became successful in that. I have always dabbled in research through my clinical career and was asked by consultants running the trials if I would like to be a PhD student P/T. I was always wanting to better my academic profile, essentially to get as high up as I could manage. Probably being the younger child I always felt I had to acheive to be noticed lol. So with this motivation and enthusiasm for the research topic I approached the local (prestigious) uni with my proposal for a P/T 6 year self-funded PhD and was accepted. I have worked F/T with clinical oncall hours while studying P/T. In the last three years I got married and had one child followed by twins (oops lol) and have still managed to provide some study hours (approx 15) per week. This has taken alot of commitment from myself and support from my husband. For example, I look after the bambinos during the day 7am-7pm. Hubby and I cook and eat once the children are in bed so at 8.30pm I am on the laptop typing my thesis or Skyping my supervisors. I usually stop at about 1030-1100pm. One afternoon a week the bambinos go of to nursery for me to have a quiet time to study. There are sacrifices for my hubby and I but we know that the end is just around the corner with submission due in a few months. He has been very understanding which I couldn't have progressed this far had he not been. Sitting on the sofa alone in the evening is not fun for him but I compromise and have a weekend night off together. With a young family it is difficult (I have three under 2 years) but acheivable.

thank you all for your responses. I like the idea of pretending I am doing one to see how it fits in. I think I will also contact some potential supervisors. I have two in mind (at the same Uni).

Thanks again. I will let you know how it goes...

DH