I am eligible for a scholarship in my country (it's about 9000 euros per year) and in order to apply, I need a letter form my university that I have completed my second year of studies and I am eligible to proceed to my third year.
BUT the admin people are telling me that they can't give me a letter like that. They have a ready-made letter, that says that I am enrolled at the university and this is all they can give me...
Shouldn't I be angry at them? I am going to lose the scholarship if I don't have this letter...
What can I do? Should I ask my supervisor to talk to them? (She can't give it to me, it has to be from the administrative office)

Yep, go explain the situation to your supervisor. Sometimes they get more joy out of admin staff than mere students - crazy, but true!

Is this the admin for your department? I think they might not be the best place to get that letter, for example at my old uni I could contact student services or the graduate research office for something like that.

In my experience, a box of chocolates works very well with the admin dept!

======= Date Modified 18 May 2010 18:25:25 =======
It's the graduate reserach office.... and unfortunately, I am not based in UK and it isn't possible to contact them in person before the deadline for the scholarship...
I had a similar problem last year, when I couldn't find the person who was responsible (he didn't answer any of my emails) and, sadly, I didn't get the scholarship because of him.... I don't want to lose it again (I am almost sure that I will get it, if I provide the necessary documents)....
Sad things....

perhaps write the letter, and ask them to print and sign/stamp it?

Sneaks is on the ball ... get used to it as any letter like that will typically have to be written by you then stamped (even from supervisors - they will read the letter and then sign/stamp it).
What you could do is get a transcript of your results so far, have a letter (that you prepared) stating your enrollment date and that your results thus far are included. Keep the letter brief and to the point i.e. Letter to confirm that Emmaki enrolled at a certain point, here is his/her latest results and maybe include a line to state that should be able/plans to continue pending latest results (which will be forwarded in due course). In the intro obviously refer back to the purpose of writing this letter i.e. state it is in relation to your application for funding
I would guess that the college has its reasons for not giving out this letter, which seems a bit non-standard anyways

That's what I did! I wrote the letter, emailed it and asked them to put it on a headed paper and sign it! And the response was
"we can't give you a letter like that. We can't say whether you are eligible to move to your third year of studies. We can only comment on this year".
I think that tomorrow I will contact my supervisor and ask for her help! May she can talk to them! She had already asked me, a couple of months ago, if, by getting all the documents that I need, everything would be OK with my job and future scholarship. And when I told her that everything would be OK, she then told me to ask postgrad office anything that I would need...
We'll see..............

That sounds ridiculus. Is it because you have to do an official upgrade?
Could you contact the people who can give the scholarship and see if there is any way round it?
Anyway I hope you manage to get it sorted.

It is rediculus, isn't it?
It's not that I have to do an official upgrade or anything like that.... There is nothing that may cause any problem. In fact, I am not asking them to comment on the progress of my reserach, just that I have finished year 2 and moving on to year 3. This is a logical procedure...when you have been studying for 2 years, then you will start your 3rd year!
Maybe I am being irrational, maybe they don't understand what I am saying...I don't know!
It would be really sad, especially in the current economic climate, to miss this opportunity...:-(:-(

Hi,

I think the question of you moving to third year depends on the Professor which is why the admin people said they cant give a letter like that to you. It would be better to get a signed letter from your professor stating that you will/have complete/d the academic requirements and will move to third year of studies under his supervision. This is what I normally do as the Professors have the final say regarding their phd students.

Regards

Get onto your supervisor pronto emmaki! Don't let this escape just because of a jobsworth admin dept. If your sup can't kick admin up the bum they can write a letter for you themself.

What the fudge? Sorry Emmaki - it does sound as if you have done all the right things and that someone in admin is being a prick (and doing an excellent job so far!). Maybe it might be time for as the others suggested to get your supervisor in and phone someone in admin. You've probably given all the logical arguments at this stage, but another small thing would be perhaps to ring up the funding body and explain to them that you possibly could be a bit delayed and that you will be processing the application (follow-up with an email). It will give you a few more days and possibly allay fears of losing the money.

I have emailed my supervisor. She said that she will look into the matter...
I'll keep you posted!

Contacting my supervisor was the best thing I did!!!!
She managed to solve the problem and I got an apologising email from the administartive officer!!!!!!!!
When you have power things are so easy!!!!!!!!
Thanks everbody for your support!