I have offers to pursue a PhD in English from twelve institutions, but I am unsure which, if any, offer to accept. So far, no offer of funding. I'm a non-English, European citizen and I come from circumstances that allow me to afford an unfunded PhD. However, I have no interest in being a paying customer in a non-competitive environment.
The supervisors who best fit my profile are at Royal Holloway and University of Glasgow. However, are there other factors, that go beyond the choice of supervisor, that I should take into consideration? For example, does one institution offer teaching possibilities that cannot be matched by other institutions? Is it important that the department aligns with one's interests?
Offers from:
Sussex
Exeter
Durham
St Andrews
Glasgow
Bristol
Queen Mary
Cardiff
Lancaster
Birmingham
York
King’s College London
Do any of these universities have perks for PhD students that outstrip the rest? Or is the PhD experience across the universities pretty much the same (i.e., contingent on your supervisor(s))?
Rejections from:
Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Warwick, Notthingam
I inquired why this was and was told that they couldn't find any supervisors who shared my interests (indeed, the English author I wish to write about is not one that Oxbridge have any experts in). My tentative PhD would intersect philosophy and literature, and interdisciplinary research might not be the forte of ancient universities (why Warwick or Nottingham rejected me I don't know).
That said, I will likely teach outside of UK post the completion of the PhD, and the Oxbridge name is trusted internationally. Should I reapply for next year? I could easily narrow the proposal so that it fits with their profile. By then I will have further publications (I now have three, two by the time I applied) so I expect that I would survive the absurdly high, 40%, acceptance rate.
Please let me know what you think. Thank you!