[kka25]

(Original post by gutenberg)
Ghost is not in the humanities; he also advocates lying on your CV for the purpose of jobs and scholarships, so I wouldn't touch his advice with a bargepole.

There's another one that I saw; the person has 0-10% insight of how education works, hasn't even received his UG scroll and yet, wants to be all pompous about it by telling us the PhD students' experience and understanding are basically the same as 'his own' UG experience and understanding; owh, my...

So OP; please be careful getting advice on threads.

(Original post by gutenberg)
Haha, not really But thanks. No secret really, I massively enjoy what I study

That's a very important ingredient to do research

[poohat]

Ghost6 does tend to conflate US and UK postgrad, but in general his advice is both solid and realistic, and is usually among the best in this forum imo

[Cora Lindsay]

(Original post by gutenberg)
Sometimes the world experts in a subject can be at the University of Nowhere

This is very, very true, and working for a good supervisor is far more important than having a particular postcode.

Ranking universities is a pretty useless exercise at undergraduate level and totally useless at postgrad. Talented grad students come from all sorts of places, and good supervisors reside in all sorts of places.

[Cora Lindsay]

(Original post by Ghost6)
But never, ever, pay yourself for your PhD. It's one of the few things you can get for free if you make the right moves.

Interested to know how, particularly in the UK system?

[gumball]

(Original post by poohat)
Ghost6 does tend to conflate US and UK postgrad, but in general his advice is both solid and realistic, and is usually among the best in this forum imo

You can always rely on him to bring it back to Earth, and get down to the point most people don't want to raise - money. It's balls-to-the-wall blunt, and I think it does grate on a lot of people.

I do think as overt as it sometimes comes across, it does make it more of a discussion.

As for the OP's situation: If you're a decent student and can get the required grades (and hopefully above), that will show regardless of where you came from, or who you're talking to.

Make the best of whatever situation you find yourself in, so work hard on your MRes, get a decent grade, and just apply where you want. Don't let 'prestige' stop you from applying to a certain university, because that's the only way you can ensure you won't get accepted.

[Cora Lindsay]

(Original post by gumball)
You can always rely on him to bring it back to Earth, and get down to the point most people don't want to raise - money. It's balls-to-the-wall blunt, and I think it does grate on a lot of people.

Blunt I can cope with; incorrect (for UK students on a UK forum) I can't. For example, in this thread, the idea that you can always secure a PhD place without paying 'if you make the right moves'.

Is that at any institution, in any discipline, for a student with any academic track record?

UK research councils, the principal source of funding, won't pay for many nationalities, and barely put any funding at all into some areas.

Few UK institutions can match even fairly modest US universities' endowments, so they don't have the sort of internal funding which is fairly common in the US and university scholarships are therefore less common.

Finally, earning sufficient to fund yourself through a PhD, for example with some sort of paid TA position, is very rare in the UK. A thousand pounds or so per year yes, £12-15 k, no.

Apart from these trivial details, I'm sure he's right.......

[GBerritta]

Thank you all for your help! I'll be sure to take all of your comments and advice into consideration when the time comes to apply.

EDIT: I was just thinking, will studying an MA by Research give me any kind of advantage for applying for a PhD?

[gumball]

(Original post by GBerritta)
Thank you all for your help! I'll be sure to take all of your comments and advice into consideration when the time comes to apply.

EDIT: I was just thinking, will studying an MA by Research give me any kind of advantage for applying for a PhD?

Of course. It's the exact same skill set digesting the literature for a humanaties-type MRes as a PhD. All of what you learn is a massive transferable skill set.

[shanghaichica]

(Original post by VENIVIDIVICI)
For PhD and P/G studies, the reputation and publications of the PI/supervisor & his/her team in your field of interest is what's important...not league table rankings.

Also, its best to do something you have a passion for and enjoy than do something at a high-ranking institution you don't really care about.

Personally speaking, I did my U/G degree at a low-ranking university and was told my a professor at one of the top uni's in the UK that they wouldn't normally take people like me in their department (cos of where I studied). I was quite taken aback by this, but worked hard to give myself more of an advantage...this was for admission to an MRes course.

I turned down a chance to apply for a funded PhD at my old uni, as I didn't feel that it would help my profile, but mainly because I did not feel the potential supervisor was that good, especially in terms of reputation. We also didn't seem compatible..seemed risky to go for for 3yrs.

So, I'll be doing a self-funded MRes at a so-called top uni as opposed to a funded PhD at my old low-ranking non research-intensive uni. Mistake? We'll see, but its a calculated risk I'm willing to take.

Make a decision that works for you and remember nothing is impossible.

I hope this helps.

I think if you get a good degree, depending on the subject you can go onto to top ranked universities even if you studied at a low rank university. I think once you get a good degree it really opens doors for you at top universities, excluding Oxbridge of course.

I know several people who got 1st class honours degrees in scientific subjects from low ranked universities who had no problems getting into top ranked unis to do funded masters and PhDs. I do however think that what you said about the reputation of the supervisor/team is more important than that of the university. However, I would still avoid a low ranked uni for a PhD.

[...mo...]

(Original post by gutenberg)
Ghost is not in the humanities; he also advocates lying on your CV for the purpose of jobs and scholarships, so I wouldn't touch his advice with a bargepole.

I am a historian.

As regards your scenario, I was always told to 'follow the money': implying that getting funding trumps where you'll be studying. To give a not-very-representative example, a friend of mine was offered a PhD spot in Sheffield and in Cambridge. She was offered money in Sheffield but not Cambridge. She is going to Sheffield. Now, it's not exactly a massive step down as Sheffield is a very good uni, but she chose the money over being in Cambridge unfunded. I was in a similar position myself in that I had a funded offer from a university in Ireland, which I was going to take, until my funded Cambridge offer came through, which I am now going take. The uni in Ireland is the top-ranked one (TCD), so like the Sheffield example, probably not the most representative 'dilemma'. However, all the advice I've been given said to go where the money is offered; but ultimately only you can choose what you think is better for yourself.

yh in a similar example there are people who choose to go to their home university and save money on accommodation than to go to a higher ranking university in a more expensive area.

[...mo...]

(Original post by shanghaichica)
I think if you get a good degree, depending on the subject you can go onto to top ranked universities even if you studied at a low rank university. I think once you get a good degree it really opens doors for you at top universities, excluding Oxbridge of course.

I know several people who got 1st class honours degrees in scientific subjects from low ranked universities who had no problems getting into top ranked unis to do funded masters and PhDs. I do however think that what you said about the reputation of the supervisor/team is more important than that of the university. However, I would still avoid a low ranked uni for a PhD.

Really? what degree from the lower ranking uni was it and what higher ranking uni did they get in to?

How low in rankings, in your opinion, would an under grad student be able to get in to russel group uni for their master/PhD?

[shanghaichica]

(Original post by ...mo...)
Really? what degree from the lower ranking uni was it and what higher ranking uni did they get in to?

How low in rankings, in your opinion, would an under grad student be able to get in to russel group uni for their master/PhD?

University of Westminster (Very low). They did BScs in Biotechology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. They managed to get into Imperial (Masters), York (Masters), Kings College London (PhD), Leeds (PhD), one went to the University of Maryland in America (PhD).

They also had offers from other Unis like UCL, Liverpool and Newcastle.

All of those courses (PhD/MRes) were fully funded with tuition fees and stipend.

There were two others who went on to Queen's University Belfast and Dundee (Not as good) but still better than where they came from. The one who went to Dundee also had her PhD jointly funded by a top Pharmacuetical company.

I imagine things are different in humanities. It is possible as you can't get much lower than the university I mentioned. You would need a very good undergraduate degree though.

[wompahferret]

(Original post by GBerritta)
Thank you all for your help! I'll be sure to take all of your comments and advice into consideration when the time comes to apply.EDIT: I was just thinking, will studying an MA by Research give me any kind of advantage for applying for a PhD?

I fail to see how it wouldn't hurt. It would be fantastic preparation. Also, I too emphasise the importance of the supervisor over the college's reputation. Think about their publishing record, are they a leader in their field, is it relevant to your research, if they've been in receipt of research grants recently, etc. You might want to have a look at the college's resources. What libraries do they have, what archives? Consider if they're adequate enough for your research.

[wompahferret]

*apologies, by college I meant uni! (it's the way we do things in Ireland.)

[...mo...]

(Original post by shanghaichica)
University of Westminster (Very low). They did BScs in Biotechology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. They managed to get into Imperial (Masters), York (Masters), Kings College London (PhD), Leeds (PhD), one went to the University of Maryland in America (PhD).

They also had offers from other Unis like UCL, Liverpool and Newcastle.

All of those courses (PhD/MRes) were fully funded with tuition fees and stipend.

There were two others who went on to Queen's University Belfast and Dundee (Not as good) but still better than where they came from. The one who went to Dundee also had her PhD jointly funded by a top Pharmacuetical company.

I imagine things are different in humanities. It is possible as you can't get much lower than the university I mentioned. You would need a very good undergraduate degree though.

I am assuming they all got first. Did they have amazing work experience/references or contacts for them. I want to do a masters at a rusell group uni in economics so does this also apply to non science degrees aswell?

[VENIVIDIVICI]

(Original post by shanghaichica)
I think if you get a good degree, depending on the subject you can go onto to top ranked universities even if you studied at a low rank university. I think once you get a good degree it really opens doors for you at top universities, excluding Oxbridge of course.

I know several people who got 1st class honours degrees in scientific subjects from low ranked universities who had no problems getting into top ranked unis to do funded masters and PhDs. I do however think that what you said about the reputation of the supervisor/team is more important than that of the university. However, I would still avoid a low ranked uni for a PhD.

I agree .

[shanghaichica]

(Original post by ...mo...)
I am assuming they all got first. Did they have amazing work experience/references or contacts for them. I want to do a masters at a rusell group uni in economics so does this also apply to non science degrees aswell?

Yes they all got firsts apart from the one who went to Queen's Belfast who got a 2:1, and good references, I should think.

[GBerritta]

(Original post by shanghaichica)
University of Westminster (Very low). They did BScs in Biotechology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. They managed to get into Imperial (Masters), York (Masters), Kings College London (PhD), Leeds (PhD), one went to the University of Maryland in America (PhD).

They also had offers from other Unis like UCL, Liverpool and Newcastle.

All of those courses (PhD/MRes) were fully funded with tuition fees and stipend.

There were two others who went on to Queen's University Belfast and Dundee (Not as good) but still better than where they came from. The one who went to Dundee also had her PhD jointly funded by a top Pharmacuetical company.

I imagine things are different in humanities. It is possible as you can't get much lower than the university I mentioned. You would need a very good undergraduate degree though.

I got a high 2:1 at undergrad from the same university I'm doing my postgrad at. The university's reputation isn't great, but my supervisor is very well-respected as an academic. I'd hope that doing an MA by Research instead of a taught MA would demonstrate my ability as a PhD student, but I just can't help but wonder if my university's status will hinder me.

[VENIVIDIVICI]

(Original post by ...mo...)
Really? what degree from the lower ranking uni was it and what higher ranking uni did they get in to?

How low in rankings, in your opinion, would an under grad student be able to get in to russel group uni for their master/PhD?

I graduated from a uni ranked around 80-90 with a 1st in Biomedical Sciences and am now starting an MRes at Imperial (in top 5 in UK) this coming academic year.

...and the course I got admitted to is in-demand and there's been a waiting list for a few weeks now of very good prospective applicants.

Just shows, it is possible to get an offer from a top uni if you graduated from a low-level uni.

[...mo...]

(Original post by VENIVIDIVICI)
I graduated from a uni ranked around 80-90 with a 1st in Biomedical Sciences and am now starting an MRes at Imperial (in top 5 in UK) this coming academic year.

...and the course I got admitted to is in-demand and there's been a waiting list for a few weeks now of very good prospective applicants.

Just shows, it is possible to get an offer from a top uni if you graduated from a low-level uni.

wow.did you get 90+% in your first or have some amazing work experience to get that. does this only apply to science degrees our non stem subjects aswell ?