Application questions from a US student

I am a US student applying to programs in the UK. I know you are supposed to contact potential supervisors ahead of time, so I have been emailing. Some schools have said yes, we have people that will supervise that project, go ahead and apply. Some have said they are not interested in the subject. Some have not replied at all.

Do I only apply to the schools that said yes? At Cambridge, for example, the only prof that looked like she matched my research interests said she wasn't interested, but not to let that stop me from applying because someone might be interested. That makes me feel like I should apply regardless, but I also don't want to waste time/money applying to schools that aren't a good fit.

Should I bother with the ones that didn't reply? Or should I try to find a different prof at the ones that said they weren't interested?

I don't want to screw up my chances with an etiquette mistake, so some advice from UK students would be great! Thanks!

(I am a PhD applicant with previous masters degrees, if that makes a difference.)

Reply 1

returnmigrant

Its probably worth waiting a week or so and re-emailing the Unis that havnt replied. Address your email to the Dept, not an individual academic as they could be on sabbatical leave etc. The Dept will forward your email to the most relevant person. Unis have all just started a new academic year here and things are a bit frantic. Wait until at least the end of next week before you send the new emails.

Reply 2

roselise

The person above has some good advice. I am also an American applicant who starts in October. I emailed four different schools and met with one supervisor at a fifth while I was in the UK (at Cambridge). She was happy to take on my topic should I get accepted, but I was worried about funding for Cambridge, and sought out the other four through advice from a leading name in my field. As a note, I did email individual people, but one passed it along through his department. The first was lukewarm about my topic (application rejected despite meeting academic reqs.), the second never replied and I didn't chase her up (never applied), the third replied with enthusiasm but did not have a good fit for me for supervisor (this is the guy who passed it through the department; I applied and withdrew my application). The fourth was the best fit, he replied promptly to all my emails, was excited and engaged in my topic suggestion, and helped me to revise my proposal multiple times to fit the acceptance requirements.

If you are very keen on the program or supervisor of people who didn't reply, I would email again (and perhaps, as returnmigrant mentioned, direct it toward the department. If you haven't already, ask the woman at Cambridge either for the department email or for a suggestion of someone else she thinks might be interested). It is worth your time to apply to different schools, especially since most of them (excepting Oxford and Cambridge, I believe) do not have application fees in the UK. Obviously, the time consuming part will be your personal statements and proposals, although I imagine that the proposal idea won't change too drastically between schools and you will have a good idea of why you chose each school you emailed for your personal statements. It is worth mentioning, though, that the school I was accepted to had a very strict proposal requirement involving bibliography, a longer word count, and scrutineers (including the original woman I talked to at Cambridge!), and that was a process and a half compared to the other schools. But worth it in the end! =)

Reply 3

katiegud

Thanks for the info. I have 4 schools now that have people willing to supervise my suggested project, but I've only really corresponded with one of them. Is it appropriate to send my whole research proposal to someone prior to applying? You mentioned that he helped you revise your proposal, which I would not have thought was okay to do. One of the potential supervisors did offer to make comments, but I wasn't sure if I should take him up on it or not.

I'm still looking for other programs, but having 4 is giving me some confidence. I am hoping to get in somewhere with funding, so I'm trying to apply to as many places as possible (that I might actually have a chance). I feel weird not applying to Oxford and Cambridge, but they haven't been nearly as receptive as other schools. It seems like I'd have better luck applying to places that seem interested. I could follow up at Cambridge, but just looking over their site no one seemed to be studying what I want to study. I tried Oxford again today, so if this one doesn't reply I'll consider that a no.

Reply 4

roselise

My school has a strange situation in that it is accredited through another university for doctoral students (it may become accredited on its own before I graduate), and so it has much stricter requirements for the preliminary proposal. My SO is doing his PhD at Cambridge and he even thought it was strange how much they were asking from me considering I hadn't even started my degree. I think because of that whole deal my supervisor was much more keen to help me do a number of revisions before submitting it to both the school I'm at and the accrediting school.

I did send early drafts of my proposal to my other potential supervisors as well, and had more a fine-tuned piece for my applications. If the supervisor is offering comments, then it is okay. I don't see any reason it could hurt. Even if you don't end up at his university, those comments will be useful. You're not "revealing" anything secret - as far as the impression I've got, the supervisors really should know exactly what you want to undertake. Well, proposals will change as you do research, but that preliminary idea should be feasible and interest them enough, too.

Application questions from a US student

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