The Student Room Group

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Reply 180
Morbo
What rotten luck!

P.S. Isn't it annoying when someone quotes you in a post with no title?

Wha?
Reply 181

I'm slightly shocked that you've repped me almost twice as many times as anyone else, and have given me more than twice as much as the second-most person has!
Drogue
I'm slightly shocked that you've repped me almost twice as many times as anyone else, and have given me more than twice as much as the second-most person has!

I was shocked I received so much rep from you too. Its mostly meet rep innit.
Reply 183
Well, not just meet rep. I tend to rep people for interesting or intelligent posts, and similarly a meets for interesting and intelligent conversations. Or for being hot.
Drogue
Well, not just meet rep. I tend to rep people for interesting or intelligent posts, and similarly a meets for interesting and intelligent conversations. Or for being hot.

Thanks :colondollar:

:p:
IlexAquifolium
Anyway, I managed to produce the computery stuff I needed to do thanks to my best friend's creaky 7 year old laptop. No idea how it coped, but cope it did, and eventually it spat out the print off I needed. Phew.

yay. Glad its sorted out for you now.

apotoftea
Ok a serious question (sorry to ruin the tone of a saturday evening) - it's stupid to apply for another PhD just for the hell of it isn't it? Knowing full well I'd have to live at home again, and topic will be tweaked to the extent I won't be happy with it, just to fit with another supervisor?

I might just apply here as a back up plan, as don't think topic would be tweaked as much and I get on with potential supervisor. Hmmmm, putting all my eggs in the same basket has never stopped me before but now it's getting serious

There's nothing to lose by merely applying, surely? If you decide once you have the offer that you don't want to spend another three years at RoHo then you can always turn them down. I say go for it. (Says he who has only applied for one PhD)
Socrates
yay. Glad its sorted out for you now.


Me too! I've now got about 800 more words to write today and the bibliography to sort, then I get to print it off tomorrow. End is in sight!

There's nothing to lose by merely applying, surely? If you decide once you have the offer that you don't want to spend another three years at RoHo then you can always turn them down. I say go for it. (Says he who has only applied for one PhD)


I agree, really. Are you planning to apply to SOAS if things don't go as planned, or just try again next year?

Drogue
Well, not just meet rep. I tend to rep people for interesting or intelligent posts, and similarly a meets for interesting and intelligent conversations. Or for being hot.


Ah...so that's why you've never repped me. :p:
IlexAquifolium
Me too! I've now got about 800 more words to write today and the bibliography to sort, then I get to print it off tomorrow. End is in sight!

:woo:

I agree, really. Are you planning to apply to SOAS if things don't go as planned, or just try again next year?
Well SOAS are quite laid back in terms of when to apply, so I *may* still apply for this September, but most probably I'll take a year out and apply next year. I need a break from SOAS tbh.
Socrates
There's nothing to lose by merely applying, surely? If you decide once you have the offer that you don't want to spend another three years at RoHo then you can always turn them down. I say go for it. (Says he who has only applied for one PhD)


My original post about a second choice wasn't about Roho - it was about UCL :p:

Then I took Ilex's post in reference to my thoughts about here so rattled on about that. Just to confuse matters. Think I might just apply here as a back up, even just to quel my parents' "so what's your plan b?" questions I seem to keep getting :rolleyes: :biggrin:
Reply 189
Apot - I ditto the soc and the 'lex. Why not apply to roho/UCL now, as it seems as if, from reading other threads, Oxford take ages to get back to you anyway. I would have thought applying to the uni that you are currently at is a fairly quick process so at least you would be able to panic less knowing that you had a backup option sorted (you're probably not panicking, it's me that does that). Backup options are lovely, I spend my whole time planning backups rather than the proper thing - I completely encourage such behaviour :wink:
rottcodd
Apot - I ditto the soc and the 'lex. Why not apply to roho/UCL now, as it seems as if, from reading other threads, Oxford take ages to get back to you anyway. I would have thought applying to the uni that you are currently at is a fairly quick process so at least you would be able to panic less knowing that you had a backup option sorted (you're probably not panicking, it's me that does that). Backup options are lovely, I spend my whole time planning backups rather than the proper thing - I completely encourage such behaviour :wink:


I've never had backup options, but I still recommend them :p:

*twiddles thumbs*
Reply 191
Socrates
I've never had backup options, but I still recommend them :p:

*twiddles thumbs*


That's cos you're a wild man, living on the edge.
Noone knows what you'll do next.
All: Coz he's the SOOOOOC MAAAAAAN.

*sings*.
rottcodd
That's cos you're a wild man, living on the edge.
Noone knows what you'll do next.
All: Coz he's the SOOOOOC MAAAAAAN.

*sings*.

I approve :h:

*adds to profile*
Reply 193
rottcodd
That's cos you're a wild man, living on the edge.
Noone knows what you'll do next.
All: Coz he's the SOOOOOC MAAAAAAN.

*sings*.

This is proved by his new ker-azy hairdo.
Reply 194
Socrates
I like :h:

Good. I don't just sing for anyone you know. You normally have to buy me a drink first, and tell me I'm pretty.
rottcodd
Apot - I ditto the soc and the 'lex. Why not apply to roho/UCL now, as it seems as if, from reading other threads, Oxford take ages to get back to you anyway. I would have thought applying to the uni that you are currently at is a fairly quick process so at least you would be able to panic less knowing that you had a backup option sorted (you're probably not panicking, it's me that does that). Backup options are lovely, I spend my whole time planning backups rather than the proper thing - I completely encourage such behaviour :wink:


But but, I've never had a back up plan :s-smilie: :p:

Think I'm swaying towards RoHo over UCL :eek: Might have a chat with tutor when I next see her as she'd be supervising it. Hmmmm.
Is it me, or is it so much easier to sound convincing when you're only pretending to know what you're doing, as opposed to actually rigorously going through what you do know? I just finished the "Here's what my PhD might be on" part of my proposal and even though I haven't got a ******* clue about the massive conceptual difficulties it will attempt to resolve, I damn well sound like it :wink: Par contre, the explanations of my actual project are full of hesitation and reserve.
Reply 197
Da Bachtopus
Is it me, or is it so much easier to sound convincing when you're only pretending to know what you're doing, as opposed to actually rigorously going through what you do know? I just finished the "Here's what my PhD might be on" part of my proposal and even though I haven't got a ******* clue about the massive conceptual difficulties it will attempt to resolve, I damn well sound like it :wink: Par contre, the explanations of my actual project are full of hesitation and reserve.


That's what's so ***** about PhD proposals, not only do you have to lie, you have to lie whilst knowing that the person who reads it knows you are telling porkies whilst trying to earnestly convince them it isn't a lie even though you know that it is and they know that you know that it is.

I'm really not prepared for this seminar today. I did however find the most amazing picture of Larkin - I'm going to go the library after and photograph it so I can show it y'all and keep it forever on my comp., it's that good.
rottcodd
That's what's so ***** about PhD proposals, not only do you have to lie, you have to lie whilst knowing that the person who reads it knows you are telling porkies whilst trying to earnestly convince them it isn't a lie even though you know that it is and they know that you know that it is.


That part is bad enough (tbh though I think I'm very good at lying optimistically about this sort of thing). The worse part is the bit I'm writing now: why I should (i) do this in Germany; (ii) spend 10 months in Germany. (They demand justification both for the location and the "necessity of the duration of your stay" :rolleyes:).

I can say that the thesis is supposed to represent a year's work, so obviously I have to spend a year working on it, and likewise remind them how elaborate and interesting a project it is; I can also say that I need to spend as long as possible in Germany to benefit linguistically as best I can.

This is true, but it's hardly watertight is it? Likewise, I can highlight the fact that there is copyright library in Berlin and plenty of ressources on German philosophy / literature (it is true that these will be better there than Paris, but I really don't know any specific details); I can also point to my supervisor's expertise, and a couple of other academics at the FU who might be useful. Which is all great, but is it going to stick??

You see, here I can't make stuff up: I can say why it'd be good to go to Berlin, but there will be no apodictic certainty of the necessity of my stay. My main motivation is to have the time to do more reading and to spend a year in Germany; and whilst I can say it's important that I perfect my German, this isn't rigorously tied to the subject matter of my project.

The one argument I take comfort in is that, if the jury were as skeptical as the demons I'm supposing they are, they wouldn't give out any grants except to projects that require the use of archives, or the supervision of a very specific professor. And I doubt that there are a huge number of those. Nevertheless, are they more likely to prioritize someone who is applying from a university with poor library ressources (as opposed to me)? Is it not enough to demonstrate that I'm clever, I have a very clear plan for this project and its role in my broader development, that I need to perfect my German --??

I want this so badly, it's driving me completely mental. Because the thing is, anyone is going to benefit from a paid year researching in a foreign country! It is obviously a good thing! How can I honestly show I'd benefit more than other people??

I feel now like I felt when I applied to Cambridge, since at the time I really wanted to go there, and only applied to a couple of other unis as insurance. Naive prestige whore that I was (tbh though I did really like their course). I would have been distraught had I not got in. But now this isn't even about prestigewhoredom, or trying to prove myself academically via some type of award, it's about getting the chance to do what I really want academically -- and that's far more important. If I don't get it I will have to go to all sorts of trouble trying to sort this year in Germany, and will probably be in Paris next year having to do the project whilst simultaneously stressing over accomodation and doctoral applications... It'll be a miserable year of endless work pressure.

:frown:

I certainly can't put that on my form as the reason I need to go.
I had the weirdest dream last night: I somehow ended up enrolled in a class that was combined Hindustani and Newtonian Mechanics. I only completed half the problem sheet because I forgot about it, since I had to be working on my research proposal instead, and I couldn't understand why the teacher was reprimanding me, since I'd not learned sufficient Hindi/Urdu :s-smilie: For some reason I appeared to have completed the half I /did/ do in Hindi, despite not knowing any of the language, and I felt terrible and worthless because I was given a low grade, despite not caring about the class, and it not being important.

This basically recapitulates all my anxiety about little classes for MA degrees. The whole mixture of French/Hindi tuition (the class was still in France) and Mechanics was just weird. It seemd to be mainly stuff we did or M2/M3 on the A-level syllabus.

W T F !

But it's true: I don't want to receive grades for things I've not done as well as possible, simply because they aren't important. Getting bad grades on stuff brings me down, even if I know it's not important. I only want to be graded on meaningful work, ie. my thesis.

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