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on the reserve list for funding

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Hi. Let me clarify my positions. I am sorry if I put out jumbled positions.

First, my key message is about tenacity and not losing hope about any possible funding.

My second message was in agreement with Hobnon's comment about it being hard, and that there is truth in what the naysayers say about the privatisation of higher education, the reduction in government funding and so on.

Within this second point I wanted to share that for me the journey has been very hard. For these reasons: that I am switching disciplines and so need to prove my worth. That it is often assumed that English of non-native speakers is often not good enough. That the nomenclature of higher education in management in India is often a post-graduate diploma. But what I pursued was a two year residential programme from one of the world's pioneering institutes of development management in India. And yet other places that I applied to, in NZ for example, told me that I should do two more master's before I can be considered for their doctoral prorgamme. Similarly, in India a first class in the range of 60-70% is very good. But I was often told that my academic performance was poor, it turns out getting a hundred in a master's dissertation in UK is achievable but in India no one in 35 years of my institute's history has as much as gotten an overall A, leave alone a A+ or a 100%.

Not about the UK, where my experience with the academics was very good, they were supportive, hugely patient, and enormously indulgent as I went about organising all the paper work to prove the above; but in a number of places I was ticked off. I was told that my education is not good enough, that they mostly accepted people from Oxbridge as if those are the only places where intellectual potential resides. Similarly, that a UK master's is better than an Indian master's, like in NZ. In Australia, they told me that funding is only for applicants from elite institutions (as if all academia in the third world is useless). So, funding I was told at many places was not available to untamed, natives such as myself.

What is this, if not continuities of colonialism where applicants from the third world remain subjected in so many ways? Where it is believed that Oxbridge is the way, the only way, to go? Where funding (like in Australia) is only available to those from the elite or elitist institutions?

As for hope: the message is still the same. Like my guide-to-be supported my application and pushed my case and guided me through the maze, it is about keeping the hope that there are certain academics who believe in you, who understand what you are saying and are interested in providing an opportunity to wanna-be academics.

Does that help explain what I wanted to say?
Original post by *Corinna*
Huh? I thought the point of your original post was "don't lose hope" and now you start about imperialism etc.
Anyway, can't you take your family with you? How will you stand being away from them for three years?


As for family, well my wife is i.n a good academic position and on her way to becoming a full professor soon. She wouldn't want to jeopardise her chances. And my son, of course, is better off here where I have family support than in the UK. They will join for a year, once my wife is due for her sabbatical, subject to all going according to plan though.
Original post by sj27
But I think that is to do with concerns about the Indian university system, from what I have read before on TSR. I also come from a "third world" country, and in my year and the ones before and after that I am aware of, every year the top couple of students applied to either Oxford and/or Cambridge for masters and every year we were accepted. I also know of a number of people from other unis in my country who did the same. Granted, we didn't all get funding, but there never seemed to be prejudice per se against the country.


Well, I don't mean prejudice against any one country or its education system. I think there is a deep seated idea of the Other, whose is constructed as somewhat lesser than our own self. Perhaps it could be because of the familiarity of the known and the anxiety about the unknown. But it is this with leads to a different form of subjectification and therefore subjection.

Have any of you read Edward Said's Orientalism? It explains a lot of what I am trying to say here.

Let me give an example, do you think a person with a PhD from London Met or some such, no matter how bright, will make is as easily into a faculty position at Harvard as a person from MIT would? Why do you think that is? Because we think that the best only and always goto certain places, and the rest are well, the rest...
Reply 23
Original post by cryptic-clues
Hi. Let me clarify my positions. I am sorry if I put out jumbled positions.

First, my key message is about tenacity and not losing hope about any possible funding.

My second message was in agreement with Hobnob's comment about it being hard, and that there is truth in what the naysayers say about the privatisation of higher education, the reduction in government funding and so on.

Within this second point I wanted to share that for me the journey has been very hard. For these reasons: that I am switching disciplines and so need to prove my worth. That it is often assumed that English of non-native speakers is often not good enough. That the nomenclature of higher education in management in India is often a post-graduate diploma. But what I pursued was a two year residential programme from one of the world's pioneering institutes of development management in India. And yet other places that I applied to, in NZ for example, told me that I should do two more master's before I can be considered for their doctoral prorgamme. Similarly, in India a first class in the range of 60-70% is very good. But I was often told that my academic performance was poor, it turns out getting a hundred in a master's dissertation in UK is achievable but in India no one in 35 years of my institute's history has as much as gotten an overall A, leave alone a A+ or a 100%.

Not about the UK, where my experience with the academics was very good, they were supportive, hugely patient, and enormously indulgent as I went about organising all the paper work to prove the above; but in a number of places I was ticked off. I was told that my education is not good enough, that they mostly accepted people from Oxbridge as if those are the only places where intellectual potential resides. Similarly, that a UK master's is better than an Indian master's, like in NZ. In Australia, they told me that funding is only for applicants from elite institutions (as if all academia in the third world is useless). So, funding I was told at many places was not available to untamed, natives such as myself.

What is this, if not continuities of colonialism where applicants from the third world remain subjected in so many ways? Where it is believed that Oxbridge is the way, the only way, to go? Where funding (like in Australia) is only available to those from the elite or elitist institutions?

As for hope: the message is still the same. Like my guide-to-be supported my application and pushed my case and guided me through the maze, it is about keeping the hope that there are certain academics who believe in you, who understand what you are saying and are interested in providing an opportunity to wanna-be academics.

Does that help explain what I wanted to say?

OK, I'm fairly sure that I'd qualify as a 'naysayer' by your definition.:p: But please bear with me while I explain the point I was trying to make there:
As I said, I think it's great that you got funding. And just like everybody else, I like reading stories like yours, because they're inspirational, encouraging and all that, and they give people hope, and obviously that's a good thing. Nevertheless, I think it's perhaps a bit dangerous to generalise on the basis of an individual experience that happened to have a happy ending and to essentially propagate a message that all it takes to be successful in gaining PhD funding is tenacity - irrespective of subject area and irrespective of personal circumstances - and, by implication, that anyone who fails to secure funding simply wasn't trying hard enough.
Does that make any more sense?:erm:
And sorry for the typos, I have never been good at typing accurately.

Original post by hobnob
OK, I'm fairly sure that I'd qualify as a 'naysayer' by your definition.:p: But please bear with me while I explain the point I was trying to make there:
As I said, I think it's great that you got funding. And just like everybody else, I like reading stories like yours, because they're inspirational, encouraging and all that, and they give people hope, and obviously that's a good thing. Nevertheless, I think it's perhaps a bit dangerous to generalise on the basis of an individual experience that happened to have a happy ending and to essentially propagate a message that all it takes to be successful in gaining PhD funding is tenacity - irrespective of subject area and irrespective of personal circumstances - and, by implication, that anyone who fails to secure funding simply wasn't trying hard enough.
Does that make any more sense?:erm:


I agree that one cannot generalise on the basis of one single experience. I also do not, even for a moment, want to say that ALL it takes is tenacity. From my own case, I have no problem is admitting that my supervisor had a large role to play in my having won it. I am also not vain enough when say it was only my abilities and past academic performance. In fact, all the people that I spoke to in the UK told me that it is hard to predict. That sometimes even very good applications fail to win any funds, while some bad ones do it easily. And I have experienced it myself.

I also know the effort that is involved in making an application: for admissions and for funding. As somebody from a markedly critical school of thought, I believed that CV writing was such a re-constitution of the self where one portrayed certain aspects of one's self, education. work while not so much the others. And so I want to pass on my best wishes to everyone else who is in my position, or the one that I was in not so long ago.

Having said all that, let me say, again, that all others being equal, it is just as important to be tenacious. I kept writing to the people at my department. I sent copies of my published work, I kept asking if the application had moved any further, and so on. I think that tenacity is important. And one can only do that if one does not give the hope. Even in this, I do not want to say focus only on one: but that keep trying. At other places, look up other guides, check other funding, read their conditions, apply, even if it means writing other tests like GRE, IELTS and so on. Share your published work to help them know and understand you better.

So, I am saying what you are saying. That one should try at a number of places, that one should make the most of what come's one's way, that you should keep looking for funding from various sources, check up other potential supervisors and places. Isn't that in part also training for the PhD work to come?

My apologies if it came across as if I was saying hope is all that matters, or was playing a some sort of romanticised role of a beacon of hope. I did not mean that even for a moment. And would hate to play that role of inspirational hero in any way for any one...
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 25
Original post by cryptic-clues
And sorry for the typos, I have never been good at typing accurately.


I agree that one cannot generalise on the basis of one single experience. I also do not, even for a moment, want to say that ALL it takes is tenacity. From my own case, I have no problem is admitting that my supervisor had a large role to play in my having won it. I am also not vain enough when say it was only my abilities and past academic performance. In fact, all the people that I spoke to in the UK told me that it is hard to predict. That sometimes even very good applications fail to win any funds, while some bad ones do it easily. And I have experienced it myself.

I also know the effort that is involved in making an application: for admissions and for funding. As somebody from a markedly critical school of thought, I believed that CV writing was such a re-constitution of the self where one portrayed certain aspects of one's self, education. work while not so much the others. And so I want to pass on my best wishes to everyone else who is in my position, or the one that I was in not so long ago.

Having said all that, let me say, again, that all others being equal, it is just as important to be tenacious. I kept writing to the people at my department. I sent copies of my published work, I kept asking if the application had moved any further, and so on. I think that tenacity is important. And one can only do that if one does not give the hope. Even in this, I do not want to say focus only on one: but that keep trying. At other places, look up other guides, check other funding, read their conditions, apply, even if it means writing other tests like GRE, IELTS and so on. Share your published work to help them know and understand you better.

So, I am saying what you are saying. That one should try at a number of places, that one should make the most of what come's one's way, that you should keep looking for funding from various sources, check up other potential supervisors and places. Isn't that in part also training for the PhD work to come?

My apologies if it came across as if I was saying hope is all that matters, or was playing a some sort of romanticised role of a beacon of hope. I did not mean that even for a moment. And would hate to play that role of inspirational hero in any way for any one...


Hi!

I just wanted to say that I am moved by your story of success. I think you are right: tenacity is important. But, as you and others have said, it is also true that luck is a huge part of whether or not you get funding. Realistically, obtaining funding is not an indication that one is the best candidate. There are too many other factors at play here and plenty of top notch candidates miss out.

I do think you have a point about fear of the unknown. Obviously UK institutions have close connections to other UK institutions and they understand* far better the course structure and grading systems of other universities in the UK, as well as those which traditionally have close connections with them (such as those in US and Northern Europe). I think that it is relatively natural for them to be more nervous when it comes to looking at applicants with an educational background that is less familiar to them. I don't think this is necessarily fair and it doesn't make the process any better for you as the applicant, I know.

Anyway, you've clearly been recognised as the excellent candidate you are - congrats.

* or at least think they understand, in reality I get the impression, courses differ rather a lot.
Original post by Pherenike
Hi!

I just wanted to say that I am moved by your story of success. I think you are right: tenacity is important. But, as you and others have said, it is also true that luck is a huge part of whether or not you get funding. Realistically, obtaining funding is not an indication that one is the best candidate. There are too many other factors at play here and plenty of top notch candidates miss out.

I do think you have a point about fear of the unknown. Obviously UK institutions have close connections to other UK institutions and they understand* far better the course structure and grading systems of other universities in the UK, as well as those which traditionally have close connections with them (such as those in US and Northern Europe). I think that it is relatively natural for them to be more nervous when it comes to looking at applicants with an educational background that is less familiar to them. I don't think this is necessarily fair and it doesn't make the process any better for you as the applicant, I know.

Anyway, you've clearly been recognised as the excellent candidate you are - congrats.

* or at least think they understand, in reality I get the impression, courses differ rather a lot.


It worries me when you call it my success. As far as I am concerned, it was as much about my tenacity as it was my guide-to-be's. He really worked hard on my case, not before the application because the department discouraged potential applicants from writing to potential supervisors, but after he agreed to take me on, having seen my application. So it isn't much about my success.

And like you say, it is about luck and not the best are always selected. In fact, all the academics I contacted told me that its hard to predict how funding goes. That sometimes in their experience, very good applications have been rejected and very bad ones accepted.

Anyway, at the end of it I am happy for the opportunity that has come my way, and I want to give it a good hard, sincere go! I think I have something interesting to say about the ways of the world, and that I can say it well. I think it will hopefully be somewhat illuminating of the worlds we inhabit.
Hey, Cryptic clues. 6 years on, I am on the same boat as you were in, and am desperate, anxious, all things at the same time. All I know is that I am on the reserved list which comprises of 6 other applicants, so I have no idea whatsoever of how this will pan out in my favour, if at all. This is a university in Scotland, and I am looking at a social sciences PhD. I'm okay with waiting, despite it being an ambivalent time period, but could you share how long you were kept on hold till the time you were informed about the final outcome of the scholarship? Any other insight on such scenarios is more than welcome.
My first choice uni has put me on reserved list for PhD funding, and the size of the pool is 6 students. I haven't heard from them since over a month now, but I have also seen that these reserved list candidates are often offered places on a last minute basis, which I'm happy with. What is driving me anxious is the fact that I don't know if this reserved list thing is going to work out in the end. Could someone please give any suggestions/insights from previous experiences?
Thanks
Original post by Dutt1995
My first choice uni has put me on reserved list for PhD funding, and the size of the pool is 6 students. I haven't heard from them since over a month now, but I have also seen that these reserved list candidates are often offered places on a last minute basis, which I'm happy with. What is driving me anxious is the fact that I don't know if this reserved list thing is going to work out in the end. Could someone please give any suggestions/insights from previous experiences?
Thanks

Hi, an year passed since you posted this question. I came to this site looking for answer of the same question. I am on reserved list for funding. Don't know how many students are there on the list but my supervisor said it never more than 3. I do not what to expect. Can you help?
Original post by ScarletDawn
Hi, an year passed since you posted this question. I came to this site looking for answer of the same question. I am on reserved list for funding. Don't know how many students are there on the list but my supervisor said it never more than 3. I do not what to expect. Can you help?

Hi, I was actually a 4th reserve at the current funding i am on. So, I think the total number of reserve list candidates is actually more than 3, unless it varies from uni to uni. I have been a 6th reserve too. Hope this helps.
Original post by Dutt1995
Hi, I was actually a 4th reserve at the current funding i am on. So, I think the total number of reserve list candidates is actually more than 3, unless it varies from uni to uni. I have been a 6th reserve too. Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot. Congratulation on getting the funding :smile: . I guess it varies from Uni to Uni as my supervisor said this too. Also the list is different every year. Hope to receive a positive news soon. When did they let you know if I may ask? Did you have enough time to work the VISA process?
Original post by ScarletDawn
Thanks a lot. Congratulation on getting the funding :smile: . I guess it varies from Uni to Uni as my supervisor said this too. Also the list is different every year. Hope to receive a positive news soon. When did they let you know if I may ask? Did you have enough time to work the VISA process?

I was told about one in April, and one in May, so hopefully you too will hear sooner:smile: hope this helps.
Original post by Dutt1995
I was told about one in April, and one in May, so hopefully you too will hear sooner:smile: hope this helps.

Hopefully. yes. thanks a lot. you have been really helpful.

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