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Gap year work between masters and PhD

Hey there,

One year ago I graduated with a 2.1 in natural sciences from Cambridge. My grades from my bachelors degree wasn't good enough to do a PhD in an area I liked, so I decided to do a masters. This was in computational biology at a respected institute.

During the year, I decided that I wanted to take a year's break between finishing my master's and completing a PhD.

However, I am not sure about the type of work I can realistically expect. I only ended up finishing the master's course with a pass - this was despite getting decent grades throughout the year ( avg 67%), however due to many different circumstances I ended up bombing my final project - which affected my final grade.

I have been looking at research assistant jobs in various labs but I am really not sure if I have any chance of securing a position with my poor final grade and general lack of experience. So my questions to you guys is, would I have any chance at all of securing an RA position? If I can't get an RA position, what would be potentially good jobs for me to do from now until next year's round of PhD applications?

I am really not sure what to do - I don't want to waste my own time sending off applications if I have no chance of getting the job
Original post by Liquid27
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Have you got a PhD offer? If not, then you need to rebalance your thinking, because you have much more chance of getting a job with those grades than a PhD. You need to look for a job that will last 2 years (because it takes virtually a year for the PhD application process) and a job that establishes a career in case you don't get a PhD place. Both your universities will have careers centres able to help you out.
Reply 2
Avatar for Liquid27
Liquid27
OP
4
Original post by threeportdrift
Have you got a PhD offer? If not, then you need to rebalance your thinking, because you have much more chance of getting a job with those grades than a PhD. You need to look for a job that will last 2 years (because it takes virtually a year for the PhD application process) and a job that establishes a career in case you don't get a PhD place. Both your universities will have careers centres able to help you out.


Thank you very much for the time taken for you to write the response.

I don't think it as hard to get a PhD as you make out. 6/9 of people on my course got one, and two of them only ended up getting a pass. Also, PhD applications need not take a year. I've known them take a month or just about less for applications to be processed.

I will make sure to get in contact with the relevant career centres. I know that I need some form of job before reapplying for PhDs for entry next year, however, I am not sure about the type of job that I should be looking for
Reply 3
Avatar for kka25
kka25
18
Original post by Liquid27
Thank you very much for the time taken for you to write the response.

I don't think it as hard to get a PhD as you make out. 6/9 of people on my course got one, and two of them only ended up getting a pass. Also, PhD applications need not take a year. I've known them take a month or just about less for applications to be processed.

I will make sure to get in contact with the relevant career centres. I know that I need some form of job before reapplying for PhDs for entry next year, however, I am not sure about the type of job that I should be looking for


This is actually quite true. Besides, with some universities, you can actually start with the discretion of your supervisor.

Going back to your OP and your masters, what was the possible final grade that you could have obtained? Was it distinction; merit or pass, or simply, distinction or pass? If it's the later, then it would be just a matter of explanation that you only have two types of final grades and <insert the course was challenging explanation>. This is of course if the interviewer asked you anything about your grades.

How about teaching/tutoring? That could help in with your CV. Also, it would look good at your PhD application.
Reply 4
Avatar for Liquid27
Liquid27
OP
4
Original post by kka25
This is actually quite true. Besides, with some universities, you can actually start with the discretion of your supervisor.

Going back to your OP and your masters, what was the possible final grade that you could have obtained? Was it distinction; merit or pass, or simply, distinction or pass? If it's the later, then it would be just a matter of explanation that you only have two types of final grades and <insert the course was challenging explanation>. This is of course if the interviewer asked you anything about your grades.

How about teaching/tutoring? That could help in with your CV. Also, it would look good at your PhD application.


Thanks. The course was pass, merit or distinction. There is a rule though that if you don't get an average >60% on research modules then you cannot achieve a merit.

Things were going well until my final project. However, I completely ran out of money and literally could not afford to even get the train to institution I was working at most days. Things just generally deteriorated from there and I ended up getting a very poor score for that module. Other than that I was averaging 67% for the entire year and was doing fairly well

Yeah during the whole year I was working part-time as an A-level physics, biology and maths tutor which I enjoyed

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