GOGSoc MkII

Reply 1780

14

Acaila

Guys, when should you start applying for Masters courses? I'm worrying that I'm not sorted out enough to even be thinking about it :frown:

If you're thinking about applying for 2008, you might be a tad late... :biggrin:

Seriously, though, if you get everything sorted out by Christmas, you should be fine.

Reply 1781

Acaila

17

Hehe, I did notice when checking out a website for my current first choice a while back they were saying you could still apply for 08 entry, and had to remind myself I've only got an ordinary degree so far :biggrin:

Another annoying question, how many unis did you lot apply to for an MA?

Reply 1782

apotoftea

19

I only applied to one :biggrin:

Someone give me something to do *begs* - I literally have nothing to do :frown:

Sorry to hear about your diss Hobnob, hope it it turns out to be better than you think :hugs:

Reply 1783

hobnob

14

Acaila

Hehe, I did notice when checking out a website for my current first choice a while back they were saying you could still apply for 08 entry, and had to remind myself I've only got an ordinary degree so far :biggrin:

I didn't actually apply until late August/early September. 'twas a bit of a last-minute decision. :redface:

I wouldn't exactly recommend leaving it this late, but if you do have a late change of mind, it's definitely worth emailing the department to ask whether they still accept applications, even if the official deadline is past.

Another annoying question, how many unis did you lot apply to for an MA?

Two. The Evil Place, which rejected me and The Lovely Place, which accepted my seriously late application. :wink:

I almost applied to a third one, The Fussy Place, which required a letter from my college explaining why forcing me to do a language test at this stage might be a wee bit pointless (seeing as I had just graduated from an English university with a BA in English :rolleyes:

), but in the end I didn't because they struck me as a little too, well, fussy and I didn't have the nerve to fight admin battles then.

Reply 1784

hobnob

14

apotoftea

I only applied to one :biggrin:

Ah, but you were our brilliant proto-GOG. :wink:

Someone give me something to do *begs* - I literally have nothing to do :frown:

Sorry to hear about your diss Hobnob, hope it it turns out to be better than you think :hugs:

To be honest, I don't think it will, really. I usually have a fairly good sense of when I've messed up. But thanks anyway. :smile:

Reply 1785

the_alba

12

Acaila

Another annoying question, how many unis did you lot apply to for an MA?

I applied to three - Oxford, York, Glasgow, in that order. Looking back, I don't know why I applied to three. I must have felt paranoid about my acceptability.

Reply 1786

ChemistBoy

16

I applied to two places for my PhD - Cambridge and Nottingham.

Reply 1787

Athena

6

How much success did you all have with emailing potential supervisors? The person I really want to do a PhD with ignored the last email I sent, saying what my interests were and asking if they were likely to take on any new students this year :s-smilie:

Reply 1788

hobnob

14

Athena

How much success did you all have with emailing potential supervisors? The person I really want to do a PhD with ignored the last email I sent, saying what my interests were and asking if they were likely to take on any new students this year :s-smilie:

I initially found the whole emailing strangers to ask "will you be my supervisor?" business incredibly embarassing, but when I finally did bring myself to send off those emails, I was quite astonished by the responses I got. Out of the two people I emailed, I had a *very* positive response from the first person and a positive one from the second. Both also responded to my initial email very quickly. So overall, I'd recommend it.
Even if your potential supervisor hasn't replied yet that needn't mean much, though - he/she could just be horribly busy at the moment... How long has it been since you sent your last email?

Reply 1789

the_alba

12

Athena

How much success did you all have with emailing potential supervisors? The person I really want to do a PhD with ignored the last email I sent, saying what my interests were and asking if they were likely to take on any new students this year :s-smilie:

That's bad - how long ago did you send it?

I'm lucky in that the person I really wanted to do my PhD with emailed straight back saying she thought my topic was 'exicting' and that she couldn't wait to work with me :awesome:

(But I'm unlucky in that she moved to Illinois at the end of the year :bawling:

)

Reply 1790

ChemistBoy

16

Athena

How much success did you all have with emailing potential supervisors? The person I really want to do a PhD with ignored the last email I sent, saying what my interests were and asking if they were likely to take on any new students this year :s-smilie:

To be fair I didn't really email potential supervisors. I had an interview at the end of my degree with the Head of School (as all final year undergrads did in my subject) and mentioned that I would like to do a PhD in his area, but not at St Andrews. He wrote a few people some emails and I got invited down to see their labs. I have to say that I was definitely in a buyer's market as far as PhD places were concerned.

However, if you aren't getting any luck direct, try the postgraduate admissions tutor for the department (there should be one) or the general office to ask who is responsible for dealing with equiries about postgraduate study. To be fair, most profs I know seem to filter out emails that aren't of immediate interest to them (and this includes emails from current research students about their research!).

Reply 1791

hobnob

14

Athena

I emailed a guy at Leicester (one of the biggest names in my bit of genetics) and he got back really quickly (still apologising for being slow!) and has been very positive and generally nice. he asked me to email him again and tell him how I'd got on with my project, as he's a collaborator on it.

the guy at Cambridge who I'd probably most want to work for hasn't replied to the email I sent in early June :frown:

I don't know whether to email again, now I have a bit more experience. The person I did my project with didn't reply to my first email; I sent it again about a fortnight later, and got a reply the next day, so I don't know what to make of Cambridge person's lack of reply.

I'd say you either worded your email too carefully so Cambridge-guy didn't realise you were actually asking him a question, or he was busy at the time and forgot to reply afterwards. Either way, I don't think you'll have anything to lose by emailing him again - if it turns out that he'd be interested in supervising you after all, it will have been worth the initial embarassment of writing a second email, and if he turns out not to be interested, at least you'll know where you are and have saved yourself the trouble of preparing a pointless application. :dontknow:

Reply 1792

hobnob

14

Athena

Oh, and I was hoping that the head of my project would ask me to come back for a PhD, and he hasn't. Sensibly, I know there are lots of reasons for him not to - but other than asking if the experience had put me off research, and giving me advice about applying to Cambridge, and agreeing to be a referee, he didn't indicate he wanted me back at his lab... I'm a little... upset is too strong, but disappointed maybe, even though it's illogical - that he didn't even suggest it.

Hmm, perhaps he just didn't realise you'd like to come back for a DPhil and assumed you'd want to go elsewhere because you never mentioned wanting to stay?

Reply 1793

Acaila

17

Yep, you are a fabby bunch (And I'm going to apologise in advance for being a scared little applicant over the next few months!)

Reply 1794

Acaila

17

the_alba

I applied to three - Oxford, York, Glasgow, in that order. Looking back, I don't know why I applied to three. I must have felt paranoid about my acceptability.

I have eight on my list, and I haven't finished looking at some possibles...paranoid must not even cover me then :biggrin:

Reply 1795

hobnob

14

Acaila

I have eight on my list, and I haven't finished looking at some possibles...paranoid must not even cover me then :biggrin:

Unless all the master's courses you're interested in happen to be massively competitive, you probably won't need to be quite so paranoid. :p:

Do you realise that if you actually pull through with this you'll end up like those applicants spamming the UCAS with posts along the lines of:

"OMG i got 6 offers n now i dunt no wich 1z 2 chuze!!!! :eek:

plz cold u rank them 4 prestege?? or maybe i shuld go thru clering insted? HLLLP - im so undecidedd :o:

xxxxxxxxxxxxoooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx emmmmylie82905000"

*runs and hides* :p:

Reply 1796

musicbloke

17

hobnob

Unless all the master's courses you're interested in happen to be massively competitive, you probably won't need to be quite so paranoid. :p:

Do you realise that if you actually pull through with this you'll end up like those applicants spamming the UCAS with posts along the lines of:

"OMG i got 6 offers n now i dunt no wich 1z 2 chuze!!!! :eek:

plz cold u rank them 4 prestege?? or maybe i shuld go thru clering insted? HLLLP - im so undecidedd :o:

xxxxxxxxxxxxoooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx emmmmylie82905000"

*runs and hides* :p:

*phones up emmmmylie82905000 so he can tell her to report hobnob for inflammatory posts against her*

MB

Reply 1797

hobnob

14

musicbloke

*phones up emmmmylie82905000 so he can tell her to report hobnob for inflammatory posts against her*

MB

Not to mention the reckless use of textspeak, which constitutes a breach of forum rules. Oh dear, looks like I'm in trouble... :ninja:

Edit: Hang on, you ARE emmmmylie82905000, aren't you? *looks suspicious*

Reply 1798

musicbloke

17

hobnob

Not to mention the reckless use of textspeak, which constitutes a breach of forum rules. Oh dear, looks like I'm in trouble... :ninja:

Edit: Hang on, you ARE emmmmylie82905000, aren't you? *looks suspicious*

Only at weekends (but then I often find it difficult to get rid of the fake tan on Monday mornings, so continue to go about in high heels, 2 inches of eyeliner, loopy earings, and 12.5 inch patent stilettos just so I don't look completely stupid.)

MB

Reply 1799

Da Bachtopus

12

No: I am emmmmylie82905000.

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