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Does length of UG degree matter for UK PG application?

Hi there! My UG journey has been kind of a mess, I'm about to finish it on my 8th year. Freshman nd junior years performance weren't good, barely managed to keep a 3.0 outta 4, but in the later years got serious, retook some bad classes, increased the course load despite all the advanced courses, did some studying nd managed to get my cgpa up to 3.62. But then covid hit nd everything went to hell. Took a break for like 2 years post covid due to mental nd financial reasons despite finishing almost all courseworks by early 2021 nd only came back now to finish it. I was wondering if I have any chances of getting into a good masters program in UK at this rate coz doesn't it look really bad? Idk what to do now.
Reply 1
The time you took to complete the degree generally will not matter. Your gpa, recommendation letters, and personal statement will be important. This will be completely your choice, but if you do choose to address the issue in your personal statement or another place in the application, make the explanation very short (not more than one or two sentences) without any hint of excuses and put it in a positive light. What kind of programs are you considering? Is there any reason that you don't want to pursue a masters degree in your home country? What is your goal after the masters degree?
Reply 2
Original post by SS378
The time you took to complete the degree generally will not matter. Your gpa, recommendation letters, and personal statement will be important. This will be completely your choice, but if you do choose to address the issue in your personal statement or another place in the application, make the explanation very short (not more than one or two sentences) without any hint of excuses and put it in a positive light. What kind of programs are you considering? Is there any reason that you don't want to pursue a masters degree in your home country? What is your goal after the masters degree?

I double majored in math and pure physics nd there is no masters program in mathematical physics or sth similar avaliable in my country, I have no choice but to go abroad. Its a rather unpopular subject here so opportunities are kinda less but I really wanna stick to it all the way, goal is to get a phd nd become an independent researcher.
Reply 3
Have you considered applying directly to US Ph.D. programs? They generally don't require a masters degree. I'm not trying to discourage you from pursuing the masters it certainly could help make a stronger profile, given that you do well. It's just that given your goal, I'd encourage you to consider applying to UK masters programs and US Ph.D. programs as well.
Reply 4
Original post by SS378
Have you considered applying directly to US Ph.D. programs? They generally don't require a masters degree. I'm not trying to discourage you from pursuing the masters it certainly could help make a stronger profile, given that you do well. It's just that given your goal, I'd encourage you to consider applying to UK masters programs and US Ph.D. programs as well.

I actually did but my records don't seem all that impressive, I heard u need paper publications to get accepted into a nice phd program in the US? I feel like I'll get rejected from everywhere nd my 8 years nd all application fees will just be wasted. I know I'm just being super pessimistic rn but I can't help it, no one I know took this long on UG, its embarrassing. Ig I shud try for both nd hope for the best TT thanks btw
Reply 5
no matter where you apply for graduate school you will need good letters of recommendation. Have you talked to your letter writers and other professors about your goals? If not, ask them about their career path and what led them to pursue a phd and also share your plans to pursue this as well. See what kind of feedback you get. Also, don't be discouraged by your time to completion. You mentioned that you had an upward academic trend. This could be pointed out in your personal statement and hopefully your letter writers will talk about this as well. Most US universities are fully aware and understanding about the covid period, so that will not matter. The most important thing is that your letter writers know you very well. Where have others in your major pursued further study? By the way, with a background in both math and physics, there are a wide range of programs that you could pursue outside of the math/physics departments. Keep an open mind and do your research carefully because it is becoming more and more common for math/physics phd graduates go in a completely different direction.
(edited 6 months ago)
Reply 6
Also, at the masters level, it will be more important for you to do well in your masters program and have strong recommendation letters than to have a fancy school name for your masters degree. I have not looked, but maybe there are some 2 year math/physics (or other fields that value math/physics backgrounds) masters programs in the US where you would have a chance to get to know your professors while also strengthening your background.
(edited 6 months ago)
Reply 7
Original post by SS378
no matter where you apply you will need good letters of recommendation. Have you talked to your letter writers and other professors about your goals? If not, ask them about their career path and what led them to pursue a phd and also share your plans to pursue this as well. See what kind of feedback you get. Also, don't be discouraged by your time to completion. You mentioned that you had an upward academic trend. This could be pointed out in your personal statement and hopefully your letter writers will talk about this as well. Most US universities are fully aware and understanding about the covid period, so that will not matter. The most important thing is that your letter writers know you very well. Where have others in your major pursued further study? By the way, with a background in both math and physics, there are a wide range of programs that you could pursue outside of the math/physics departments. Keep an open mind and do your research carefully because it is becoming more and more common for math/physics phd graduates go in a completely different direction.

People from my major were few but they did masters from different places, some in France, some in Germany, Italy, the better two went to USA for phd. Best one went to Oxford on scholarship for masters. Nd letter writers are also making me really anxious, I'll prolly get one really good letter nd that's from my thesis advisor, he's pretty reputed too, but others seem to have forgotten me in the 3 years they didn't see me or r pretending to have forgotten me, they don't seem very willing. Most UK masters seem fine with one letter that's also a reason I was looking at UK. Another one said he'd write me a letter if I worked on a paper in quantum machine learning (isn't it more cse?) with him but that'd take time.
Reply 8
Original post by SS378
Also, at the masters level, it will be more important for you to do well in your program and have strong recommendation letters than to have a fancy school name. I have not looked, but maybe there are some 2 year math/physics (or other fields that value math/physics backgrounds) masters programs in the US where you would have a chance to get to know your professors while also strengthening your background.

Program as in UG level? Nd fancy school name for masters?
Reply 9
Original post by Acidmana
People from my major were few but they did masters from different places, some in France, some in Germany, Italy, the better two went to USA for phd. Best one went to Oxford on scholarship for masters. Nd letter writers are also making me really anxious, I'll prolly get one really good letter nd that's from my thesis advisor, he's pretty reputed too, but others seem to have forgotten me in the 3 years they didn't see me or r pretending to have forgotten me, they don't seem very willing. Most UK masters seem fine with one letter that's also a reason I was looking at UK. Another one said he'd write me a letter if I worked on a paper in quantum machine learning (isn't it more cse?) with him but that'd take time.

From what I have seen, most UK universities require at least two letters of recommendation. Certainly both Cambridge and Oxford Math require two. The option to work on a quantum machine learning research paper might be a much better thing to do than trying to pursue a masters degree where you'd be doing coursework first. Don't ask people to write recommendation letters who are not going to give you positive letters. Generally, it's clear who will write good letters and who will not. Weak letters will never help your application.
Reply 10
Original post by Acidmana
Program as in UG level? Nd fancy school name for masters?

I edited my original message for clarity
Reply 11
Original post by Acidmana
People from my major were few but they did masters from different places, some in France, some in Germany, Italy, the better two went to USA for phd. Best one went to Oxford on scholarship for masters. Nd letter writers are also making me really anxious, I'll prolly get one really good letter nd that's from my thesis advisor, he's pretty reputed too, but others seem to have forgotten me in the 3 years they didn't see me or r pretending to have forgotten me, they don't seem very willing. Most UK masters seem fine with one letter that's also a reason I was looking at UK. Another one said he'd write me a letter if I worked on a paper in quantum machine learning (isn't it more cse?) with him but that'd take time.

So your school is actually sending people to good places. If you have not maintained a relationship, then it might be difficult to suddenly build one. However, if you got an A in the course or wrote a paper in the course and did well, then you can rebuild it. Don't pass up the opportunity that your professor has extended to you to work on the research paper. Even if you go in a different direction later, it doesn't matter. Do what you need to build a solid reputation at this level and get experience at this level. This will help overcome any concerns about degree time to completion and it will help you write an even better and stronger statement of purpose, while also giving you more exposure to research. Thus, giving you greater preparation for graduate studies. It might even lead to a publication.
Reply 12
Original post by SS378
From what I have seen, most UK universities require at least two letters of recommendation. Certainly both Cambridge and Oxford Math require two. The option to work on a quantum machine learning research paper might be a much better thing to do than trying to pursue a masters degree where you'd be doing coursework first. Don't ask people to write recommendation letters who are not going to give you positive letters. Generally, it's clear who will write good letters and who will not. Weak letters will never help your application.

Yea I plan to not ask them again, mayb someone else *sighs*
Reply 13
Even tho our dept had few students, everyone was really passionate nd teachers knew everyone. Serious students usually go to good places. Problem is I've been more or less cutoff from the world during the break years nd they all forgot about me, when I went they squinted at me nd went why are u still here. I will take up on the research offer for now then, if sth good comes outta it I'll at least have 2 good letters nd experiences :'')
Reply 14
good luck
Reply 15
Original post by SS378
good luck

Thank u ;-;

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