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waterbottle

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    2015 Fall

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  1. The grading scale in the UK is completely different from the US, and trying to do direct comparisons will not be easy. First of all, letter grades like A, B, C don't exist in the UK, and you can't put your 1-100 numerical grade into a letter grade straightforwardly. In the UK, the vast majority of grades will be between 50 and 75 (this is especially true in social sciences and humanities; outliers are more common in the sciences). Although the details differ a bit per university, you can generally think of it like this: Under 50: something is seriously wrong, you didn't understand the material or assignment 50-60 (which can be referred to as lower second class in undergrad grading or pass in grad grading, also depending on the uni): not very good although not disastrous, looks pretty bad on phd applications though 60-70 (upper second for undergrads, merit for grads): good, middle of the road. There's a pretty big range within this for most profs. Low 60s will be looked on slightly badly for phd apps, high 60s is good but expected. 70 and up (first class or distinction): excellent. Grades between 70 and 75 will score you points with the adcom, over 75 is very unusual so will stand out even more. In terms of the goals you should be setting for yourself, definitely aim for a first or distinction overall (look up the rules for getting one in your program, they differ a lot and are not always just about averages) but if you fall a bit short, don't panic, you'll still have a shot at phd programs. Having at least a 70 in any dissertation or other research project you might do is at least as important as it has most direct relevance to your skills as a phd student. Regarding your inconsistency in grades, that's something to pay attention to. Go talk to the professors who gave you low grades if possible. My hunch is that you might be having trouble meeting the exact requirements of the assignment or question set, which is pretty common when people who should be able to score well fail to do so, and also very common for people changing between different national systems because the expectations can be very different.
  2. Subfield is IR, I've got a UK BA and MSc in relevant subjects, currently on a gap year doing relevant but not research-based work experience. I'd say my education/stats are strong, LoRs fine, research experience is a weak point, fit with Stanford fairly good.
  3. I can claim this first one. Long-time lurker, first time posting. It read like a fairly informal email so I wouldn't be surprised if there's more batches to come. I'm in Europe so saw the email when I woke up, I can honestly say I've never woken up so quickly (or with so much shouting).
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