Roverman33

I would like to second pudewen's comment. There are two sides to every discussion and I felt it was necessary to share some of the concerns over pursuing a UK PhD because it is not simply a perfect system. Obviously, every decision rests with its beholder and circumstances vary tremendously. I too think you have made the best choice for you - congratulations!

Hello all, I've been lurking on this site for awhile now but after reading this thread, felt compelled to offer some of my insights. I agree with much of what has been said here with regard to both the pros and cons of the situation. As someone who recently completed an M.Phil in History (3 yrs ago) however, I would like to offer some of my insight. As an American student studying in the UK, I was very disappointed with Cambridge on the whole. While it has an incredibly prestigious reputation, I found the history program quite lacking. My supervisor (who was British) was very friendly but offered little to no guidance on my thesis topic. It was up to me to determine my topic and identify most of my research material. I received very broad feedback on drafts that was of little to no use. When meeting with other faculty, they often pushed my thesis in entirely different directions which made it difficult to determine which strands to tease out. While graduate work by definition involves more independent research, I found that still received almost no guidance or "supervision" and this was immensely frustrating. The graduate classes that I did attend were on enormous topics with endless reading lists which meant that in the end, no one had read the same sources and a productive discussion was impossible; classes became mere forums for people showing off what they already knew. I do not know about undergraduate classes however. I would be concerned that if you do not have a well defined thesis topic from the start, you will be prompted to find one quickly and there will be very little time for exploration. I am sorry if this sounds too negative and it is true that my experience is just that of one person and you might very well find a wonderful and nurturing supervisor. However, I did know several other M.Phil students who were in a very similar position and I would just want all who read this forum (now and in future) to be aware of these issues.