planner2019

In the interest of brevity, the situation that I find myself currently in is this: I went from a not-at-all rigorous small state university to an R1 for a PhD program. I failed comps twice and was asked to leave the program a few weeks ago. My advisor, however, has agreed to write me letters if I choose to apply elsewhere next year. He said that he would be honest about my academic weaknesses, though he could potentially foresee not explicitly mentioning the failed exams. He said he would say something to the effect of the fact that I entered poorly prepared and from a non-rigorous background, that I had a huge amount of ground to make up, and that I ultimately wasn't able to make it up in the 2.5 years I was in the program. But that I have (in his words) "made huge amounts of progress" and with additional training, could potentially be successful. He said that he would emphasize the positive. My ideal choice would be to attend a 1 year coursework-based masters program in the UK that's part of a research institute specifically dedicated to my field. So it would be a year of intensive training exclusively in my field with a short 50 page thesis at the end. If that program goes well, I may consider going on to a PhD there or elsewhere. But my primary thought was that it would be easier for my advisor to make a case for my pursuing a year of intensive training (which is what I lacked) than it would be for him to make a case for me jumping directly into another PhD program. Along with the fact that this particular one year masters program in the UK is not particularly competitive in regard to admission (though funding is another story). So out of all my options, my guess is that I would have the best shot at cleaning up my academic record by taking this route. I still wonder though -- does a lukewarm or mediocre letter, or a letter that specifically mentions academic weaknesses at all -- automatically sink one's application?

Hello everyone, I am resurrecting this rather polemical thread from nearly a decade ago because I can potentially see myself being in this situation this time next year and would like advice as I decide where to apply this coming fall. And maybe if someone is in this current position this year, it could help them. I'm an American student but my top choice is a 1 year masters at a particular university in the UK. I am also considering applying to PhD programs in the States. Like the above poster, I would likely not hear about funding for the UK school until after the April 15 deadline. So, in the hypothetical scenario that I got accepted to the UK program and also somewhere in the States, but didn't know about UK funding until sometime in June or so, I'd be faced with the same dilemma as the OP. Hopefully without resurrecting the highly visceral reactions voiced above, a few questions: 1) I imagine that prior to the US school making an admissions offer, it's not a good idea to tell them that my top choice is the UK and if I were to get funding from the UK after April 15, I plan to rescind any commitment I might make to them. Obviously, they want to make admissions offers to people who are likely to actually come so that wouldn't be in my best interest. However, I wonder if after I received an admissions offer (which I presume is unrevocable on their part), I could then tell them my situation and tell them that I plan to commit to their program by April 15 but if I were to get funding from the UK later, I would rescind. At that point, they couldn't revoke the admissions offer, right? So I would have a back up if UK funding were to fall through, but still let them know that I might rescind. Is this more honest/ethical? If a school/POI saw a rescind coming, rather than being caught totally off guard, would it make it less acrimonious for all involved? 2) I understand the thing about keeping the waistlist people in mind and not flippantly taking spots away from them. So in the scenario that I get accepted to a US school, commit, and take a spot away from someone else, that person gets a rejection letter. They commit to another school - maybe not their first choice, but somewhere else. Were I to rescind in that scenario, I would have potentially deprived someone else out of their first choice, which meant they subsequently ended up at their second or third etc choice. I can see how that's unfortunate and shouldn't be done flippantly. But, what about people who get in nowhere? So in that scenario, I get accepted to a school, commit, and then rescind. But that other person is not planning to go to any school because they didn't get in anywere. So could a school not theoretically offer my spot to them? Or is this against the rules? If they could, I wouldn't feel so bad because someone who thought they didn't get in anywhere would get a spot. 3) If I got accepted to a US school for a PhD as well as the UK masters and felt that the UK masters would give me more training/coursework/preparation that I lacked and would help me succeed in a PhD program, could I ask the US school for a 1 year deferment after April 15? Say I committed to the US school by April 15 and later got UK funding, could I then ask the US school to hold my spot for a year? This all could be avoided, of course, if the UK would get in sync with the US timetable and offer students full funding.