Spriteling

Hi. I am American. I did my undergraduate degree in maths in the UK, and am staying on over here for my PhD. I am fully funded. 1) I can't speak for biosciences, but it is not horrifically difficult to be accepted to a PhD program. It is, on the other hand, very difficult to get funding. There are, on average, 2-3 funded places for international students throughout the whole of science and engineering at any given university. You need to be the best of the best to get such funding, in terms of GPA and research and recommendations and whatnot. It is also very important that you find a supervisor who is willing to support your application and push for you to be funded. 2) You don't need the GRE or anything for the UK. Also for maths, I was interviewed in the UK, whereas none of the schools I applied to in the US interviewed me. 3) Can't really comment on this.

You'll probably be fine to find a flat last minute like that, though potentially not in some of the most popular areas. I recommend citylets.co.uk for looking for flats; much better than gumtree. As for health food stuff, there are a couple of branches of Real Foods which do vegetarian/health stuff, and there's a shop on Nicolson street called Jordan Valley (or something of that nature) that also do healthy-ish stuff. Plus, Tesco and Sainsbury's do gluten free lines and things like that, especially if you go to the big Sainsbury's in Cameron Toll.

^ That is completely untrue. I did my undergraduate at Edinburgh and I was able to get Stafford loans. Most schools in the UK are approved for the direct loan thingy that US government does. On the real topic: Funding for an international student for PhDs in the UK is very rare. You have to be a very very top student, and get one of the few research scholarships available by the uni (most seem to offer 2 or 3 fully funded international places). I think it may even be harder if you're not a science student, as most of the scholarships for which I applied seemed to be offered by the College of Science and Engineering at various schools. I wish you luck, though!

first name

wipe out

Definitely email them and tell them about your deadline. I did that with several of my unis, and I always got a favourable response.

nazi germany

Avoiding doing anything related to maths or physics for the four months I'll have of summer holidays. I was extremely close to burning out after last summer (where I spend the whole time doing full-time research) so I know that I really need to take a break and have some time to destress and prepare myself for the coming four years. I plan on visiting my girlfriend, going to South Africa, spending time with my family, and reading lots and lots of books!

sweet potato

Congratulations! Did you get funding there?

second chance

Hi! I'm also going to Glasgow next year. I'm currently in Edinburgh, and I know Glasgow fairly well, so I'll try to answer some questions. Most students at the University of Glasgow live in the West End, in and around Kelvinbridge and along Byres Road. Glasgow itself is a great city; it has a vibrant nightlife and a great music scene, and it's definitely one of the best cities in Scotland for shopping. What are you coming to Glasgow to study?

bake off

My flatmate is an archer. Our plan is to blockades ourselves in our flat, because our doors are all quite strong, and we normally have quite a bit of food, and to defend ourselves with my flatemate's bows and arrows. If necessary, we plan to escape over the roofs to safer area. The real question is, do you have a plan for a raptor attack?

problem child