TOMORROW IS MARCH

[floatingmolecule]

I'm still a student in France. Education is free there and I have benefits from the State; on the other hand it's impossible to find a real job. I won't go to the UK unless I receive funding.

 

Take a look at Oxford funding database and see if there are some funding for you in case you still want to do a postgrad degree. Some bursaries have a small pool of applicants. For instance, this one is reserved to students from Cyprus who can enrol at Brasenose college; if you fit the requirement, it's certainly easier to get that one than a Rhodes scholarship. Check other wealthy unis if you find similar scholarships. Usually they have been created after a gift by an alumni from said country

 

 

Thank you very much. This is probably an excellent idea - to look into forms of external funding that (if secured), will make me a much more attractive applicant.  I have looked into it in the past, but a preliminary check of requirements (like an extensive research proposal - how on earth do I write one if I am applying to various unis, each with a slightly different program, and have not even secured a lab, never mind an actual topic for my thesis?) turned me off the idea.  This was probably a big mistake.  I will take a second look!  Thank you very much for your suggestions.

Yes, finding an actual job in my field with my credentials (a master's degree in biology) is ridiculously hard.  I was not surprised that Forbes magazine listed my degree as one of the top five most useless master's degrees to strive after.  Employers consider you "indecisive" - not bold enough to face the workforce with a BSc and not driven enough to go for the PhD.  You are lucky if someone overlooks your over-qualification and grants you a position usually given to those with an undergraduate degree.

 

[Cpt Jo]

Thank you very much. This is probably an excellent idea - to look into forms of external funding that (if secured), will make me a much more attractive applicant.  I have looked into it in the past, but a preliminary check of requirements (like an extensive research proposal - how on earth do I write one if I am applying to various unis, each with a slightly different program, and have not even secured a lab, never mind an actual topic for my thesis?) turned me off the idea.  This was probably a big mistake.  I will take a second look!  Thank you very much for your suggestions.

Yes, finding an actual job in my field with my credentials (a master's degree in biology) is ridiculously hard.  I was not surprised that Forbes magazine listed my degree as one of the top five most useless master's degrees to strive after.  Employers consider you "indecisive" - not bold enough to face the workforce with a BSc and not driven enough to go for the PhD.  You are lucky if someone overlooks your over-qualification and grants you a position usually given to those with an undergraduate degree.

 

The research proposal is usually built with the help of a supervisor. In Europe we apply to less schools than in the US, and MA and PhD are much more "separated", so we have to write a customised PhD proposal for each school albeit the outline remains the same. Not sure it works like that in Science though.

Try to be more selective in your choice perhaps.

[floatingmolecule]

The research proposal is usually built with the help of a supervisor. In Europe we apply to less schools than in the US, and MA and PhD are much more "separated", so we have to write a customised PhD proposal for each school albeit the outline remains the same. Not sure it works like that in Science though.

Try to be more selective in your choice perhaps.

 

 

That is another very good tip - for next year, I should try contacting advisors very specifically and asking them if they were willing to take me on.  If I narrow down my choices to a few that actually want to mentor me, I can probably apply for funding in advance and secure my acceptance without having to play the waiting/chance game.

It is probably no where near as simple as it sounds, but it is one more angle that I can take to be more successful next year.

Thank you.

[coleoptera]

I have to agree with what Jo said. Coming out of undergrad I didn't have much of an idea of what I wanted to focus on, I just knew I likely needed postgrad qualifications to do the work I wanted to do (teaching and curatorial). I wasted a LOT of money applying broadly to Masters programs that sounded good, where I didn't make specific contact with someone in the department to ask about what my fit would be like and if they were taking on people with my interests and instead just browsed the site. Sure, a prof in your dream program may share interests with you, but they may be the only person there doing that and overburdened already, something they won't put on the website. In my case, a lot of arts programs have one or two contemporary/new media specialists alongside all the traditional art history categories... these people are almost always swamped with applicants. I got a lot of rejections, but did get in to one program that, while not a perfect fit helped me figure out exactly what I want my focus to be.

 

Going for PhD, I found a school running many initiatives related to my interest, and contacted the professor in charge of these programs. He said that he was confident they could offer supervision for someone with my research interests over the next few years and even went over my research proposal before I sent in the application. I haven't heard back yet since I turned it in late-January, but I feel a lot more confident about fit and what to expect if I get in, plus I know they have room for someone like me.

[floatingmolecule]

I have to agree with what Jo said. Coming out of undergrad I didn't have much of an idea of what I wanted to focus on, I just knew I likely needed postgrad qualifications to do the work I wanted to do (teaching and curatorial). I wasted a LOT of money applying broadly to Masters programs that sounded good, where I didn't make specific contact with someone in the department to ask about what my fit would be like and if they were taking on people with my interests and instead just browsed the site. Sure, a prof in your dream program may share interests with you, but they may be the only person there doing that and overburdened already, something they won't put on the website. In my case, a lot of arts programs have one or two contemporary/new media specialists alongside all the traditional art history categories... these people are almost always swamped with applicants. I got a lot of rejections, but did get in to one program that, while not a perfect fit helped me figure out exactly what I want my focus to be.

 

Going for PhD, I found a school running many initiatives related to my interest, and contacted the professor in charge of these programs. He said that he was confident they could offer supervision for someone with my research interests over the next few years and even went over my research proposal before I sent in the application. I haven't heard back yet since I turned it in late-January, but I feel a lot more confident about fit and what to expect if I get in, plus I know they have room for someone like me.

 

 

Thanks!  Now that I am facing utter rejection this year and a repetition of the whole process in the months to come, I realize that I should have come here a long time ago.  Lol.  For next year, I will definitely do some more extensive investigation and try to find departments that might actually be able to accommodate me.  As an international, I can't afford to just "apply and hope for the best".  Look where it got me!

 

[1Q84]

For all of us still kind of waiting:

 

 

Thanks!  Now that I am facing utter rejection this year and a repetition of the whole process in the months to come, I realize that I should have come here a long time ago.  Lol.  For next year, I will definitely do some more extensive investigation and try to find departments that might actually be able to accommodate me.  As an international, I can't afford to just "apply and hope for the best".  Look where it got me!
 

 

 

I feel your pain. As an international student myself, I knew state schools would be hesitant to accept me and so applied to more private schools. Ironically, the only school to offer me acceptance has been a state school. (Even then, I'd have to pay an extra $15k on top of the fellowship they offered me. Yeesh. American International tuition is ludicrous.) Either way, I found shooting for private was a helpful goal.

 

Not sure if you have received rejections across the board or you're just anticipating that, but I wish you the best of luck in the remaining cycle or the next!

[LYJ]

 

 

 

 

Thank you Floatingmolecule.

Your consolation means a lot to me..

 

Your insight is certainly is right to some extent. It's true that especially state universities (unlike private institutions) are mostly lacking in funding so they are always very discrete in selecting candidates for funding. 

 

But in my case, I am a US citizen, but graduated from a university abroad (which in my opinion, has to do with lack of credibility, perhaps? I graduated magna cum laude in my school but that wouldn't strike them hard as someone with a high GPA in a well-known US undergraduate institution.  + Letter of recommendation by some professors largely unknown to US graduate schools would be very unlikely to impress them, compared to well-known US professors(not to blame it on my professors or anything)

 

 I applied to PhD in political science and out of the 11, 10 sent me rejection  I assume that the Letter of recommendation ( extremely important in PhD application process) and the international institution that I attended failed to outdo the rest of the applicants.

 

Nevertheless, I still have some hope left, so why give up already?