mtb0minime wrote:
Let's fire-bomb Wall Street.
Hi, NSA.
Good luck. Hope you get the job, dude. If you don't, you should launch an assault on wall street.Pocshy2.0 wrote:
Another good interview today. Now the week long wait to see if I can be an obsequious scrivener begins.
Thanks Mac. I'll consider becoming an anarchist is this career path doesn't pan out.SuperJail Warden wrote:
Good luck. Hope you get the job, dude. If you don't, you should launch an assault on wall street.Pocshy2.0 wrote:
Another good interview today. Now the week long wait to see if I can be an obsequious scrivener begins.
Where will you be applying to undertake the PhD? As I understand it, the UK graduate school scheme requires you to show proof of funding for the duration of your course prior to your full acceptance. I suppose where you plan to attend will be contingent on who decides to offer partial or full funding as a result?uziq wrote:
just got made assistant editor of the history imprint at my publishing firm. which further means that my PhD funding application this fall will be boosted immensely. schmoozing with the literary elite, that's me.
i got accepted to univ college oxford 2 years ago, had a supervisor, PhD thesis accepted. didn't get funding (2011-2012 onwards was particularly brutal for funding reorganisation and cuts in the UK). basically you can get funding either from the institution itself (or in oxbridge's case, from individual colleges), or from centralised research councils. these have been cut to shreds though in the UK and made contingent upon all sorts of specious, extra-academic meddling, for e.g. one of the major considerations for funding applications now is 'impact'. impact is a politically charged term for 'how is this relevant to the purse-holders' interests'. i know the engineers of bf2s will pipe up with their job-spec mentality and say 'very well!' but the whole point of academic research is it's kinda supposed to be disinterested and free-thinking. that's how really great ideas and inventions crop up.Pocshy2.0 wrote:
Where will you be applying to undertake the PhD? As I understand it, the UK graduate school scheme requires you to show proof of funding for the duration of your course prior to your full acceptance. I suppose where you plan to attend will be contingent on who decides to offer partial or full funding as a result?uziq wrote:
just got made assistant editor of the history imprint at my publishing firm. which further means that my PhD funding application this fall will be boosted immensely. schmoozing with the literary elite, that's me.
Congrats on the promotion, too.
Last edited by uziq (2015-08-27 11:28:58)
Last edited by Pocshy2.0 (2015-08-27 11:51:37)
you do have to produce a 'means to pay' proof before you accept enrolment. for one/two year taught masters as well as full PhDs. every college has a separate application system but it's university wide policy. people dropping out of much vaunted positions is the last thing they want. everyone loses time and money.KEN-JENNINGS wrote:
You don't need proof of funding for the duration of your course prior to acceptance as far as I know. A friend recently dropped out of a PhD program at Cambridge due in some part to lack of funding (the other part was an ongoing addiction to opiates).
But I could be wrong, I don't know much about the structure there, just my friend's experience.
I know her dad sold one of the buildings he owned in anticipation of her getting accepted in order to pay for her schooling, but after she developed a pretty severe addiction to opiates her dad (rightly) pulled it out from under her. So i guess she may have shown proof of the ability to pay for it but in the end it wasn't like it was sitting in an escrow account solely allocated to pay for her to study and pop oxy.uziq wrote:
you do have to produce a 'means to pay' proof before you accept enrolment. for one/two year taught masters as well as full PhDs. every college has a separate application system but it's university wide policy. people dropping out of much vaunted positions is the last thing they want. everyone loses time and money.KEN-JENNINGS wrote:
You don't need proof of funding for the duration of your course prior to acceptance as far as I know. A friend recently dropped out of a PhD program at Cambridge due in some part to lack of funding (the other part was an ongoing addiction to opiates).
But I could be wrong, I don't know much about the structure there, just my friend's experience.
they pretty much just want to see some form of guarantee that you have the liquid funds readily available to pay for all your shit. especially with international students, paying an increased fee, i don't imagine they would let anyone in to take a place without solid evidence they had a means to pay for their course of tuition/board.KEN-JENNINGS wrote:
I know her dad sold one of the buildings he owned in anticipation of her getting accepted in order to pay for her schooling, but after she developed a pretty severe addiction to opiates her dad (rightly) pulled it out from under her. So i guess she may have shown proof of the ability to pay for it but in the end it wasn't like it was sitting in an escrow account solely allocated to pay for her to study and pop oxy.uziq wrote:
you do have to produce a 'means to pay' proof before you accept enrolment. for one/two year taught masters as well as full PhDs. every college has a separate application system but it's university wide policy. people dropping out of much vaunted positions is the last thing they want. everyone loses time and money.KEN-JENNINGS wrote:
You don't need proof of funding for the duration of your course prior to acceptance as far as I know. A friend recently dropped out of a PhD program at Cambridge due in some part to lack of funding (the other part was an ongoing addiction to opiates).
But I could be wrong, I don't know much about the structure there, just my friend's experience.
realistically what are your chances of being with that girl in 20 years time? because i can give you a 100% chance of having that regret to keep you company.Pocshy2.0 wrote:
As for my own academic aspirations, I really would like to find the time to do a Masters in English Lit (Modern Poetry focus), but it seems less and less likely as A.) my GF is entirely opposed to me taking a year or two off and reading books and B.) once I get the career thing started, finding the time without leaving hideous 'worthless' activity gaps is problematic. But, maybe. I'll keep your calling card.
Every month it seems increasingly likely. Not to sound too overly love-struck or anything, but I've been with her for 5 years (6 coming up in a few months) and have never once questioned greener pastures or felt I wasn't fulfilled. In those 5 years I've never had more than a purely academic fight with her that lasted more than an hour and ended with no hurt feelings whatsoever.uziq wrote:
realistically what are your chances of being with that girl in 20 years time? because i can give you a 100% chance of having that regret to keep you company.Pocshy2.0 wrote:
As for my own academic aspirations, I really would like to find the time to do a Masters in English Lit (Modern Poetry focus), but it seems less and less likely as A.) my GF is entirely opposed to me taking a year or two off and reading books and B.) once I get the career thing started, finding the time without leaving hideous 'worthless' activity gaps is problematic. But, maybe. I'll keep your calling card.
Last edited by Pocshy2.0 (2015-08-27 12:34:45)
Last edited by uziq (2015-08-27 12:40:05)
The right time never comes, the right time is always when you clench your jaw and do it.uziq wrote:
sounds good, i wish you way luck. it is hard to juggle academia with 'real life', increasingly so. it's a lot of time to take out away from saving for your house/starting a family. i've been waylaid for a few years now, what with funding and then my brother's passing and all, so at this stage i'm determined to finally do it with a sort of grim tenacity.
11k a year is peanutsuziq wrote:
i got accepted to univ college oxford 2 years ago, had a supervisor, PhD thesis accepted. didn't get funding (2011-2012 onwards was particularly brutal for funding reorganisation and cuts in the UK). basically you can get funding either from the institution itself (or in oxbridge's case, from individual colleges), or from centralised research councils. these have been cut to shreds though in the UK and made contingent upon all sorts of specious, extra-academic meddling, for e.g. one of the major considerations for funding applications now is 'impact'. impact is a politically charged term for 'how is this relevant to the purse-holders' interests'. i know the engineers of bf2s will pipe up with their job-spec mentality and say 'very well!' but the whole point of academic research is it's kinda supposed to be disinterested and free-thinking. that's how really great ideas and inventions crop up.Pocshy2.0 wrote:
Where will you be applying to undertake the PhD? As I understand it, the UK graduate school scheme requires you to show proof of funding for the duration of your course prior to your full acceptance. I suppose where you plan to attend will be contingent on who decides to offer partial or full funding as a result?uziq wrote:
just got made assistant editor of the history imprint at my publishing firm. which further means that my PhD funding application this fall will be boosted immensely. schmoozing with the literary elite, that's me.
Congrats on the promotion, too.
but anyway, the funding situation is a nightmare. yes, oxford did ask me to promise something insane like the ability to pay £11k a year, and they wanted the bank statements and guarantees for (3-4) years of this in advance. i'm from a well-off family but i hardly felt like getting a £30k IOU from my parents. not to mention the fact that academia is so hideously competitive and cut-throat (see U.S. tenure system passim) that self-funding is essentially financial AND career suicide.
for myself, next year i'll be reapplying to oxford with the same guy again who green lighted me last time, tweaking my funding application to hopefully nail that formula. i'll also apply to UCL, which is the biggest and most well-funded (not to mention prestigious) college of the university of london. i was accepted there for my master's originally but declined because i had a full scholarship offer on the table. scholarships and funding are supposed to snowball, it's a bit like informal patronage or favouritism. once you get one you tend to accrue awards and stipends more and more easily. you kind of gain momentum.
PM me if you're interested in UK postgrad at all.
Last edited by Jay (2015-08-27 12:52:01)
Last edited by SuperJail Warden (2015-08-27 13:57:33)
£11k a year is a SUPER conservative baseline estimate. i.e. not even connected to fiscal reality. just the figure their department dreamed up to satisfy some 'minimum living standard' worked out by a focus group somewhere. oxford and cambridge are two of the most expensive property/rental markets in the UK – for obvious reasons, constant stream of international renters coming and going – and so it's more like £20k a year. that's pretty much how much it costs to live in london with a similar student lifestyle. so then 3-4 years of that. not many PhD applicants at age 21-25 have £50,000 sitting in a bank account somewhere to show to the admissions office. and, don't bullshit, neither did you when you were floundering around in your 20's without a clue what to do. i'm sure £11k a year is peanuts to someone in mid-30's, mid-career. and i know it's peanuts compared to ivy league tuition but, then again, ivy league has massive financial assistance and funding is so easy to get in comparison to the strict and limited UK system.Jay wrote:
11k a year is peanutsuziq wrote:
i got accepted to univ college oxford 2 years ago, had a supervisor, PhD thesis accepted. didn't get funding (2011-2012 onwards was particularly brutal for funding reorganisation and cuts in the UK). basically you can get funding either from the institution itself (or in oxbridge's case, from individual colleges), or from centralised research councils. these have been cut to shreds though in the UK and made contingent upon all sorts of specious, extra-academic meddling, for e.g. one of the major considerations for funding applications now is 'impact'. impact is a politically charged term for 'how is this relevant to the purse-holders' interests'. i know the engineers of bf2s will pipe up with their job-spec mentality and say 'very well!' but the whole point of academic research is it's kinda supposed to be disinterested and free-thinking. that's how really great ideas and inventions crop up.Pocshy2.0 wrote:
Where will you be applying to undertake the PhD? As I understand it, the UK graduate school scheme requires you to show proof of funding for the duration of your course prior to your full acceptance. I suppose where you plan to attend will be contingent on who decides to offer partial or full funding as a result?
Congrats on the promotion, too.
but anyway, the funding situation is a nightmare. yes, oxford did ask me to promise something insane like the ability to pay £11k a year, and they wanted the bank statements and guarantees for (3-4) years of this in advance. i'm from a well-off family but i hardly felt like getting a £30k IOU from my parents. not to mention the fact that academia is so hideously competitive and cut-throat (see U.S. tenure system passim) that self-funding is essentially financial AND career suicide.
for myself, next year i'll be reapplying to oxford with the same guy again who green lighted me last time, tweaking my funding application to hopefully nail that formula. i'll also apply to UCL, which is the biggest and most well-funded (not to mention prestigious) college of the university of london. i was accepted there for my master's originally but declined because i had a full scholarship offer on the table. scholarships and funding are supposed to snowball, it's a bit like informal patronage or favouritism. once you get one you tend to accrue awards and stipends more and more easily. you kind of gain momentum.
PM me if you're interested in UK postgrad at all.
Also, very well!
Last edited by uziq (2015-08-27 14:31:37)
that really sucks dude. master's are the hardest hop to gain funding for. at least in the U.S. you can drop out of a PhD program A.B.D. and gain a master's. we don't have that 1-2 year coursework section of our PhD's over here. either you produce the finished goods or you get nothin'.SuperJail Warden wrote:
I got accepted into the local Catholic university to do a Masters degree in education. It's $60,000 for a two year program. No thanks.
Congratulations Uzi. You didn't tell me you were in the history department of your publishing group. Very jealous.
Government sponsored student loans flow like water 'round here, hence state college tuition being over 17k a year here in New York now for undergrad. It's hard to sympathize when American students get raped on the regular.uziq wrote:
£11k a year is a SUPER conservative baseline estimate. i.e. not even connected to fiscal reality. just the figure their department dreamed up to satisfy some 'minimum living standard' worked out by a focus group somewhere. oxford and cambridge are two of the most expensive property/rental markets in the UK – for obvious reasons, constant stream of international renters coming and going – and so it's more like £20k a year. that's pretty much how much it costs to live in london with a similar student lifestyle. so then 3-4 years of that. not many PhD applicants at age 21-25 have £50,000 sitting in a bank account somewhere to show to the admissions office. and, don't bullshit, neither did you when you were floundering around in your 20's without a clue what to do. i'm sure £11k a year is peanuts to someone in mid-30's, mid-career. and i know it's peanuts compared to ivy league tuition but, then again, ivy league has massive financial assistance and funding is so easy to get in comparison to the strict and limited UK system.Jay wrote:
11k a year is peanutsuziq wrote:
i got accepted to univ college oxford 2 years ago, had a supervisor, PhD thesis accepted. didn't get funding (2011-2012 onwards was particularly brutal for funding reorganisation and cuts in the UK). basically you can get funding either from the institution itself (or in oxbridge's case, from individual colleges), or from centralised research councils. these have been cut to shreds though in the UK and made contingent upon all sorts of specious, extra-academic meddling, for e.g. one of the major considerations for funding applications now is 'impact'. impact is a politically charged term for 'how is this relevant to the purse-holders' interests'. i know the engineers of bf2s will pipe up with their job-spec mentality and say 'very well!' but the whole point of academic research is it's kinda supposed to be disinterested and free-thinking. that's how really great ideas and inventions crop up.
but anyway, the funding situation is a nightmare. yes, oxford did ask me to promise something insane like the ability to pay £11k a year, and they wanted the bank statements and guarantees for (3-4) years of this in advance. i'm from a well-off family but i hardly felt like getting a £30k IOU from my parents. not to mention the fact that academia is so hideously competitive and cut-throat (see U.S. tenure system passim) that self-funding is essentially financial AND career suicide.
for myself, next year i'll be reapplying to oxford with the same guy again who green lighted me last time, tweaking my funding application to hopefully nail that formula. i'll also apply to UCL, which is the biggest and most well-funded (not to mention prestigious) college of the university of london. i was accepted there for my master's originally but declined because i had a full scholarship offer on the table. scholarships and funding are supposed to snowball, it's a bit like informal patronage or favouritism. once you get one you tend to accrue awards and stipends more and more easily. you kind of gain momentum.
PM me if you're interested in UK postgrad at all.
Also, very well!
anyway thanks guiz. very heart-warming. it's good to see you all doing so well.
pochsy i did share the story when i first came back to this forum. thanks too. tl;dr i have a 19 year old brother in a coma after being the passenger in a quite literally horrific off-road land rover accident. ain't ever gonna wake up. seeing that 3-4 times a week i couldn't really think straight enough to make my assault on the pinnacles of the ivory tower.
It does get different for the postgraduate level, though. I know for certain at least one of my friends came out in the black on his Masters.Jay wrote:
Government sponsored student loans flow like water 'round here, hence state college tuition being over 17k a year here in New York now for undergrad. It's hard to sympathize when American students get raped on the regular.uziq wrote:
£11k a year is a SUPER conservative baseline estimate. i.e. not even connected to fiscal reality. just the figure their department dreamed up to satisfy some 'minimum living standard' worked out by a focus group somewhere. oxford and cambridge are two of the most expensive property/rental markets in the UK – for obvious reasons, constant stream of international renters coming and going – and so it's more like £20k a year. that's pretty much how much it costs to live in london with a similar student lifestyle. so then 3-4 years of that. not many PhD applicants at age 21-25 have £50,000 sitting in a bank account somewhere to show to the admissions office. and, don't bullshit, neither did you when you were floundering around in your 20's without a clue what to do. i'm sure £11k a year is peanuts to someone in mid-30's, mid-career. and i know it's peanuts compared to ivy league tuition but, then again, ivy league has massive financial assistance and funding is so easy to get in comparison to the strict and limited UK system.Jay wrote:
11k a year is peanuts
Also, very well!
anyway thanks guiz. very heart-warming. it's good to see you all doing so well.
pochsy i did share the story when i first came back to this forum. thanks too. tl;dr i have a 19 year old brother in a coma after being the passenger in a quite literally horrific off-road land rover accident. ain't ever gonna wake up. seeing that 3-4 times a week i couldn't really think straight enough to make my assault on the pinnacles of the ivory tower.
