I really don't know much about your subject area but if you really want to do comparative religion then that would probably be a better choice for you. Masters courses are so intense and the intention is that you specialise your research interests through doing them, and so You should only go with a subject that you feel confident with at undergraduate level, and that you are enthusiastic about. Do you want to stay in academia or would you be doing the masters for other reasons?

I don't know of any specific Masters courses, just offering my opinion on what you should do, hope I've helped, Natassia

Well done thats fantastic, you probably feel a bit empty though, enjoy your time off! When do you officially graduate, any plans for now?

Thanks Olisaa, its really reassuring to learn how PhDs can allow you to bring in aspects of other disciplines, and may be better for doing so. And for most of my undergraduate modules we had lecturers from various disciplines and research backgrounds, so I guess once you have a PhD and your own research interests, you can't be expected to know everything about the subject in equal detail, as you are so specialized. So if I did get to that stage, I would mainly be teaching topics linked to my research area. I'm looking way ahead here, but its good to know that an interdisciplinary PhD won't be any less respected and stop me from specializing - and I feel better approaching my tutors about starting a PhD in 2010 after my MSc. Natassia x

I live in a town a bit like that, but its practically in London so I'm not in the middle of nowhere. There are a lot of women like that though, I think a tennis lesson or a 3 hour French lesson with them would drive me mad!! Its horrible when you don't feel included either, they probably just feel jealous so revert to snobbery!

Is there anything else you could try? You don't have to be excellent at the sport, just learning something else and giving yourself a totally different challenge to your PhD is probably really refreshing, providing that you enjoy it! Or how about moving to your university city, it sounds like that is what you really want to do!

I would stick with it, you are past half way now and you have passed the upgrade. However the situation with your supervision is not good enough for you, a PhD is difficult enough with good support but you sound as if you are really struggling with your supervisor and university, is there any way you could change this, eg by seeing your supervisor more regularly/changing universities? Are there any other PhD students you could talk to?

Having been on antidepressants myself I don't think they really work either. Especially in your case, you have identified a problem and unfortunately it is really bringing you down. If you could take some steps to improve the situation at university then you may start to feel better. Antidepressants are more likely to work with general uncontrollable depression and while you are understandably feeling very upset at the moment, they are not going to help the actual situation that is making you feel like that.

You have my sympathies, I hope you can begin to see a solution soon, good luck, Natassia x

Thanks for the reassurance Zelda - I am certainly not as worried about my potential PhD area now, but I will discuss it properly with my tutors when I start my MSc in September. There are professors of Psychosocial Studies now who are very well respected in the field so hopefully its all going the right way!

I start my Masters in September and although I don't yet anticipate this being a problem for me when I start a PhD (hopefully), I do think a lot of PhD students would be able to relate to you not feeling 100% confident with teaching the undergraduate course - is there a formal introduction to the course beforehand, or anything similar? Are there other PhD students who you could talk to about this if you don't want to go to your new supervisor straight away?

You have clearly done really well until this point, and they wouldn't have accepted you as a funded PhD student if you didn't fulfil their expectations - if anything they probably have more respect for you as you have pushed yourself to pursue an interest in a subject area that may not have been entirely supported during your undergraduate degree. That shows real determination and commitment, I think.

And what is this 'imposter syndrome' exactly?!

Well done all of you - I must say I am a bit envious because I'm only starting a MSc in September and really hope to start a PhD the following year. What subject areas are you all doing your PhDs in?

Thats exactly what I'm worried about Zelda, as psychosocial studies is so new and not particularly established yet I would definitely need to offer something more basic that there is more demand to teach. My undergraduate degree is in Applied Psychology and Sociology - and if I were to do my PhD at the same university as my undergrad and forthcoming MSc, that would probably be the course that I would teach on (PhD studentship students can do paid undergrad teaching, there are also criminology degrees and a social science degree). I know I couldn't do straight psychology, as in BSc psychology as I simply do not know enough about psychology as a science, and the associated methodology. I could probably do BA psychology, in fact sociology would probably be more suitable in the long run.

While there are clear benefits to studying an interdisciplinary topic - I think this is probably the main problem, am I right?

I'm afraid I don't know anything about Goldsmiths, but I thought second class standard meant a 2:2 or a 2:1 - I thought that a 2:1 was a 'second class upper division'. If I'm right then you'd probably get in with your 2:2, providing you have very good references and a strong personal statement. Are you applying for this academic year? You should probably ring/email the admissions office to see if they have spaces, and ask about their exact entry requirements.

Good luck, Natassia

Thank you for the replies - I'm certainly not as concerned about studying for a PhD in psychosocial studies - as you have said most research is going this way at the moment and 'the social' is becoming increasingly important in research across disciplines. I think psychology as a discipline could be changing as well as applied psychology (what I study) seems to be generating more interest than 'scientific' psychology.

PhDBug - I did a Critical Psychology module in my final year - focused on social constructionism and discourse analysis. I did well in this module and my tutor (who is also a senior tutor for my MSc) said that is a good indicator that I am suited for psychosocial studies and have the required knowledge. I have also studied Piaget and Vygotsky previously but not since second year undergrad and that was more about the differences between the two approaches to developmental theory - it is definitely worth revisiting so thanks for the references!

I've just graduated with my BA in Applied Psychology and Sociology and am starting a MSc in Psychosocial studies at the same university in September. I would like to pursue a PhD in the same area afterwards but I'm worried that I'm going to be really limited with the type of PhD I will be able to do, as I have always worked across the disciplines of Psychology and Sociology. Having looked at PhDs that are available at various universities (for psychology mainly) they seem to be focused on more positivist psychology that I would not be in a position to do as I have a BA, and I didn't do much at all on quantitative methods etc.

There are a few PhDs available that consider psychosocial studies, which is a new discipline that concentrates on the interface between psychology and sociology and the associated methodologies and applications, however they are few and far between. I would probably have to stay at my current university and approach a potential supervisor there as my research interests are most consistent with some of theirs.

If I did do a PhD in psychosocial studies though, would that make it difficult for me to get a job afterwards as it is too narrow? I am concerned that I wouldn't know enough about either discipline, I know I could never teach on a BSc psychology course, for example as there is a strong focus on quantitative methodology that I don't think I will study much again as it is not the focus of my MSc course.

Am I worrying for no real reason or can interdisciplinary study stop you from specializing properly? Is it any less well-respected than studying a single subject? What are the positive things about interdisciplinary study?

Thanks in advance for any advice/information, Natassia

I have the forms as well and am in the process of completing them, just waiting for my official confirmation of a place on the course. I don't know which will process the application quicker, but I was going to go with Barclays as I went for a little meeting there recently and they have a good graduate account, not too sure about the Co-op.

However after looking at the form in more detail I'm not too convinced that they will pay out for a MSc course, they seem to be more geared towards vocational courses like plumbing or whatever - am I right? My course doesn't even have a reference number and its purely academic so I don't think I have a chance, I think I'll just go for it anyway though, its worth a try. How can you find out whether your course is eligible?

That sounds absolutely amazing - well done!! It sounds as if you got the most out of it that you could and have some lasting contacts now, what is your subject?

I agree with what Magictime said - focus on your own ambitions in order to distance yourself from this man, who is only bringing you down. It sounds like he has his own issues in his head and that he doesn't really know what he wants - but whether he wants to be with you or not you shouldn't feel burdened by him. It sounds like you've suffered a real confidence knock and thats obviously affecting your work which is totally understandable, but please try to find a way out of it. Create as much distance as you can from him, don't respond to calls, texts etc however much you may want to, and he will get the message.

He's probably feeling insecure about your impending success and finding a way to mask that, and making you feel inadequate in the process. He says he needs to work out what he wants to do with his life when you probably have much more of an idea where your career is heading...he maybe can't deal with not having the upper hand here so is using you instead in order to get that control that he wants.

Good luck with your studies...and please try not to let him get in the way. Can you talk to your supervisors/other PhD students about this? I think you should just focus on your work (which I'm sure you're doing anyway)...and meet a new man! Nxx