I was once summonned by my bank manager (eeek).
He said that he had noticed that my income had changed and could I explain it.
(I previously had had a local authority staff job and left for a much better paid 'contract' job.)
I explained this and he said he was going to change the terms of my loan (i.e. to a higher interest rate) as he considered me to be a higher risk.
I explained that although, yes, I was now contract rather than staff, I had a written contract guaranteeing me at least 2 years employment.
I wondered if he could say the same ??? (at the time the bank were laying off loads of managers......aaah shame)

I don't think he appreciated the point.

I think at the moment the pendulum has swung too far "the other way" and the banks are severly risk averse at the moment.
By this time next year, they will be lending again.
The year after that it'll be back to "anything goes".
"£16k stipend Sir.....of course you can borrow half a million"

Do some research into the professors that will be on your panel.
Find out what they are into.
Get hold of their latest papers and read them.
Have some questions ready for them.
After all, you are going to be joining their department.

"build up a money buffer to sit and earn interest on while studying in a few years"

Interest.................wots that then :-(

As you have a job, mortgage and commitments, I assume you will be remaining in your home town.
Therefore I would suggest visiting your local university and taking advice from them.
Or, there is always the OU.

A lot of PhD courses consist of a Masters with a view to transferring to a PhD.
Doing a Masters will not be a waste of time as it counts toward your PhD (if you pick the right course/uni).

Also a whole Masters in better than half a PhD - should the worst happen.

Niall

Couple of things to consider here.
As you already have a Masters, you already have enough quals to max out your earning potential.
Financially, an extra 3 or 4 yeasr experience are worth more than a PhD.

So don't do it for the money.

However, if you really want to do it for yourself then now is the time.
The amount of money your stipend (tax free) will give you, will not be a million miles away from what you are on now.
If you wait a few years. You will be on £35k + and most likely have a mortgage , car loans, kids etc etc etc etc.

Then you can forget about full time studying until you are an old fart (like me!).

Strange that you think a PhD Engineer should worry about Jobseekers allowance.
So long as you are willing to travel, you will have no problem finding work.

Don't worry about the state pension either.
By the time you come to retire it'll be worth three quarters of nothin !

You will not be up against recent graduates......you have 4 years experience.

You already have a Masters in Engineering.
Why not do an EngD ?
This would be industry based working on an actual research project.
Have a word and see if your employer would go for that.

Make sure you are speaking to the right people in the company and not just your line manager who probably has little interest in such things.
You may find that if you about it with determination they may be quite impressed and interested.
I say, go for it.

Well, i'm just starting out on my Doctorate so I can't really give advice but I sure am glad to read other peoples tips.
I'm pretty old though(.....sigh), so I thought I would add a couple of bits of (other peoples) wisdom that have stood me in good stead my whole life.

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself ", Franklin D. Roosevelt.
I have never yet come across a situation where reality was worse than my imagination.
If you have a problem, talk about it. It's never as bad as you think.


"Keep buggering on", Winston Churchill
He used this on so much he abbreviated it to KBO.
In other words, whatever happens, just keep plodding on and remember "one day this will end".


I have seen some remarkable feats achieved by people who had little talent other than determination and courage.

Tons of info at the Border Agency website

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/infs/inf5students

If you are not planning on working, I can't see it being a problem.

I realise this thread is a little stale but here goes....
Last year, I finished an MSc in Engineering.
I'm in full time work but would now like to undertake a part-time EngD.
With the MSc out of the way, I can go straight into the research stage.

I'm self employed so the amount of time is spent on the research is pretty much down to me and would be an interesting in-fill for when work is a little light.
I plan on setting aside 1 full day per week for the research, plus some time evenings/weekends etc.
I reckon it should take about 5 yrs.
Does this sound like a reasonable time-scale ?

Has anyone else attempted this route ?

I would suggest that, without a support network, you are going to find the going difficult.
Can I recommend that you make sure that you keep a life.
You are only 5 weeks in, try not to be too hard on yourself.
Make sure that you keep some time for yourself -and build a network of friends.
Is there a post-grad support group at your uni ?
Are there any sports & solial groups you can join.
Get a web-cam so you can talk to your mates face-to-face on Skype.
Check out the university chaplain.
Even if you are not religious, they are a good shoulder to cry on.

Just suggestions that might help

There's nothing better than to get together with other people in the same boat as you and having a good moan.
When you realise that it's not just you, you feel a whole lot better.

Do you have a post-grad support group at your uni ?
If not, have you thought about starting one.
I bet there would be lots of takers.

I wouldn't dream of buying at the moment.
Why not rent for a couple of years till the market settles down ?

You've got enough to think about at the moment without worrying about getting the roof fixed etc etc etc.

This doesn't happen without reason. Otherwise she could take the uni to the cleaners !

Do you think there may be more to this ?
I would allow your friend the dignity of accepting her story, and don't dig too hard.

Surely she had her chance first time round.
These second comments, I would see as suggestions.
Treat them as such.