Hello,

Firstly, please excuse any typos etc - I'm on my phone which refuses to behave itself.

In history it's quite usual (but not essential) to work in a very similar topic to that of your Masters. It gives you a solid background in the lit and theory etc, which can be really helpful.

It might be worth having a chat with your MA supervisor about this as s/he will be well placed to tell you whether you absolutely need a background in your topic before proceeding on to a PhD.

Hello,

Yep, PM away - that's no problem at all.

X

Hi there,

To be honest, it's not always the university ranking that is the most important factor - it might be a 'low ranking' university but the department might be one of the very best, if you see what I mean? And your supervisor matters more than having a swanky uni on your C.V, in my (very, very humble) opinion.

What do you mean by 'the students are low qualified?' Do you mean that the entry requirements are lower than other universities, or that they have not taken advantage of extra doctoral training? As for not working at a reputable company, do you mean the current students or alumni? Because unless it's an industry-based PhD, full-time PhD students are not likely to also be in paid employment (this scenario is UK based, mind. I don't know how this works in other parts of the world).

Only you know what is right for you. Do you have to accept the offer before the outcome of your other applications is known? Some people have no problem with accepting a place but then withdrawing if they get a better offer, other folk are not so happy to do this, but it is an option that some people consider (there are some threads elsewhere on this forum about such a dilemma, I believe).

Good luck!

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear about your recent experience - it is really, really disheartening. I remember the feeling well!

One thing that might be worth keeping an eye on is studentship projects. I know in the humanities these types of studentships used to often be seen as a bit of a 'cop out' but that's absolutely not the case anymore. In fact, it's quite the opposite and shows versatility and so on. Keep checking jobs.ac.uk and perhaps keep an eye on the Twitter. You might spot a project which you are a really good fit for, even if it's not exactly what you want to do.

It's just so tough for funding in the humanities at the moment. Funding is so scarce.

It's quite heartbreaking to get those rejection emails, but don't give up hope!

Good luck, and if I can help in any way then give me a shout.

x

Hello,

I'm not quite sure what you mean? Do you mean that funding applications were successful but you didn't take the funding at the time, or that the PhD application was successful but funding was not allocated? I'm going to assume the latter (if I've got it wrong then I apologise).

Humanities funding is almost non-existent at the moment, as I'm sure you know if you're looking for funding! I suppose I have both a positive and negative story for you.
Funding very much depends on so many variables: where you are applying (where is their funding is coming from? Is it departmental, or is it AHRC/ESRC etc?), who would supervise you (do they have too many PhD students? Is it somebody else's 'turn' in the department?) and many, many other factors. It's not always a simple case of another applicant being 'better', or having a better project.

so, in answer to your question: I eventually got funding but it wasn't the first time round. Don't lose faith!

Edited to remove potential identifiers!