Just leave it off - they are highly unlikely to be interested in your A level results.

I'm quite surprised somewhere like Warwick has given you an offer without having any English language law studies. I would say it will take at least a year to get used to legal English and acquaint yourself with international business law, and on that basis, Leeds may prove a more fruitful option.

Do you already have an LLM or specialist knowledge in your chosen research subject beyond undergraduate studies? If so, the Leeds programme probably wouldn't worth it.

Generally, Warwick has a better name for law research.

Try the Chronicle of Higher Education for the US.

I'm not sure about Canada...but would be interested to know my where Canadian academic opportunities are normally advertised.

I've noticed some online companies that operate from trading estates seem to do binding cheaply (but I'm not sure about the quality).

I'm planning to have the bare minimum of copies printed (one soft/one hard copy) on the basis that I may need to make amendments (hopefully minor ones).

I was going to print myself, but after adding up the cost of cartridges and archive quality paper, and having to get it all to the printers, I've decided to let the binders do it.

======= Date Modified 07 Aug 2009 16:10:17 =======
Unfortunately, academia is populated by a disproportionate amount of arrogant types (eg. lots who cannot cope in a corporate environment where they have to align themselves to a company's culture). You'll often come across this and it's best just to support you're own case (in a diplomatic way) and develop a thick skin. When you walk out the office/lab/department forget about it - try not to take it personally otherwise it can start having negative effect on your work.

Phdbug, isn't that a little abrupt? It's an academic-related survey, not spam.

======= Date Modified 05 Aug 2009 10:28:20 =======
Durham is a very good 'top' UK university, although it doesn't have quite a high-profile international name like Oxbridge or some of the London colleges. I was offered a place at Durham but declined as I find it interminably boring (it's very small, and there isn't much to do). I can't comment on Rochester, as I don't know the university.

*Generally speaking*, and based on what I've read and been told over the years, US PhD programmes generally outshine UK PhD programmes in terms of training, support, teaching experience etc.

Relative to other leading European and Western cities, London is a bit smelly, dirty, stressful, and unless the sun is shining, it is grey and miserable. But everyone gets used to this and the positives of the city often outweigh the negatives, but as soon as you leave for a long period of time and then return, the negatives smack you in the face and once again you have to habituate yourself with your surroundings. Doing a PhD in London is a great way to experience the city on the cheap, but on £15k a year you'll have to strictly budget. I wouldn't necessarily recommend pursuing an academic career in London though (simply the pay is too poor unless you want to continue living a student-type life).

1. Do all PhD students also have to pay a fee every year?
As said below, it depends if you're an international student (if so you'll have fat fees to pay). If you have UK/EU status, your fees will be covered in standard funding.
2. What exactly are residence halls? What do you share with others? I'm not exactly a social type. Is it easy to have your own accommodation that you don't have to share?
Halls are just student accommodation. In London, the quality varies immensely. When I did my Masters I remember visiting some utter dumps, and that put me off student accommodation for good, since then I've opted to rent a private flat. However, all the leading colleges have built nicer student accommodation to attract international students - last time I looked it cost between £78-£120 per week. You will probably have to share a self-catering flat with 4-6 people. Look at UCL's own accommodation or UoL's accommodation pages. UNITE also provide private student accommodation.
3. I read most people try to avoid traveling because of the costs. The PhD I'll be doing will involve going there every work-day. What accommodation is the best?
A number of UoL halls are located next to UCL or very near.
Get an Oyster card and a Young Person's Railcard Card (if you plan to travel outside London).
4. How much does health insurance cost?
You can buy private health insurance, and/or I think most students on long courses get free treatment on the NHS. Most EU countries have reciprocal arrangements.
5. Do PhD students try to save for a pension?
Generally no, you won't have enough money to do so.
6. What are the general work rules of a PhD? Can you easily be fired? Are you entitled to holidays? etc
Holidays are normally 6-8 weeks - this will be outlined in your regulations. You can't be 'fired' by your university, because you are not employed, and therefore, also have no protection under employment law rules. It is possible to have your registration terminated, but this never really happens.

I attended a two week course at the start of my PhD, and it actually led me down many wrong paths with my research techniques. It also managed to completely miss the practical issues like time management, how to start an academic career etc. My pet hate is the professional development courses, usually ran by academics, which present some quite good information but are padded up in two hours of psychobabble/ice-breaker rubbish.

For time management advice, I would recommend watching Randy Pausch's 'Time Management'.

This addresses the same problem:
http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/99369-et-als-et-als.html

======= Date Modified 04 Aug 2009 12:27:56 =======
Should it not be "Smith, Jones and Terrys' (2001) paper"? In which case it would be Smith et als' (2001) paper, but as 'al' is plural (others), I'd just stick with Smith et al (2001) paper, or better still reword it to avoid the apostrophe issue.

It should be available for free on Ethos (most universities have agreed to open access).

If you plan to publish any of your work, you'll come up against copyright issues if your thesis has been uploaded on a freebie site.

======= Date Modified 04 Aug 2009 17:45:56 =======
In terms of *actual* reasons I've heard of:

- Not being long enough (obviously depends on the subject, but it appears size does matter).
- Bad luck of the draw with examiners.
- Failing to recognise the standard of a UK PhD.

======= Date Modified 02 Aug 2009 03:42:23 =======
Duplicate post.