wow, this thread is helpful... but scary! i am meant (fingers crossed!) to start in Jan.

agh - have meeting with super. this morn. haven't seen him since my interview in april! still have not had written confirmation of the funding yet - but fingers crossed for soon! but they have verbally agreed.
how much will i be expected to know in this initial meeting do you think? so nervous!

thanks helena - exactly what a mate said to me.
update is that he emailed me this wkend.... to say there is light and it's almost 100% in place - just not completely, and can i send my CV to him again so he can show the potential funders.
very good points though - will try to get supervision arrangements set out from the outset.
fingers bloody crossed! almost there i think.... :)

I have actually been advised (last night - by a friend of mine) to NOT take the PhD if they offer it, due to them being really efficient and ignoring my calls etc.... my friend said this really does not look good and reckons the PhD could be a nightmare with a really unresponsive supervisor. She kind of has a point.... I am a bit reluctant at this late stage - just annoying to not have a full plan b!

if you can afford it I would say do the masters - it is better to have one than not and it is a great learning experience - I now have two masters. Even if they do not lead me to brighter and better places - which I am sure they already have tbh (I also teach undergrad and got that through the masters stuff - much more common for students to do this now that teaching budgets have been cut etc.) - learning for the sake of learning is no bad thing but I am sure that having one will put you ahead whatever you end up doing, PhD or not.

Yes, it's a tough time and definitely not correct to take things personally. We can but try. I was feeling soo depressed this morn as I am looking at research jobs and where there are usually loads that I could apply for, right now barely anything is suitable - if out there at all!
We can only hope that in October, when things start to roll out again a bit more, things will look up.

======= Date Modified 22 Jul 2010 11:55:33 =======
I still have not heard. I had the interview mid-May & they said I would know within a week, which then became two, which then became a month - the last was 'the end of June' but I have not been able to speak to the prof. since mid June. I do wonder at what point do I give up - and what can I do? I have rung the guy once a week for the last four weeks and his sec says she'll get him to call me but he doesn't. He didn't reply to my last email.

The problem is that it is funded by the NHS and I don't think they will know what they are doing budget wise until October now. But my current job finishes at the end of October and so to have something lined up for Nov 1st I will need to start looking for work in August really.
So if I don't hear about the PhD by the end of Aug I will need to start thinking of something else. And then what if in Oct they say I can do it? Or in November, once I have started a new job. It's a nightmare as I don't really feel in the mood to throwing myself in to new adventures/new job applications and getting passionate about them whilst I am in limbo waiting to hear about the one thing I really want.

It's horrible! :(

PS - I forgot to ask advice - for those that have been in this sitch - a 2-3 month wait or more - how to handle it? Should i continue to chase the professor (I just want an update really) or just leave him till he gets in touch with me - I only ring once a week at the most & haven't emailed in about a month, but will I start to annoy him? Seems odd that they don't get back to you to update you though - this would not happen in an office! haha.

Congrats Helena! I am jealous - still do not know about mine and the guy has ignored my phone calls now for a month!

i am not sure either :(
i have lived alone, with partners and with mates and strangers and yeah i spose i got good bits from all of them. partners best for things being the way you want - partner being easier to get to clean up/shut tup etc, plus they love you so would want to be considerate anyway - but i no longer have one of those.

mates i have lived with - it has gone terribly wrong on a few occasions - people not paying rent, bills, not lifting a finger cleaning wise and being incredibly noisy - two people i never spoke to again after a year of hell (two separate occasions) when i was trying to study,

and strangers - again this can go horribly, horribly wrong. argh! very annoying - i feel your pain. i have a lot of mates which makes living alone feel like it would be okay, but yes - that silence to come home to every single night might get a bit much. i think for me in an ideal world i share a flat with one other person that i get on with reeeally well.. god knows how to find that though!

since my last post i actually have to move out soon and hope to be a phd student in oct - am thinking to share with one other - worried about the loneliness? am 30 years old and a little bit undecided on what the best option might be. not getting on with a flatmate or someone inconsiderate sucks - especially if working late etc but living alone might be really lonely from the outset.... difficult decision! what did you decide?

thanks for reply :)
good advice. there is nothing i can do so should try not to worry too much.

in all honesty, if they can't find other sources of funding my plan b will be to carry on as i am for now - doing masters number 2 part-time at the moment - and just keep a beady eye out for studentships that come up in the future... whilst i really want this one, i really do need to be taking home 15k per year otherwise my life gets a bit miserable. i know and admire people that do it without full funding but i have scrimnped and saved for so many years now i do feel now that i want a bit of financial security that with (a flatmate to share bills etc with plus) a full studentship, i think i would get nicely. well done you though! must be hard at times. how much do you take home in total a year then at the moment?

Hi there - I am looking to find a post grad flatmate to share a flat with. Have to move in August and am thinking a fellow post grad student is the way to go.

Areas - South London - so Tooting Bec, Brixton, Camberwell, Streatham - ideally I would like to live right near a common - Tooting Bec being my preferred. Would obviously need someone considerate, clean, tidy, etc. And quiet when we need quiet but not obsessive about such things. I do not have people round constanly or have decks or anything but would like to have people round occassionally.

Anyone out there? My absolute ideal would be a spacious type flat with a garden or at least like I say really near a park. En suite bathrooms are great but absolutely not necessity! :-D Am thinking that living alone in a studio might be a bit lonely for those long nights and days of studying hard. Am a post grad psychology student, aged 30, single, female, like socialising, travel, cooking, food, wine, music, politics, books, reading, gigs, parties, film, cinema, foreign film, friends, etc. Pretty sociable really with lots of friends, but am looking for a nice spacious flat to share with a nice chilled out, clean, considerate, fellow post grad student :-)

======= Date Modified 20 Jun 2010 13:36:21 =======
double post - why always a double post!!

Thanks for reply Helena - very best of luck for yours.
I can related to the what if thoughts. Feel like my future is very uncertain at the moment. Just broke up with someone too so am currently thinking of whether to live alone or with others once I move. That and not knowing about the PhD makes me feel really unsettled!
Shousl hear something from the supervisor next week, he has been away, but I now suspect that it will be after the budget that I know - so end of June maybe. So annoying, really want it, will be massively disappointed if I don't, but it is entirely out of my - and the uni's - hands :-(