The Higher Education Megathread

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Lex-Man
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PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Lex-Man » Sun Oct 02, 2016 12:12 am

Good work on your OU degree Moggy. I've got one in Computing.

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PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Qikz » Sun Oct 02, 2016 12:13 am

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I handed in my final ever EMA 4 weeks ago. Won't get my results until end of October, but if I pass that's me officially done with the OU.

I did Computing & IT Maf so if you've got any questions just ask.

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Rightey
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PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Rightey » Tue Oct 04, 2016 6:15 am

I've started my second year of my PhD, and I'll also be working at two jobs :slol: :dread:

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Mini E
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PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Mini E » Wed Oct 05, 2016 8:30 am

Well the £21,000 piece of kit my entire PhD is based around has decided to break. Happy 1 year PhD-iversary Mini E.

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Rightey
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PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Rightey » Wed Oct 05, 2016 2:20 pm

Mini E wrote:Well the £21,000 piece of kit my entire PhD is based around has decided to break. Happy 1 year PhD-iversary Mini E.


:dread:

What is it?

Is this beyond the powers of duct tape?

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Moggy
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PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Moggy » Wed Oct 05, 2016 2:35 pm

Rightey wrote:
Mini E wrote:Well the £21,000 piece of kit my entire PhD is based around has decided to break. Happy 1 year PhD-iversary Mini E.


:dread:

What is it?

Is this beyond the powers of duct tape?


It's a tower made out of £21k of duct tape.

Corazon de Leon

PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Corazon de Leon » Wed Oct 05, 2016 2:41 pm

Rightey wrote:I've started my second year of my PhD, and I'll also be working at two jobs :slol: :dread:


Good luck. I do some teaching, work full time in an office and still have to find time to write up my thesis outside of all of that. It's extremely difficult.

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PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Jenuall » Wed Oct 05, 2016 3:33 pm

When my 3 year studentship ran out on my PhD I made the mistake of thinking I could get a full-time job and finish off the write up in my spare time. It took several years and a questionable level of sacrifice of my social and family time in order to finally get it done!

My advice for anyone doing a PhD is if you can afford to then make sure you're devoting as much time as possible to research, writing and publishing, the further you get from being a full time student then the harder it becomes to actually get the thing done!

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PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Rightey » Wed Oct 05, 2016 5:35 pm

Corazon de Leon wrote:
Rightey wrote:I've started my second year of my PhD, and I'll also be working at two jobs :slol: :dread:


Good luck. I do some teaching, work full time in an office and still have to find time to write up my thesis outside of all of that. It's extremely difficult.


My situation is similar, I will work as research assistant, in an office, and be doing classes. Luckily the research assistant is limited to 10 hours per week, but due to the nature of the work it will probably be 0 hours one week and 20 hours the next week. The office job is good because it's in a related field with a very supportive boss, he was actually the one that encouraged me to apply and helped me with the whole process, so I'm happy about that, still I don't want to let the quality of my work slip, so I hope I can manage. :dread:

Pelloki on ghosts wrote:Just start masturbating furiously. That'll make them go away.

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Mini E
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PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Mini E » Fri Oct 07, 2016 9:45 am

Moggy wrote:
Rightey wrote:
Mini E wrote:Well the £21,000 piece of kit my entire PhD is based around has decided to break. Happy 1 year PhD-iversary Mini E.


:dread:

What is it?

Is this beyond the powers of duct tape?


It's a tower made out of £21k of duct tape.


It's quite new technology that measures central blood pressure at the aorta (as opposed to brachial artery like *normal* cuffs) and a few measures of arterial stiffness/compliance non-invasively. It has to be sent back to Sydney. What a strawberry floater.

I'm teaching my first three hour lecture today. 3-6pm on a Friday. :dread:

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PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Moggy » Tue Oct 11, 2016 12:00 pm

I had my graduation ceremony last Friday. It was more fun than I was expecting and quite nerve racking when I actually had to get up on the stage to shake hands and accept the cardboard tube. ;) It was a long ceremony though as there were a lot of people to get through, I was wishing that I did a BA and had the surname “Adams” as they did it all alphabetically. :lol: You couldn’t really ask for a prettier place to accept your award than inside Exeter Cathedral though!

My actual degree certificate arrived in the post the day after and so I am officially a graduate. Weird.

The three years NUS card I ordered has now also arrived, so I am covered for student discounts until the end of 2019. :lol:

Corazon de Leon

PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Corazon de Leon » Tue Oct 11, 2016 12:49 pm

Jenuall wrote:When my 3 year studentship ran out on my PhD I made the mistake of thinking I could get a full-time job and finish off the write up in my spare time. It took several years and a questionable level of sacrifice of my social and family time in order to finally get it done!

My advice for anyone doing a PhD is if you can afford to then make sure you're devoting as much time as possible to research, writing and publishing, the further you get from being a full time student then the harder it becomes to actually get the thing done!


I've been working full time again as of the end of June - it's been extremely difficult, and I think quite a few of my personal relationships have suffered in the interim. I barely see friends, have to slog my laptop and half a dozen books at a time up to the girlfriend's flat to spend a few hours working when we hang out together and have found myself missing birthdays and nights out with both of my main groups of friends in order to try and get an extra page written here or 1,000 words there.

But the draft's nearly done - by the end of this month there should be a 70,000 word thesis sitting there, that no-one outside of my supervisors and markers will ever give a strawberry float about. Then comes the editing process, re-writing sections and a couple of months of tidying up and bulking up to around 80,000 words and we should be ready to submit in January, for a viva in March.

The difference I've had from a lot of PhD students is that I chose to do mine out of a strange mixture of love for the subject and the pure arrogance of assuming it would be as "easy" as my undergrad and Masters degrees - I was never funded, and had to pay the fees out of my own pocket. So I've always worked 20-35 hours a week outside of the full time degree, and rarely get to see the inside of my faculty office.

I can honestly say that the decision to do the PhD was the worst, most wilfully short sighted thing I've ever done. It'll take years to repair some of the relationships I've had to neglect, if I can at all, and I've missed out on so much. My friends are married, in long term relationships or well on the way to strong careers. They're buying houses, having kids and moving forward while I can only live away from my mum's by the grace of a friend's generosity.

I'd be lying if I blamed not being financially stable entirely on the PhD because I'm economically retarded, but the £12,000 I've spent on fees could've been a deposit on a house. At the very least I wouldn't be mired deep inside an overdraft, paying off a loan and still having way too much month left at the end of my money. :lol:

Having said all of that, if the work is good enough and I can talk the talk in the Viva, maybe it'll all have been worth it in the end when I get my blue robe and the title of Dr. Cora. That does sound pretty cool. 8-)

SORT OF EDIT: This turned into a bit of a rant, and makes it seem like the PhD has ruined four years of my life. That's not right, it just seems overwhelming sometimes. And no council tax has been great. :lol:

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PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Mini E » Tue Oct 11, 2016 1:24 pm

I'll read it too :wub:

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PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Moggy » Tue Oct 11, 2016 1:30 pm

Corazon de Leon wrote:
Jenuall wrote:When my 3 year studentship ran out on my PhD I made the mistake of thinking I could get a full-time job and finish off the write up in my spare time. It took several years and a questionable level of sacrifice of my social and family time in order to finally get it done!

My advice for anyone doing a PhD is if you can afford to then make sure you're devoting as much time as possible to research, writing and publishing, the further you get from being a full time student then the harder it becomes to actually get the thing done!


I've been working full time again as of the end of June - it's been extremely difficult, and I think quite a few of my personal relationships have suffered in the interim. I barely see friends, have to slog my laptop and half a dozen books at a time up to the girlfriend's flat to spend a few hours working when we hang out together and have found myself missing birthdays and nights out with both of my main groups of friends in order to try and get an extra page written here or 1,000 words there.

But the draft's nearly done - by the end of this month there should be a 70,000 word thesis sitting there, that no-one outside of my supervisors and markers will ever give a strawberry float about. Then comes the editing process, re-writing sections and a couple of months of tidying up and bulking up to around 80,000 words and we should be ready to submit in January, for a viva in March.

The difference I've had from a lot of PhD students is that I chose to do mine out of a strange mixture of love for the subject and the pure arrogance of assuming it would be as "easy" as my undergrad and Masters degrees - I was never funded, and had to pay the fees out of my own pocket. So I've always worked 20-35 hours a week outside of the full time degree, and rarely get to see the inside of my faculty office.

I can honestly say that the decision to do the PhD was the worst, most wilfully short sighted thing I've ever done. It'll take years to repair some of the relationships I've had to neglect, if I can at all, and I've missed out on so much. My friends are married, in long term relationships or well on the way to strong careers. They're buying houses, having kids and moving forward while I can only live away from my mum's by the grace of a friend's generosity.

I'd be lying if I blamed not being financially stable entirely on the PhD because I'm economically retarded, but the £12,000 I've spent on fees could've been a deposit on a house. At the very least I wouldn't be mired deep inside an overdraft, paying off a loan and still having way too much month left at the end of my money. :lol:

Having said all of that, if the work is good enough and I can talk the talk in the Viva, maybe it'll all have been worth it in the end when I get my blue robe and the title of Dr. Cora. That does sound pretty cool. 8-)

SORT OF EDIT: This turned into a bit of a rant, and makes it seem like the PhD has ruined four years of my life. That's not right, it just seems overwhelming sometimes. And no council tax has been great. :lol:


The most annoying thing is that £12k would be enough for a house deposit. You could barely buy a shoebox here for that sort of deposit. strawberry float you and your cheap houses Dr Cora. :x

Corazon de Leon

PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Corazon de Leon » Tue Oct 11, 2016 3:15 pm

Moggy wrote:
Corazon de Leon wrote:
Jenuall wrote:When my 3 year studentship ran out on my PhD I made the mistake of thinking I could get a full-time job and finish off the write up in my spare time. It took several years and a questionable level of sacrifice of my social and family time in order to finally get it done!

My advice for anyone doing a PhD is if you can afford to then make sure you're devoting as much time as possible to research, writing and publishing, the further you get from being a full time student then the harder it becomes to actually get the thing done!


I've been working full time again as of the end of June - it's been extremely difficult, and I think quite a few of my personal relationships have suffered in the interim. I barely see friends, have to slog my laptop and half a dozen books at a time up to the girlfriend's flat to spend a few hours working when we hang out together and have found myself missing birthdays and nights out with both of my main groups of friends in order to try and get an extra page written here or 1,000 words there.

But the draft's nearly done - by the end of this month there should be a 70,000 word thesis sitting there, that no-one outside of my supervisors and markers will ever give a strawberry float about. Then comes the editing process, re-writing sections and a couple of months of tidying up and bulking up to around 80,000 words and we should be ready to submit in January, for a viva in March.

The difference I've had from a lot of PhD students is that I chose to do mine out of a strange mixture of love for the subject and the pure arrogance of assuming it would be as "easy" as my undergrad and Masters degrees - I was never funded, and had to pay the fees out of my own pocket. So I've always worked 20-35 hours a week outside of the full time degree, and rarely get to see the inside of my faculty office.

I can honestly say that the decision to do the PhD was the worst, most wilfully short sighted thing I've ever done. It'll take years to repair some of the relationships I've had to neglect, if I can at all, and I've missed out on so much. My friends are married, in long term relationships or well on the way to strong careers. They're buying houses, having kids and moving forward while I can only live away from my mum's by the grace of a friend's generosity.

I'd be lying if I blamed not being financially stable entirely on the PhD because I'm economically retarded, but the £12,000 I've spent on fees could've been a deposit on a house. At the very least I wouldn't be mired deep inside an overdraft, paying off a loan and still having way too much month left at the end of my money. :lol:

Having said all of that, if the work is good enough and I can talk the talk in the Viva, maybe it'll all have been worth it in the end when I get my blue robe and the title of Dr. Cora. That does sound pretty cool. 8-)

SORT OF EDIT: This turned into a bit of a rant, and makes it seem like the PhD has ruined four years of my life. That's not right, it just seems overwhelming sometimes. And no council tax has been great. :lol:


The most annoying thing is that £12k would be enough for a house deposit. You could barely buy a shoebox here for that sort of deposit. strawberry float you and your cheap houses Dr Cora. :x


If it makes you feel better, it'd be a gooseberry fool house. :lol:

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Moggy
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PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Moggy » Tue Oct 11, 2016 3:18 pm

Corazon de Leon wrote:
Moggy wrote:
Corazon de Leon wrote:
Jenuall wrote:When my 3 year studentship ran out on my PhD I made the mistake of thinking I could get a full-time job and finish off the write up in my spare time. It took several years and a questionable level of sacrifice of my social and family time in order to finally get it done!

My advice for anyone doing a PhD is if you can afford to then make sure you're devoting as much time as possible to research, writing and publishing, the further you get from being a full time student then the harder it becomes to actually get the thing done!


I've been working full time again as of the end of June - it's been extremely difficult, and I think quite a few of my personal relationships have suffered in the interim. I barely see friends, have to slog my laptop and half a dozen books at a time up to the girlfriend's flat to spend a few hours working when we hang out together and have found myself missing birthdays and nights out with both of my main groups of friends in order to try and get an extra page written here or 1,000 words there.

But the draft's nearly done - by the end of this month there should be a 70,000 word thesis sitting there, that no-one outside of my supervisors and markers will ever give a strawberry float about. Then comes the editing process, re-writing sections and a couple of months of tidying up and bulking up to around 80,000 words and we should be ready to submit in January, for a viva in March.

The difference I've had from a lot of PhD students is that I chose to do mine out of a strange mixture of love for the subject and the pure arrogance of assuming it would be as "easy" as my undergrad and Masters degrees - I was never funded, and had to pay the fees out of my own pocket. So I've always worked 20-35 hours a week outside of the full time degree, and rarely get to see the inside of my faculty office.

I can honestly say that the decision to do the PhD was the worst, most wilfully short sighted thing I've ever done. It'll take years to repair some of the relationships I've had to neglect, if I can at all, and I've missed out on so much. My friends are married, in long term relationships or well on the way to strong careers. They're buying houses, having kids and moving forward while I can only live away from my mum's by the grace of a friend's generosity.

I'd be lying if I blamed not being financially stable entirely on the PhD because I'm economically retarded, but the £12,000 I've spent on fees could've been a deposit on a house. At the very least I wouldn't be mired deep inside an overdraft, paying off a loan and still having way too much month left at the end of my money. :lol:

Having said all of that, if the work is good enough and I can talk the talk in the Viva, maybe it'll all have been worth it in the end when I get my blue robe and the title of Dr. Cora. That does sound pretty cool. 8-)

SORT OF EDIT: This turned into a bit of a rant, and makes it seem like the PhD has ruined four years of my life. That's not right, it just seems overwhelming sometimes. And no council tax has been great. :lol:


The most annoying thing is that £12k would be enough for a house deposit. You could barely buy a shoebox here for that sort of deposit. strawberry float you and your cheap houses Dr Cora. :x


If it makes you feel better, it'd be a gooseberry fool house. :lol:


Yeah but now it would be a gooseberry fool house owned by a Doctor. :x

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Rightey
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PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Rightey » Tue Oct 11, 2016 3:32 pm

Don't get me started on housing. I need to look for a home and with my current job/work situation the only thing I can afford is basically a shed. :(

Pelloki on ghosts wrote:Just start masturbating furiously. That'll make them go away.

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PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Green Gecko » Wed Oct 12, 2016 12:51 am

Get a full time job for 6 months, provide an employment reference, then quit and claim benefits.

It's crude but it works.

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PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Rightey » Wed Oct 12, 2016 4:38 am

Green Gecko wrote:Get a full time job for 6 months, provide an employment reference, then quit and claim benefits.

It's crude but it works.


That's not how it works here. Waiting list to get on social housing is literally years, and then you get put into some run down apartment complex :dread:

Pelloki on ghosts wrote:Just start masturbating furiously. That'll make them go away.

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PostRe: The Higher Education Megathread
by Green Gecko » Wed Oct 12, 2016 4:50 am

I needed help when I was signed off work, but I already had employment references when I eventually resigned the same day the company went broke. I had another part time job and my girlfriend to co finance.

Basically, you can find your way into a good tenancy and go from there. I've been passing the 1k or so deposit around for years as well. Have you considered a house share?

I also have a guarantor. I'm very lucky to have held onto current place. The bastards just sent a 6 month renewal when our last one was 12 months as well. I sent a short and strongly worded letter (as you have to write to them).

It's like people don't want to rent houses.

I know things are different in Canada. But you don't necessarily need 1 horrible job to pay for 1 tenancy for 1 person. You have to think outside the box and bend the rules a bit.

Once I was turned down for being a student for another 2 months and my girlfriend continuing as a student. I went to another agent and ranted about it, insisting I was a good tenant with multiple references, good employment prospects and money to pay down. An agent just said, "I'll gladly take your money", showed us a semi detached 1 bed house and took it the next day. It's a ballache but you will find somewhere to live. This is my second non-studenty dwelling in 4 years and you get better at it.

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