Hey Kylie, did you know exactly what you were going to research before you applied at Birmingham or did the advisors help at all? I know I want to pursue a PhD, but am having trouble narrowing down what I want to research exactly. I realize that's part of the downside to the UK programs compared to the US ones! Also, after you applied how long did it take you to find out if you were accepted? Thanks!
Hi!
Thanks for the great questions, I have broken them down into the individual questions so hopefully this answers everything.
1) Did you know exactly what you were going to research: That’s a good question! I would say I had a basic understanding of what I was going to study, so maybe 80% of the total, before reaching out to my advisor. My PhD looks at the creation of communal identity in music festival and church communities, so I had that in mind. I also had a few structures in which to study communal identity, aka things like shared history, language, etc, but my advisor helped me construct those specifics once I was in my PhD program. So in short, you really have to have a solid core concept of the PhD before reaching out to an advisor, some of the peripheral details, which are important for the research, can be decided on later. In my situation my advisor was influential in pointing me to resources and ideas I may have missed, but the real core of the thesis was crafted by myself. After all, a PhD is original research and so my advisor really stressed me generating those ideas! So I would say before approaching a potential advisor(s) you need to have a general understanding of your argument while also understanding that the research and the advisor may bring about different things.
2) Narrowing it down: The good news is that sometimes the process helps narrow it down for you! My journey was a bit different, my topic was pretty concrete and original, but that means that you get to explore a bit more! If you have a few ideas or a few genres of research I would encourage you to do a deep dive into those topics and make sure they haven’t been covered already. Or find an advisor that you think would be awesome and tailor your reproach question to fit their specialities.
3) How long did it take: Let me first clarify the steps that I took for the PhD application. I knew my general topic and once knowing that my first step was to find my primary advisor and have a discussion with them. I ‘cold emailed’ my advisor, introducing myself and telling them the basic reproach I was hoping to do. We then had a meeting where I was able to explain it further and he ‘accepted’ me as a potential student. In your application you will need to write down your advisor, so the FIRST step in all of this is securing your advisor. Once you have that you will write the official proposal (your advisor can help give you some guidance for that) and then you’ll apply! The turn around for me was a few months, so I applied and two or three months later was officially accepted.
Hope this is helpful! Feel free to ask any follow ups if needed. Good luck!!!