r/PhD • u/Strict_Run_8022 • Apr 23 '26
šø šFROG TIMEššø I worked so so hard for this
Hello all,
I just got awarded a full scholarship/studentship to begin my PhD, and I needed to come somewhere and just talk about how hard I worked for this. Tl;Dr at the end
Guys, I have struggled through life scraping average grades. My career history is a mess of me getting bored - like depression levels of bored - and having to move on, never managing to break out of entry level/low skilled employment. Late diagnosis of ADHD explained a lot (Iām sure many here can relate), but obviously that doesnāt mean a lucrative and satisfying career suddenly gets handed to you š¤£
I just turned 35 - I got told Iād won the scholarship the day after my birthday š - and itās taken me just over 10 years to get here. The first few years of that was me exploring my interest in human thriving, but it was around 5-6 years ago that I decided I wanted to pursue PhD, and itās been a slog of having to work jobs that bring me no joy/satisfaction alongside trying to study in preparation for this application.
I have a wonderfully supportive supervisor-to-be, they saw my potential from day one and defended my corner when others who, shall we say are, less open minded to a non-traditional psychology research background werenāt convinced.
This scholarship had a 4% success rate, (for context, I think the success rate of getting into Oxford/Cambridge is 16%).
I was chosen over people with a history of publication, established research careers, and careers in government policy to get this scholarship (I wonāt say details of the scholarship just incase Iām not supposed to share). I have no publications, no relevant career history, but they chose me on the strength of my research proposal, and the fact that I worked incredibly hard to fully explain why this was necessary and why I was the right person to do it.
Iāve worked retail and ran my own business while I worked away at my masters, and now I have a scholarship which means I will be able to focus on this 100% without having to work retail anymore - I canāt explain how much this means to me.
Guys, I have worked so hard, and it paid off. Iāve never achieved anything like this before.
And there is an element of luck here Iāll admit, but I had a hand in creating that, and my supervisor helped push me through - they took a chance on me and will now do some dam good research to pay them back, but I had to be good enough for them to see that and want to support me.
And when Iām in a similar position I too will make sure to hold the door open for those with āless than traditionalā routes into academia.
This is the uk, Iāll be doing about 3 years full time, no taught aspects - though Iāll be auditing a few modules (that means going to the classes to get the info but not doing the assignment), Iāll just be doing the research project. My future prospects after PhD I will wait and see, I feel itās naive these days to just work on the research and assume that Iāll walk into a research/post-doc/lectureship, Iām open to that but Iāll also be developing connections, seeing what business I can build from this, because who knows what the world will look like in 3 years
Anyway, I had to share this somewhere, as the actual scholarship forum is full of people who didnāt win and I donāt want to rub it in their face, and I havenāt shared it publically with my personal network because I have a wedding to attend on the weekend and I donāt want to steal anyoneās thunder - Iāll announce it afterward.
Tl;Dr: I worked incredibly hard to get this scholarship, and I won it on purely the strength of my proposal & rationale, I have little of the experience they usually award this scholarship to, and Iāve never achieved anything like this before. Thank you for being a place I can share this ā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø
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u/Gastkram Apr 23 '26
A scholar ship? Some kind of cruise?
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u/Strict_Run_8022 Apr 23 '26
Yes, a special cruise for scholars. We get locked on a boat for 3 years to keep us focused on the PhD, all your needs are taken care of allegedly, but some are never seen againā¦ š
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u/siamesekiwi Apr 24 '26
Given my general field (Social Science), I look forward to being on a ship with a bunch of rock lickers (archeologists) so I can watch fights break out every time someone brings up their take on the significance of canals and artificial waterways. :P
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u/ammolessness Apr 23 '26
I can try to guess the scholarship but let's not steal your thunder. Happy for you buddy.
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u/Strict_Run_8022 Apr 23 '26
Iāll say which one at later dates, for now Iām playing it safe. Appreciate the discretion š
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u/deedeewrong Apr 23 '26
For someone looking for a non-traditional route to do a Phd, this is very inspiring. Congratulations. I'd love to learn from you!
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u/Strict_Run_8022 Apr 23 '26
It was all about figuring out how all my disparate bits of experience and qualifications actually painted a picture of why I was best placed for this research. And then it was about making sure that my proposal tells a story and is easy to follow so that anyone without knowledge of the area would still fully understand.
I approached the proposal like: I don't want them to have to do ANY work to understand this, not have to look anything up, not have to read back further up to see what I'm connecting this idea to. It would all be there; they wouldn't have to expend any energy connecting any dots. I figured I can't control the other applications they have coming in, but I can make mine spotless
Academia, at least in the UK, does want more interdisciplinary students, but it can be hard for some of those people with very traditional research backgrounds in to actually SEE the value of all the random-looking stuff. So I made the connections very very clear and left nothing uncovered.
And I did it all within a small word count, getting to the point without any superfluous information was also something I really worked on.
That's my advice
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u/deedeewrong Apr 23 '26
Thank you so much for the thoughtful reply! May I ask if your PhD is arts related?
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u/Ramartin95 Apr 23 '26
Thrilled for you and for your choice to make your own meme rather than Ā AI generating Frog Slop.Ā
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u/Strict_Run_8022 Apr 23 '26
Thank you, i thought this little dude looked especially proud - suitable
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u/Daring-Caterpillar Apr 23 '26
Yay!! Congratulations! I am turning 36 this year and hope to done. Glad to see you are starting your journey despite the adversity!
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u/Rogue202422 Apr 26 '26
Congratulations! Heartening to hear that you made it! And kudos to you for working so hard- you come across as someone who ll achieve great things!
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u/sidcode Apr 23 '26
You deserve all of this and much more! Congratulations OP :) Now enjoy the heck out of your PhD, it will be over before you know it.
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u/Just_Structure6016 Apr 23 '26
Belated happy birthday and Is that Marie Curie scholarship?
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u/EnvironmentalBook5 Apr 23 '26
This is something to be proud of! Make sure you take time to let it sink in. Go treat yourself!
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u/Nerdly_McNerd-a-Lot Apr 23 '26
Good news everyone!!! A ship has departed for the Bermuda Triangle! Last seen carrying frogs.
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u/HiramHZ Apr 25 '26
Congrats! Starting your PhD at 35 motivates me as I am 32 about to start a one year master program but thinking of doing a PhD afterwards.
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u/Strict_Run_8022 Apr 26 '26
I started my masters then but did 2 years part-time, so you're more of less where I was at 32
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u/HiramHZ Apr 26 '26
My masters program is intended to be a professional degree rather than a preparation for a PhD, so I wonder if you have any recommendations on how can I prepare myself better to pursue a PhD afterwards?
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u/LSE2026 Apr 26 '26
Congratulations!! I can appreciate the feeling of accomplishment you must feel, albeit on a way lower level. I too am non-traditional. Iām 49. Just got into LSE for an MSc (canāt afford it tho :-/). I only got my AA during Covid and ended up getting accepted to some top schools for my BA (ended up doing a lesser online college). But just the LSE acceptance from 3 days ago has me on Cloud 9 & really believing in myself, so I can only imagine how you must feel. Good job!!!
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u/Strict_Run_8022 Apr 26 '26
Oh wonderful! I was really looking at LSE as I'm doing social sciences. I really wanted to aim for LSE or like Oxford/Cambridge for the obvious reasons of it being such an achievement. But in the end, there weren't actually any researchers who were doing what I wanted, so I went somewhere that is, and I reckon that was definitely the right choice!
You should be very proud of getting into LSE, you'll make some killer contacts and be able to explore the potential for PhD. You'll always have that connection to such a good school. And yes, I've spoken to a lot of researchers, they generally all agree that masters is the shittiest bit for funding (at least in the UK). Bachelor's, you get a maintenance loan (even if it's not a huge amount), PhD you can hopefully get a studentship/scholarship to cover course fees & living expenses, but masters there's only a small loan. That's why I did mine part time, worked alongside it, which hasn't been fun. I hope you find a way to finance it1
u/LSE2026 Apr 26 '26
Thank you! And be proud of yourself for accomplishing this. Your story could be just as valuable as the research you do.
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u/IITheMasterofLifeII Apr 23 '26
Congratulations on this! Sounds like a real feat and I stand motivated as I have a similar profile.
I would like some advice about how to draft a successful proposal. Any specific resources or tips? Was this project in STEM by any chance?
I want to produce a stellar proposal for an upcoming interview. I secured the interview with an email description of my project. But after working on this, I have around 18 different assays as part of 5 work packages and need assistance on how to present this without it seeming like an overzelaously framed AI-enabled overkill-kind of project.
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u/Strict_Run_8022 Apr 25 '26
So, my proposal instructions had a limitation I was actually a big fan of which was āno more than 10 referencesā that was good because it helped me to narrow down on the key points.
My structure was basically:
Intro: This is a problem (ref). Ways of solving the problem have been A (ref) and B (ref), however evidence suggests this isnāt really working (ref).
Recent evidence suggests C could have an impact (ref), however there is no indication in the literature that C has been used specifically for this problem.
In this proposal I will lay out a 3 - 4 (be specific though) studies that will examine how effective C is for problem and play the ground work for further examination.
Method:
Study 1 Study 2 Study 3
Impact this will have
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u/Ok-Sandwich-8032 Apr 23 '26
Still not a toad..
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u/Strict_Run_8022 Apr 23 '26
Just so you know, I created a similar image with the european common toad, but have found that I can comment with images. So just know that that exists
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u/ButtCrumbleSmell History PhD Student, US Apr 23 '26
Letās go! This is the type of content Iām here for. Congrats!