LONG wait for decision PhD project

International Students
1

Hello all,

I was just wondering what your experiences are like applying to UK Universities for PhD in a project. I am an international student who applied in mid October without a response yet (supposed to take 4-6 weeks). I am from the US. Is it a good sign that they are taking a long time or is it just because I am international? An update from the head admissions staff member wrote me the following: “…we have identified some supervisors for you and we are carrying out some checks on the proposal and will be in touch in early January to discuss making an offer.”
No response yet though. I wrote a 25 page protocol/proposal and a more recent update stated that my application was going through a peer review process. I am not sure if that is for my application or the protocol. So, should I be worried?

2

Not yet. In academic world it is still barely January. Best get used to slow responses (esp as you do not seem to have applied with a specific supervisor or project lined up)- they are very normal.

3

Sorry I didn’t explain. I did have a project lined up and I identified my supervisors and interviewed with them before I sent the application. The protocol detailed my project topic. Not sure why the admissions lady said that they identified supervisors for me.

4

That is better- but I still wouldn’t be worried. The academic admin world can be exasperatingly slow.

5

Yeah okay. I figured it might be because I am international too. Since international student application deadlines are earlier most of the time. Maybe it is because they require more time.