Earth Sciences Forum

billiards · Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 7:26 pm Post subject: American Vs British Universities

I am thinking of doing a PhD, I will most likely apply for a few American and a few British institutions. I know that the systems differ quite dramatically. The US system seems to be more generalized with a couple of years spent taking a broad range of modules for a masters in passing. The British schools seem to jump in, straight to the point, presumably you pick up what you need along the way. Top British and US institutions have great reputations around the world for the quality of their research, but the Brits tend to finish their PhDs more quickly. What are the pros and cons of each system?

Bystander · Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 12

Prone to homesickness? Averse to driving on the wrong side of the road? Wouldn't concern myself so much with the differences in the systems so much as with where I can and cannot live. That said, pick the faculty doing the most of the kind of work you think you're going to be interested in doing, and who are approachable --- grad school is about "picking peoples' minds" --- if you're on campus with minds you want to pick, and the owners don't mind being X-examined on the topics that interest you, that's the ideal situation.

Latecommer · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 45 Location: Central California

How often do you find a person skipping the masters program and going directly to a PHD? I understand that ther are a few U's that go that route. Is this truth or fiction?
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NileQueen · Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 9:12 am Post subject:

billiards · Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 12:19 pm Post subject:

Wow, thank you guys, you have helped a lot. I already kind of know what my first choice is, and I have been in touch with the guy who I want to be my supervisor. It seems that when applying for a US school you simply pick a supervisor and a program that you want to follow, in Britain it is slightly different, you make your choice based on the title of the PhD thesis you want to do.

I have already got an MSci in England, which is kind of like a masters and will give me enough kudos to get straight onto a PhD program in the UK, however in the US I would have to spend an extra couple of years taking a masters program, although most places do say that they have a keen focus on your actual PhD thesis from the outset.

Now I am preparing for my GREs, we just don't get these kinds of tests in England and I am finding them quite tricky. However, it should simply be a case of getting used to them and maybe working on my vocabulary - I don't imagine that they can be that decisive in your application process.

NileQueen · Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 3:44 pm Post subject:

billiards · Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 3:26 pm Post subject:

What are the best geosciences/earth science departments in the states?

In the UK there's Oxford, Cambridge, and Imperial; plus a few others like UCL, Bristol, Leeds, and Royal Holloway that are good.

In the states, I have been checking out Princeton, Caltech, MIT, Columbia, and Cornell ... apparently Stanford and Scripps are okay too. Are there any others that I'm missing?

I nearly booked a GRE test, but it costs us $170 in the UK, and I decided to go to Barcelona instead. I will get the GREs done, but I might hold back another year as the deadlines are getting close and I have a lot going on right now.

Also, what does a 1300 total mean? Is that the combined score from quantitative and verbal sections? That would require a 650 average which is ridiculously high.

NileQueen · Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 4:49 pm Post subject:

NileQueen · Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 5:01 pm Post subject:

University of Chicago is good, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (but they did not much funding for this fall) Canada has some good schools too I think.

You might want to consider climate & peripheral factors as well.
University of Virgin Islands might be nice.... Smile

billiards · Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 10:28 pm Post subject:

I would be most interested in doing seismology. It was my fave subject at uni, also liked the fluids physics stuff (did loads of hydrogeology Rolling Eyes

).

These GREs are doing my head in, now I've got work I'm never gonna get time to study for them and I'll have to take a day off to sit them + I'm writing up for a publication so I really have 0 time for them. Why can't they just be normal, like in Britain, look at my CV ask for a few referees maybe interview me over the phone and be done with it? Just seems overly thorough to me, extra, plus it's a rinse on the wallet.