I'm a university admissions tutor (make decisions about who to give offers to).. AMA

[JoshChan]

JoshChan - that's really good to hear.
There's a huge disparity and I agree with your earlier comment that it isn't due to lack of aspiration. Its lack of resources and opportunity.

Would you accept a 2.2 for a masters course if that has been achieved 20 years prior to a relevant and successful career?

Or is there no point?
Definitely go for it. I don't do Masters admissions but from what I know, it's always challenging to fill places on masters courses. A 20 year relevant career would stand you in really good stead I'd say.

I would absolutely love to do a PHD. I'm passionate about a particular subject and would love to study it more and maybe teach it. However I work full time and could not afford to give up my v good salary to do a PHD. I've looked at online options but could not afford to self fund either (and employer wouldn't pay it). I'm not eligible for the loans either.

What is your advice to someone who wants to do a PHD, move into academia but are not in a financial position to do so?

Would a diagnosis of ADD/ADHD affect an applicants chances presuming they met all other criteria? I know the official answer is no - but as this is an anonymous AMA it's probably the only chance ever to get find out if that is true! Thank you.

What is your advice to someone who wants to do a PHD, move into academia but are not in a financial position to do so?
Would you leave your job if you could get PhD funding?

You say you want to move into academia but at some point that's going to require you to take a massive jump and probably a pay cut. You won't be able to do a PhD then land a good academic job, moving seamlessly from your current role to a lectureship. Getting an academic career often involves taking on short-term contracts and chasing funding. During your PhD, you'll also need to be teaching, going to conferences and publishing in order to be able to compete for an academic job eventually. That's not easy to do if you're working full-time as well.

For now, I think you should write out a 2-page PhD proposal (lots of examples online) to crystallize in your mind exactly what it is you want to do, how, and what you want to get out of it. Then contact the person/people that you'd want to supervise the PhD to see if you can meet up to discuss their availability and get feedback on the project idea.

If you're not ready to give up your current career, keep on top of academic work in the area you want to work in (do you have access to academic journals?) and keep adding to/amending the proposal until you're in a position to pursue a PhD in future. Then repeat the process- refine the proposal, contact supervisors etc.

Would a diagnosis of ADD/ADHD affect an applicants chances presuming they met all other criteria? I know the official answer is no - but as this is an anonymous AMA it's probably the only chance ever to get find out if that is true! Thank you.
Honestly, no. We have huge numbers of applications from students with various physical and mental health challenges and it doesn't make a difference. At most universities, the disability service looks at all incoming students who've indicated some kind of challenge and makes sure that there are reasonable adjustments in place (in most cases, like ADHD/ADD, there already are because there are already lots of students with the same issue).

DD has a huge gap in her education due to chronic illness and we're looking at the shortest route to university (3 GCSES, 3 A levels). Is this going to affect her chances of getting an offer?

I also work in a RG uni and we have had an unprecendented number of suicides this academic year - have you? Why do you think there is SUCH an upward trend at the moment?

DD has a huge gap in her education due to chronic illness and we're looking at the shortest route to university (3 GCSES, 3 A levels). Is this going to affect her chances of getting an offer?
Nope. I'd advise her to be open and honest about it in her application (not the bit about the shortest route mind you!!) but it shouldn't stand against her at all.

I also work in a RG uni and we have had an unprecendented number of suicides this academic year - have you? Why do you think there is SUCH an upward trend at the moment?
I don't know that this year was particularly worse than last but we've seen a spike over the last few years for sure.
I think the pressure around education is immense and some students just can't cope. If they have parents pushing them from one side, pressure of university from the other, the competitive labour market from on top, it can be so difficult to see a way out. Universities are over-stretched and aren't providing enough support. By that I mean, there's money floating around and some of it is vaguely chucked at counselling services but this is just a bandage. There needs to be a proper, deep, reflective look at what universities are doing.
I also think suicide is becoming much more normalised. OTOH, I think it's good to talk about it because it's not a shameful secret. But OTOH, I think a lot of young people internalise it as an "option".
I know a few of the suicides we've had have been widely thought to be "attention seeking" (for want of a better term) gone wrong.

What is your career path to date?

There needs to be a proper, deep, reflective look at what universities are doing.

Is the mental health crisis among the student population fueled by actions under the control of universities themselves? I think young people are often being mis sold higher education as a path to personal and professional development when it isn't anything of the sort. Students can then feel deeply uneasy about what they are doing and why.

What is your career path to date?
I have a very standard academic career path:

School (GCSEs)

College (A-levels)

Year working in a shitty office job

University (3 years)

Masters (1 year)

PhD (3 years)

Research Contract (1.5 years)

Lectureship (4.5 years so far)

Is the mental health crisis among the student population fueled by actions under the control of universities themselves? I think young people are often being mis sold higher education as a path to personal and professional development when it isn't anything of the sort. Students can then feel deeply uneasy about what they are doing and why.
I agree, I think university is mis-sold in exactly the way you describe.
Nowadays, universities are much more of a "rubber stamp" factory which students need to pass through to get jobs. I'd like the whole sector to be a bit more honest about that which I think would then lead to students delaying university until they reached a point in their lives/careers when university was actually useful for them. Then I think it could be very personally fulfilling.
I think the MH crisis is being fueled by universities, yes. We put heaps of pressure on the students, it's a pressure cooker environment but universities don't provide services/resources to help students through that. So, it's like the universities are creating the pressure but no way to help relieve the pressure. Don't get me wrong, I also think schools and parents are partially to blame too!
I also think social media plays a massive role. I find that my students never ever switch "off" from the world. Even when they are relaxing and taking some "me" time they're either surfing FB (where they're seeing all their friends' updates with how stressed they are ) or they're out with university friends and end up chatting about assignments. I advise them to leave their phone at home, take a bus somewhere random and have a walk around for an hour or so. They look at me like I'm bonkers

Thanks for replying - very interesting thread.

How would you define a "mickey mouse" course.

Are RG universities the only ones worth going to (genuine question - I'm not being arsey!)?

at my uni many of the students are there as them (and their parents) expect a decent return on their tuition fee and are doing the subject for future earnings rather than passion. Added to that a great many would have been very high achieving at their school/sixth form, but one of many and 'just' average for the uni - and thus the amount of effort they have to put in to tread water for something they don't actually love may prove too much. For some students there is a great taboo in admitting mental ill-heath and reaching out so they struggle on alone. As ours is a non-Campus uni there is a high amount of isolation too - so several factors combine into a horrid perfect storm.

It has definitely made me think differently of education for my dcs.

I worry about the drinking culture in British universities.

How would you define a "mickey mouse" course.
Are RG universities the only ones worth going to (genuine question - I'm not being arsey!)?

Ugh, I really hate that phrasing. It's very Daily Mail. Sorry. I guess I mean courses with only tenuous links to any sort of career afterwards. The sort of courses where you'd go "what's the point in that?"
This isn't just about the course but is also about the university too. For example, an American Studies degree at a very low ranked university is, IMO, "mickey mouse". It's probably interesting but, to link to the question above, not something I think taxpayers should be funding. However, an American Studies degree at a very highly ranked university would be looked at differently by employers because of the university. It's true that employers (graduate, corporate type employers) are massively swayed by the ranking of the university.

Having said that, though, if a student has a very particular career in mind then a "mickey mouse" degree might not be problematic. So, sticking with the example, if the student really wanted a career as an academic in American Studies then the degree from the low ranked university wouldn't be as much of an issue as it would be if they were looking at a graduate position at a top investment bank.

I personally think the RG is where it's at and I'd personally discourage students from going to lower ranked universities (bottom 50 or so, unless they're specialist in a niche area where that student wants a career, are not remotely worth it). Don't get me wrong, I think those universities could offer something really useful but I don't think they can/should be judged alongside RG institutions as they're just so different. In terms of post-university employment, RGs and those in top 35-ish are the only ones really worth going to.

This is a great thread, thanks Josh

at my uni many of the students are there as them (and their parents) expect a decent return on their tuition fee and are doing the subject for future earnings rather than passion. Added to that a great many would have been very high achieving at their school/sixth form, but one of many and 'just' average for the uni - and thus the amount of effort they have to put in to tread water for something they don't actually love may prove too much. For some students there is a great taboo in admitting mental ill-heath and reaching out so they struggle on alone. As ours is a non-Campus uni there is a high amount of isolation too - so several factors combine into a horrid perfect storm

You're absolutely right. The little fish/big pond thing is huge actually. We have a whole session on what "success" looks like at university to prepare students for their grades. They'll have been used to getting grades up in the 90%s but at university, they might be more around 55-60% and that's really hard for some of them to take.

I worry about the drinking culture in British universities.
You're right to be worried. Students are massively into "pre-lashing" now which means they start drinking heavily at about 5pm while they're getting ready so by the time they hit town at about 9pm (usually without anything substantial to eat), they're already pissed out of their box. Because pubs and clubs are missing out on business because students are "pre-lashing" then they put promotions on to get people through the door so that's more cheap booze being plugged to already fucked students.

Societies at university are very often geared around socials where very heavy drinking is encouraged. I had a student in my office in tears because she was being kicked out of a sports team because she refused to drink until she was basically unconscious Students are encouraged to join societies, play sport and make friends but so much of this is wrapped up in problematic binge drinking.

Does having a unique name make a difference on the application? for example a name that only 16 children was registered with in UK year of birth as opposed to a very popular name.

I worry about the drinking culture in British universities
Forgot to add, the other thing is that these are young people away from home for (most often) the first time, in control of their own time and money and doing their own shopping. I think parents could do so much more to prepare students for this (e.g. give them £50 and tell them to do the family shop for a week). It's okay having chats with kids about not going mad and budgeting etc. but I think they need to experience it for it to sink in.

Does having a unique name make a difference on the application? for example a name that only 16 children was registered with in UK year of birth as opposed to a very popular name
Nope, it makes no difference at all. I might remember the name if it's very very strange or unusual but remember as well as looking at about 700 UCAS applications per year, I also teach 120 first years, 40 third years and 50 masters students... that's a lot of names!!

Do you ever view a non selective state school as a contextual application?

Is it common to accept students that have just missed their conditional offer requirements?