PhD Journey #2: Garisan Mula Seorang PhD Candidate

Hari ini, aku nak membebel pasal perjalanan PhD aku. I mean, perjalanan untuk sambung PhD. Uii.. Baru perihal perjalanan nak sambung PhD. Belum perihal perjalanan ketika mengambil PhD. Aaaaa gua nervous!

Baiklah. Mari kita mulakan dengan entri berilmiah. Bismillah sekarang!

First and foremost, if you have an intention to pursue in PhD, you must have at least one personal diary to jot down all important notes related to PhD thingy. I personally think that writing down those important things in the diary is much more relevant as compared to key in everything in my Ipad. #EpicSangat!

So here we go. Below are the 'Standard Required Documents' to apply PhD:

1.  Research Statement/Proposal
              1.1  Cover Page

                              1.1.1  Title
                              1.1.2  Name
                              1.1.3  Address/Faculty
                              1.1.4  Supervisor's Name (if any)


              1.2  Statement of Research Topic         
              1.3  Research Aims
              1.4  Research Objectives
              1.5  Literature Review
                              1.5.1  Introduction
                              1.5.2  Rationale

              1.6  Problem Statement
              1.7  Research Questions
              1.8  Theoritical Framework
              1.9  Methodology
              1.10  Expected Findings
              1.11  Expected Milestones/Timeline
              1.12  References

2.  Personal Statement
               2.1  Why further PhD?
               2.2  Reasons for your choice of study?
               2.3  Why applying to XXX Uni?
               2.4  Why suitable candidate?
               2.5  How choice of programme fits with your future career planning?
             -SELAMAT MENGARANG HOI! AKU BUAT 3 PAGES JE. HAHAHA-

3.  IELTS
4.  Transript (Master/Degree)
5.  Referees (2 people) - Depends on the Uni itself. Oxford nak 3. Hohoho
6.  Resume (optional)
7.  Evidence of Financial Support/Scholarship


Yup. Kelihatan begitu simple tetapi the truth is IT'S NOT as simple as 123! They are just the BASIC documents required by the universities. Like in Oxford, they required 3 referees and 3 types of personal statement which I didn't manage to comply while the application was still running up. I didn't get a chance to finish up the 3rd essay of my personal statement. Tetiba 'Application is now closed'. Rebah depan pc serta-merta +___+

Part paling hardcore untuk aku haruslah part nak buat PhD Proposal. Thanks to my UM friend, Leli for helping me out by providing me her username and password for all database engines. I really appreciated it. Dulu time kat UM, asal aku malas je dan perlukan aura untuk study, aku akan lepak bilik Leli. Sebab aura tu penting. Hahaha.

I had to crack my head to write a looooong essay with one aim; To convince my future SVs in the UK. I wrote my research proposal during my confinement days okayyy. Syle tak?!! Masa tu lah baru nak baby bluuueeeesss.. Masa tu lah nak adapt dengan new chapter of my life. Masa tu lah dugaan kiri kanan datang menguji. But heyyy! Alhamdulillah I managed to get through all the hustle and bustle. Pheewww. #LapPeluh #TepukBahu

Apa yang aku tahu time tu, aku hanya perlukan Unconditional Offer Letter (UOL) from the Uni that I've applied to. Itu sahaja. Then, barulah boleh proceed with the scholarship, visa and all that.


Oh before I forgot, you have to rajinkan diri to choose which universities you'd like to go. Like in my case, I applied to almost ALL universities in the UK. Some in US also. Tapi US aku apply secara senyap-senyap sebab WF tak izinkan aku further study in US. Katanya muka dia macam ada ala-ala Taliban. Maka, cuak di situ. Miahahaha Sengal. Aku pon tak terpikir part tu :p

See. Gigih tak aku? Hehe. Aku apply banyak-banyak sebab I don't really think that all Unis have an expertise in my area. Some of my applications have been rejected as they have no staff to supervise me in this area.

Thus, I only got 5 UOLs. They are Durham, Exeter, Coventry, Brighton, and Beds. After going through the pros and cons, I finally chose to go to Exeter University. Reason being, School of Business in Exeter Uni is one of the best Business Schools in the UK. As reported, it ranked at top 10 out of 100++ universities in the UK. Tapi ada banyak version, here and here. The most important thing is, Exeter tergolong dalam Russell Group Universities. Kalau tak, masakan Khazanah, Bank Negara and KPT recognized this University kan. Alhamdulillah :D

Maka, tamatlah sudah riwayat Garisan Mula Seorang PhD Candidate. Oh bagaimana pula dengan Garisan Tengah ye AJ? Oh Garisan Tengah akan bersambung kelak. Kemudian diikuti oleh Garisan Akhir. Oh tapi itu semua hanyalah perancangan. InsyaAllah.........

Till then peeps. Xoxo.



A PhD Candidate,
aj-the-mommy