Basil Fawlty voice - Universities eh! Ter! Cor! Wicked eh!
I've been investigating three Universities, that may wish to have me as a student, with incredibly varying results.
In Doha I emailed Victoria University and had a polite couple of emails back from then. Then months of silence.
I visited Massey University in Palmerston North recently and experienced a frosty reception. The woman at the post graduate research office gave me the vague impression that I was wasting her time. I explained what I'd done in the past and what I hoped to do at Massey. She asked me about a thesis I'd written a few years ago. I started making noises like a blocked drain and tried to justify my pass mark by describing my circumstances then (part time, Deputy Principal at a large secondary school, four children, yadda yadda yadda). She almost clicked her tongue when she said I needed at least a B+ for the thesis. I felt about twelve years old and felt myself flush with embarrassment. I got out of there p.d.q.
Then came the happy experience of meeting Sylvia at Waikato University a few days ago. She didn't ask about the thesis but I told her anyway. She listened and checked with a colleague before telling me not to worry - my English degree grades met the prerequisites and I just had to fill in a form and wait and see as the University bureaucracy moved paper around. In the meantime I should work on my proposal.
She also told me there was no problem working on the higher degree from overseas!! Fantastic. What a difference. Well done Sylvia and thanks Waikato University.
Boo hiss to the other two!
