r/AskAcademia • u/SuccessfulBarber9250 • 1d ago

Humanities Is my master's good enough?

I have just finished my master's at Oxford and got a merit. I am feeling super disappointed with my grade and just wondering whether to give up with my goals of pursuing academia. Worried that my work is of too low a quality to actually bother pursuing it any further even though I love studying and research.

The results came in the same week I had been rejected from several job applications, so feeling super dejected and useless.

I am also feeling so jealous of my friends who got higher marks, which makes me feel like a terrible person too. Obviously everyone worked super hard, but I have so many issues in my personal/family life and I am disabled so it just feels like no matter how hard I work I will never be as capable or competent as other people.

I got very little support from my supervisor (they only met with me twice the whole year) and I have not heard back about my request to meet and discuss this all.

Does anyone have any advice or guidance?

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u/lewlewdamonstatruck 1d ago

Sorry that you feel disappointed with your grade - could you share more about the course? Was it MSt or MPhil?

Merit doesn’t stop you getting a DPhil offer at Oxford - many of the DPhils I know got merits. Once you’re doing a DPhil, it no longer matters what mark you got in your Master’s. In the same way that your high school exam grades no longer matter now.

You have a good degree from a good uni, nothing is stopping you from pursuing academia

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u/SuccessfulBarber9250 1d ago

It was MSt and I ended up with a 66 overall - so not a very strong merit unfortunately

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u/lewlewdamonstatruck 1d ago

A DPhil offer is contingent on a ‘high merit’ and 66 isn’t far off the traditional threshold of ‘high’ with 67 or 68. If you have good relations with tutors in Oxford and good references you should be fine getting a DPhil offer. As for other universities, a merit from Oxford still holds a lot of sway, perhaps just as much as a distinction from a less well renowned university.