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I have a master's degree in Geography and Urban Planning with mediocre GPA scores (15.5/20 or B). I graduated from a public university in the middle of nowhere that has a strict test system in which university professors cannot evaluate their students. A central assessment office introduces two to 5 books for each course at the beginning of each semester and a uniform strict exam (something like a national entrance exam) is carried out. I have never seen anyone obtain an A in this university.

I have published three ideas in prestigious peer-reviewed journals (for all of them I am the first and corresponding author). These contributions are significant. the problem is, they are important for various fields, not one. And none of them is closely related neither to Geography, nor Urban Planning. One of them solves a famous geometric calculation problem in computing cumulative viewshed of a large region. So it is related to GIScience. The other is to increase the spatial resolution of SAR data. Therefore, it is related to remote sensing. And another is a novel spatial regression model that eliminates aggregate errors. All of them solve problems that haven't been solved before. And I was nerdy enough to waste my time this way.

I want to further my studies (attend a Ph.D. position), preferably in one of the Nordic countries, in geography or urban planning but I do not think I am a good fit with the Frankenstein research background I have. Plus, my grades are not good too. The university I graduated from is not good either (it is ranked 350<400 worldwide). In most Nordic universities, the Ph.D. topics are pre-determined. Their topics are often popular concepts that are completely relevant to geography or urban planning.

Is my dream of getting a Ph.D. a mere fantasy with regard to these facts? If not, what a proper strategy could be?

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    Is one of your papers on optimal use of bold text?
    – Azor Ahai -him-
    Commented Mar 9, 2023 at 23:04
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    I suggest that you focus the question on one issue, so that someone else could potentially have the same problem in the future and benefit from reading this (this is our site's model). For example, the part about dealing with 3 great papers in 3 distinct fields may be interesting. Or a general question about how graduate admissions works in (say) Norway -- we don't yet have many Nordic countries here. But as it is, this smorgasbord of issues is something better discussed with an advisor or career counselor.
    – cag51 ♦
    Commented Mar 10, 2023 at 3:17
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    Like many admissions questions, I suspect a good answer would be "instead of asking us to predict the outcome, why not just try it and see?"
    – Daniel Hatton
    Commented Mar 10, 2023 at 11:06
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    Note that if the PhD recruiter is not familiar with your university, then they have no way to know whether "15.5/20" is good or not. Rather than looking at your grades, they will probably look at your rank among the other students in your year group. I know several institutions that will outright reject any candidate who isn't in the top 33% of their year group, no matter the exact grades.
    – Stef
    Commented Mar 10, 2023 at 11:33
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    Thank you @Stef. I was among the 5 percent of my cohorts. I am starting to be optimistic because of what you have said.
    – Ash
    Commented Mar 10, 2023 at 11:40

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Is my dream of getting a Ph.D. a mere fantasy with regard to these facts?

No, it's not a mere fantasy. Your dream of getting a PhD is realistic. You've already been an author on three papers, which is three more than most people starting a PhD. It's not critical that the topic doesn't match exactly. When you're just starting PhD studies, it's entirely normal you are not set on a particular topic yet.

Grades cannot be compared between countries because grade inflation varies widely. Admissions will probably still look at grades, but hopefully not at the expense of all else.

You can do this. See also "impostor syndrome".

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  • Thank you @gerrit for your great answer.
    – Ash
    Commented Mar 10, 2023 at 10:56

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