More letters after my name :-)?

Thanks.

I made, on a 7-point grading system, a 1.06 improvement on my undergraduate GPA. If I'd scored just 2.5% more in one subject and 1% more in another that would've been a 1.81 point improvement.

My undergraduate GPA was brought down because of failing a semester due to medical reasons and not being together enough at the time to apply for compassionate withdrawal from the failed subjects, hence why I couldn't just go straight from there into the M.Phil or PhD.

I'm in Queensland, at the Queensland Conservatorium, which I would prefer to the other universities around here, as the music department is the best in the state.

Interstate is difficult due to financial issues.

Yes, I need research methods courses, there was only a small amount of instruction in research methods in the course that I did. I've been looking at how a thesis is structured to give myself some idea of what I would need to do.

One of the professors who I spoke to suggested applying for the other major universit

-ies around here and just not mentioning that I haven't done them. I'm going to email the universities in question and ask for advice, in the meantime I'm trying to narrow down potential thesis topics.

For now I am ok- thanks for the offer of help.