[zipy124]

I can't speak for the American universities, but remember there is no entrance exam for UK PhDs, you just require a 2:1 or 1st class bachelor's degree/masters (going straight without a masters is becoming more common) usually, which is trivial to obtain. The hard part is usually getting funding, but if you provide your own funding you can go to any university you want. They are only really hard universities to get into for a bachelors, not for masters or PhD where you are more of a money/labour source than anything else.

[captainbland]

Yeah in principle funded PhD positions are quite competitive and as I understand it you tend to be interviewed and essentially ranked against other candidates. But I guess if you're paying for yourself to be there you'll face lower scrutiny