postgrad course

heymylastnameislewis

hi im going into my final year doing computing science and wish to do a one year postgrad course at some where like lancaster in a business related area. generally the fees are about 3200, plus the halls about 4000 then of course living expenses on top so lets say in total 10-11k. i simply can not afford this much! im an independent student and have been through uni. i have had to support my self and have worked as well as used the student loans. i have 6k in savings and thats about it. i am confussed by the grants etc. would i be able to claim them? who would you say is the best people to contact? my current uni 4 help or the uni i wish to go to? thanks 4 ur help!

Eoin_McLove

You'd need to contact the university at which you want to do your MA/MSc, and they can tell you whether they have any scholarships. Bear in mind that lots of scholarships go to students who also did their undergraduate degrees with the university.

The best bet would be to apply for a grant from a research council like the AHRC (the AHRC provides funding for the arts and humanities, so this would be no good for you; I think there's one called the ESRC which is for science). Your current university ought to have information about this on its website, but you can visit the website of the research council directly to find out about it. With the AHRC, you apply for postgraduate funding in aroung March of your final year, and you get an answer around July/August. These grants are fiercely competitive (if you don't get a First for your undergraduate degree, your chances are reduced to almost nil, at least with the AHRC), so don't rely on this by any means.

Alternatively, get a Career Development Loan. This is a loan of up to £8,000 which you start paying back two months after your MA/MSc ends. Three banks offer the CDL, but Barclays is the best: http://www.personal.barclays.co.uk/BRC1/jsp/brccontrol?site=pfs&task=articleFWgroup&value=9013&target=_self I used this to finance my MA this year.

heymylastnameislewis

thanks for that, not to keen on another loan, it seems education is only for the rich then oh well no change there! ill have a check around see what i can get!

studentphil

What are part time courses? You can then have a job to support yourself fully or some of the cost of the PG study. However, it does make the course longer though.

Do you really think that you need a full Business conversion course too as a year of work experience might do better things for your career than the masters?

heymylastnameislewis

i have a years work experiance well im just finishing it off over the next few weeks! however when i had a visit from my placement tutor i told her that a career in just computers was not for me as i don't like sitting in front of a computer day in day out, and she suggested a postgrad in something like business so i looked at them and they look intresting. if i could get the cash id prob do it but another loan would kill me off! as for part time it does stretch it out over 2 yrs so yes prob worth thinking about 2.

studentphil

Okay, there are many things you could do intead of a full time masters. The OU offer a really good professional cert and professional dip in management for about £2000 each and that would allow you to have a fair good few hours of part time work at the same time or even to work full time. That is just one example of the way round loads more debt.

Barcode

The University might have scholarships available. I know mine has about 30-40 MA awards which are awarded to various departments. It is not necessarily about academic merit either. Preference is given to those who did their undergrad degree here, and to those who might not otherwise be able to afford it.

The AHRC is worth applying to - don't be put off by the scare stories about needing a 1:1. If you're at a top-tier university, and are on course for a good 2:1, then your chances are reasonable - PROVIDING you have decent referees and a good research proposal. Better to give to the 2:1 than the 1:1 who hasn't come up with a coherent proposal. Some do get into a mindset of thinking they do not have to do much owing to being on course for a first, and it lets them down.

Also, check out the Stapley Trust and Wingate awards, I don't know if those are applicable in your case.

I don't think I've received the award my department nominated me for, as they say people who have not heard by mid-July should assume they are unsuccessful. I suppose it will be this week at the latest if anything comes through. I'm waiting on the AHRC decision, but I'm definitely not expecting it and won't be surprised if I am rejected (nothing wrong with my application, it's just sensible to assume it is unlikely).

It might be worth looking into a postgraduate loan - this is what I'm preparing to do, as well as maxing out an overdraft that I have spent most of this year paying off. It's not going to be easy, but it will be doable.

Of course, it's going to irritate me if I receive nothing. There is nothing wrong with my grades. It's just that competition is fierce, and it's best to find sources of funding other than the University / Research Councils.

dougk_2

IMO I would consider getting a job and doing the MBA / MA / Msc or whatever part-time either through a local university or via distance/open learning either with the OU or another university (several do these types of course now). This will allow you not to get in further debt and also gain some further work experience in the mean time. This will give you a "head start" over other postgrad students who have very little or no real life working experience. It may take you a year longer to get qualification but fininacially and employablly you will be better off for it.

Eoin_McLove

Barcode wrote:

The AHRC is worth applying to - don't be put off by the scare stories about needing a 1:1. If you're at a top-tier university, and are on course for a good 2:1, then your chances are reasonable - PROVIDING you have decent referees and a good research proposal.

I applied to the AHRC last year (or AHRB, as it was then called), and I checked out all their statistics to see what my chances were. Of all the recipients of awards, just 2% had 2:1s; the rest had Firsts.

The AHRC ranks people between 1 and 8 when it reviews applications, with 1 being highest and meaning 'Top priority for an award.' 2 is 'Very high priority for an award', and 3 is 'High priority for an award'. Anything ranked less than 3 will always be a rejection. Anyway, my application was marked '2', which ordinarily would have meant that I would be given the award, but because so many people applied last year, they only gave awards to people with the '1' rank. I am confident that had I got a First (which I nearly did; just missed by 0.7%!), I would have got the award. Believe me, the competition is absolutely fierce. No, you don't necessarily have to get a First, but when 98% of the award-winners in 2005 had Firsts, it doesn't take a genius to realise that you're really rather against the odds with a 2:1. But there is hope with a 2:1, don't get me wrong; just not much.

Eoin_McLove

I've just checked - for 2005, there were about 8200 applicants for the AHRC Research Preparation Scheme. About 1850 were awarded the grant. Of these 1850, 41 had 2:1s; everyone else had Firsts. Those are not 'reasonable' chances.

Barcode

That is very weird. IIRC, for the MA research award in my subject, about 25% had 2:1's and 40 something % had 1:1's. It might be worth checking out the breakdown by subject. A popular subject like English will obviously be more difficult.

I've no idea what my departmental ranking was/is, and I am not going to stress either. A 2:1 does diminish your chances in my area, but not to the extent it is not worth applying (unless perhaps, it's a low 2:1).