I'm going to do a MASTERS!..now where do I get and put my dosh?

minikarter

Hi there! It's my first time on this forum so play nice please My name's Robin, and I've just been accepted on a motorsports engineering masters course at Oxford Brookes. ( I'm over the moon!) :rotfl:

Now I'm saving up as much money as I can, I'm applying for all the bursaries and grants etc that I'm qualified for. But I want some advice on which Bank to use? and is it worth getting a career development loan? What are people's experiences of being in a possibly similar situation?

Many Thanks

Robin

melancholly

i guess the important news is that there isn't much funding for a standalone masters, and what there is is likely to be administered by your uni.....

personally, i saved up by working and then had a part time job during the masters.

Oldernotwiser

Without wanting to put a downer on things - it's not hard to get a place on a masters degree, it's funding it that's the problem.

With a PCDL you need to be aware that repayments start almost immediately after finishing your course and aren't related to your ability to pay.

minikarter

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Without wanting to put a downer on things - it's not hard to get a place on a masters degree, it's funding it that's the problem.

With a PCDL you need to be aware that repayments start almost immediately after finishing your course and aren't related to your ability to pay.

That's fine, and I know.. it was actually easy to be accepted. But since I've been so unlucky in work it's a brilliant alternative to working in a warehouse!

I'm currently saving, but estimate I'll only have about 4k by september. Knowing my type of course there's very little chance of being able to hold down even a part-time job as even a lot of personal time will have to be sacrificed for the projects I'll be involved in. I'm not that keen on the idea of having to make repayments straight after my course with a PCDL as there's no more guarantee of actually having a job.

I'm beginning to understand how hard it can be to secure funding.

The_One_Who

Unless your department or university has funds, or you can secure some private/charitable funds you will either need to pay for it from your personal savings or from taking out a CDL.

The only funding around is really for those intending to go on to do a PhD, and that is intensely competitive too.

stevenhp1987

If this is an engineering masters (MEng) is it not an undergraduate masters, or is it an MSc/Ma etc.

If an undergraduate masters then you are entitled to student finance for the whole of the four years of your course.

anotherginger

my MSc situation was that i applied with a deferred entry and then worked for a year while living at home and spending no money. my course was full time (literally 9-5) so there was little scope to get a part time job because of all the coursework on top of this.

i looked into career development loans, but didn't want the stress of having to start payments right after the course, and i felt that if i did get a job the loan repayments would have reduced my freedom in terms of where i could live.