MA - is this feasible?

rubuhoeikanaika

Hi guys,

I'm applying to to a philosophy MA at the moment. Here are my rough estimates for living costs for the year at each place:

-Sheffield £9k
-Leeds £8k
-Birkbeck London £11k

And tuition would be about £3.5k at each. Now, I'm going through the rigmarole of applying to the AHRC, but without much hope (got a 2:1). It is just possible that I'll get some kind of full bursary, but best to assume otherwise I guess.

Prestige wise they are all pretty equal, with London perhaps edging out the others. I have no savings and wouldn't expect anything from my parents: do you think it's feasible to get through the year on some combination of part-time work and access to learning funds?

I don't know what the job situation is like in Leeds or Sheffield but I figure I should be able to get *some* p/t work?

I'm a bit hazy on the access to learning fund- must it be for unforseen difficulties, or can one start the course expecting to need it?

Cheers,
rubuhoeikanaika

dmg24

Could I ask how many hours that you are expecting to work to earn £9K after tax and NI? It does seem a tall order?

Nevertheless, I am a postgrad and do think that, if you can, you should take the opportunity. Best of luck x

studentphil

There should be lots of part time jobs at all those places.

But it is worth remembering that on an MA you are looking at about 6000 (normally 2x 3000 word essays per module)word assessments per 30 credits. You will have 4 modules like that plus a 12000 word research project, plus course readings and so on. I assuming you are doing taught masters there. So can you really fit a lot of pt work in with that?

rubuhoeikanaika

studentphil wrote:

There should be lots of part time jobs at all those places.

But it is worth remembering that on an MA you are looking at about 6000 (normally 2x 3000 word essays per module)word assessments per 30 credits. You will have 4 modules like that plus a 12000 word research project, plus course readings and so on. I assuming you are doing taught masters there. So can you really fit a lot of pt work in with that?

I was wondering about this - but I'm used to a heavy academic workload, at Oxford I did 2x2000 word essays every week. Based on that, I think I could fit in a cheeky 8 hours of work every Saturday without too much bother.

So 8*5.50 pounds = 44 pounds.

Not enough to cover all my expenses by any means but it should take a decent chunk out of my rent, especially up north? Then I could use a combination of small bursaries. ALF and loans for the rest?

I guess my question is, is it sensible to begin, relying on all these uncertain things?

Cheers

rubuhoeikanaika

dmg24 wrote:

Could I ask how many hours that you are expecting to work to earn £9K after tax and NI? It does seem a tall order?

Nevertheless, I am a postgrad and do think that, if you can, you should take the opportunity. Best of luck x

I was thinking more like working to put a substantial debt in my bills, not to cover anything.

studentphil

rubuhoeikanaika wrote:

I was wondering about this - but I'm used to a heavy academic workload, at Oxford I did 2x2000 word essays every week. Based on that, I think I could fit in a cheeky 8 hours of work every Saturday without too much bother.

So 8*5.50 pounds = 44 pounds.

Not enough to cover all my expenses by any means but it should take a decent chunk out of my rent, especially up north? Then I could use a combination of small bursaries. ALF and loans for the rest?

I guess my question is, is it sensible to begin, relying on all these uncertain things?

Cheers

Philosophy masters does require 9-5 6 days a week to do well so it does require a lot of time. I would say up North you are looking at about 90 quid a week rent.

studentphil

Philosophy MA is normally about 2 hours a week in lecture, and 2 hours worth of tutorials a week per module. Plus, you might well have to attend UG lectures and tutorials if your UG course has not covered a certain topic that is needed to do the masters. So contact time is hard to say really as it depends on your background and the exact modules you take.

Some MA modules are taught with UG modules lecture wise and tutorial wise with extra PG tutorials and slightly longer essay assessment than UG of course.
This tends to be more common on a very specialst Masters or the department is very small and does not have enough staff or PG students to run specialist PG modules.

DrFluffy

Is your guestimate for Birkbeck not including fees? You can easily live as a student in London for 7-8k pa.

rubuhoeikanaika

studentphil wrote:

Philosophy masters does require 9-5 6 days a week to do well so it does require a lot of time. I would say up North you are looking at about 90 quid a week rent.

I can't quibble about the workload, but the figures I'm seeing for rent in Leeds and Sheffield are more in the £50-60 range. Check out http://sheffield.gumtree.com/sheffield/2175_1.html

rubuho

rubuhoeikanaika

DrFluffy wrote:

Is your guestimate for Birkbeck not including fees? You can easily live as a student in London for 7-8k pa.

Seriously? Is that for an academic year or a calendar year?

In London it's a case of £95-120 rent pw in a private house isn't it?

rubu

studentphil

rubuhoeikanaika wrote:

I can't quibble about the workload, but the figures I'm seeing for rent in Leeds and Sheffield are more in the £50-60 range. Check out http://sheffield.gumtree.com/sheffield/2175_1.html

rubuho

Most of the chaper housing goes now(Feb/ March) for next year. Plus, 50 quid will not get you anywhere decent to be honest.