Desperate Times

melancholly

i'd echo the sentiments on the time spent working at cambridge - as an undergrad it would have been difficult, but when the pace steps up as a postgrad i imagine it would be impossible.

but that doesn't mean that there aren't options... remember that you only have 8 week terms, so even if you only do part time work in the holidays, you have a lot more weeks available than at other unis.

apply to hardship/travel/anything funds - this website is for the university as a whole - http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/gradstud/funding/aid/hardship/
but speak to people at your college as they should be able to give advice on what specific funds you can look at.

for extar cash in hand, try taking part in some experiments - here are a couple of pages i found from the experimental psychology homepage, but other research groups must also do similar things
http://csl.psychol.cam.ac.uk/volunteers.html
http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/PanelNews/panelnews.shtml

there is also a special issue of the reporter near the start of the year which lists lots of possible awards and prizes. the 2007/8 one isn't there yet but should be shortly and you can have a look at last year's one for an idea:
http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/2006-07/special/06/
i don't know how many will be appropriate but it can't hurt to look!

this other website may take you to useful sites:
http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/gradstud/funding/aid/

get going on online surveys and get into quidco and things like that - they can't massinvely increase your income but every little bit should help!


another really good idea is to post an SOA (statement of affairs) with all your monthly incomings and outgoings - the DFW board has some amazing people who can help you spend less each month in clever ways.

rayoflight_2

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Two points: Oxford and Cambridge are different from most other "top" universities;

Thank you but I know this - having already graduated from Cambridge with a 1st in one degree, I am perfectly aware of what I am dealing with here.

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Similarly, vacations are NOT a time when academic work stops, but simply a time when lectures no longer take place. It is not possible to complete a post-graduate course without working for most of the year, including the university vacations.

To be quite honest I found this most insulting. Maybe consider the fact that I am at Cambridge. This should give you some indication as to my intelligence. I am sufficiently competent to know that I have to work throughout my vacations (as I did during my undergraduate degree - quite successfully apparently). I said GO HOME out of term time i.e. carry on with academic work as normal, merely in a different location. I did not say 'as soon as term time is over I stop all work and do nothing at home'. As I am sure you are aware, for postgraduate courses books can be taken out of the library for two months and journals can be read online.


But thank you so much to the more helpful members who have kindly made some useful suggestions. I will take these on board.

yeslek

Nenen wrote: »

I disagree.... I know academia is hard but IMHO the students who buckle down and use their time well can manage to do a limited number of hours paid work too. My son recently graduated from a top uni and managed to work 7-10 hours per week throughout his course. Not only did he do very well academically (far better than his friend whom 'daddy' paid for everything and was the laziest student going) he has just landed a super job on the strength of his work experience and excellent references.

to be fair students who DONT work have no excuse for being broke

its very easy to work - i'm now a third year and have been working 40 hours a week around uni AND i'm doing fairly well, i've already got 15% of my final grade and i'm so far averaging about 3% shy of a first - though it does mean i only get like a morning off here and an afternoon off there during term time

i'm not suggesting everyone should work full time but 16-20 part time hours should be no problem, i used to work 20 hours while at collage in order to fund myself.
It is hard work and to be fair the only reason i get away with working full time is because i work 16 hours over a w/e and i'm able to get away with taking uni work in with me over w/e's

students just need to manage their time and not go out partying EVERY night (which is why none can work cos they are too hungover)
i go out during the week but i dont go out getting drunk every night as i couldnt afford to - mentally/physically not financially
i think all students should be pushed to work at least a few hours a week while studying as not only does it give them extra cash but also teaches them more than just 'studying' can

Gemmzie

Yeslek - you do realise the OP is talking about post-grad not under-grad. It's a little different

Sarahsaver

The OP says that they are technically not ALLOWED a job so this does put a different perspective on things. They are not working, sound like they would if they were allowed to. I am sure I saw an advert for loans you only pay back if you earn over a certain amount, not the student loan itself but a private company who does similar. Will post it when I find it;)
I know about Cambridge, hellishly expensive. I am originally from Bury St. Eds.

melancholly

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=145

just had a thought - nose about on the 'up your income' board as that probably has the most concentrated advice about how to get more money coming in.

pixiedust_2

Just a quick suggestion - a few ex students from my uni advertise proof-reading services for dissertations etc in their subject area - wouldn't raise a huge amount, but every little helps! Also, how about looking at things like AQA? It can be time consuming, but might be worth checking.

Voyager2002

rayoflight wrote: »

To be quite honest I found this most insulting. Maybe consider the fact that I am at Cambridge. This should give you some indication as to my intelligence. I am sufficiently competent to know that I have to work throughout my vacations (as I did during my undergraduate degree - quite successfully apparently). I said GO HOME out of term time i.e. carry on with academic work as normal, merely in a different location. I did not say 'as soon as term time is over I stop all work and do nothing at home'. As I am sure you are aware, for postgraduate courses books can be taken out of the library for two months and journals can be read online.

It is good to know that Cambridge is maintaining its tradition of rewarding arrogance.

I actually had to work quite hard to be as polite as I was. I am afraid that someone who begins a course of study without working out how to finance it is in need of some fairly basic advice. And since you are planning to break regulations that exist for your own good, you do need a little reminder of the reasons for those regulations.

melancholly

Voyager2002 wrote: »

It is good to know that Cambridge is maintaining its tradition of rewarding arrogance.

i'm a cambridge graduate and i find this comment pretty rude - as rude as the OPs reply to, you which made me cringe as things like that only help to perpetuate an almost entirely unfair stereotype of the place.

can we all put this down to a 'misunderstanding' in posts - i didn't interpret your post as rude - in fact it seemed to me more directed to other posts on the thread other than the OP at the top, so the comments made by rayoflight seem like a major over reaction. i agree that not planning for this is clearly nieve, but i also don't see the point in kicking someone when they're down......

Lavendyr

100% with melancholly here, no need to make generalisations about Oxbridge graduates. There are arrogant people in all walks of life - and there are nice, polite, respectful people in all walks of life too.

I went to Cambridge as an undergrad, graduated with a first, and worked full-time during my vacations, sometimes over the entire break without a holiday, so that I could afford my studies. However, being a post-grad is a little different. It is essentially a full-time job in itself. A friend of mine is currently doing her postgraduate degree in theology at Cambridge and is literally working from 9am until 7pm on it most days. It may well be the same at other unis when doing postgraduate studies - hence the funding & grants that are usually made available for PhDs. OP, as a postgrad you must be funded for your studies somehow, surely? Do you get no funding at all?

Looking at the situation practically, a few comments/suggestions:

- I thought the "no job" stipulation at Cambridge was "during term-time" only? If you are able to find any time, "vac" work (though I know as a PhD you don't get much of a vac) may be the best option, especially if you have absolutely no other source of income.

- Do you houseshare? This is much cheaper than living alone and you could certainly save money here if you don't already share. Depending on your college, they may even be able to offer you accommodation which is cheaper still.

- Is your overdraft interest-free? If not, switch to a bank which will offer you an interest-free overdraft and will take on your existing overdraft - Martin has an article on the best graduate accounts on this site.

- Can you supervise undergraduates? A lot of postgrads do this to earn a bit of money each week and it's not exactly demanding in terms of hours- plus it's rewarding.

- Could you put up a notice in the MML faculty offering English conversation with foreign students to improve their English? Again quite a commonly done thing. Alternatively, if you speak a foreign language yourself you could offer tuition or conversation to English-speaking students.

- Have you sat down and worked out how much more it would cost you to stay up at Cambridge during the holidays and how much more you could earn if you could get a permanent part-time job? I bet if you worked it out, you could earn far more than the additional utilities would cost you - so do consider this. Especially over the summer, you'll use next to no gas or electricity, so staying up for the summer vac at least could be the solution. Presumably you still pay rent while you're not there anyway so the saving you're making by travelling home must be absolutely minimal.