Jon Andrew Greig

Argh! That seems very odd. Didn't you apply before I did? I would write to the accommodations people and make sure they are aware of where you're coming from and what's up on their end. At least helps to have a person to talk to instead of endless applications and notes.

Yup, got Mylnes Court, Patrick Geddes Hall. It sounds like they're revealing places in a rolling process.

Go to MyServices and then myAccommodation below. At least that's where it showed up for me. Best of luck!

Found out this morning, and yes indeed. How nice.

Nice, right on. I'm just reassuring myself that this will be my ticket to much better fare, doctoral program-wise, down the road. By the way, have you heard back about lodging? I've been told I will be notified about the lodging decision at the end of the week. *fingers crossed*

Sadly, not here... Sigh. Oh well.

Greetings all, I'm preparing to get ready to move to Scotland to start the next year at U of Edinburgh doing the MSc Ancient Philosophy program. I decided to follow through with student loans to fund my education there. That being said, while I submitted my FAFSA a couple weeks ago (and waiting to hear back from them), I reviewed the visa requirements and saw that proof of funds for the full tuition AND 7,200 GBP were needed up front at the time of application for the visa. Just wondering, for those who haven't made their savings goal 2-3 months before making it to the UK, whether they looked into a loan for this figure via that provided by the FAFSA or some other source? Just asking around. Thanks!

Greetings everyone, So writing this on behalf of a friend who's set to go into the 1-year M.St. in Syriac Studies. He's getting married in August, and he's set to have a 9-month visa to study there. Unfortunately, though, his wife is only allowed to "visit" for 6 months max. Is this normal at all? It seems kind of outrageous, and wanted to see if this has happened to others--or just ideas for how to get around it, if it's possible. Any advice would be greatly appreciated for my friend. Thanks!

Two carriers: Iberia for DC to London and British Air for London to Edinburgh. Found through Hipmunk.com (great site!). I was thinking about visiting England first, but decided on staying in Edinburgh for the week first to acclimate to the environment and culture. I wouldn't mind time to just chill in the city, and save the excursions for later in the school year. Never been up there before, so it'll be worth a few days break in the place I'd be studying (and living) my ass off in. Sounds like a good plan with the packing though. I'm leaning that way myself, with the possible exception of shipping a box of books over. Clothing will probably be the bulk of what I carry over.

The nice thing is that there should almost definitely be options over there. I've recently had some good experience with Wifi, but you're right: it can be hit and miss wherever you are. Good call.

Rather coincidentally I'm in the process of buying my ticket over. Apparently from DC, I'm finding prices in the range of $480-$520 to get out to Edinburgh. On a slightly unrelated note but connected to getting over there--how many days in advance are people heading over? I'm planning on a week beforehand, in spite of the restriction on moving into the grad housing till the weekend before. I'll probably stay either at a hostel and/or CouchSurf in the area till then. Is anyone also planning on shipping things over, or just going barebones with luggage via plane?

Several of my friends in the area and down south in Britain have ended up with prepaid phones. Apparently they're rather cheap and decent. I'm otherwise planning by ear with whether or not I even do a cell phone there and just going to continue using my smartphone for wifi calls and the like.

On a completely random note, is it kind of strange that I've not really thought too much (tried to think too much!) about Edinburgh when I suddenly get a dream about living the life in U of Edinburgh--mixed in with bear attacks!? Bears of Edinburgh, come and see the cute maulings of ancient Scotland...

I partly ran out of time for the Global/Santader, but also their high eligibility with undergraduate scores/GPAs placed me out of the range of consideration. I'm looking at a couple others on there due on May 1, but I'm also looking through the Alternative Scholarship Guide (or at least a PDF with a huge list of alternative sources that I got from a friend--PM me your email if you're interested). If worse came to worse, some savings, work on the side, and loans will probably still be worth it for me. It's a hard trade-off that I'm willing to deal with given the opportunity I have now. On a slightly unrelated note, but still pertinent to U of Edinburgh (perhaps?), I posted a question in the Jobs board about whether it is wise--at Edinburgh, maybe in general--to do part-time work while doing a 1-year grad program: Would MUCH appreciate your thoughts if you have any, antecedent. Also, likewise, congrats to you again!

I've been contemplating continuing to do the remote programming work that I've been doing while I am studying (full time) for a 1-year Ancient Philosophy program in the University of Edinburgh for the next year. However I get mixed feelings about doing any work during then, and then if I should, I'm trying to figure out how much I can or should work. (And U of Edinburgh stipulates a maximum limit of 20 hours/week for outside work.) I also find financially very good reasons why I probably SHOULD work, considering the strong likelihood I will be getting student loans for the program. As far as working in general goes with grad school, especially in potentially involved 1-year programs, what is everyone else's advice for whether or not to work? And if so, what's a reasonable amount of time to set aside for work while in the middle of graduate studies? Would it just be wiser for me to invest all of my time into this 1-year opportunity? Thanks.

Belatedly, I don't know if I've mentioned it elsewhere, but I also accepted Edinburgh's offer late last March. In the process of working on a couple scholarship applications through U of Edinburgh and vigorously looking up other alternative scholarships.

Currently mere acceptance to anywhere in the UK; I had also applied to St Andrews, Oxford, Cambridge, and Leeds, and had gotten rejected at those places. Edinburgh appealed to me partly for the program I applied to--MSc in Ancient Philosophy (taught masters). It's a combined program between the Classics and Philosophy departments, and it's preparatory for seeking a research degree. So basically fits almost perfectly with my current goals. If anything, I'm hoping it will be good enough to jump into a doctoral program come the next round of applications for next year (only a 1-year program there).

(Duplicate, see below:)

@antecedant, that's good to know you'll also be there. Perhaps we may run into each other over there. Best of luck on your program. I admit I'm also tempted to take a year off for that, but having been two years out of the game, I'm hoping to push onward as much as possible. More than likely going to more thoroughly research schools this summer and take time to see which ones I want to charge into when the program in Edinburgh starts this fall.

Greetings all, I'm in the process of getting ready to study at University of Edinburgh for an MSc in Ancient Philosophy, and since it's a 1-year program, I'm already fast-readying myself for the next round of applications. I'm open to staying in the UK for doctoral studies if there is enough funding, but I'm leaning more towards focusing on applying to US/Canadian schools for PhD programs (for fall 2013). Just wanted to ask others what their experience or success has been if they've gotten their masters in the UK and transferred here for their PhD. Comments/advice greatly appreciated. Jon

Greetings all, I recently received the last response to 11 applications for graduate programs in philosophy, and to my partial astonishment (and lack of surprise, in the end), I was rejected at all schools, except U of Edinburgh (MSc in Ancient Philosophy), for the programs I directly applied to. (You can see where I did and did not get accepted in my signature below.) That being said, I received counter-offers for other programs from two schools. University of Dallas informed me that their philosophy department suggested I take the Humanities graduate program first and pick up basic philosophy courses that way before reapplying for the philosophy PhD program there. University of Leeds, by contrast, notified me that the program director for the taught MA in Philosophy of Religion saw my application and was interested to consider me in their program. Philosophy of religion is of some interest for me, although my main interest is in ancient philosophy with ties to patristic thought in neoplatonism--which could be the reason for the interest. I have ended up accepting U of Edinburgh's offer, but I am also trying to determine how I was rejected and received counter offers from these two schools. My undergraduate GPA was at 3.2, which I'm sure is one reason for the mass of rejections otherwise. How would others assess the responses with counter-offers? I'm slightly flattered, but also trying to understand what this means for my past applications and for making future applications to PhD programs.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Just an update to my application process and where I've ended up: I applied to 11 grad programs for philosophy -- 5 in the UK, all masters-level, and 6 in the US, all PhDs. University of Edinburgh accepted me for the MSc in Ancient Phil, while I was rejected everywhere else (although I received counter offers from other departments at U of Dallas (Masters in Humanities, with the possibility to transfer to Philosophy) and U of Leeds (Masters in Phil of Religion)). Quite fortunately, U of Edinburgh was up there in choices for me, and so I have since happily accepted their offer. I'm hopeful it will lead to better results with doctoral programs down the road (most pertinently, next year). I'm writing back to the schools that I got rejected at to see what factors led to my rejection, but I'm guessing it was most likely due to the weak GPA (other than competition everywhere) and coming from a school which, though it has a great reputation in the liberal arts world, isn't as well known as, say, the ivy leagues. In any case, U of Edinburgh may be good preparation for graduate study elsewhere--or perhaps even there. We'll see. Postscript, @twwright, I applied for the MSc at Edinburgh and MLitt at St Andrews. So yes, I was quick to pick that up.

Thank you for your insight, rkg2012. I've been doing some searching through alternative external scholarship sources, but I was going in with the expected possibility that funding wouldn't be an option. I'm edging towards taking the unfunded route for the 1-year program for a similar reason (unless something else comes along), and yes, I am planning to go into a PhD the next year. Would it be a good idea to check out one of the info sessions that the University is conducting around the US if one is nearby?

Greetings everyone, I was happily greeted by my first acceptance this morning from University of Edinburgh, for an MSc in Ancient Philosophy. While I'm quite happy at the prospect, I'm also quickly factoring in funding options. It's a 1-year program, so I'm not too worried about taking on student loans for the first year--assuming I have success in funding for the next degree, doctorate or masters-level. That said, I'm wondering, as a US applicant, what my options may be for finding any financial aid beyond student loans and part-time work. I'm also waiting for results from 7 other schools, some of which are direct PhD programs (Catholic U, St Louis U, U of Dallas, Marquette) and masters programs (Oxford, Cambridge, Leeds), so I'm still waiting to see if better options may arise, but U of Edinburgh is one of my top choices for conducting masters work. What would you all think? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Jon

Hello all, Thank you for your informative responses, definitely helpful to have some context for making important decisions in these cases. I'm also wondering if it is still worth applying to certain schools over others (like U of Toronto, St Louis, Oxbridge, etc.), or if it's helpful to spread out the application layer. I'm up to 10 or 11 schools, and wondering if that is enough or too much, given the chances with my GPA that I have. Anyway, definitely appreciate your comments again. Cheers, Jon