ekim12

belated, but antecedent: Edinburgh Uni Memes as for cellphones, if you walk along princes street all the major cellphone carriers are lined up there. Orange is good and pretty popular as is O2. I had a friend get a Blackberry knockoff from Vodafone which was nicer than mine and she liked it. I used Sprint (familiar carrier) during my semester abroad and got a dinky but functional 10 pound pay as you go cellphone and I got some plan where I'd top up 10 pounds at the start (or end?) of each month at a Tescos for unlimited texting. Skype is the best for international calls these days so didn't care so much about international rates. Antecedent, how exactly do you unlock your smart phone? Have been trying to figure this out.

Uber helpful. Thanks, Stately Plump & truckbasket!! Just finished The Iliad so The Odyssey is naturally next.

Ulysses by James Joyce. Anyone have advice on approaching/ reading/ tackling/ wrestling with Ulysses?

Not sure if you'll receive many responses from current grad students of KCL on gradcafe, but you may want to check out thestudentroom. Unless you perform miserably that year for the Masters, I can't see how the degree at KCL will hurt your doctoral prospects! KCL has a strong English department and the profs seem to publish frequently. You can use your year there to cultivate a terrific writing sample and narrow your scholarly interests. And definitely try to achieve masters with distinction (70%+). Because the relationship between British and American profs, esp. in English Lit, is so fluid, I think American profs in whatever Ph.D. programs you apply to probably will recognize so-and-so KCL prof. I suppose one negative thing is that the MAs are often viewed as cash cows for the UK unis because they charge us overseas students significantly more than EU/UK students... and we're often willing to pay b/c the MA can make us more competitive candidates for a Ph.D. in the US. Hope this helps!

Thanks, grog! Housing application finally submitted. I lived in Ramsay Hall (catered) the first time I visited London and the location's really convenient. I applied for a self-catered shared flat as I'd prefer a homier (as opposed to dormier) place. There doesn't seem to be a guarantee of uni housing however, and I've submitted fairly late, so I'm searching on gumtree for private accommodations. Ugh, the city's so new and sprawling!

I've accepted both Edinburgh and UCL, but I'm still awaiting the decision of the English department at UCL for an unconditional offer. I don't see how the British MA will hinder a PhD application. It'll bolster it, I think. In terms of teaching, don't most North American programs require doctoral candidates to teach starting year 3? I guess it depends on the program. Anyway, I know some profs in the Wellesley English department who used their M.Phil. at Oxbridge to start at year 0 with the rest of the Ph.D. candidates (at top-notch US unis). Sometimes the M.A. transfers over and you're treated like a Ph.D. student in year 3... sometimes that doesn't happen. As for other opportunities, it seems that they're available but you've just got to take the initiative. I'm a little nervous about that, given that we've only got ONE year to do that in the U.K. I'm curious about the percentage of Masters students who continue onto a D. Phil. at the uni. Do you think that obtaining a masters at the uni increases the chances that you'll receive funding for a doctoral degree later?

Anybody have advice on housing? Go the university accommodation or the private accommodation route? I've found the page on applying for uni housing, but I can't even seem to find the 'apply for housing' button. This is a problem. > Here's the page: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/accommodation/applications/application-process

I realize this is an older thread but I wanted to revive it for the sake of gathering more information about housing & UCL. Has anyone had experience with applying for postgrad university accommodation? Is it worth it? I know I'm late in applying, so I'm going to search for shared flats on gumtree as well. (The search for private accommodation is a bit overwhelming given my ignorance of the city...)

I'm still on the fence about accepting the offer. But if I were to go, I'd share a flat with my former flatmate from study abroad. She found it through gumtree! Best of luck, antecedent! Also, does anyone know how firm an acceptance to a conditional offer is? I get the sense it's not quite as binding as US uni offers?

Yes. Got my Edinburgh offer a few days ago. THE CHOCOLATE TREE HERE I COME (maybe)

not sure how helpful this'll be esp. compared to citylets or gumtree, but for what it's worth, some international students post notices on the isc fb group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/isced/

Just to chime in-- am so jealous you know you're going to Edinburgh, antecedent. I lived in the student flats off of Cowgate in Old Town, which was really centrally located and about a 10-15 minute walk max. to Georges Square or Buccleauch (sp?). Most people get around the city by foot although there are a few cyclers. There are also buses and taxis. As for weather, there were a few days when I arrived at the student center completely drenched but usually the rain's more of an oozy mist. It can get very windy. Like Wizard of Oz windy. I can only speak from 5-months experience as an American undergrad, but I loved the city and the uni. Edinburgh reminds me how America is a wee little tyke nation especially with all the history everywhere and cobbles in Old Town. Much more affordable and friendly than London, just based off of hearsay from other study-abroad friends. The International Student Centre's a great resource since you can meet fellow internationals, and they subsidize lots of weekend trips to go to a castle, loch, or brewery. I love the city so much. As for health food, http://www.yelp.co.uk/search?find_desc=health+food&find_loc=edinburgh&ns=1

to a Black Mirror convert. Misfits is an awesome combination of Skins and Heroes. Try http://watchseries.eu/serie/misfits ? Has ads and not sure how many links still work since the FBI crackdown, but you can potentially watch Misfits starting from season 1 (with Nathan) this way

Season 1 of Downton Abbey was deliciously good. Season 2 was meh. It's getting all too British soap opera-y. Sherlock is wonderful. For other British stuff, try Black Books or Black Mirror. The first is hilarious sit-com. The second is creepily plausible sci-fi.

Or, more likely, a Ph.D. to a nonacademic job. But yes, my thoughts and anxieties exactly. It's been established again and again that most people here prefer studying in grad school to working in the service industry. But given the (hypothetical) worst-case McDonalds scenario, there's got to be more incentive to the pursuit of a Ph.D than that. We're also foregoing other professional degrees that could potentially be more lucrative and/or less risky... Not that we enter academia because we expect to get rich or die trying. But at least I hope to be comfortable. Ditto. Hm, maybe a few years outside the ivory tower, I'll figure out how comfortable I am with the whole reentry thing. As for now, I plan to do lots of life stuff after my MA degree.

Not The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad. (In fact, haven't liked anything by Conrad so far. It's impressive that this guy learned English late, but I feel like you can tell. His prose is just so dense.) I swear that novel affected my mental state. Often felt I was walking through a hazy, seedy London alley, and nihilism & anarchism reigned over alllll

I fully expect to whoop it up as a grad student. harhar

Haha, I did say that the article wasn't very informative. I was originally going to say 'not very good' but was thinking about her feelings if she ever came across this site... But since she's preaching to the opposite of a choir (anti-choir?) here, I suppose that was pointless. With many of the teachers and profs I've talked to, the PhD is a calculated decision because yes, it's not about immediate payoff. There's a lot of waiting and compromise involved in terms of job location, family, and etc. Thestage, I love this rationale for funding: Even with funding, the newly hired profs warn us that we'll be eating ramen while friends are eating proper food... (Nothing against ramen, but let's say it's a smaller symptom of a larger problem/ synecdoche). Yet some of the reasons people have mentioned for pursuing the PhD--can't imagine doing anything else, enjoy the academic community, research my interests, write write write--resonate with me. I should remember all this as I take my 'arts & economics' course. That's pretty discouraging stuff. While academia isn't exactly the arts labor market, some of the economic theories behind the oversupply of artists apply. But I prefer to consider how this still applies Ful thredbare was his overeste courtepy; For he hadde gete him yet no benefice, Ne was so worldly for to have office. For him was levere have at his beddes heed Twenty bookes, clad in blak or reed, Of Aristotle and his philosophye, Than robes riche, or fithele, or gay sautrye. But al be that he was a philosophre, Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre! But al that he mighte of his frendes hente, On bookes and on lerninge he it spente, And bisily gan for the soules preye Of hem that yaf him wherewith to scoleye.

Deleted due to doublepost. Donno how to delete entirely...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/mortarboard/2012/feb/27/why-you-shouldnt-do-postgrad?INTCMP=SRCH i realize that there must be a hundred similar worried threads/ posts about news articles that discourage postgrad education since the creation of thegradcafe, but i thought the topic worth reviving, esp. in the humanities board, since it's been on my mind/ i'm too lazy to search history. the guardian blog post isn't very informative, but the comments section is interesting. commenters seem split 50/50. some find the article depressing and lament how education isn't valued for education's sake. others agree with the article that an MA isn't really worth it--the returns you get for what you paid = 0. in fact, if you're not interested in staying within academia, employers might look negatively on a year's MA since they think you're overqualified. this worries me. i'm just after an MA in Eng Lit in the UK and really unsure of pursuing a PhD especially after all of the discouraging panels, articles, stories i've heard about the high risk of unemployment, excess supply of phds, crazy tenure process, high debt, delayed gratification while friends achieve professional success, difficulty having a family, and etc. Not to be a damper or anything. so i'm trying the MA as a sort of trial. don't think i'm ready to commit so many years as a PhD nor have i developed a highly specific research interest yet... that's why i liked the British system so much since it encourages first a (terminal) MA before PhD. thegradcafe is full of people who are intent on pursuing a PhD/MA. so i'm curious: what personally motivates you, knowing all of the risks, to continue onto grad school? have you taken time off since undergrad or are you entering postgrad directly?

Same. After taking a course with a prof fresh out of Berkeley and getting walloped with 'Stop making claims of authorial intent', I am so so relieved that an authorial intent minority exists.

memberofthe?: To you as well! I've actually applied to the same program, Issues in Modern Culture. Still debating and waiting on two other places, Cambridge & Edinburgh. London is so different from Edinburgh, so am a bit nervous. UCL's place on the rankings for English departments is pretty tempting...

Haha true. From the postgrad student/ consumer's point of view, not much of a difference in overseas tuition fee we're charged to study at UCL/elsewhere in the UK and the tuition fee at a domestic uni (even with the exchange rate, I think). When I was abroad in Edinburgh, the visiting American students were all just thinking, "Seriously?" as the student protests about the increases in tuition went on. British students pay so little! Although I suppose that reaction could/ should go the other way around with the $50,000 per year American students have to pay. But here that sticker price is just the norm... Anyway, emailed the UCL admissions office. The 4-week response window isn't compulsory but suggested. And the cumulative GPA condition isn't make-or-break. Yay.

No, I don't think so since the 3.5 isn't unattainable but very difficult to get. (I swear I'll stop soon with this GPA complaining and whinging, but here you go: http://gradeinflation.com/ Scroll almost halfway down to the graph titled Changes in GPA, 1990-2006, Private Schools. See school at very end. Seems a decent source to me, but who knows --) UCL wants a response within two weeks from now, however, and I do wish I could get an extension in terms of decision-making time. I've emailed them about my confusion with this conditional offer business since I'll try my best but there's a chance I won't get that 3.5 after this semester. 50% of that 3.5 depends on an 'Arts & Economics' course. True that many U.S. postgrad programs ask for a 3.5 minimum, but I've also been told the major GPA was a better, more relevant approximation.

Right, I suppose a 3.5 GPA isn't a First but a 2:1. But this, found in another topic thread, was quite helpful: