Funding Advice for an MSc Ancient Phil at U of Edinburgh

[Jon Andrew Greig]

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

Edited March 3, 2012 by Jon Andrew Greig

[rkg2012]

Honestly there aren't many options at this point. To fund a UK degree, you pretty much need to apply to Fulbright/Marshall/etc before you ever apply to the program. I don't know about Edinburgh, but my university doesn't have much (meaning close to nothing) for Americans. Everything seems to be for UK/EU students. Oxbridge is the only place I know of that has full funding of their own, but that's super competitive. I chose to do a one year unfunded MSc here since the program is something that just doesn't exist in the US. I think it really depends on what you will get out of the degree. I hear Edinburgh doesn't have much coursework or assignments (whereas you submit many more papers at Oxbridge), so make sure you know exactly what you are getting into before you decide. Also,if you are looking for a PhD later (without a gap year) make sure you talk to profs and become well-acquainted very early on so that they can write you strong recommendations. If possible, try to get a feel from current students about how MAs are treated by faculty. Some schools really only care about their PhD students or have too many MAs to really get to know you.

[Jon Andrew Greig]

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?

[rkg2012]

If it's convenient go for it. You can also try to see if the director of the program or someone would be willing to skype with you. I had a phone interview with my program and then sent several follow up emails, which is what convinced me that they cared about the masters students, although current students can tell you the most. Maybe the director/a potential adviser will even know about some university funding that isn't well advertised. Also, check with your UGrad institution about possible funding, though that was really competitive and due around application time for me. Good luck!