Trinity College Dublin or University College London

[ling613]

Hi all,

I've recently been accepted into two graduate linguistics programs - the M.Phil. at Trinity College Dublin and the M.A. at University College London.  I'm excited at the prospect of attending either school, but I'm wondering if anyone out there in the world has any insider information about these programs or institutions?  I'm interested in joining a tight-knit community (advantage: TCD), but my research interests lie in sociophonetics (advantage: UCL).

Any thoughts?

[Ruis27]

I don't have any information regarding your question (I'm so sorry) but I was just accepted at Trinity myself, for an M.Phil in Classics. I have a few questions, so I was wondering if you had any solid info on fees or living situations, etc. And congrats!

[ling613]

Congratulations, Ruis27!  My BA's in classics, so it's always heartening to hear that people continue with Greek and Latin!

Trinity has posted their entire fee schedule on-line.  You can see that information here: https://www.tcd.ie/academicregistry/fees-payments/course-fees/PG%20Fees%201617_v1.pdf

As for housing, my understanding is that most postgraduates share houses or flats with roommates.  I've found the International Student handbook to be remarkably helpful: https://www.tcd.ie/study/assets/pdfs/Welcome-Handbook-2015.pdf

[BlackBear50]

Don't know much about specifics, both schools are renowned though. Congrats! Though for the cities... I'd personally much prefer Dublin. London area = unreal expensive and wayyyy too urban for my taste. Dublin is also a tad expensive and urban but not nearly in the same stratosphere as London (have spent a little time in both). That said, both are world class cities and, in that regard, London would certainly have a never ending supply of things to do (if you ever find free time outside of academia!)

[Sora]

Congrats! As a former student at UCL, I would say the MA here definitely helps your academic career (PhD program, research position, etc.) if that's what you want and you work reasonably hard. Also it's particularly ideal if you're interested in phonetics/phonology side of research and prefer doing your PhD in America, since UCL phonetics/phonology faculty members are mainly hired from the states (MIT, UCLA, etc.) and therefore the teaching, tutoring, and research here are quite North-American style (I don't really know much about Dublin so maybe there is no difference with regard to this).

I did find the sense of community missing sometimes, partly because it's quite a large program (40-50 students during my year) so people tend to hang out as smaller groups (or just because I already stayed in London for some years so I didn't live in a student hall nor try very hard socializing within the program). But I wouldn't worry too much about this at UCL--even I made some great friends here sharing similar interests in linguistics lol, if that's what you mean by "joining a tight-knit community".

Do PM me if you have any specific questions about UCL!

Edited February 2, 2016 by Sora

[ling613]

On 2/1/2016 at 4:58 PM, Sora said:

Do PM me if you have any specific questions about UCL!

Hi Sora, and thanks for this detailed reply!  I had a talk with one of the professors at UCL this morning, and I'm leaning heavily towards accepting their admissions offer.  I'm wondering, though, if you can address any of the points that are brought up in this blog post: https://reverseretrograde.com/2014/09/30/reasons-not-to-take-on-ucls-ma-in-linguistics/, particularly the author's grievances about the quality of teaching and being dissuaded from asking questions.  I realize, of course, that these might just be the musings of a disgruntled student, but there also might be a kernel of truth in them.  Thoughts?  Thanks, again.