Lets talk about brexit

[Ralf3000]

Hi,

I'm currently a BA student of social sciences in Germany and was planning on applying for MA programs in the UK (most likely LSE). However, since the UK decided to leave the EU, I have heard and read some things, that make it seem less appealing to apply to UK schools. For example i heard that there is sort of a "leaving the sinking ship" dynamic going on among faculty at UK departments. I have also heard that the UK is being cut out of a lot of colaborative EU funded research projects. My eventual plan is to continue into a PhD program and do research. I was wondering, how Brexit may affect my study experience and then also my academic path in the future, if i decide to pursue studies in the UK. I understand that the answer to this questions depends in part on the yet to start negotiations between the UK and the EU, but I have to make this decision now, and I feel, a lot of other prospective grad students might be in the same situation. So lets discuss!

What are your thoughts on this?

[TK2]

I'm in a slightly similar boat, though possibly a less stark change post-Brexit then you, if anything. I'm looking at applying to US and UK PhD's, and pre-brexit would have probably said I slightly favour UK over US (shorter program, closer to home and the parts of the world I want to work in, etc,) but post-brexit that's actually reversed. I'm only applying to a few that-would-be-a-dream-school programs in the UK and casting a wider net in the USA instead. I've heard a couple of horror stories about being an international student in the UK, and it looks like it will only get worse. As an EU student, what would have been a fairly straightforward process may become a horribly convoluted and uncertain one, depending on how negotiations play out. 

On the other hand, I think it might be early to panic, as yet, especially at the MA level. LSE is probably still going to be LSE two or three years from now. (It might not in twenty or even ten, but that's not a worry for you right now.) Research funding may slow, but it's not likely to stop dead in the next three years either, and as an MA student that's your time frame. It's impossible to argue that the situation isn't more uncertain, but the same factors that motivated you to study in the UK instead of Germany in the first place are all probably still there, at least for now. Might be the time to get them while you can, if anything, before Oxford moves to a roomy chalet in Switzerland.