Masters info???

jesster

Hey, I'm in my last year in arts doing English and Philosophy. I'm finding it real hard to get any postgrad info. Would appreciate some clarification. Even my friends doing their masters now don't seem to know much about it. Tried postgrad.ie but still finding it hard.

-Is the minimum gpa for a masters 3.2or are they're postgrad courses for less points (just incase!!)?
-Is there different types of masters (research or other)?
-Can ya do a masters in any subject. For example, could I do a masters in business or journalism etc..??
-Is there a county council grant for the masters or will we be paying full fees?
-How do you apply to do a masters?

I know these probably sound like pretty stupid questions but any answers would save me wasting more time on google or on postgrad.ie!

Thanks a million!

delta_bravo

jesster wrote: »

Hey, I'm in my last year in arts doing English and Philosophy. I'm finding it real hard to get any postgrad info. Would appreciate some clarification. Even my friends doing their masters now don't seem to know much about it. Tried postgrad.ie but still finding it hard.

-Is the minimum gpa for a masters 3.2or are they're postgrad courses for less points (just incase!!)?
-Is there different types of masters (research or other)?
-Can ya do a masters in any subject. For example, could I do a masters in business or journalism etc..??
-Is there a county council grant for the masters or will we be paying full fees?
-How do you apply to do a masters?

I know these probably sound like pretty stupid questions but any answers would save me wasting more time on google or on postgrad.ie!

Thanks a million!

Some masters courses will require a high 2.1 or a first depending on the difficulty. Some will only want a 2.2.
Nearly all will want some sort of basic research proposal for your thesis

A research masters is usually 2 years and taught ones are one year. Taught ones are much more popular for the humanities. The taught ones will require some form of thesis or dissertation (15,000 + words)

You will be at a significant disadvantage if you apply to do a masters for a topic you have never studied before. English would suit a lot of masters courses though but you wont have the prior knowledge that other students would have.

Regarding fees, you would need to contact the council. I think they would cover some of the cost but I never got a grant so someone else may know more.

To apply you contact the schools directly, usually can be done online.

Look at the school websites for different universities and look at their courses. Dont bother with some external site.

RandomName2

jesster wrote: »

Hey, I'm in my last year in arts doing English and Philosophy. I'm finding it real hard to get any postgrad info. Would appreciate some clarification. Even my friends doing their masters now don't seem to know much about it. Tried postgrad.ie but still finding it hard.

-Is the minimum gpa for a masters 3.2or are they're postgrad courses for less points (just incase!!)?
-Is there different types of masters (research or other)?
-Can ya do a masters in any subject. For example, could I do a masters in business or journalism etc..??
-Is there a county council grant for the masters or will we be paying full fees?
-How do you apply to do a masters?

I know these probably sound like pretty stupid questions but any answers would save me wasting more time on google or on postgrad.ie!

Thanks a million!

You need a minimum 2.2 for a masters (degree, not GPA!). Can't remember the GPA for that. The higher your GPA the more wanted you will be and the less competition you will have to stave off if it's a popular course. Some courses might specifically want >=2.1

There are research and the.. other type of masters (can't remember the name... taught masters, I think). Research is generally more hard-core, albeit part-time, and generally a precursor to a PhD (I think). And... no lectures or seminars for a research masters (so your fees go towards pretty much nothing - YAY!)

And in relation to fees: it is full Irish fees for most courses. In Smurfit (all business masters) it is full European fees. This is a BIG difference.

General cost of a masters - E5,000 (I think)
General cost of a Smurfit masters - E14,000 (I think).

There are some scholarships but afaik they, in practice, don't exist.

You can do it in pretty much any subject. Just go to the relevant school website http://www.ucd.ie/colleges.htm and you will see postgraduate programmes advertised on the left hand side of the screen.

Application is specific to and almost exclusive to the school in question.

parker kent

To add to the above advice, here are the current graduate fees in UCD.

http://www.ucd.ie/registry/adminservices/fees/2010/

This page will also be some use to you as you can search through the various courses on offer.

http://www.ucd.ie/graduatestudies/

And yes councils give grants for Graduate studies. Depending on the fees for the course, they will either pay full fees or half fees. It is much the same as applying for the undergrad grant, except you have one more page to fill out on the application form. Contact your council and get the application form posted out to you.

jesster

Thanks so much for all the info! Having been looking back at this for reference! You have made life so much easier!