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Trying to find a way to finance my postgrad, any help appreciated.

  • 19-06-2012 10:27PM
    #1
    nrsire
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 47 ✭


    Hey,

    I just finished my undergrad and got accepted in to the postgrad course I want in London. Absolutaly delighted because its a really hard course to get in to! I had to send a long application, take a few tests, and go over to the UK for an interview. At the moment I am making around 300 euro a week in my job here in Ireland and saving half each week. I have a job sorted in London for when I go and my dad will help me pay for accomodation.

    All I need to sort out is how I am going to finance my postgrad for the year. It is £8000. In the UK a student can get a Professional and Career Development Loan to pay their fees and then when the student finishes college they start paying it back. It is only available though to UK citizens so I don't qualify. Is there anything I can do? I know AIB give student loans up to 10K, but I can't fully rely on that but I'll go in to AIB tomorrow to enquire.

    Is there any grants or scholarships or anything at all I can do to finance my postgrad??

    Any help would be great thanks!! Also I'm 21.


Comments

  • #2
    gutenberg
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 984 ✭✭✭gutenberg


    nrsire wrote: »
    Hey,

    I just finished my undergrad and got accepted in to the postgrad course I want in London. Absolutaly delighted because its a really hard course to get in to! I had to send a long application, take a few tests, and go over to the UK for an interview. At the moment I am making around 300 euro a week in my job here in Ireland and saving half each week. I have a job sorted in London for when I go and my dad will help me pay for accomodation.

    All I need to sort out is how I am going to finance my postgrad for the year. It is £8000. In the UK a student can get a Professional and Career Development Loan to pay their fees and then when the student finishes college they start paying it back. It is only available though to UK citizens so I don't qualify. Is there anything I can do? I know AIB give student loans up to 10K, but I can't fully rely on that but I'll go in to AIB tomorrow to enquire.

    Is there any grants or scholarships or anything at all I can do to finance my postgrad??

    Any help would be great thanks!! Also I'm 21.

    Firstly, what subject is your Master's in?

    Secondly, it is extremely difficult to get Master's funding, both in Ireland and the UK. The university you will be going to might have some scholarships, but to be honest at lot of them would be announced by now, plus you usually have to apply very early to be considered for them. Beyond that I'm afraid it is a question of loans- though you are in a not-too bad situation if you have a job, and some help with accommodation costs, which are huge in London.


  • #3
    gooch2k9
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,647 ✭✭✭gooch2k9


    gutenberg wrote: »
    Firstly, what subject is your Master's in?

    Secondly, it is extremely difficult to get Master's funding, both in Ireland and the UK. The university you will be going to might have some scholarships, but to be honest at lot of them would be announced by now, plus you usually have to apply very early to be considered for them. Beyond that I'm afraid it is a question of loans- though you are in a not-too bad situation if you have a job, and some help with accommodation costs, which are huge in London.

    Not hijacking but do you mean its difficult to get scholarships and such, or difficult to get any funding at all including loans?


  • #4
    gutenberg
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 984 ✭✭✭gutenberg


    gooch2k9 wrote: »
    Not hijacking but do you mean its difficult to get scholarships and such, or difficult to get any funding at all including loans?

    I can't really say for loans as I don't know enough about them, but I have several friends with similar stories, saying that a commercial bank will only give them say 10,000 euro, which in some cases wouldn't even cover fees, never mind living expenses. Of course loans depend on personal circumstances, and if your parents for example are willing to help out you might be able to get a larger loan.

    As regards scholarships, for Master's they are almost impossible to get, and in a lot of cases will only partially cover you- for instance they might cover your fees (Research councils), or give a block amount of say £5,000, which has the same problems as a loan. Most postgrad funding in the UK and Ireland is aimed at PhDs, but unfortunately for most people you have to get through the Master's before you can access PhD money, and yet at most universities there is hardly any (if any!) funding for Master's course. At my current uni (Cambridge), to take the Research Council example, there were c. 20 awards for PhD students, and FOUR for Master's students this year. In short, don't expect to be funded for a Master's via scholarships (though of course you may get lucky).

    I should also add that most of my experience is in Arts/Humanities/Social Sciences-type courses, where funding is scarce. I don't know how science master's are funded, although a lot of science students seem to go straight to the PhD without necessarily having to do the Master's first :)


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