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US Masters - funding & other queries

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  • 31-03-2007 2:39pm
    #1
    pow wow
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,288 ✭✭✭


    I'm currently about to go into my final yr studying history & politics up north (I'm from Cork) and would really love to to grad school in America, studying International Conflict Resolution. I've found a few schools I like (American in Washington DC, Georgetown in DC, UMass Boston, Creighton in Nebraska and Cal State in California) but the financial assistance they offer to international students is extremely hard to get by the sounds of things and so I was hoping some more experienced people here might have some ideas on how to fund it!

    I'm aiming for a first (famous last words I know) and am going to try and get in some relevant volunteer experience when I go back up north for my last year. Some of the programs I've listed are quite hard to get into aswell so any ideas how to beef up my application would be greatly appreciated. I've already registered to take the GRE.

    Also, if anyone has made it to America to do their masters in any field I'd love some input.

    Thanks!


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    #2
    CathalMc
    Registered Users Posts: 225 ✭✭CathalMc


    I'm doing a PhD in the states. It seems to be alot more difficult to get funding for a Masters, especially when it's not a research or research-heavy Masters. Essentially universities won't profit from you, so they probably won't finance you. You have to realize that getting free education is not the norm - we're thoroughly spoilt in Europe.

    Having said that, universities do budget for scholarships, but basically the PhD students get most or all of it, and remainder is for the best Masters students. Whats more, there is a preference for Masters students who wish to go on and do a PhD - so when applying, mentioning this is a very shrewd move (whether true or not).

    A lot of the American external funding sources usually come with the requirement of being an American citizen or a minority - sadly you're probably neither. Depending on which college you go to, you will be paying out-of-state fees or private college fees (approximately equivalent) and living expenses. Check out the financial aid website of each college and they'll give some estimates of what this will all come to.

    As for sources of funding available for Irish people, there's 3 major awards that I'm aware of: the Fullbright, the NUI travelling studentship (I think you have to have studied in an NUI college for this) and the O’Reilly Foundation award. You can google for these. There's a whole host of more specific awards too, a reasonably complete list is at http://www.ucc.ie/en/international/StudyAbroadforUCCStudents/OtherScholarshipFellowshipProgrammes/ .
    Also, I'd some advice for someone else about the Fulbright in another thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055064586

    Be sure you are well equipped to ace the GRE if these are prestigious programmes. You should be able to get a rough idea of what scores are necessary with some googling. Some schools list what GRE scores are required, for others you can check up on the usnews graduate school rankings (you might need to pay a few dollars for access).

    Best of luck.


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