Masters or PhD. Advice Needed

friendface

I'm currently trying to make a decision on what to do next year and just got news this evening thats made decisions more difficult. My background is I've just finished a degree in Civil Engineering. I decided early in 4th year that I wanted to do postgraduate study after I finished college both from a qualification point of view and because of the current job market, especially for civil engineers. I applied to various taught masters course around Ireland and the UK as well as a Phd position at my own college.

I was offered a taught masters in Imperial College in the area of sustainable energy (1 year MSc). This really interested me and, up until this evening, I had fully decided that was what I was going to do. The only problem is funding. As a student in Ireland, I was entitled to a full maintenance grant and course fees. In the UK, I am not eligible for any grant and will have to cover the following costs myself: Fees £3390, Rent £8400 and living £8000 approx. Overall I reckon it ill cost me around £20k which will have to be mostly financed through a personal loan. Most likely I will finish with my MSc and £15k student debt.

My alternative was a Phd in Galway in the area of Building energy modelling and software development for building monitoring systems. This interested me as well but I was sort of put off by the duration (typ. 4 years for phd) and the intense focus on just one topic. I was afraid of over-specialising. This course just got more interesting though as I was offered a scholarship from the university which would entitle me to €10,000 + Course fees per annum if I choose to accept. I just got that news this evening and a decision is due by friday !!

Now I really don't know what to do, the offer of a scholarship is fantastic but it's sort of thrown a spanner in the works as I had convinced myself I was 100% sure I was going to london and have gone so far as to book accomodation there. I'm going to speak to a number of people tomorrow for advice but I would really appreciate any advice you guys can offer.

daragh8008

Big decisions! Don't rush them. One thing though. As you were saying about the job market, if you finished a masters and couldn't get a job could you manage the loan. Alternatively if you took the PhD position your expenses are paid more or less. If you took the PhD and it didn't work out, would you have to repay the money. Not likely. Could you still do th masters after, probably. That being said, 4 years v 1/2 years. do you want to go back to education for that long?

Good Luck

Well the time issue is the big thing, given that you have 4 years versus just one in England. For me though given present economic circumstances & knowing a few engineers that cannot get work at the moment I would think a 4 year PHD would be the better option as you wont have the stress of paying back a big loan on top of competing for scarce graduate engineering opportunities..

damienmcd

4 years is a big ask.
I know that you mentioned two fairly different courses but if you took the Masters route I'm pretty sure that there are other options for follow-on PhD courses.

I will be starting a Masters this September having been offered a scholarship for a PhD. The idea of a research PhD for 4 years put me off.

If there is an option for a Masters with a follow-on PhD, I reckon it would be the best option.

Big decision to be made here though.
Good Luck!

damnyanks

Imperial is a world class institute. What would you do after the MSc? It'd probably take you 4 or 5 years to pay off the debt so you invest the same time in both courses kinda

friendface

Thanks again for all the replies. I've spent the past 2 days getting advice from friends and co-workers and here online and came to the decision that I'm going to take on the Phd. I know Imperial is a top-class university and I'm sure the course would be fantastic but after weighing up the positives and negatives of both options I think the Phd is the better option currently especially with the availability of funding.

I spoke to my employer who also graduated during a recession and also did a Phd and he highly recommended I take the opportunity. He said that from an employers perspective the Phd is much more attractive and carries more weight in the long-run whereas he said there are plenty candidates with MSc's. He also mentioned that the topic of the Phd is not the most important aspect but more how you achieve your goals and the experience you gain from a research position. He also stressed how important it was to keep thinking of your end objective and what you want to do after finishing so as not to get sidetracked or go down a dead-end route. Also, he said the Phd gives you the chance to take time out to consider your options, travel and get experience speaking at conferences. He is now a director in a major engineering consultancy so I've taken his advice very serioiusly even though I was expecting him to advise me the complete opposite.

Everyone else I've asked gave the same recommendation apart from a few. It'll be tough rejecting the offer from Imperial but that opprtunity may arise again in the future whereas I doubt I would ever be able to fund a Phd in the future if i don't take the opportunity now.

Thank you all for the advice. I hope i'm making the right decision anyway!