Two simultaneous masters

griffdaddy

I'm travelling to the University of Amsterdam to do my masters starting in september, and I was accepted to Literature and Philosopy, both MAs. I may be able to study both at the same time, but I don't even know if there would be any benefit to it. If you achieve two MAs do you have two recognisable qualifications or just the one actual achievement? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated, because i'm kinda stalling my registration in order to see what's best. Thanks in advance

CathalMc

I believe it is two - but I'd confirm with both of those departments what their policy is. I'd be a lot more concerned with what exactly the workload for that would be, or how long extra it might take.

Cannibal Ox

griffdaddy wrote:

I may be able to study both at the same time, but I don't even know if there would be any benefit to it.

Besides driving yourself crazy...? Not a whole lot of benefit that I can think of. They'll both be recognised on your CV, and you'll probably learn a lot, but you also might come out of it looking a bit unfocused, and you could always do the one you don't choose now another time/learn about it yourself. I'd do one, and spend your spare time lazing about Amsterdam.

gollem_1975

by the sounds of it you would have to pay for 2 masters. so cost is a factor.

you are splitting your time/focus, therefore potentially you may end up with a lower grade for each seperate masters rather than top marks for one masters.

in my opinion you are better off getting a first in one masters than a pass mark in 2 masters.

is it a taught masters or a research masters ?

griffdaddy

The fees would be the same for 2 as far as i can gather, Masters in Holland are pretty affordable as well, the standard fee is €1,620. Both masters are one year and taught, but if you do well they extend it to two years and it becomes a research masters, this is the main reason I think i should maybe just do one, because like you say it's better to do well one than average in two. I also would like to do a fair amount of arsing around, so maybe one is the best option. Thanks for your comments everyone. How would a masters from Holland look here anyway? I've only just finished with a 2.1 from UCD and I was on Erasmus in Amsterdam and Utrecht before so I'm hoping it'll look good on my CV if I show some kind of ability to travel and adapt (As opposed to a potential employer looking at my CV and thinking 'hmm, thats a LOT of time in Amsterdam' :P.

gollem_1975

i doubt the fees would be the same for 2 , unless you mean you need to spend 2 * 1,620€ .

I suprised by the cost of the masters in holland.

€1,620 is inexpensive even in comparison to NDP funded masters programs here in Ireland

Just out of interest what would a similar Taught MA cost you in an Irish Uni ?

for a taught masters the workload is probably going to be a lot heavier than your undergrad . having 2 to do means you will have twice as many assignments due at the same time..

griffdaddy

I doubted it too, but it's true, the UvA website says that it is possible to be enrolled in two programmes at the same time, and only pay one fee. One of the major factors in my choosing to study in Holland is the cost. A similar masters in Ireland costs between 6,000-7,000€. I can pay my rent and my fees in Holland for the same price as just my fees here, and everything is highly internationalised and obviously taught through English. (Dutch Citizen)3rd level students are treated as one of the most important groups in Holland, they can travel entirely free from Monday to Friday, all over the country, on every form of transport and they can also choose to accept (almost interest free) huge loans from the Dutch government to subsidise their 'student life', including large payments if they reside away from the familial home. My girlfriend is Dutch and I enjoy the liberated lifestyle, so for me it's a no-brainer. It's also worth our government taking on board that Holland is one of the few countries not to be F'd in the A by the global downturn, and most experts have attributed this to their huge investments in education. From going out with my girlfriend I've gathered that the kinda normal college level to achieve is masters if you're serious, and the stigma that we associate here with a degree is directly comparable with a masters there. I know a lot of guys from my year in UCD applied there this year because of the price, when things aren't looking so good in Ireland economically a 10k masters in law or engineering isn't so feasible.

ditpoker

I may be wrong, but I know of someone who did a taught masters in dit and the following year did a research masters in a similar area. I dont know the guy well but remember a conversation about an "honourary doctorate" as he had 2 masters in the samel field. could be very wrong... but its what i heard. anyone heard of something like this?

Lovelyjaws

Doing two masters at the same time is a bit daft.Any masters worth it's salt should be intensive.The workload from two masters would be onerous.You should concentrate on one masters.Work hard,play hard and enjoy the full college experience!

BTW you will have two recognisable qualifications if you go down the two masters route.

Best of luck

gollem_1975

griffdaddy wrote: »

I doubted it too, but it's true, the UvA website says that it is possible to be enrolled in two programmes at the same time, and only pay one fee. One of the major factors in my choosing to study in Holland is the cost. A similar masters in Ireland costs between 6,000-7,000€. I can pay my rent and my fees in Holland for the same price as just my fees here, and everything is highly internationalised and obviously taught through English. (Dutch Citizen)3rd level students are treated as one of the most important groups in Holland, they can travel entirely free from Monday to Friday, all over the country, on every form of transport and they can also choose to accept (almost interest free) huge loans from the Dutch government to subsidise their 'student life', including large payments if they reside away from the familial home. My girlfriend is Dutch and I enjoy the liberated lifestyle, so for me it's a no-brainer. It's also worth our government taking on board that Holland is one of the few countries not to be F'd in the A by the global downturn, and most experts have attributed this to their huge investments in education. From going out with my girlfriend I've gathered that the kinda normal college level to achieve is masters if you're serious, and the stigma that we associate here with a degree is directly comparable with a masters there. I know a lot of guys from my year in UCD applied there this year because of the price, when things aren't looking so good in Ireland economically a 10k masters in law or engineering isn't so feasible.

Holland is the historical birthplace of the mother of all financial bubbles, a bubble based on tulip bulbs back in the 17th century.

they also had a property bubble of their own in the 1990s.

So if they aren't suffering as badly as the rest of us perhaps it was a case of more than once bitten twice shy

sounds like you have a good year ahead of you

tot ziens!

convert

Taking on two masters courses, especially when both of them are taught, would probably be a huge workload. Do you know what the hours of each course are like? How much work has to be submitted during the year?

Get in contact with the university, and the relevant departments, and see what they would advise.

griffdaddy

Well i found out today that I can definitely do both of them, and that it would indeed cost the same as one. The contact time for each in the first semester is about 9hrs, and there'd also be a lot of reading, so I'd probably be looking at 40-50 hours of work, which would be very tough. The second semester would require a thesis in each, and then one regular module. I'm gonna come to a decision by 5 today, but i'm leaning towards just doing the English one. Still, I'm used to studying English and Philosophy for the last 4 years, and I've had tough deadlines but always made them with good marks. I didn't work too hard in my final year and got decent results, so I feel that I owe at least one intensive year of study and that this could be it. I wish I could do it and see how it is and then leave one if it's too much

catho_monster

I did a postgrad diploma at the same time as a PhD and it was hard - possible, but awkward. The only thing that really made it feasible was that I could set my own deadlines for both, so never was there a time when I had to have something in, and something else had to be done at the same time. I had to take three months out of the PhD (unofficially) to finish up the dip because I just needed to be focussed on it to get it finished.
I also did a taught masters straight after my undergrad, and I remember the pressure. There's suddenly all this work your expected to do, and it isn't just lecture hours, they're there to just basically guide you in your research but the amount of time your expected to research for your assignments was mind blowing compared to the undergrad.
If your looking for advice from someone thats done something like that - I'd say stick with one at a time, unless there are circumstances in your life that demand you do your studies quickly. The only thing that makes me think it might be possible is the fact that the college caters for you doing two at the same time, I've never heard of this. Maybe if you contact them and ask how other people deal with the workload of doing two at the same time. If its possible, and others have done it and are doing it, then you're getting a bargain of an education!

PK2008

Do it if you're really into it but dont do it just for your CV.

1 masters degree is enough to impress potential employers- after that its just overkill.

Devote the same amount of time to 1 and get a high mark. Better to do 1 well than 2 mediocre

Powerhouse

I can't comment on the notion of doing two courses at the same time, except to say that looking at it objectively you'd wonder about the quality of courses where they don't even charge you for one.

I realise that someone will quickly inform me that it's the best uni in Europe and miles better than the Irish ones but still you'd wonder - it seems a strange 'buy one get one free' arrangement if the courses are much sought after high quality courses.

What would concern me for the OP's point of view is that after studying a BA in English and Philosophy for four years, what is to be gained from doing a taught Master's in effectively the same subjects? It'd probably be no different to an extra under-grad year.

The way I'd see it is that a Master's should either deepen your knowledge or 'expertise' in a specific area (and this inevitably would be a research degree) or else take you into a slight different career option (such as maybe a more 'vocational' taught Master's).

Two Master's sounds more impressive than one in the abstract, but it's hard to see the practical value of them in this case.