In Need of Some Help/Advice

ChristopherUno

Hi guys,

Looking for a bit (lot) of advice regarding my choice of Master’s. I’m about to start the last year of my undergrad (in English and Anthropology at NUIM) and am looking at choices for next year. My plan is to ride out the back end of this recession in higher education; try to insulate myself from the worst of its effects and gain some extra knowledge/qualifications at the same time, like a lot of others in my situation. I’m about to turn 21 and am hoping to achieve a 1:1 in my Bachelor’s.

At the moment my first choice is a double degree, an MSc in Global Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and the University of Southern California. So it’s a year at LSE, plus a year at USC (located in Los Angeles), after which I’d graduate with an MSc from LSE and an MA from USC.

So my first question is does anyone here have any experience of either of these institutions as a student? I’ve used the LSE email a student service but it’d be nice to get some extra advice from a more neutral source, plus anything about USC. Any information about the course itself, the atmosphere of the institutions, the standard of services and facilities, the staff etc from either college would be fantastic. Or anyone else looking at going to either of these colleges and if so what are your thoughts on them?

More generally, anyone have any experience living in these cities? The prospect of living in global cities like these is part of the attraction of the degree I have to admit, as they’d offer (hopefully) some good work/internship opportunities as part of the education experience, as well as great non-academic aspects, like varied cultural and sporting events and a lifestyle that I think I’d like a lot. Do London and L.A. live up to the hype they get? I’ve never lived in Dublin (just Navan and Maynooth) but recently spent a year in Beijing.

One thing that’s worrying is the huge cost of the degree, €85,000 in total for the two years (24 months, including estimated living costs). Does anyone with experience from any institution at all know if the estimated living costs are realistic or if they imagine a spartan lifestyle similar to a cloistered monk? I don’t live very expensively but like the occasional night out and to buy a few books or see a movie every now and then.

Either way I’d be relying on getting some serious scholarship and grant support to be able to fund myself, plus loans on top of that. I’ve been looking at the Fulbright program and was wondering if this degree would make me eligible to apply for a Fulbright Scholarship? I think it would but I’m not certain. Any Fulbrighters on here? And if so, spill the beans, how’d you get it and what advice can you give me!? And how did you find the whole Fulbright experience, does it deserve the reputation it holds?

Anyone got any advice for searching for scholarships for study in England or America? Or for scholarships for Irish students or for media/communications degrees? I've searched a lot on the internet but the scholarships and grants sections of university websites tend to quickly spiral into a maze of links and windows and have been incredibly difficult to navigate. There seem to be lots of ones out there for US students, Hong Kong students etc but none for Ireland?

My final question is this: do you think I sound mad/stupid to be thinking about borrowing so much money for a college course (even two)? Would the benefit of two degrees actually make any real difference? To any LSE graduates, is your degree as sought after as they would have you believe in the prospectus and on the website? And if I had to borrow a significant amount of the costs (circa €35-40,000) how likely would I be to ever be able to pay that off?

Thanks in advance for any replies, sorry for the jumble of questions and thoughts. Been tossing this around in my head for a while and now they’re spilling their way haphazardly onto the page (or into the textbox as the case may be). Cheers for your help.

By the way here’s links to the two parts of the course, in case anyone wants to have a look.
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/graduateProspectus2010/taughtProgrammes/MScGlobalMediaAndCommunications.aspx
http://annenberg.usc.edu/Home/Prospective/Masters/Global.aspx

El Siglo

ChristopherUno wrote: »

Hi guys,

Looking for a bit (lot) of advice regarding my choice of Master’s. I’m about to start the last year of my undergrad (in English and Anthropology at NUIM) and am looking at choices for next year. My plan is to ride out the back end of this recession in higher education; try to insulate myself from the worst of its effects and gain some extra knowledge/qualifications at the same time, like a lot of others in my situation. I’m about to turn 21 and am hoping to achieve a 1:1 in my Bachelor’s.

That’s nice.

At the moment my first choice is a double degree, an MSc in Global Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and the University of Southern California. So it’s a year at LSE, plus a year at USC (located in Los Angeles), after which I’d graduate with an MSc from LSE and an MA from USC.

Sounds good, have you done the GRE?

So my first question is does anyone here have any experience of either of these institutions as a student? I’ve used the LSE email a student service but it’d be nice to get some extra advice from a more neutral source, plus anything about USC. Any information about the course itself, the atmosphere of the institutions, the standard of services and facilities, the staff etc from either college would be fantastic. Or anyone else looking at going to either of these colleges and if so what are your thoughts on them?

No, but a friend of mine is going to UCL and another friend went to UCLA for the year, good craic but hard work. UCLA was particularly intensive and I’d say it’s the same with USC.

More generally, anyone have any experience living in these cities? The prospect of living in global cities like these is part of the attraction of the degree I have to admit, as they’d offer (hopefully) some good work/internship opportunities as part of the education experience, as well as great non-academic aspects, like varied cultural and sporting events and a lifestyle that I think I’d like a lot. Do London and L.A. live up to the hype they get? I’ve never lived in Dublin (just Navan and Maynooth) but recently spent a year in Beijing.

Well, I’ve lived in London for a summer, it’s expensive. My advice would be to live somewhere cheap and get used to the tube lines. East end is pretty cheap. Personally, I didn’t like London, not a very nice city, worse than Dublin in some regards.

One thing that’s worrying is the huge cost of the degree, €85,000 in total for the two years (24 months, including estimated living costs). Does anyone with experience from any institution at all know if the estimated living costs are realistic or if they imagine a spartan lifestyle similar to a cloistered monk? I don’t live very expensively but like the occasional night out and to buy a few books or see a movie every now and then.

Get used to living on the cheap. London is expensive from my last stay there.

Either way I’d be relying on getting some serious scholarship and grant support to be able to fund myself, plus loans on top of that. I’ve been looking at the Fulbright program and was wondering if this degree would make me eligible to apply for a Fulbright Scholarship? I think it would but I’m not certain. Any Fulbrighters on here? And if so, spill the beans, how’d you get it and what advice can you give me!? And how did you find the whole Fulbright experience, does it deserve the reputation it holds?

Yeh, but it only covers one year. You apply for it like anyone else. Reputation? It’s money isn’t it?

Anyone got any advice for searching for scholarships for study in England or America? Or for scholarships for Irish students or for media/communications degrees? I've searched a lot on the internet but the scholarships and grants sections of university websites tend to quickly spiral into a maze of links and windows and have been incredibly difficult to navigate. There seem to be lots of ones out there for US students, Hong Kong students etc but none for Ireland?

Fuck all, and that goes for everything. From what I was told about California, that state is pretty bankrupt so I’d imagine it’s not good for funding. And you need to be British for most funding in the UK. It's not a good time for funding.

My final question is this: do you think I sound mad/stupid to be thinking about borrowing so much money for a college course (even two)? Would the benefit of two degrees actually make any real difference? To any LSE graduates, is your degree as sought after as they would have you believe in the prospectus and on the website? And if I had to borrow a significant amount of the costs (circa €35-40,000) how likely would I be to ever be able to pay that off?

I’ve a three grand debt for living costs associated with my MSc, and I’m doing something that supposed to be good for jobs, it’s relative to your own circumstances. The real question isn’t paying off the loan, the real question is getting it in the first place. You’re talking about a lot of money, two masters would be good but I wouldn’t be getting myself into massive debt over them.

Thanks in advance for any replies, sorry for the jumble of questions and thoughts. Been tossing this around in my head for a while and now they’re spilling their way haphazardly onto the page (or into the textbox as the case may be). Cheers for your help.

By the way here’s links to the two parts of the course, in case anyone wants to have a look.
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/graduateProspectus2010/taughtProgrammes/MScGlobalMediaAndCommunications.aspx
http://annenberg.usc.edu/Home/Prospective/Masters/Global.aspx

Fair enough

ChristopherUno

El Siglo wrote: »

That’s nice.

Sounds good, have you done the GRE?

The course doesn't require the GRE as I apply directly to LSE.

El Siglo wrote: »

No, but a friend of mine is going to UCL and another friend went to UCLA for the year, good craic but hard work. UCLA was particularly intensive and I’d say it’s the same with USC.

Yeah I was expecting some pretty intensive workloads both years, but hoping that the prestige of the college and the quality/intensiveness of the course would stand to me later on.

El Siglo wrote: »

Well, I’ve lived in London for a summer, it’s expensive. My advice would be to live somewhere cheap and get used to the tube lines. East end is pretty cheap. Personally, I didn’t like London, not a very nice city, worse than Dublin in some regards. Get used to living on the cheap. London is expensive from my last stay there.

Thanks yeah I figured it'd be fairly expensive. Did you find that the advantages of living a bit out of the city (cheaper rent) outweighed the disadvantages (cost of transport plus distance)? Any reason in particular why you didn't like it there?

El Siglo wrote: »

Yeh, but it only covers one year. You apply for it like anyone else. Reputation? It’s money isn’t it?

True yeah, I've been searching for stuff in England too but proving a little hard to find right now. From what I understand the Fulbright is very prestigious as it's hard to get and offers lots of other personal/career development aspects as well as money, though this is from information from a source two years ago and it may have been scaled back since.

El Siglo wrote: »

Fuck all, and that goes for everything. From what I was told about California, that state is pretty bankrupt so I’d imagine it’s not good for funding. And you need to be British for most funding in the UK. It's not a good time for funding.

Yep California is on the brink money-wise, kind of hoping things will have picked up at least a little by the time I get there. And yeah an awful lot of them require British or American citizenships unfortunately, hence my question.

El Siglo wrote: »

I’ve a three grand debt for living costs associated with my MSc, and I’m doing something that supposed to be good for jobs, it’s relative to your own circumstances. The real question isn’t paying off the loan, the real question is getting it in the first place. You’re talking about a lot of money, two masters would be good but I wouldn’t be getting myself into massive debt over them.

Thanks for the advice, I understand it'd also be very hard just to get the loan in the first place, been looking at loans specifically for students, career development loans etc. But still very daunting.

JohnMearsheimer

Getting into an estimated €85,000 debt for a masters is total madness. Having debt like that is not what you need starting out your working life, it''ll be a stone around your neck. Sorry for my pessimism.

Cannibal Ox

I live in london, done my MA here, couldn't recommend it enough. I don't go to LSE, but I have friends there and they like it. You should be able to get internships and part time work if you look for it and keep trying. But 85k is waaay to much in my opinion. Unless it is almost completely funded, I really, really wouldn't do it. It is unlikely to get you a job straight a way, and you're going to end up in an awful lot of debt for a qualification. There are other good uni's in london, Goldsmiths, University of London, London College of Communication, and Royal Holloway have some of the best media departments in the UK, and they aren't going to cost you 85k

Basically, my opinion is too much, stay away, but, do go to a college in London, just don't financially ruin yourself in the process.

ChristopherUno

Thanks for the advice guys. John, I have some money saved up and was looking at something like 35k of debt, about on par with some American stuednts finishing their BA. I thought this was some sort of justification but the more I think of it the more it seems like madness, even if the job market wasn't the way it is.

Cannibal, yeah I was hoping to get it largely/fully funded but the more I search the more I realise there's just not the funding out there right now (if there ever was). Which is disappointing as I really think the course would suit me down to the ground. But thanks for pointing me in the direction of some other colleges specialising in media, I'll be sure to check them out. Did you study in any of them?