MSc Applicants for UCL 2010

Good luck!

Thanks! I think it went well, my interlocutor seemed convinced by my elucubrations I'm recommended for offer so that'd be 2 options at UCL... I'm ecstatic!!!

I just received an email from the French Dep confirming that I will have a phone interview this upcoming Friday... I still don't know if UCL would be my second preferred option after Oxford, but I want to do the interview anyway, of course. I have pretty much no idea what to expect so any input would be very much appreciated -- growing nervous all of a sudden... Thanks!

EDIT: Just got accepted for the PhD in English!! Feeling very happy, although they want to interview me on Monday for the AHRC awards (I didn't even think I qualified)... That's gonna be one expensive last-minute trip to England...

Many congrats! Career-wise, a PhD in English at an English uni would probably benefit you more than a PhD in French if you want to land an academic post in France in the future.

Yes I know, plus it would simply look more coherent on my CV since I've always belonged to English Depts in French unis, so that's why I was excited to have been made an unconditional offer by the UCL English Dept whereas the French one is being more cautious

The only thing that still bothers me a little is that I won't find a job in France unless I take the "agrégation" exam, which is completely useless anywhere else in Europe and is currently threatened by a reform that would suppress it. So some of my tutors were reluctant to my going to the UK now -- but to be fair there is a great deal of pride involved that has nothing to do with me Thanks for the congrats and good luck to you if you are still waiting on a decision!

The aggregation is one of the reasons why I would never go back to France once I (if I do...) get my PhD.

One question though: what if you start your career in the UK/US and then land a job in France, would they require the aggregation from you if you already held a chair somewhere else?

Finally: seeing what they pay in France I wouldn't recommend going back anyway

Huh...? Are you French or just putting yourself in my shoes?

In any case, yes, these are exactly my reasons for following my heart back to the UK!
As to your question, it is obviously a good one and I ask myself about it a lot... If I did start my career in the UK/US, I don't think it would be too much of a problem not to have that blasted exam -- after all, there are quite a few native British/American teachers in the English Dept at the Sorbonne and not all of them have the agrégation, so it is possible that they'd take me on board... theoretically. But French academia is extremely attached to its traditions and I honestly think that some people would stand in my way for the sake of it (very sad, I know) as I don't have the excuse of being foreign. If they do suppress the agrégation, it won't be officially necessary for obvious reasons, but you can be sure that it will make a huge difference between applicants for a very long time.

So that's why my tutors think I'm not doing myself a favour, and some of them actually resent my choices, as they feel that I consider myself "too good" to abide by their rules. But I'm not at all set on going back to France either; in the current economic situation, I'll go wherever I'm offered a job!

I'm not french but lived most of my life there (did a french baccalaureat) and left to come to uni in the UK!

Hopefully will see you in Oxford then - fingers crossed!

Yes I know, plus it would simply look more coherent on my CV since I've always belonged to English Depts in French unis, so that's why I was excited to have been made an unconditional offer by the UCL English Dept whereas the French one is being more cautious

The only thing that still bothers me a little is that I won't find a job in France unless I take the "agrégation" exam, which is completely useless anywhere else in Europe and is currently threatened by a reform that would suppress it. So some of my tutors were reluctant to my going to the UK now -- but to be fair there is a great deal of pride involved that has nothing to do with me Thanks for the congrats and good luck to you if you are still waiting on a decision!

Just noticed this today. There is a Computer Science open day tomorrow for prospective students wishing to take on Advanced MSc courses in the following:

* MSc Computer Graphics, Vision and Imaging
* MSc Human Computer Interaction with Ergonomics
* MSc Information Security
* MSc Networked Computer Systems
* MSc Machine Learning/Computational Statistics and Machine Learning
* MSc Software Systems Engineering/Financial Systems Engineering

Link below with more information below:

http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/admissions/pgopenday.html

Sartre failed the agregation exam if I remember right. If you want to land an academic post in an English speaking country, a PhD in French would perhaps benefit more.

I wish I could be there but I'm a couple of thousands miles away lol.

If anyone goes, ask please when are they going to send out any replies,
we're sooo tired of waiting them to decide urggggh

Hey aphrodite_x,

Which CS course did you apply to, and when?

I applied for the Financial Systems Eng course almost five weeks ago. No news yet

Soft Sys Eng 4 weeks ago.. still long way to go I guess...

I applied for the Financial Systems Eng course almost five weeks ago. No news yet

From the previous year, I applied for one of the courses mentioned (for 2009/2010 academic year) and received an acknowledgement letter approximately two weeks later before receiving unofficial offer from course director just under 2 under months after my initial application. Then approximately 1/2 weeks later I received the official offer letter.

It may vary from between person to person. But there goes my experience in application process.

Good luck!

For which one was the offer? I guess it needs some time more to be delivered abroad... The funny thing is that other unis like Soton, Glasgow, Manchester, York and Edinburgh gave me an offer in the first two weeks after I submitted my application! I'm not quite familiar with the uk unis that's why I am a bit alarmed that UCL is taking so long...

Thanks

For which one was the offer? I guess it needs some time more to be delivered abroad... The funny thing is that other unis like Soton, Glasgow, Manchester, York and Edinburgh gave me an offer in the first two weeks after I submitted my application! I'm not quite familiar with the uk unis that's why I am a bit alarmed that UCL is taking so long...

Thanks