[Help] Deciding Between MSc at Imperial or PhD at Cambridge

Hi all,

I am an American graduate who has recently received offers at both the Imperial College of London and Cambridge. The MSc is in the Department of Bioengineering while the PhD is in the Department of Biological Sciences.

The high level: Both offers are unfunded, so I would need to supply my own funding. That said, completing a PhD is my end-goal, followed by a relevant postdoc. The paradigm I'm trying to analyse this problem is under one of time vs. money.

Main argument for Cambridge: If completing a PhD is my end-goal, and I have already designed and met with my supervisor about my future research proposal, why not start now and save TIME, (one year?)

Main argument of Imperial: Although completing a PhD is my end goal, perhaps completing the MSc and gaining high marks and completing some quality research projects might strengthen my application. Therefore, the trade off may be ones less year or TIME, but a potential savings of 3 years of funding (MONEY).

Further Details ( Pros "+", and Cons "-")

Imperial:
+ breadth of interesting, interdisciplinary courses
+ opportunity to raise academic marks
+ opportunity for at least one research project
+ general experience may increase my likelihood to gain funding in the next PhD admissions cycle.
- will consume 1 year of time
- 1 year of self funding ( at ~$50,000.00)
- May cause me to lose focus, consider other trajectories ( not necessarily a total con, but assuming I'm dead set on at least completing my PhD, this could be a distraction)

Cambridge
+ already designed research proposal
+ good relationship with supervisor
+ reputation
+ will save TIME by one year
- 3 years of self funding ( at ~$150,000)

If any of you have suggestions or resources about how to strategically make decisions and improve the design underlying how I'm thinking through this, I would also be happy to take a look at those!

Reply 1

Jantaculum

Being controversial, and assuming you've got excellent undergrad grades, I actually would say….. neither.

You've obviously got the capability to proceed straight to PhD and I'm wondering if you applied for funding at other universities? Unfunded postgraduate study is not something to be undertaken lightly for a scientist.

(edited 8 years ago)

University of Cambridge

Cambridge

Reply 2

poohat

Unless you are independently wealthy or have rich parents supporting you, I would say "neither", and instead apply for a funded PhD at a top 20 US school.

But if you are wealthy then you might as well take the PhD place I guess.

Original post by AmericanoPlease

+ general experience may increase my likelihood to gain funding in the next PhD admissions cycle. !

As an American its going to be difficult to get funding in the UK, even with an Imperial masters. I mean you might manage it, but its a long shot and dropping $50k on a degree just in hope is a bit silly. Why aren't you applying to US schools instead?

Do you have a bad undergrad degree or something? If so, it would make more sense to do a Masters at Oxford/Cambridge then apply for a US PhD. Both Ox/Cam have more name recognition than Imperial in the US.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 3

Nathanielle

I think as long as Imperial is high ranked in your chosen field, the Universities in the US should know them (I mean from conferences, etc. ... the oppostie would be unrealistic, as academia is not that big and you often have at least one British hanging around, they can ask about the degree quality). Hence that should be no problem.

Concerning funding you should really look into it and consider that the time you need to pay it back, may be way longer, than the time you actually profit from the decision, so think wisely! I would also begin to find out everything about funding opportunities. Sometimes there are special scholarships/stipends, where you might be elligible.

And if your primary aim is to spend sometime outside the US to widen your academic horizont, meaning you are not set on Imperial/Cambridge, I would widen the search outside the UK, because then funding can be become much less of an issue and you might even get a proper salary (less likely, but not impossible in some European countries). Just talk to academics, they should be able to advise you about departments, who excel in their field, yet might not be part of a world-known and/or anglo-saxon university.

Reply 4

xenophile

If you had to choose between these options and ££ is no object, it's a no-brainer- Cambridge. All the things you list as +s for the Imperial MSc would probably be better achieved by doing a PhD at Cambridge (except for helping you secure funding for a PhD).

As others have said, unless you're an EU national you'll struggle to find a funded PhD in the UK with or without an MSc. If you want to do a PhD next year, there are more affordable and more enjoyable ways to strengthen your position. Fwiw, I'm doing a bioscience-related MSc at Imperial this year. It has helped me secure PhD funding, but I'm an EU national.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 5

LSD

I would not self find a PhD in biological sciences... I know a lot of people will probably disagree, but there's actually A LOT of funding available in biological/medical research, far more than for many other courses. There are countless charities and research councils that provide funding across life sciences. Honestly just apply for a few funded ones next year and you'll likely pick up something.

(It's common to have to fund your masters in the UK though, so it's reasonably normal to do that before your PhD - might even bump your chances of getting a funded PhD next year)

Overall though I have to agree with the above and say neither...

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Reply 6

xenophile

Original post by LSD

... there's actually A LOT of funding available in biological/medical research, far more than for many other courses. There are countless charities and research councils that provide funding across life sciences. Honestly just apply for a few funded ones next year and you'll likely pick up something.

(It's common to have to fund your masters in the UK though, so it's reasonably normal to do that before your PhD - might even bump your chances of getting a funded PhD next year)

As mentioned, UK PhD funding for non-EU students is very rare (including life sciences).

There are loads of international MSc students in my dept who want to stay on to do a PhD but as far as I know none have found funding to do so. For the vast majority of them, their options are self-funding or find funding in their own country.