Self-funding the 1+3 - How much should I budget?

Great thread, fascinating to here what goes on both sides of the ocean!

Anyway, I'm seriously considering doing a Masters and then PhD (I wouldn't back to only do an MA) from 2009, and the only problem is funding as well.

I have a 2.1, and I was told by my old department - linguistics - that there is no way they would even nominate me for ERSC at Masters.

From what I'm reading here and elsewhere, there is at least a chance that if I do well at Masters that I would be consider for PhD.

What I'm wondering is, if I can't get funding (definitely for MA as it stands), how much, where, and what type of banks loans am I looking at as a linguistics pg who wants a career in academia?

Reply 1

The Boosh

i don't know about loans because i was supported through scholarships and jobs within the department, but i have to say that with a masters a phd will not be out of sight. in fact, i'm feeling brave enough to say that you will certainly be able to take up a phd in linguistics in the uk - universities need cash at the end of the day - BUT the big question is where will take you. sometimes, particularly in applied fields like linguistics, certain academics and departments are in great demand, so you may find yourself somewhere a little different (which is not always a bad thing). so, yeah, you will get a place, but funding will be very tough (it's made easier if you are british - are you?)

Reply 2

TheSafetyDance

The Boosh

Yep, I'm British and and I'd be going back to my old uni where I did my UG... which happens to be the local uni! And yes, I'm a born a breed local as well :biggrin:

Yep, I've been told it very competitive in linguistics, but then again I see that as plus - if it's in high demand, then it follows that the PhD is of a high quality. Depending on things, I've worked that I'd need a loan about £30,000 to cover fees and living do to Masters and Phd - is that a good projection, or way off mark?

Reply 3

The Boosh

TheSafetyDance

Yep, I'm British and and I'd be going back to my old uni where I did my UG... which happens to be the local uni! And yes, I'm a born a breed local as well :biggrin:

oh christ, no idea! it looks ok for a phd, but i think you may struggle to include a masters in it (i could be wrong though...), with raising fees/rent/bills etc, it could be very different in the future. the good thing is that, since you are going back to the same place, you have an idea about regional spending, and i think this makes a difference sometimes (you should be cheaper than london but not as cheap as somewhere like leicester).

if you were to get a studentship, you would be getting close to £13k (tax free) a year, most of your fees paid (around £3,200 a year) and a consumables/conference budget of about £750 a year. if you add all of this up (and if you wanted to, add tax) then the £30k would be well off mark.

hopefully some of the self-funders will be able to help.

in fact, try asking this question in gogsoc and see what the self-funders are estimating their spending to be in the 2008-9 cohort:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=653487&page=21

Reply 4

The Boosh

actually, that was crap advice. start a new thread and you may get people either giving you links to old threads about funding costs, or you may get people giving you their estimates.

Reply 5

Kitty Pimms

No need to bump a 2-year old thread, OP. I've made this into a new one.

FWIW, Oxford recommends a budget of fees + £7 - 8k p/a living costs, and obviously your fees will depend on the university. If you go to a cheap university and have £3,300 p/a fees, then I would have said you'd be looking at £40k for the four years.

Reply 6

jennipenny

I hate to pour cold water on your plans but getting an academic job is even harder than getting funded to do a PhD in the arts / humanities, so I really think self-funding more than an MA is a dangerous strategy with only a small chance of success at the end, so unless you happen to be in a personal situation where failing to get an academic job at the end wouldn't matter, I wouldn't do this. Self-fund an MA and see if anyone will fund a PhD, yes, but any further woud be a BIG risk.
I also doubt any UK bank will lend you that amount of money and then allow you not to pay a penny on it while you do a PhD. Career development loans will only cover 2 years as far as I know, and any other secured or unsecured bank loans that I've heard of require you to start paying them off straight away. There was that US company Sallie Mae that did postgrad educational loans like this but I understand they've withdrawn from the UK market and I've never heard of anyone else that did this.

Reply 7

TheSafetyDance

Thanks for the rethread Ilex.

Yeah, I've factored in having a 8hr a week job, so £40k without job, just over £30k with. I'd be living at home, so obviously I would be able to avoid certain bills, but still have to contribute big time to 'the pot' (as I should).

Sitting here right now, if I knew for definite that I'd get a studentship for PhD but have to take a loan for Masters, I'd 100% do it. £30k is rather alot for anyone, even with the semi-promise of higher earnings long term.

PS - jennipenny, I hadn't read your post before posting.

Reply 8

Spanky Deluxe

Deal with the MA first. Self funding a masters is doable with a part time job as long as you work at least 2 days a week during term time and add a day or two during the holiday time. You may want to take out a CDL to initially pay for the tuition fees and get yourself rolling but then work to save up enough to pay off the CDL at the end of the year. Your MA year will be tough, you'll have to work your ass off to make sure that you get a distinction.

If you don't get funding at that point for a PhD then you may want to consider doing the PhD part time. You're not allowed to complete it in less that 4 years (I think) but, to be honest, most full time students don't complete theirs in 3 years, the norm is 3.5 years. Self funding a part time PhD would be a lot easier than the MA year. Your fees will be half and it'll be a lot easier to manage your time with research (part timing a taught course is a nightmare due to the sporadic lecture times). Working on your PhD three days a week and then working part time 2-3 days a week should be fine to fund your way through a PhD. Since you'll be able to plan for longer at this point, you could probably find yourself a far nicer part time job with better pay or you could supplement your income with doing tutorials and marking. Yes it'll take 4-5 years but since full time its normally 3-4 years, its not that much of a difference. To be honest, you'll probably work much harder during your PhD work days than the full time students and achieve the same each 3 day week as they do in 5. I've seen this happen before.

Don't get yourself any loans other than maybe the CDL for the Masters year, its not worth the stress or the huge amounts of debt you'll end up in. It would take you years, hell probably a whole decade to pay off a £30k loan and would keep you off the housing ladder for quite a while. It simply isn't worth it - part timing and taking 1-2 years longer, however, is a far far far better idea.

Reply 9

rottcodd

Just to add to what's already been said, there is no way in hell any non loan-shark bank will give you a loan to pay for a PhD. You can get a CDL to pay for your masters, but you cannot then get a bank loan after that to pay for any of your PhD because the maximum repayment holiday they could possibly offer you would be a year. That means, by the second year of your PhD you will be paying monthly payments on your CDL loan (which will be at least around £200) alongside monthly repayments on whatever loan you took out to pay for your PhD tuition fees, and this is likely to be a higher monthly repayment than your CDL as the interest will be at a commercial rate. It wouldn't be possible to live.

So you can get a loan to pay for your masters (and a lot of people do, a CDL that is), and if you do a PhD afterwards you can just about afford to make the repayments on the CDL assuming you get funded. If you don't get funding for it, then the only option is to do it part-time, as spanky suggested.