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Funding

J

Hello,

I am wanting to apply for a masters degree in chemistry. I already had an MChem however, my grades are not good enough for what I want to do.

The problem I am, is that I wont be able to get a loan from the student fincance company as I took one out for my original MChem.

I am wondering what other possible routes there are for paying for tuition fee's, accommodation for the year for etc. The reason I have not saved any money is because I have financial commitments.

Kind Regards

John

T

There are very few options open to you for funding realistically. Most masters students self fund. Check out these two though:

https://www.findamasters.com/funding/guides/postgraduate-funding.aspx

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/students/postgraduate/alternativefundingguidebirmingham.pdf

What is you want to do? A PhD? Did you get a 2.1?

J

Yes, im wanting to go to do a PhD. However, with my grades I figured that the best thing to do would be to get a second masters and achieve well at that.
I wish it was a 2:1, I graduated in 2011 with a 2:2 MChem.

B

You're going to struggle, realistically. Masters tuition fee scholarships are very rare and I've never heard of universities offering scholarships to cover living costs and tuition, short of a Fulbright scholarship or something like that.

In some disciplines, people have their MA/MSc funded as part of their PhD funding, though a 1+3 scholarship from a research council. However, I don't think this is done very often in the 'hard' sciences (I may be wrong?) as lots of people go straight to PhD from undergrad.

Your best bet, I think, would be looking at findaphd or similar websites and trawling through the advertised listings. They will almost all require a 2.1 or higher at undergrad; you might find some that don't, or you might want to get in touch with the advertising professor/faculty (at the risk of annoying them and potentially putting them off you by asking about clearly-listed entry requirements) to see if they'd accept you with a 2:2 MChem. If you have relevant work/lab experience since 2011, this might make up for the shortfall in grades. What was your %, by the way - did you get a 59, or a 50? What was your grade in your final research project? If you did well in that AND just missed a 2:1 AND have some relevant experience, you might be more competitive - but it is still going to be an uphill struggle, I think.

I would forget about the Masters route, as it's ultimately not going expunge the 2:2 from your CV.

Perhaps not a nice question and I don't mean it maliciously, but there is also the consideration of whether you've got the drive/ability to complete a PhD if you didn't manage a 2:1 at undergraduate level. It is very challenging and ultimately the funder needs to be 100% sure that you will complete.

T

Quote From bongmaster5000:

In some disciplines, people have their MA/MSc funded as part of their PhD funding, though a 1+3 scholarship from a research council. However, I don't think this is done very often in the 'hard' sciences (I may be wrong?) as lots of people go straight to PhD from undergrad.



This is becoming the most common route for PhDs in the Sciences now too, but they are looking for exceptional candidates to be accepted onto a PhD. It's not really about doing a masters first.

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