Master's degrees in France

[horizon_eyes]

I'm looking into Master's degree programs at French universities and have come across some worrisome statements concerning the value of such a degree outside of France. My questions are under the cut.

Comments

[tyopsqueene]

Now, to be helpful to the OP. Graduate study in North America is structured along quite different lines (and for different outcomes...) than that in most of the EU. It is the case, therefore, that if you do MA study in the EU, it might not 'do the work' of a US MA, and might not be as good for you CV/career as a US qualification (er, assuming you want to stay in the US...)

That said, it is extraordinarily subject, site and course specific. "Humanities" is pretty vague! If you can get into an excellent department, write a thesis with a top scholar - then the odds shift in your favour. You are going to need to do some proper, specific research, and ask people about specific programmes and departments. The better French unis are the ones in Paris, plus Lyon, but there are excellent departments in some subjects elsewhere.

Finally; however much time you have on your hands, if you're based in France, you aren't going to be able to do a UK Masters course, unless you want to do it postal (in which case, frankly, why not just get a Univ. of Phoenix MA and be done with it). EU Masters courses are shorter than US ones, which usually makes them intense (at least, the ones worth doing), and you will be expected to be a physical presence for seminars, workshops, lectures, conferences, meetings, peer group sessions yadda. Even so-called 'research only' masters have a pretty large taught component, and in any case are less likely to take on/be appropriate for a US undergraduate who will have had less experience of focused research than an EU undergraduate (due to the way that EU undergrad degrees specialise hard, and early). I guess that it's *feasible*, if you were based in Paris, that you could do a London-based MA, but you would have to be willing to shuttle across on the Eurostar at least a couple of times a week, and that ain't cheap.

[tisiphone]

That really ain't cheap - it'd cost you a couple hundred quid per trip.

[tyopsqueene]

Mmm, a minimum of about £70 if you prebook and travel at the off peak times (e.g. 6am :D), but I think a hundred, hundred fifty is closer to the mark.
Dollar's good against EU currencies at the moment though, and there's a loyalty scheme!

(yeah, I wouldn't).

[tisiphone]

Hmm, yeah, I was going by my pricing due to never pre-booking (pre-plan? What is this!) Still run you a couple hundred quid a week, however.

[horizon_eyes]

I wish I could be more specific about "humanities" but I'm not entirely sure about the specifics myself, yet. Until yesterday morning, grad school seemed a distant possibility for me.

Sorry for not specifying this either- if I pursue a Master's in the UK, I will definitely need to complete the program outside of my teaching job in France. That's fine with me because I would love to spend some time in the UK as well! It seemed like a good deal to complete an MA while I'm bumming around in France, but if my French MA is not considered acceptable elsewhere it seems I'll need to look into other possibilities.

Thanks so much for your advice. I appreciate it :)