Hi southsidesunset. I think everone's more-or-less answered your questions already, but I thought perhaps I could help clarify further.
I'm from the U.K. (heading to North America for my Ph.D) and have done both my BA and MA at British universities.
An MSc is a Master of Science and an MA is a Master of Arts - and, as far as I'm aware, does not hold any less weight than an MA. The difference in title just reflects the amount of technical-type content the degree entails. For example, Geography and Economics Master's degrees can be either an MSc or an MA depending upon the content of the course. In Geo, if you concentrate more on GIS and earth systems etc you'd get an MSc, whereas if you concentrated on political or cultural geography you'd get an MA. I imagine that it is very similar for linguistics - the more technical programs will grant an MSc.
The MSt is a Master of Studies and at most places is seen as a sort of half rung lower than an MA or MSc. The anomaly here being Oxford, who have to find another name for their MA's because, as someone mentioned, they grant MA's automatically to BA holders.The Oxford MSt therefore = MA, as does the Cambridge MPhil (for the same reasons).
If you have any further questions feel free to PM me. I did my BA at Oxford, so if that MSt question indicates you're looking at their programmes I'd be happy to try and answer any questions you might have in that regard.
Thanks so much! Yeah, the MSt would be at Oxford. Edinburgh is equally funny about their degrees (for the same reason as Oxford, I think) as their Master's is an MSc.
I will definitely have more questions for you once I start the application process. Oxford really does seem to be it's own universe :)
I'm from the U.K. (heading to North America for my Ph.D) and have done both my BA and MA at British universities.
An MSc is a Master of Science and an MA is a Master of Arts - and, as far as I'm aware, does not hold any less weight than an MA. The difference in title just reflects the amount of technical-type content the degree entails. For example, Geography and Economics Master's degrees can be either an MSc or an MA depending upon the content of the course. In Geo, if you concentrate more on GIS and earth systems etc you'd get an MSc, whereas if you concentrated on political or cultural geography you'd get an MA. I imagine that it is very similar for linguistics - the more technical programs will grant an MSc.
The MSt is a Master of Studies and at most places is seen as a sort of half rung lower than an MA or MSc. The anomaly here being Oxford, who have to find another name for their MA's because, as someone mentioned, they grant MA's automatically to BA holders.The Oxford MSt therefore = MA, as does the Cambridge MPhil (for the same reasons).
If you have any further questions feel free to PM me. I did my BA at Oxford, so if that MSt question indicates you're looking at their programmes I'd be happy to try and answer any questions you might have in that regard.
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I will definitely have more questions for you once I start the application process. Oxford really does seem to be it's own universe :)
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