Ah, it figures Oxbridge would do their own thing ;)
I studied comparative literature as an undergrad, and was looking at the European Master's in Translation network programmes, and MAs in European Lit. I applied to a tonne of places, but I am going to the Uni of Virginia (for a PhD in Hispanic Literature) because they gave me a nice fellowship and I would have had to borrow the money for the British unis. The situation isn't the best right now and I didn't want to end up in a bad situation already heavily indebted - it had nothing to do with the quality of education or the programmes themselves.
I applied to both Edinburgh and Manchester and they actually had a bit about each degree that told you what it would be good for on their sites - further study, professional training, etc. Look into those websites more, maybe the details will be there and you'll have more concrete information.
About employment - it will always vary according to who you ask. The differences in North American and British programmes is that Canadian and US degrees usually have a mandatory teaching assistantship that is part of your financial aid. You won't get this with British programs. You will, however, get your degree faster and you will have a lot more research and original work experience (maybe even publications). It all varies on what kind of institution you want to teach at after you get your degree (small, liberal arts-like places, or research-intensive institutions, etc) and in what country. As I said, by law, all EEA countries will HAVE to recognise your British degree, but they're within their rights to ask you to homologate your foreign titles to meet Bologna Agreement standards if they want to. So it all depends on your priorities! Sorry if this is a bit long and kind of boring, but I applied to grad school in 5 different countries, to 3 different types of programmes, and I'm in a weird place tuition-fee wise since I have an EU passport but have lost my residency. So I did a tonne of research and I have no idea what's interesting or relevant to you so I might have gone a bit overboard. Sorry about that!
Oh, and have you looked at this website yet? You have to register to use everything but it's well worth it. :)
I will have completed my undergrad in English Lit (Honours) at the University of British Columbia by the end of this term. The degree itself has been great, I just realized near the end what it was exactly that I wanted to study, and that for the majority of my degree I hadn't been studying it. Isn't that always the way?
Wahoowah! My dad graduated from UVa. Congratulations on the admission and the fellowship! That's a very good point about fellowships/TA-ships, I hadn't really thought about that. It's such a given at my (enormous) university I forgot that not everywhere would be this way. I really don't want to go to an American school, not because they're not amazing in their own ways, but because I hate standardized testing and the programs I was looking at for my area of interest are few and far between. But they still fund people! Drat.
I will probably be in a similar place with my citizenship, as I'm a citizen of the UK by birth and have the birth certificate and passport to prove it, but have never been a resident.
What kinds of programs did you apply to? I'm looking at applying to at least two different kinds of programs with two if not three different kinds of degrees. I'm starting to get my head around the different names and what I would get out of them, but I'm still lost on the department debacle. For me I guess it comes down to freedom, because there only appears to be one taught program that fits my taste exactly and its at Oxford, which is great, I just don't know how likely it is that I would get in...
The fellowships/TA and other funding things are very important. Since you've never had UK citizenship (you have not lived within the EEA in the past 5 years have you?) you'll have to pay international fees. They're a lot more expensive. On the upside, as a UK citizen you're allowed to work while you study and don't have to pay for visas and all that pain in the butt stuff.
To be honest, after doing my undergrad in the States I didn't want to stay for graduate school, but they're still the best funded programs (with further funding availiable for travel and research abroad). Have you looked at the Canadian unis? They're subsidising even foreign nationals, so I bet their financial aid for residents/citizens must be amazing. But I hear you about finding the right programme - I like interdisciplinary stuff a lot, and it's a priority for me (I wouldn't want to go to a strictly traditional language department for example) and it's sometimes hard to find a good match. Have you looked at Bristol? I studied there for a semester and their English department is varied, thorough and very complete if you're interested.
In the UK I applied to 3 kinds of programmes - the European translation ones I previously mentioned (I wanted to work in-house for either the UN or the EU and not freelance, otherwise I would have gone for any translation technology programme), Hispanic Literature, and 'European Literature' which was actually different depending on the university; it's been a while so I can't remember which now, but one of them was more of a war studies thing as seen through literature in different countries in their respective languages. I quite liked that one.
Since you're going to keep on studying till your PhD, I think you should focus more on the programme and the people in the department rather than worrying about the different terminology (like in Scotland they'll have a different name for a Master's than in Wales or England but it's the exact same thing, so I don't think it matters as much as how the programme is structured and what is required). Once you're in and have a tutor assigned, you can tell them what it is that you're planning to do, career-wise, and they'll guide you and point you to the right direction. I have a friend doing an archaeology MA in Sheffield and she wasn't planning on going on to an PhD and writing a dissertation, but she changed her mind as she went along and her department was wonderful and helpful helping her out.
I studied comparative literature as an undergrad, and was looking at the European Master's in Translation network programmes, and MAs in European Lit. I applied to a tonne of places, but I am going to the Uni of Virginia (for a PhD in Hispanic Literature) because they gave me a nice fellowship and I would have had to borrow the money for the British unis. The situation isn't the best right now and I didn't want to end up in a bad situation already heavily indebted - it had nothing to do with the quality of education or the programmes themselves.
I applied to both Edinburgh and Manchester and they actually had a bit about each degree that told you what it would be good for on their sites - further study, professional training, etc. Look into those websites more, maybe the details will be there and you'll have more concrete information.
About employment - it will always vary according to who you ask. The differences in North American and British programmes is that Canadian and US degrees usually have a mandatory teaching assistantship that is part of your financial aid. You won't get this with British programs. You will, however, get your degree faster and you will have a lot more research and original work experience (maybe even publications). It all varies on what kind of institution you want to teach at after you get your degree (small, liberal arts-like places, or research-intensive institutions, etc) and in what country. As I said, by law, all EEA countries will HAVE to recognise your British degree, but they're within their rights to ask you to homologate your foreign titles to meet Bologna Agreement standards if they want to. So it all depends on your priorities!
Sorry if this is a bit long and kind of boring, but I applied to grad school in 5 different countries, to 3 different types of programmes, and I'm in a weird place tuition-fee wise since I have an EU passport but have lost my residency. So I did a tonne of research and I have no idea what's interesting or relevant to you so I might have gone a bit overboard. Sorry about that!
Oh, and have you looked at this website yet? You have to register to use everything but it's well worth it. :)
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Wahoowah! My dad graduated from UVa. Congratulations on the admission and the fellowship! That's a very good point about fellowships/TA-ships, I hadn't really thought about that. It's such a given at my (enormous) university I forgot that not everywhere would be this way. I really don't want to go to an American school, not because they're not amazing in their own ways, but because I hate standardized testing and the programs I was looking at for my area of interest are few and far between. But they still fund people! Drat.
I will probably be in a similar place with my citizenship, as I'm a citizen of the UK by birth and have the birth certificate and passport to prove it, but have never been a resident.
What kinds of programs did you apply to? I'm looking at applying to at least two different kinds of programs with two if not three different kinds of degrees. I'm starting to get my head around the different names and what I would get out of them, but I'm still lost on the department debacle. For me I guess it comes down to freedom, because there only appears to be one taught program that fits my taste exactly and its at Oxford, which is great, I just don't know how likely it is that I would get in...
Reply
The fellowships/TA and other funding things are very important. Since you've never had UK citizenship (you have not lived within the EEA in the past 5 years have you?) you'll have to pay international fees. They're a lot more expensive. On the upside, as a UK citizen you're allowed to work while you study and don't have to pay for visas and all that pain in the butt stuff.
To be honest, after doing my undergrad in the States I didn't want to stay for graduate school, but they're still the best funded programs (with further funding availiable for travel and research abroad). Have you looked at the Canadian unis? They're subsidising even foreign nationals, so I bet their financial aid for residents/citizens must be amazing. But I hear you about finding the right programme - I like interdisciplinary stuff a lot, and it's a priority for me (I wouldn't want to go to a strictly traditional language department for example) and it's sometimes hard to find a good match. Have you looked at Bristol? I studied there for a semester and their English department is varied, thorough and very complete if you're interested.
In the UK I applied to 3 kinds of programmes - the European translation ones I previously mentioned (I wanted to work in-house for either the UN or the EU and not freelance, otherwise I would have gone for any translation technology programme), Hispanic Literature, and 'European Literature' which was actually different depending on the university; it's been a while so I can't remember which now, but one of them was more of a war studies thing as seen through literature in different countries in their respective languages. I quite liked that one.
Since you're going to keep on studying till your PhD, I think you should focus more on the programme and the people in the department rather than worrying about the different terminology (like in Scotland they'll have a different name for a Master's than in Wales or England but it's the exact same thing, so I don't think it matters as much as how the programme is structured and what is required). Once you're in and have a tutor assigned, you can tell them what it is that you're planning to do, career-wise, and they'll guide you and point you to the right direction. I have a friend doing an archaeology MA in Sheffield and she wasn't planning on going on to an PhD and writing a dissertation, but she changed her mind as she went along and her department was wonderful and helpful helping her out.
Hope that helps! And good luck ♥
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