<p>I’m 0-for-3 in trying to get responses to this on College Search and Selection, the British CC equivalent, and from the University College of London so, I decided, it’s time to turn to the greatest peer advice resource there is - the Parent Cafe.</p>
<p>My American D will graduate from college in May 2012 and is talking about pursuing a masters (International Policy perhaps?) in the UK, ideally in the London area. Do you know whether US students can get the equivalent of what we’d call Grad Assistantships at British univs, or is that a uniquely American thing?</p>
<p>I don’t know if it is uniquely American, but the way UK universities, or at least Oxbridge is set up, there aren’t sections, just tutorials, and master’s degree candidates certainly can’t do those!</p>
<p>Now perhaps there’s something roughly equivalent in the sciences for running labs or some such, but not in international policy. </p>
<p>Even in the US, at least at top Us, first year master’s candidates aren’t TAs either. I suspect it’s actually more common to have UG TAs–a few <em>stars</em> in their fields. Most Us are going to want to see wht you are like before handing you a classroom, which means you’ll need at least one semester, and usually a year under your belt.</p>
<p>Oxbridge, at least, treats its M.Phil. programs as “cash cows.” It’s hard to get money as a US citizen. You stand in the line behind UK residents, EU residents, and (to a lesser extent now) Commonwealth citizens.</p>
<p>No, there are no assistantships on MA level neither in Cambridge or Oxford. The system here is quite different from the US one, and there are no TA-s; although people can teach at a PhD level, even can have supervisions.
The MPhil’s in Oxbridge introduced about twenty years ago, and I agree with Jonri: while the MPhil have it’s values (it’s a masters from Oxbridge, after all) it’s pretty hard to get funding for an MPhil, as both institutions focus on PhD scholarships. Of course, in the US the PhD students receive most scholarships, not the master level students, so it’s not that different…
It could be a bit confusing, that many Uk universities, including many London colleges (well, these are universities, of course) offer MA-s and MPhil-s as well, and the MPhil is a higher degree, while in Oxford and Cambridge, the MPhil is the masters, as 4 or 5 years after graduation, people automatically receive a titular, worthless MA, because of historical reasons. (Needless to say, Oxbridge traditions run deep…). And of course in Scotland, some ancient universities award an MA after 4 years, so it’s a BA. Quite chaotic, have to admit… :D</p>
<p>Neither master’s nor PhDs in the UK are funded by the university, especially not for non-Europeans. Research PhDs can seek funding from research councils, a few will offer funding to non-UK citizens, but that would be tough for a masters, it’s tough to find it and apply from abroad, too.</p>
<p>The US kids I know with funding in the UK are covering R&B by being dorm wardens (resident asst) and got research council funding. There are also big famous prestigious scholarships, but that is really competitive.</p>
<p>“Neither master’s nor PhDs in the UK are funded by the university” </p>
<p>Are you sure about this? Oxford and Cambridge have many full and partial MPhil/PhD scholarships that completely separate from research grants; the biggest ones are obviously the Rhodes and Gates scholarships (which are indeed extremely competetive), but there are many other scholarships in both places offered by the university, not to mention the ones awarded by the colleges. I have no idea what’s the situation in other UK universities, but Oxbridge have plenty scholarships available, that are absolutely separate from the block grants.</p>
<p>Also, in case of the government block grants, the biggest difference is not between the UK and the rest, but between the UK, EU and the rest of the world, as non EU citizens can not apply for such funding. (Although there are many scholarships in both places for commonwealth students.)</p>
<p>I don’t mean to be pedantic, but I see this a lot on CC and always ache to correct the mistake. It’s called University College London, there’s no of in there.</p>