Job Discussion Forums

[Gamajorba]

Howdy y'all.

So, I ended up applying for an MA in TESOL as a distance learning program. The theory is that I'll be able to practice what I learn when abroad, and still earn an MA. So, I applied to:

University of Birmingham (Applied Linguistics and TESOL as separate programs)
UCL Institution of Education
Aston University
Birmingham City University
Lancaster University
University of Manchester
University of Leicester
University of Portsmouth
University of Southampton

So far:
Manchester - rejected (came nowhere near to their requirements)
Birmingham - rejected for App Ling but accepted for TESOL (I applied for App Ling before I found the TESOL program and applied for both anyway)
Portsmouth - accepted
UCL - accepted
Lancaster - likely to be rejected due to missing reference (god knows whats happening there)
the rest - pending

So, Portsmouth was my number 1 option due to price, recommendations from a friend doing the campus version and Portsmouth being a reasonable university. It seemed apparent when asking them if I could even be considered for a place that they were a pretty good bet to accept me unlike the rest which I never thought I stood a chance with due to my credentials.

But, getting into Birmingham and UCL has kind of thrown me now. They're more expensive, and slightly more relevant to what I want to do in the future, and of course they're more well known, but...well...I'm not sure.

Any pearls of wisdom are always appreciated.

[spiral78]

Birmingham's good. Well, they both are, but I have a reasonable amount of insider info on Bham and would put in my 2 cent's worth of thumbs up on the program, for what that's worth.

[Gamajorba]

[Dedicated]

To be accepted by the Institute of Education at UCL is no mean achievement. They have just been voted in 2015 as No 1 for education worldwide in the QS World University Rankings.

This would be great on your CV.

[HLJHLJ]

It's not the same degree, but having a postgrad qualification specifically from UCL has occasionally opened doors for me. However, outside of the UK many people have little idea as to which are the best or worst universities. So personally, I would focus on choosing the course you most want to do, rather than focusing on the university.

[Gamajorba]

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

[Gamajorba]

[Gamajorba]

So I took the advice given earlier about looking at the professors who teach the course to see if any match my interests and I realised something:

I'm not actually 100% sure what I'm interested in...

Really dumb thing to say I know, but I really have no idea what kind of field I would pursue for a dissertation or anything! :S

[reddevil79]

Not dumb at all, but do as much as reading as you can and look closely at the module options on offer – which ones interest you initially? It might also be worth double checking with the universities that they will actually run the modules advertised and not drop them at the last minute due to lack of numbers.

Looking back on my Masters degree, the ones who had a good idea of what they were interested in and areas that they wanted to pursue did well. I pretty much knew from day one my thesis would be on Creoles – it helps to narrow and focus your research. So, read, read and read some more and reflect on your practice, you’ll soon get some ideas…..hopefully

[Gamajorba]

I'm still investigating the teachers at the moment. So far, UCL, Portsmouth and Birmingham all have pretty interesting modules, so it makes no difference to me which of the 3 I would choose in terms of modules, but I guess the professors could make a difference...I guess.

Still reading around as we speak, and trying to get a good idea of what I would want to pursue. Kind of annoying that I knew from my 1st year of my undergrad what I was going to do for my dissertation (and took me 4 years to do in the end...5 year course), and now this...eeek.

Time to hit more literature!