To be fair, as much as I know, most uni's don't have a deadline for MA's they just wait for applications. It would be tight now if you still wanted to apply for october but if you sent your apps off and talked to the dept you might still get one, just stay positive!

I'm just coming to the completion of a Full Time MA in Field Archaeology. I managed to work part time during my first semester (I had a field work module that took away thursdays and a midday lecture on Fridays that took that away from me!) and in my second semester all my modules were evening lectures so I could work Full time although i negotiated Tuesday afternoons off so that I could have an afternoon for meetings in hte department with lecturers if need be and otherwise lock my self in my room and work. I think its possible to work full time in some MA's and still pull off good marks (I have merits in some of my coursework and 2 marks off a distinction in one of my conference posters) but the easiest way to do it is to join with a temp agency and make them aware that you are an MA. The agency I was with was really good and when I had to go away for excavations they just took me off the register for 2 weeks or whatever and explained to whoever I was working for that I was unable to work at that point! So maybe consider that! I was paying my rent and still managing to go out for a few beers occasionally!

It depends, I thought if you were an EU resident you could still get a CDL caus the stipulation for it is that you don't work outside the EU for the next so many years (in my case 5 caus thats how long its gonna take me to pay back the loan with the economy at the moment)
Anyhow the CDL comes from 3 banks although since RBS is struggling atm i wouldn't get it from them, I used Co-op. Its a loan that you get in a lump sum, pay your tuition out of nad then use the rest to help you out. I'e got a 8k loan from them which I can spread the cost of paying back over 5 years, it ties me down which is horrible, but on the other hand it paid for the MA! Its quite good and you get a break for a couple of months afterwards before you have to pay it back which means atleast you can find a job. You just apply, provide a breakdown of what you need for funding i.e. how much for fees, how much for books, how much for rent etc etc...
Thats the jist really...just make sure you can pay it back!

Hey
Don't worry about it. Departments are so supportive of the masters students its usually fine. I'm just coming to the end of an MA in field archaeology and my undergraduate degree was in Classical Civilisations, I had no knowledge of practical archaeology starting my MA and I was terrified that I really wasn't up to hte job bearing in mind I only got a 2:2 for my BA and yet here I am, breezing through my Dissertation (am at 15K words and still have plenty to say to get it to 20K!) and actually pulling off better marks at MA level than I ever was at undergrad level! So never ever think you dont diserve or wont be able to handle it, because the university accepted you for the MA, they feel that you would do well or they wouldn't have accepted you, so consider your self amazing to get this far and just keep going, feel confident and you'll do great!
P.S. Don't worry about faffing, we all do it! I've managed to watch every single episode of Rome series 1 & 2 and complete battle for middle earth while working on my dissertation this summer, if your mind wants to faff at our age it generally means its telling you it needs the break, nad to be fair with the way MA's can be at times it probably does! so treat yourself!
Rach x

Don't worry, my supervisor is just the same, He never replies to emails, I have finally got him to look over a draft of almost finished dissertation work, but I've added to it (obviously!) since. He's supposed to be off up north for 3 weeks the 3 weeks before my dissertation is due (sept the 19th) I was like great! thankfully, he's infamous for it as it turns out and most of the other lecturers in the department are really sympathetic and offering to read it and help me out! and the lady in charge of admin in the department has said if i copy her in on all the emails I send to him she can officially chase him up, so maybe that's the only option we have, copy other lecturers or staff in so they know how annoying the supervisor involved is!

Yeah i've buddied up with a couple of lecturers, and i do fieldwork for my course, but like all normal working people i can't go around doing loads of voluteer work caus i can't afford to be not working! and the problem that i find with archaeology is that you can't get a job without experience and you can't get experience without a job, is a nasty vicious circle! grrr...i'm trying my best, i guess i'll just have to keep pushing...just really drags you down!

I'm looking for a PhD in Archaeology, preferably Classics related as my MA in Field Archaeology was looking at a Roman temple site. It's so irritating, as I never feel that that many are offered when it comes to being sponsered (I'm seriously in debt from my MA let alone trying to pay for a PhD!), the one I did apply for turned around and said that while the application was good, i didn't have enough experiece in report writing, which tbh was kinda the point in applying....to get the experience, caus lets be honest, who manages to write official reports before they can get to a kinda Dr level???? I just feel like unless your buddied up to the lecturers involved atm it's really difficult to get a PhD, (the guy who was offered the interview for the PhD concerned already worked with the lecturer) I'm just losing all hope at the moment that I can actually make something of my life PhD wise! any one else feeling this blah at the moment?