Hi all,

I'm posing a question around a hypothetical scenario, similar to my own, in order to get some advice from anyone with their own credible experiences and opinions.

Imagine you hold an offer for an MPhil in Philosophy from two well respected departments.

The first offer is from a university such as UCL or King's which generally comes out very strong on both RAE and Gourmet rankings - usually 3rd, 4th or 5th in England after Oxbridge,

The second offer for the same course is from a mid-tier department such as Birkbeck or Reading which are good departments in their own right but ranked lower around 10th or 11th.

The dilemma is that you have a department scholarship to accompany the latter offer, but not the former. Now, I reckon with a bit of work, I can secure the finances to take the course at the higher ranked institute but it would definitely make life a little easier to know that my course fees, costs etc. can be taken care of using my scholarship.

Though I am not 100% sure what I plan to do after completing my MPhil, I am seriously considering the Phd route to see what opportunities there might be in academia. With this option in mind, I don't know how much of a difference it will make to my CV to choose one way or the other.

Thoughts???

Personally I'd go for funding every time.

I agree - go for the funding. The difference between ranks 1-11 at Masters is quite small, and it matters less after undergrad.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Anyone who thinks ranking (which I imagine is consequently reflected in the size and quality of the department?) trumps funding?? Particularly any philosophy postgrads ...