Holland good move for Masters?

[AuntGlegg]

My girl will graduate this summer ( Cambridge, English) and doesn't want to shut the door completely on taking English further, but has missed the application date for this year. She's now considering a one-year Masters in International Relations from the University of Leiden, and is convinced she can earn enough by teaching English in Holland to support herself while she does this.

Does anyone have views on a) the usefulness of an Int.Rel Masters?
b) the realistic possiblity of earning by teaching English ( last time I was in Holland everyone spoke it perfectly) and c) the desirability/undesirability of a Masters in an unrelated subject if she does decide to apply for a Masters in English at a UK university the following year? I'm concerned it all looks/is a bit flakey....

You will get more responses on Higher Education and from Academics Corner.

Firstly, I doubt that that she has missed all UK application deadlines. Even where the deadline has passed it may be that late applications are considered. Wise to ask her director of studies about this.

Secondly, International Relations is aimed at people who want to work in diplomacy etc. The Leiden course is reasonably well valued but it is also a cash cow i.e. they accept minimally qualified students to generate income.

I don't think having done this course would particularly count against her for UK applications later. It's not unusual for people to apply for Masters/PhD having taken a break from studying. She would need to explain why she took this course though.

Overall I would be asking her what her longterm plan is. What would she do with an English Masters? Does she want to do a PhD? Is she realistic about how hard it is to get funding and how difficult an academic career is? Does she know that very few people who do PhDs actually secure academic positions later? What would she do with the International Relations masters? Etc etc.

And it's unrealistic to think that she can make a living out of teaching English in Holland, unless she is qualified in TEAL and she has a specific job opportunity lined up. English tuition in primary schools onwards is good. There isn't a big market for private English tuition and the market is very crowded already, with lots of foreign students looking to do this.

General comment, not on this specific course as I am not familiar with it at.

Leiden is a good University with a good international reputation. She'll have an absolute blast living in the Netherlands. If she can use the experience to become fluent in another European language this would be a big plus if I assume correctly that she's interested in an internationally-oriented career.