‘Emergency masters’ at Cambridge is a thing…

[Emergencymasters]

DS is now final year of humanities degree at Cambridge. Doing well - high 2.1 and possibly a 1st. He has just announced that he wants to do an ‘emergency masters’. I had no clue what this is - apparently ‘emergency masters’ is commonplace slang at Camb for students staying on for an extra year coz they don’t want to leave (not coz they love their subject!)! All very well but we will have to fund. Happy to do this - will be a financial stretch though - as DS is living his best life at Camb but just wanted thoughts from wise MNs

(I haven't read back to check which of English or History the DS is reading).

(Maybe it's Philosophy) (No idea but no integrated masters whichever).

OP, could you and DH loan DS the necessary funds to top up the government loan and whatever he can earn? With a proper contract, I mean.

Honestly, the hockey seems a very undergraduate thing. How many PGs play? (I write as a foreign academic married to a C alumnus who gave up sport for Part III.) There simply may not be time to do a good Master’s and do well in hockey. Which do you think DS would prioritise, and which would you prefer that he prioritise on your dime?

Sorry, OP. I confused your DS with someone else in making references to a GF a year younger. Please ignore those comments

Tongue un xheek. She is posting as though this only happens at cambridge.
And alao her dc sounds entitled ans immaturw

My DS is doing a Masters as he hadn't had enough of Academia yet, he was also only just 21 when he graduated, had missed a lot due to COVID and he paid for it himself out of savings. He also took a year off to work before doing it. I couldn't really tell him not to as I did a two year Master's straight out of uni paid for by grant + scholarship+ part time jobs, it was a lovely interlude in my life!

Definitely an"emergency masters" for DD! She had a job lined up for September 2020. Then Covid happened and the employer cancelled the contract as there was no one actually in the office to supervise newbies and they weren't sure what the business would look like post covid. Cue a panic call to her Cambridge college who said she could come back for an extra year and do the Masters. Relief all round as there was not a lot she could do with everything shut down. All worked out fine. She loved the Masters and the employer re-offered the job for the following September.

Great that it worked out for your daughter, but as an employer I wouldn't really consider the Master's a value add. It's only an option for the moneyed and even during Covid there were other options.
I hired a couple of graduates who had been in a similar situation, after their first offer fell through they'd volunteered, got involved in remote industry initiatives, etc, I was quite impressed.

Well. She was one of the lowest qualified graduates at her company even with the Masters ( which was only another year of UG funding and so is just being paid back as usual through earnings). Most of her company have PhDs so I think it did no harm. As someone who works in the third sector and whose organisation has a 70% volunteer base whilst I fully appreciate volunteers there are many who would not hold down paid employment. It's not necessarily a sign of a great potential employee.

Well of course not. It would depend on what exactly they did as volunteers. A weekly litter pick is quite different from helping to co-ordinate relief/rescue efforts across multiple countries or organising conferences/contributing to whitepapers for industry bodies.

A Master's also doesn't necessarily make someone a good hire. Unless your industry requires one, in which case it wouldn't be an 'emergency'. Also not sure how you accessed UG funding as that's only for an integrated Master's. PG loans are very much less generous, you only get 12K to cover everything including tuition fee and maintenance.

Again, nothing against your daughter - just that the worth of a last-minute Master's is debatable in answer to the OP's implied question.

DS was given a heavy hint today by coach that he has made first hockey team (a Blue). Will be confirmed next week. Still wants to stay on in Cambridge for another year after his History degree though! He wants to go into police or law firm (not sure yet) and, as there are no law masters at Camb open to history undergrads, he is thInking Criminolgy MPhil. Is this a good plan?00

You might as well give us his date of birth and bank details now op!

He won't need a masters to enter to the police or law, so financially it's a terrible plan. But he's an adult, he can make his own choices. If he wants to throw a lot of cash at extending his lifestyle for one more year, so be it. As long as it's not your money.

'Emergency masters' may be a new little phrase, but the phenomenon is longstanding. In fact it was probably waaay more common in the past when there were no tuition fees. I guess my motivation when taking on postgrad study in the 80s/90s was partly that fear of the world beyond college.

The only thing that might make it worse now is that students are consumers. They pay. So higher education institutions may be a little more likely to say 'yes, sure, fill your boots' when you ask to study additional degrees that may not be appropriate for you. Just like restaurant owners aren't likely to turn away customers who pay five or ten quid for dessert even though they are full up ("Finally, monsieur, a wafer-thin mint?").

Unless he's interested in a very niche career area that requires further study (eg cyber crime, cloud computing etc) or needs to compensate for a lacklustre undergrad performance, there's no real labour market benefit to doing a masters IMO. (Speaking as someone who spent a decade working in University careers guidance.) So unless he's got a clear game plan, I would be pushing him out into the real world....

I'd be quite disgusted if that were my kid tbh. So he expects you to shell out 5 figures because he can't be arsed getting a job? Nice young man

It doesn't sound like a good plan financially no. And you don't have to fund him

Loads of students want to do this because they are anxious about the need to join the workforce. Lots decide not to because they find a job or realise the next year will be very different because they won't be with the same people/house/course etc. However, you do not need to fund him at all.

@StamppotAndGravy ". I-refuse-to-grow-up-yet phds" lol I had a friend at uni who was doing this. He'd graduated before I started uni but loved being in the uni lifestyle, in particular musical theatre society and was "working on " his phd for the four years of my degree plus a couple more afterwards. He did actually get it in the end but I've no idea if he actually does a job relating to it, all I know is he still does semi-professionnal drama.

Why can’t he fund himself?

So after his Criminology MPhil is he planning for you to pay for a law conversion so he can become a lawyer?

He needs to grow up. What will he does with his Blue? It's not going to help him join the police, that's what the graduate entry scheme is for.

I worked with a guy who'd done this, then ended up completely changing career and regretted not doing a masters in his new field. It might be better to wait and genuinely do a masters when he's decided a career path, but up to you guys tbh.

"I-refuse-to-grow-up-yet phds"

Or, as my mum used to describe someone we used to know - the perennial student.

I'm in HR and automatically discount anyone who went straight from undergrad into a Masters 🤫

That is a ridiculous statement, I am senior leadership and can’t imagine what sort of organisation would sift someone out on those grounds.