Backstory: I had previously accepted an offer to another University in the States before I had applied, interviewed and was accepted as a Master’s student at University of Limerick, here is why I changed my mind in a matter of a week…

1. Costs

UL was a lot more inexpensive than the original program in the US that I had accepted. Just to give you a bit of a price range: $32,000 a semester to €4,000 a semester.

2. Time

   

One year later and the three international students in the Programme graduated!

UL was a lot less time consuming as well! For the US, the Master’s program I was going to do was around 2 years with an internship, whereas, UL was only 1 year!

3. Type of Degree

   

View from Kemmy Business School’s Postgraduate Break Room at UL

In the States, a lot of the business programs are MA, but I wanted to do research in the field. UL offers a MSc program in the field I was most interested in (MSc in Work and Organisational Behaviour)!

4. No Standardized Test

Unlike most schools in the US, my program at UL did not require a standardized exam to ‘prove’ my abilities. For those of you who are familiar, that’s right, no GRE required!

5. Funding

I found it very easy to figure out my finances here at UL! First off, the US financial aid was easily figured out with the help of the talented Maria in the international office! Also, many scholarships are available to non-native students, I chose to stay at UL after my Masters and even received a Departmental Scholarship for my PhD.

6. The Craic

International Night at The Stables

“The craic” is Irish for good fun! UL’s campus is hands down the craic; there are pubs, a beautiful Riverwalk, a mini market each Tuesday, an International Night every Friday to meet other international students, and many year-round events put on by a variety of UL clubs and societies!

7. Cheap Travel

Ryanair, nuff said; but, honestly, the flights are so cheap! It’s nice to be able to go to London for €9.99 or to Edinburgh for €14.99, so if you’re looking to travel (like I was), this may be in your Top 7 reasons for choosing to do a postgrad at UL!

 – By Ashley Bamberg, PhD researcher at the Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick

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