alkyatraz, First of all if you end up in place like London or Glasgow or Edinburgh, the cost of living is very high - regardless of whether you live in school housing or somewhere else. Second, you are allowed to work only 20 hours a week during school season (more often than not in minimum hourly/daily wages). This will in no way cover your living/school expenses if you plan to pay your own way through in majority of good grad schools. Third if you end up in schools which are located in the neck of wood (so to speak - schools with comparatively cheaper fee - for example University of Sunderland) you will be hard pressed to find a job for yourself. Thus basically it is a catch 22 situation. You want to go to good school - you won't be able to pay your way through. You want to go to a cheaper school - you won't be able to get a job. For social sciences the best school in UK probably is LSE (London School of Economics) - quite difficult to get in though. It is also bloody expensive. As are Oxford and Edinburgh. Durham/Stratchlyde are very nice as well. If you really want to go to management streams you should try either LBS (London Business School), MBS (Manchester Business School) , Cranfield or Stratchlyde in Glasgow. Note that the programs here are 18 months - 24 months programs - as opposed to normal practice of a 12 months master programs. All these schools are very expensive - 40,000 pounds for LBS (tuition fee only - living expenses not included) to 28,00 pounds for Stratchlyde. However if you can get into LBS or MBS there is a high probability that you might be able to get a loan from HSBC - payable in 5 years (in case of MBS) or 7 years (in case of LBS). The loan process can start only after you have been accepted and paid the upfront fee to the school. If your loan application is denied, the school will refund your upfront fee. The interest rate is extermly competitive. And this is open to all students. Unlike majority of British schools, the fee is same for home students (for example me) or overseas student (you). All four schools require very high GMAT score and work experiences. LBS has a rolling intake. I don't know about others. cheers Brat