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University of Oxford, Pawel-Sytniewski
University of Oxford
Oxford

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Reply 60
emioly
Am I right in thinking that it is a lot harder to get funding for postgrad if you are doing something you didn't study at undergrad?
Also, are masters in the US the same length at British ones?

Sorry to hijack the thread here but, say I am studying philosophy, if I took mostly political modules do you think I would stand a chance getting onto an international relations/politics type course? Or a course where I can learn a language? I'm not particularly thinking oxbridge; more SOAS or a course from SSEES at UCL - where I would have to pick up a language in a year. I am near fluent in one language already and have taken up another which I hope to be quite good at in a couple of years but I wouldn't really have any 'proof' that I am adequate at languages...


What are the languages you can speak? There are tests that you could take to prove your level, like the DALF/DEFL for French and some other I know nothing about for German and Spanish, there is also one for Russian (since you seem to be interested in SSEES).
University of Oxford, Pawel-Sytniewski
University of Oxford
Oxford
Reply 61
Anatheme
I love you, Angelil :love:
How's France going, btw? I hope people are not mean to you :hmmm:

Haha, thanks for asking! I love living here and my job is great too (well, I love private tutoring and my quatrièmes are lovely...my sixièmes are hell on legs though!!!).
Reply 62
emioly
German and French which unfortunately aren't really anything like the languages I would potentially like to study. Yes, I'd either like to do an eastern european language like Hungarian (is this useless? lol) or possibly Russian or maybe arabic. It says on the website that these languages are taught assuming no prior knowledge of the language but that you are expected to have demonstrated an ability to learn a language. I expect it is very difficult though - they seem to say you will have a very good understanding by the end of the course and to become that good at a language in a year must require a lot of hard work. It's not compulsory to study a language though - you can choose to do the intensive course; only for certain modules is a language prerequisite but the language thing would be one of the big attractions for me.
Tbh, I've had a big decision at undergraduate between philosophy and languages/politic type courses and I eventually just made the decision for philosophy on the basis that I was hoping to keep up my interest for languages outside of education.


Unless you really have a very strong interest in Hungary and/or want to work there, I'm not sure you could use it that much. Russian and Arabic are useful, but they're hell to learn (I'm currently doing both at uni, they're absolutely lovely but there is always one I wanna drop, lol). I don't really want to imagine how hard it's gonna be to study one of them in one year, but I would definitely advise you to start learning one of them (I would say Russian more than Arabic unless you're willing to spend a lot of time there to master the language. My grammar teacher told us once that even at the end of our degree we would be able to speak it properly :sad:). It would of course improve your job prospects but they're also part of two amazing cultures and they're very enjoyable if you don't have any problem with working hard and regularly :smile:
Rosie151
I apologise for making another 'what are my chances' thread but it had to be done.

I am currently in my second year studying mathematics at Warwick University. I got a high first last year and am predicted a first overall.

I am interested in studying either international relations or management as a masters. This may seeme slightly unusual but I do have reasons for it. Firstly I have always been interested in politics and considered going for either PPE or maths but then chose maths. I follow UK and international politics closely, reading The Economist, The New Statesman and other political and economic journals regularly. I read a lot about politics just for my own interest and go to regular talks by the politics/debating societies. However I have never studied politics or international relations.

Secondly management. My maths degree is very flexible and I have taken several management and business options in both my first and second years and intend to take more in my third year. I really enjoy these modules and can see myself going further with them.

I can really see myself studying either one of these subjects at masters level. Although I love my maths degree I do not want to go into academia or banking and would like to study something more relevant to my future career.

However I am worried that universities, especially the prestigious ones I intend to apply to, will not understand why I am applying for one of these subjects with a maths degree and reject me in favour of applicants with politics/history/economics degrees in the former case and economics/business degrees in the latter.

I am interested in applying to both Oxford and Cambridge but more interested in going to the US to study, in which case I would be applying to Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Berkeley, Duke, Chicago and others. I have already researched these colleges.

What do you think my chances are at applying for either international relations or management masters degrees are and how can I improve them?

Just to let you know my stats:
I should graduate with a 1st class degree in mathematics from Warwick in 2010
I have straight As at A-Level
I have plenty of extra-curriculars and positions of responsibility (newspaper, sports, drama, music etc) but not particularly relevant ones
I don't have much work experience. The last time I did work experience was in sixth form so I'm a bit worried about this.
I'm quite good at taking verbal/non verbal reasoning tests. (I'm a member of Mensa so those are the kind of questions I can do - perhaps less good at those verbal comprehension type ones though.)

Please help!


I understand this is a very old thread, but just posting because you will be applying this year. You have a very good chance if you maintain a first. I got a first from the same Uni as yours and got into Oxbridge/LSE
Reply 64
Rosie151
I apologise for making another 'what are my chances' thread but it had to be done.

I am currently in my second year studying mathematics at Warwick University. I got a high first last year and am predicted a first overall.

I am interested in studying either international relations or management as a masters. This may seeme slightly unusual but I do have reasons for it. Firstly I have always been interested in politics and considered going for either PPE or maths but then chose maths. I follow UK and international politics closely, reading The Economist, The New Statesman and other political and economic journals regularly. I read a lot about politics just for my own interest and go to regular talks by the politics/debating societies. However I have never studied politics or international relations.

Secondly management. My maths degree is very flexible and I have taken several management and business options in both my first and second years and intend to take more in my third year. I really enjoy these modules and can see myself going further with them.

I can really see myself studying either one of these subjects at masters level. Although I love my maths degree I do not want to go into academia or banking and would like to study something more relevant to my future career.

However I am worried that universities, especially the prestigious ones I intend to apply to, will not understand why I am applying for one of these subjects with a maths degree and reject me in favour of applicants with politics/history/economics degrees in the former case and economics/business degrees in the latter.

I am interested in applying to both Oxford and Cambridge but more interested in going to the US to study, in which case I would be applying to Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Berkeley, Duke, Chicago and others. I have already researched these colleges.

What do you think my chances are at applying for either international relations or management masters degrees are and how can I improve them?

Just to let you know my stats:
I should graduate with a 1st class degree in mathematics from Warwick in 2010
I have straight As at A-Level
I have plenty of extra-curriculars and positions of responsibility (newspaper, sports, drama, music etc) but not particularly relevant ones
I don't have much work experience. The last time I did work experience was in sixth form so I'm a bit worried about this.
I'm quite good at taking verbal/non verbal reasoning tests. (I'm a member of Mensa so those are the kind of questions I can do - perhaps less good at those verbal comprehension type ones though.)

Please help!

no chance
Reply 65
Rosie151


I am interested in applying to both Oxford and Cambridge but more interested in going to the US to study, in which case I would be applying to Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Berkeley, Duke, Chicago and others. I have already researched these colleges.

What do you think my chances are at applying for either international relations or management masters degrees are and how can I improve them?

Just to let you know my stats:
I should graduate with a 1st class degree in mathematics from Warwick in 2010
I have straight As at A-Level
I have plenty of extra-curriculars and positions of responsibility (newspaper, sports, drama, music etc) but not particularly relevant ones
I don't have much work experience. The last time I did work experience was in sixth form so I'm a bit worried about this.
I'm quite good at taking verbal/non verbal reasoning tests. (I'm a member of Mensa so those are the kind of questions I can do - perhaps less good at those verbal comprehension type ones though.)


I would be extremely surprised if none of these schools would offer you an acceptance. You're more likely to get an offer from all of those schools.

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