[Crisps]

Hello,

Im not in here for any advice into applying at Oxbridge for postgrad, but the OP of this thread has been made into a Wiki page here.. If the links in the thread are updated, could they also be updated in the Wiki too, in case myself, RK, or anyone else doesn't spot them?

Ta very much

[hobnob]

(Original post by Crisps)
Hello,

Im not in here for any advice into applying at Oxbridge for postgrad, but the OP of this thread has been made into a Wiki page here.. If the links in the thread are updated, could they also be updated in the Wiki too, in case myself, RK, or anyone else doesn't spot them?

Ta very much

Hmm, to be honest, I think some of those threads aren't really as helpful and authoritative as the wiki format makes them look. This thread, for example, is listed under "subject specific threads", so people reading the wiki article will most likely assume that it will contain specific information about applying for postgraduate degrees in English. But unfortunately it doesn't. It's just a thread in which somebody considering a joint undergraduate degree was asking whether he would have a chance of being accepted for a postgraduate degree in English - and the replies he got were rather woolly and hardly English-specific.

[Crisps]

(Original post by hobnob)
Hmm, to be honest, I think some of those threads aren't really as helpful and authoritative as the wiki format makes them look. This thread, for example, is listed under "subject specific threads", so people reading the wiki article will most likely assume that it will contain specific information about applying for postgraduate degrees in English. But unfortunately it doesn't. It's just a thread in which somebody considering a joint undergraduate degree was asking whether he would have a chance of being accepted for a postgraduate degree in English - and the replies he got were rather woolly and hardly English-specific.

Well, Warren [RK], wanted the thread wikified, so I've already started by putting the OP on there. It is by no means complete, we are aiming to provide an expanded guide to postgraduate study on the wiki, and that page [which has literally only just been created] has been created as a start. If there are more and better threads out there, then by all means other people can add them ina s they wish. I was only following the format of the OP, and I know there is a long way to go.

[hobnob]

I know, but wouldn't it be much better (in the long run, anyway) to turn the actually relevant bits of information into a proper coherent wiki article instead of just having a long list of links to threads which may or may not contain useful information? Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticising you. My point is just that people respond differently to this sort of post when it's a post and when it's been wikified. In a forum thread, I'll put up with a post that's a little meandering and not always to the point, but from a wiki article I tend to expect a lot more in terms of clarity, relevance and accuracy. So I'm not sure whether wikifying threads like this one is really the way forward...

[randdom]

(Original post by hobnob)
I know, but wouldn't it be much better (in the long run, anyway) to turn the actually relevant bits of information into a proper coherent wiki article instead of just having a long list of links to threads which may or may not contain useful information? Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticising you. My point is just that people respond differently to this sort of post when it's a post and when it's been wikified. In a forum thread, I'll put up with a post that's a little meandering and not always to the point, but from a wiki article I tend to expect a lot more in terms of clarity, relevance and accuracy. So I'm not sure whether wikifying threads like this one is really the way forward...

The wiki article is good in the sense that now all those links are there people will at least be able to find the threads that may be relevant. The wiki is always expanding and this includes posts that have been transfered from the forum as well as new articles. If you have any ideas for an article that you feel would add to the post graduate section of the wiki then you could make a start on it yourself. If you don't have time to do that (which would be completely understandable as most people are very busy) then if would be great if you could post your idea for the article and what would be included in it in the about wiki subforum as then hopefully someone else will see it and be inspired and create the article for you

[hobnob]

(Original post by randdom)
The wiki article is good in the sense that now all those links are there people will at least be able to find the threads that may be relevant.

Fair enough, but they could have found them through a simple forum search, no?

If you have any ideas for an article that you feel would add to the post graduate section of the wiki then you could make a start on it yourself. If you don't have time to do that (which would be completely understandable as most people are very busy) then if would be great if you could post your idea for the article and what would be included in it in the about wiki subforum as then hopefully someone else will see it and be inspired and create the article for you

Well, my idea would be to rewrite the article so it actually contains the information you're led to believe it contains by looking at the table of contents...

[randdom]

(Original post by hobnob)
Fair enough, but they could have found them through a simple forum search, no?

Well, my idea would be to rewrite the article so it actually contains the information you're led to believe it contains by looking at the table of contents...

Not if they wanted to find information on a wide range of topics searching for a thread on each and sorting through the results could take days. You have to remember that this is just a starting point it is going to be added to over time. Eventually hopefully some of the links will link to articles some to comprehensive posts. This particular wiki article is currently working as a kind of index directing people to the relevant information.

If you think that the article contains some links which aren't relevant then please let me know which ones specifically so that I can look into fixing it (which may mean removal or finding another source).

[hobnob]

(Original post by randdom)
Not if they wanted to find information on a wide range of topics searching for a thread on each and sorting through the results could take days. You have to remember that this is just a starting point it is going to be added to over time. Eventually hopefully some of the links will link to articles some to comprehensive posts. This particular wiki article is currently working as a kind of index directing people to the relevant information.

All they'd need to do would be to run a forum search for 'Oxbridge', 'Oxford' and 'Cambridge' and then quickly skim through the results - which is pretty much what ba_mhaith_liom did when he/she compiled the links in the first post of this thread. It might take a few hours to get through all of the results, but certainly not days.

(Original post by randdom)
If you think that the article contains some links which aren't relevant then please let me know which ones specifically so that I can look into fixing it (which may mean removal or finding another source).

Basically all the threads in the 'subject specific' section aren't very specific at all, and they might as well be in the 'general questions' section - or under one of the other subheadings, for that matter (to give you an example, this thread is listed in the 'English' section, because the first post mentions that the OP will be applying for English, but the rest of the thread isn't about English degrees at all). Generally speaking, the problem about pretty much all the threads referred to by the article is that the same questions are being asked over and over again. Often a single thread contains several different questions, and the answers show a varying degree of competence on the part of the people who replied, so they can seem contradictory and confusing.

[randdom]

(Original post by hobnob)
All they'd need to do would be to run a forum search for 'Oxbridge', 'Oxford' and 'Cambridge' and then quickly skim through the results - which is pretty much what ba_mhaith_liom did when he/she compiled the links in the first post of this thread. It might take a few hours to get through all of the results, but certainly not days.

Basically all the threads in the 'subject specific' section aren't very specific at all, and they might as well be in the 'general questions' section - or under one of the other subheadings, for that matter (to give you an example, this thread is listed in the 'English' section, because the first post mentions that the OP will be applying for English, but the rest of the thread isn't about English degrees at all). Generally speaking, the problem about pretty much all the threads referred to by the article is that the same questions are being asked over and over again. Often a single thread contains several different questions, and the answers show a varying degree of competence on the part of the people who replied, so they can seem contradictory and confusing.

I still think that it is a long time to be searching especially if it is a new member. The wiki article at least lets them know that the information is available for them and that similar questions have been asked before. If they still don't have the answer they are looking for they can post in the forum and ask then.

I will have a look into the problem you have described and see if there are any blatantly obvious ones to remove.

[hobnob]

Thanks. I'd rewrite the article myself, but I'm really far too busy at the moment.

[Grad]

I've heard its the backdoor approach to getting a oxbridge degree

[IlexAquifolium]

(Original post by Grad)
I've heard its the backdoor approach to getting a oxbridge degree

Pardon?

[Grad]

(Original post by IlexAquifolium)
Pardon?

Sorry, my friend said those who failed to get an offer for undergrad applied postgrad because entry requirements were lower and there are no interviews. I'm not saying that it is necessarily true just what i heard :

[IlexAquifolium]

(Original post by Grad)
Sorry, my friend said those who failed to get an offer for undergrad applied postgrad because entry requirements were lower and there are no interviews. I'm not saying that it is necessarily true just what i heard :

That debate, true or not, isn't really relevant to the thread, though...

FWIW, having no interviews doesn't necessarily make it easier - bear in mind that the people getting in will usually have firsts or high 2.1s, whether form Oxbridge or elsewhere.

[Angelil]

Not to mention the issue of funding...virtually anyone who is academically able enough for Oxbridge undergraduate degrees/given an undergrad Oxbridge offer can attend because of the current system of student loans. At postgrad, even if an academically able person is given an offer, they may well be precluded from attending because of finance. There is no such barrier for UK students at undergraduate level.

[apotoftea]

(Original post by Angelil)
Not to mention the issue of funding...virtually anyone who is academically able enough for Oxbridge undergraduate degrees/given an undergrad Oxbridge offer can attend because of the current system of student loans. At postgrad, even if an academically able person is given an offer, they may well be precluded from attending because of finance. There is no such barrier for UK students at undergraduate level.

Plus you have to declare it months before the start of the course of how exactly you'll be financing it all don't you? It's a bit different to just ticking a box saying "self-funding/applying for funding". The Oxford entry asks for actual proof doesn't it from what I remember when I vaguely looked at applying?

[IlexAquifolium]

(Original post by apotoftea)
Plus you have to declare it months before the start of the course of how exactly you'll be financing it all don't you? It's a bit different to just ticking a box saying "self-funding/applying for funding". The Oxford entry asks for actual proof doesn't it from what I remember when I vaguely looked at applying?

Nah, you supply the proof when you get your college offer. Up until then optimistic fibbing is the name of the game.

[apotoftea]

(Original post by IlexAquifolium)
Nah, you supply the proof when you get your college offer. Up until then optimistic fibbing is the name of the game.

Ahhh knew it was one of the offers But you still have to put it on your application form going by this: http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/postgradua...ppform0809.pdf (page 6) Lots of boxes for optimistic fibbing

[Ygraine]

(Original post by Angelil)
At postgrad, even if an academically able person is given an offer, they may well be precluded from attending because of finance

*Raises hand*

It doesn't help that they don't issue offers until after the internal deadlines for funding applications for virtually every other university, meaning having to turn down potential funding elsewere to have a chance of funding for an offer which may not happen. It makes me wonder how anyone manages to take up a place there at all unless they happen to have fabulously wealthy relatives.

I'm not bitter, honest, just disappointed that I can't go.

[IlexAquifolium]

(Original post by Ygraine)
*Raises hand*

It doesn't help that they don't issue offers until after the internal deadlines for funding applications for virtually every other university, meaning having to turn down potential funding elsewere to have a chance of funding for an offer which may not happen. It makes me wonder how anyone manages to take up a place there at all unless they happen to have fabulously wealthy relatives.

I'm not bitter, honest, just disappointed that I can't go.

Same happened to me. I'm happy to go elsewhere, but it angered me that they're turning so many people away by being so disorganised.