[Andante]

There seems to be very few, if any, posts relating to Oxford's 1 year MSc in Modern Chinese Studies. Why is this?

Are postgraduate courses at Oxford not as competitive as the undergrad degrees?

What is the admissions programme like? What kind of student will Oxford seek out?

Has anyone been a member of this programme? If so, what was it like?

How does this MSc compare to, for examle, Cambridge's programme 'Oriental Studies', SOAS, Yale etc?

I'd really appreciate some feedback concerning postgraduate study at Oxford and/or this programme in particular.

cheers

[naia]

The MSc in Modern Chinese Studies is new - this is its first or second year I think. The more established programmes are the 2-year MPhil in Modern Chinese Studies and the 2-year MPhil in Modern Chinese Art and Literature. The MSc is primarily for social science graduates who want to re-focus their studies towards China - as far as I know, it doesn't have much of a language component compared to the MPhil courses, which have very large language components. I'm pretty sure that for the MPhil programmes you have to pass a language test at the end of the first year to proceed to the second year.

The postgraduate courses are competitive, but since this is a new course no one will have any concrete numbers on it yet.

I have no idea how it compares to programmes at other universities.

By the way, there are 4 different Masters programmes run by the Institute for Chinese Studies, each with a different focus (MSt in Chinese Studies, the two MPhil courses, the MSc course). You should research them all and pick the one that most closely fits your interests.

[Andante]

That sounds about right! I believe that you have to demeonstrate a good level of Chinese ability to apply for this course and hence it only lasting for one year. I must have a look at what the setup of the MSt is.........

[naia]

I think the MSt is more literature-based - I know a couple of people who did it, and their theses were on Chinese theatre, literature, poetry etc. You have to study either Classical Chinese or (modern) Japanese as a component for the MSt - it's assumed that your modern Chinese will be of degree-standard already. If you already know a substantial amount of Classical Chinese, you must take Japanese instead.

Btw, if you take Classical Chinese you take it with 3rd or 4th year undergrads, with the same homework etc.

[Andante]

Finished and submitted my application, so fingers crossed! I noticed that Oxford has recently changed the 6 gathered fields procedure to 3 application deadlines. This means that it'll probably be the new year before I find out if my application is successful! Is anyone else applying for this course?

[Andante]

Any other takers? I have had one other person mention that they are interested in taking this degree. What about students in the first batch this year?

[penjy1]

I am currently on the MPhil Modern Chinese Studies if anyone has any questions

[Andante]

hi penjy1¬

[monalisasmile.]

sorry, what are the differences between the MPhil, Msc and Mst? I'm a little confused.
Which would be suitable for someone with no prior knowledge and hoping to focus mainly on language, with a good modern languages degree?