Will taking a year off/redoing a year from undergrad hurt my chances for top unis?

I am studying Philosophy with Psychology at the moment, meanwhile I am taking as many modules as possible to do with AI, maths, etc: (Neuroscience, Neural Computing, Philosophy of Mathematics, Logic metatheory..)
I want to get into a top university for postgrad studies for Neuroscience or Computer science (I want to work in the crossection between the two in research). Oxford in particular has a very good Neuroscience masters who has apparently accepted others from my course. When I say top unis, I mostly mean Oxbridge, Imperial, UCL.
However due to mental health (and some physical health) reasons I missed out a large part of this year leading me to have to defer my exams until Sept. But things didn't get better so I am considering redoing year 2 so that I don't just mess up my exams and therefore ruin my chances of getting a good grade, which I will need especially as I'm competing with Neuroscience, Computer science, Maths, etc students.

I was wondering if anyone knows if this will affect my chances of getting into those top university programs postgrad? It will be really clear, even if I get a first, that a 3 year course took me 4 years. I'm really worried.

Reply 1

saritaj

8

I don't think the length of time it takes to complete your degree is as important as your grades, achievements, and experiences. Most universities will understand that life circumstances can impact academic progress. If you need to take longer to complete your degree due to health reasons, it's better to be transparent about it and use your personal statement or application essay to explain the situation and how you've overcome it.

Original post by academiaisweirs

I am studying Philosophy with Psychology at the moment, meanwhile I am taking as many modules as possible to do with AI, maths, etc: (Neuroscience, Neural Computing, Philosophy of Mathematics, Logic metatheory..)
I want to get into a top university for postgrad studies for Neuroscience or Computer science (I want to work in the crossection between the two in research). Oxford in particular has a very good Neuroscience masters who has apparently accepted others from my course. When I say top unis, I mostly mean Oxbridge, Imperial, UCL.
However due to mental health (and some physical health) reasons I missed out a large part of this year leading me to have to defer my exams until Sept. But things didn't get better so I am considering redoing year 2 so that I don't just mess up my exams and therefore ruin my chances of getting a good grade, which I will need especially as I'm competing with Neuroscience, Computer science, Maths, etc students.

I was wondering if anyone knows if this will affect my chances of getting into those top university programs postgrad? It will be really clear, even if I get a first, that a 3 year course took me 4 years. I'm really worried.

It won't make a difference if you were unfit to take your exams. It will probably make a difference if you failed or did badly in exams and thus retook a year.

Reply 3

ZhenyangLi

3

Hi! Sorry for this but how are you getting on with your application?
We are quite similar. My MA degree was in linguistics, I also took extra time to finish my degree (but finished with distinction), and I also want to take an MSc CS or AI degree and work in interdisciplinary areas.