Official SOAS University of London Postgraduate Applicant Thread for 2024

Hello everyone, this is a thread for anyone applying to the postgraduate courses at SOAS University of London for a start in September 2024.

Current students and SOAS staff will monitor this chat, so we will do our best to answer any of your questions. This is also a great place to meet other prospective students too!

Ice breaker questions:

What course are you applying for?
What did you study for your undergraduate?

You can see what courses we have on offer here.

Hello, I have completed drafting my research proposal for my PhD application. However, my bibliography is two pages long. I am aware that it is recommended to limit the bibliography to one page. Could this potentially impact my application? Apart from that, my proposal is within the word limit.

Hi!
I applied for the taught MA African Studies programme on Tuesday afternoon. By Wednesday morning, I received an offer. Is this normal? Should I double check that there was no mistake?
Any help would be appreciated!

I think it is normal. Last year, I applied for an MA in African Studies on a Friday, and got an offer on Monday.

That's good to hear. Thanks for replying. Did you take the offer? How did you find the programme?

hi, i have a few questions i've asked SOAS student enquiries office but havent got a response. if anyone can help, that would be great. as context, i am from India, and will be applying for a taught MA.

1)* When will the following scholarship applications open for Sep2024 intake? (a) V P Kanitkar Memorial Scholarship, (b) SOAS Postgraduate Scholarship, and (c) Allan and Nesta Ferguson Scholarship

2) For the V P Kanitkar Memorial*Scholarship, (a) How many academic/professional references are required?, (b) What are the guidelines for the referees (e.g., word count, questions to answer, format of letter)?

3) Can I add referees to my MA (taught) program application,*or is*it strictly restricted for PhD/Research applicants only? If I can do so, what are the guidelines for the referees? Can the referees be the same as those who submit references for the V P Kanitkar Scholarship review?

4) I have an IELTS score from September 2021, I completed my undergraduate degree (2014) and schooling with English instruction, and I have been a working*professional for 7+ years with English as my primary language of communication. I have uploaded the Sep2021 IELTS scores onto my application. Should I still plan to retake IELTS and upload fresh scores?**

Hello I applied for an MA in Social Anthropology. Just received an offer!

Hi, all! I've accepted my offer for MA South Asian Studies with Intensive Language (Hindi) for September. For the student reps or anyone else who's more familiar, what are the age demographics for the taught postgraduate courses at SOAS like? This will be my second master's degree, so I'm hoping to make friends who are slightly older. (I'll be 27 when I start, for reference.)

Hi! I have an offer for a part time MA in middle eastern studies and intensive language (arabic). I'll be working flexibly 4 days a week while doing this. Is that possible? How often do students have to go to campus when doing a part time MA? How intense is it schedule-wise?

Hi everyone! Does anyone know how long it approximately takes to hear back from SOAS after applying for an MA? Weeks/months?