Second undergraduate degree at Christ's College

I have a high 2:1 BA in English Language and Creative Writing from the University of Westminster and a Translations MA with merit from City University of London. I saw that the minimum grade requirement on the college's page is a first degree for an affiliate degree, so does that mean I'm not qualified to apply to this college and have a really low chance of getting in?

On the website it says for a second undergraduate degree AND an affiliate degree you need a first class first degree, so unfortunately you wouldn't be able to study at Churchill College. However, other colleges may accept you on the basis of your A-Levels, so going to Cambridge may be possible. You'd have to show high commitment to your subject though and how you've developed your passion. I'd try looking on other college's websites or ringing the general admissions office to ask. Good luck!

I don't want to sound like I'm being unnecessarily rude, but what is it about this which needs questioning?

Minimum grade requirement of I class
I have a 2i
Am I qualified to apply...

Leaving this aside, I presume you know that there is no funding for second undergraduate degrees, affiliate or otherwise, and so you'd be liable for the full UCF plus college fee. This means you should budget £9,250 for the university fee, plus £10K odd for the college fee. Given you cannot study architecture as an affiliate student, you need to budget £58K for the fees alone, plus living costs of about 12K a year minimum, so a rough total budget of £94,000. This might or might not be a consideration for you.

Leaving this aside, I presume you know that there is no funding for second undergraduate degrees, affiliate or otherwise, and so you'd be liable for the full UCF plus college fee. This means you should budget £9,250 for the university fee, plus £10K odd for the college fee. Given you cannot study architecture as an affiliate student, you need to budget £58K for the fees alone, plus living costs of about 12K a year minimum, so a rough total budget of £94,000. This might or might not be a consideration for you

Hi, so I want to study a second undergraduate degree in Archaeology starting at a year 1 level (not affiliate degree) and was thinking of of applying to Christ's College.
Studying Archaeology has been a lifelong dream of mine and I really like the course outline for it in Cambridge, but due to circumstances, I chose to study something else for my first degree. I have a high 2:1 BA in English Language and Creative Writing from the University of Westminster and a Translations MA with merit from City University of London. I saw that the minimum grade requirement on the college's page is a first degree for an affiliate degree, so does that mean I'm not qualified to apply to this college and have a really low chance of getting in? If so, which college would be easier for me to get in? Or is it impossible for me to get into Cambridge for a second degree in Archaeology in general?

Thanks in advance!

*archaeology, not architecture

Although that only saves one year which still leaves...a lot of money to pay!



I'd suggest just doing a taught masters in the subject if you want to "convert" to archaeology as a discipline, as it would be much cheaper to self fund - that would also be better preparation for a PhD in the area if you wanted to continue. UCL's Institute of Archaeology MA programme accepts in principle a 2:1 from any discipline for example. Cambridge's MPhil Archaeology also accepts a 2:1.

I would note it seems a significant number, if not virtually all, of the graduate students and academics in the archaeology department at Cambridge seem to have passed through the IoA (either when it existed by itself or after it became part of UCL), often as masters students on one or another of their programmes depending on their specialism. So I wouldn't discount that option as a route to a PhD at Cambridge potentially.

Obviously you will still need to self fund that masters course and accommodation; I'm not sure if masters at Cambridge pay college fees as well, so that may be an additional cost. However, it is only one year of funding rather than two, and also UCL at least I believe usually has the option to take the course part time over two or more years, which would leave you liable for only a proportion of the tuition fees each year and may give you more options to undertake paid work to support yourself in that time (or look for work experience opportunities in that area, e.g. through Archaeology South-East, which is UCL's professional archaeology services branch.

Thanks, AL - clearly the ability to read deserted me this morning.

You were the ideal person to advise on this - I should have tagged you

Morning?! I take you're not in GMT land then...or are much worse for wear than me if you are

Also strangely my tag for you didn't show up properly the first time...I had to edit it back in

I'm just going to give up today. Yes, afternoon, given it was only about an hour ago I had that earlier with a tag - I thought it was something to do with editing my post - or just random TSR weirdness. More bugs, probably.

Hi, I was wondering if having a masters would make a difference in the application even though I only have a 2:1.

And yes, I have noticed the expensive fees but thanks for bringing it up for consideration!

*archaeology, not architecture

Although that only saves one year which still leaves...a lot of money to pay!



I'd suggest just doing a taught masters in the subject if you want to "convert" to archaeology as a discipline, as it would be much cheaper to self fund - that would also be better preparation for a PhD in the area if you wanted to continue. UCL's Institute of Archaeology MA programme accepts in principle a 2:1 from any discipline for example. Cambridge's MPhil Archaeology also accepts a 2:1 from any discipline.

I would note it seems a significant number, if not virtually all, of the graduate students and academics in the archaeology department at Cambridge seem to have passed through the IoA (either when it existed by itself or after it became part of UCL), often as masters students on one or another of their programmes depending on their specialism. So I wouldn't discount that option as a route to a PhD at Cambridge potentially.

Obviously you will still need to self fund that masters course and accommodation; I'm not sure if masters at Cambridge pay college fees as well, so that may be an additional cost. However, it is only one year of funding rather than two, and also UCL at least I believe usually has the option to take the course part time over two or more years, which would leave you liable for only a proportion of the tuition fees each year and may give you more options to undertake paid work to support yourself in that time (or look for work experience opportunities in that area, e.g. through Archaeology South-East, which is UCL's professional archaeology services branch.

Oh dear

I think it was because I deleted all of your post in the quote instead of just the part I wasn't replying to so it was just quoting...nothing, and decided to disappear



Probably not unless they specifically note that a masters can ameliorate a weaker undergrad...and they would probably want a distinction at masters anyway in that case

Thank you for replying! I actually did consider a master's at first but it turns out archaeology MA requires a 2:1 degree in a relevant subject (from the UCL website), which probably doesn't include English, creative writing, and translations... And without any archaeology background, I thought jumping straight into an MA would be too intense, hence looking at the BA.

Hmm I didn't see that...although it does just note that it's "particularly suitable for students with a first degree in archaeology, anthropology, history or classics" and doesn't specify it's exclusively for such graduates. Maybe contact the department admissions to ask directly? They should be able to definitively advise you.

If not, and I forgot about this until now, UCL do also offer a graduate diploma which is specifically designed (potentially) as a conversion programme: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/study/graduate-diploma

Although this plus an MA/MSc (or MPhil at Cambridge) would be then two years of study (minimum) and funding etc, which is the same as a second BA from Cambridge, there is the benefit of a) not having to pay college fees on top of tuition and living costs, and b) like the MA/MSc programmes at UCL it can be taken part time so again, the above benefits of part-time study with respect to funding apply. Although yes it would take you longer to earn the qualification(s) if you go part-time, if the alternative is giving up that's still better than nothing! Also the more time spent as a member of the department isn't necessarily a bad thing - you will then have ample opportunity to get to know academics in the department, avail yourself of any one off talks/lectures/seminars/conferences held there that may be of interest, or maybe getting involved in some research (maybe even getting your name on a publication!).

I guess I will email the department and ask about it. I'll definitely check out the graduate diploma! I didn't even know those existed, so thank you! And by any chance, do you know if UCL accepts second undergrad students? I've been looking at their archaeology BA as well but can't really find anything on their site about second undergrads.

If you pay fees, almost certainly. However you will probably be expected to complete the full degree; no "senior status" like at Oxbridge to "skip" the first year of the degree. If you do want to shell out for a second UG degree I'd probably suggest applying for the BA Archaeology with Placement Year, since then you spend a year working as a salaried employee of Archaeology South-East, which might help offset the costs...I also think the tuition fees for the placement year are reduced, but not entirely certain on that.

Thank you so much for your help!!

I know you've been answered already, but maybe look at some other universities for Archaeology MA programmes. I went to Liverpool (albeit for Egyptology), and there were postgraduates there who had no background in archaeology or Egyptology (I think one had done philosophy, and another history, that I can recall). If you can demonstrate research capacity and a decent entry level understanding of the subject, you should be good to go. Plus, it'll save you forking out for a second BA.

I know it says a 'relevant subject', but their definition here is quite broad (https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/taught/archaeology-ma/overview/), so in all cases, it's best to ask the admissions tutor. Also look into the option of doing an MA part-time and working - you'll be able to build up knowledge at the same time, and be able to 'catch up' more easily.