Heya, TSR folks. I wasn't sure whether I should put this in the Oxbridge forum or here, so please bear with a complete newbie, and mods, please just move this post if you feel it would be more appropriate elsewhere.
I'm a nearly 23-year-old American graduate of an Ivy League university. I received my B.A. in Social / Cultural Anthropology last May and graduated with university and departmental honors based on my GPA and on a thesis. (I only add this because I never published anywhere, and I'm trying to convince myself that I could be Oxford postgrad material in spite of that!) I've been working as a test-prep and writing tutor since graduation and am only now beginning to consider the whens, wheres, and whats, and hows of graduate school.
From where I currently stand, Oxford appeals on several levels beyond the—admittedly not insignificant—awe factor: first, I was very impressed with the work a friend was doing when I visited him there; second, certain Oxford colleges are home to child choristers, who were the subject of my undergraduate thesis and who will hopefully figure in my postgraduate work; and third, Oxford appears to be one of the only institutions in the English-speaking world that has dedicated resources for the social study of childhood (not of education), which is the fairly new and completely impractical field that I'm considering pursuing.
Apart from the lack of funding and the £30,000+/year (!!) overseas student price tag, I can already think of two potential stumbling blocks in the way of my still-embryonic dream plan: the Centre for the History of Childhood, which is an enormous element of Oxford's draw, is part of the Faculty of History (Social & Economic History), but my undergraduate background is in Anthropology, and I have no real interest in switching entirely to History; and the Center is situated at Magdalen College, to which I know I would have no guaranteed admission even were I to be accepted into a postgrad course.
I'm not too well-versed yet in Oxford's academic structure, so I'd hoped to ask the advice of anyone who's studied Anthropology or History (preferably at the postgraduate level) at Oxford about inter-college and interdisciplinary study there. Would I, as a hypothetical non-History and non-Magdalen postgrad, be able to avail myself of the Centre's resources and incorporate its work into my studies and research, or is that sort of work discouraged? Would faculty in SHE generally be willing and/or able to advise or otherwise just worth with a student from another discipline?
I'd so appreciate any advice, anecdotes, or guidance. Thanks a lot!