Postgraduate applicants for 2015 entry
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Original post by punctuation
I've used this! http://www.ppls.ed.ac.uk/static/students/postgraduate/documents/PersonalStatementguidelines.pdf There's also one on the UCL site I think, should turn up if you give it a google 
Original post by jelly1000
Thanks both, that's really helpful
Original post by Noodlzzz
Emailed a few supervisors today 
Exciting
Good luck! Which area of psychology are you interested in?Sort of considering a MSc Computer Science conversion course at UCL and Imperial as a route to a compneuro PhD. I might apply...
Original post by punctuation
Exciting Good luck! Which area of psychology are you interested in?
Sort of considering a MSc Computer Science conversion course at UCL and Imperial as a route to a compneuro PhD. I might apply...
Good luck! Which area of psychology are you interested in?Sort of considering a MSc Computer Science conversion course at UCL and Imperial as a route to a compneuro PhD. I might apply...
Clinical
Original post by Noodlzzz
Emailed a few supervisors today
Hi everyone! I've only just joined, and have a couple of questions if anyone can help?
1) I'm going into my 3rd year at Nottingham University and am planning on applying to Oxford for my Master's degree, as well as Nottingham and Trinity College Dublin. I got highish firsts in my first and second year (coming top in my second year), but the way Classics works is that you have two kinds of courses: those for people who have done Latin/Greek at A-level and those who haven't & have to start them at uni (like me). My Latin is pretty good now, and my Greek is ok as well, but I'm still a bit worried about applying to Master's courses ... Although A-levels in the languages aren't expected, you have to have at least one to a 'degree' level which my teachers say I will do in Latin but I'm worried it will cut my Oxford chances not having one at A-level ...
bleh. Anyone know if I should be worried?
2) In terms of contacting supervisors, do you just email them straight up after you've found their address on the uni website? Or is there a way of going about it?
Thanks everyone!
I've only just joined, and have a couple of questions if anyone can help?1) I'm going into my 3rd year at Nottingham University and am planning on applying to Oxford for my Master's degree, as well as Nottingham and Trinity College Dublin. I got highish firsts in my first and second year (coming top in my second year), but the way Classics works is that you have two kinds of courses: those for people who have done Latin/Greek at A-level and those who haven't & have to start them at uni (like me). My Latin is pretty good now, and my Greek is ok as well, but I'm still a bit worried about applying to Master's courses ... Although A-levels in the languages aren't expected, you have to have at least one to a 'degree' level which my teachers say I will do in Latin but I'm worried it will cut my Oxford chances not having one at A-level ...
bleh. Anyone know if I should be worried?2) In terms of contacting supervisors, do you just email them straight up after you've found their address on the uni website? Or is there a way of going about it?
Thanks everyone!
Original post by Pyrapika
Hi everyone! I've only just joined, and have a couple of questions if anyone can help?
1) I'm going into my 3rd year at Nottingham University and am planning on applying to Oxford for my Master's degree, as well as Nottingham and Trinity College Dublin. I got highish firsts in my first and second year (coming top in my second year), but the way Classics works is that you have two kinds of courses: those for people who have done Latin/Greek at A-level and those who haven't & have to start them at uni (like me). My Latin is pretty good now, and my Greek is ok as well, but I'm still a bit worried about applying to Master's courses ... Although A-levels in the languages aren't expected, you have to have at least one to a 'degree' level which my teachers say I will do in Latin but I'm worried it will cut my Oxford chances not having one at A-level ... bleh. Anyone know if I should be worried?
2) In terms of contacting supervisors, do you just email them straight up after you've found their address on the uni website? Or is there a way of going about it?
Thanks everyone!
I've only just joined, and have a couple of questions if anyone can help?1) I'm going into my 3rd year at Nottingham University and am planning on applying to Oxford for my Master's degree, as well as Nottingham and Trinity College Dublin. I got highish firsts in my first and second year (coming top in my second year), but the way Classics works is that you have two kinds of courses: those for people who have done Latin/Greek at A-level and those who haven't & have to start them at uni (like me). My Latin is pretty good now, and my Greek is ok as well, but I'm still a bit worried about applying to Master's courses ... Although A-levels in the languages aren't expected, you have to have at least one to a 'degree' level which my teachers say I will do in Latin but I'm worried it will cut my Oxford chances not having one at A-level ...
bleh. Anyone know if I should be worried?2) In terms of contacting supervisors, do you just email them straight up after you've found their address on the uni website? Or is there a way of going about it?
Thanks everyone!
1) You haven't said what course
I assume it's Classics? The best thing you can do is email the admissions person at Oxford. They are always there for you to send stupid, silly questions (as I've done too many times 
) and will give you the most accurate advice. TSR users can speculate but only Oxford can give you the right answer. I think you will be fine but best check with them - if your tutor thinks you've done Latin to degree level and you've achieved highish Firsts, that should be good enough.2) You email them, but make sure you send a good email - there is lots of advice online on how to do it e.g. http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/informatics/postgraduate/apply/contactingsupervisors In my opinion, first impressions matter, and if you are serious about doing a master's with them, you need to come across well. The standard way I email supervisors is something like
Dear (Prof/Dr) Blah,
[Say who you are e.g. your year, course, uni]. Mention you're interested in doing a master's with them, state your research interests and tell them why you think they're the right supervisor for the job. If you have a research proposal, mention it or any ideas you have - read a couple of their papers for hints or points to shoot off from. Attach your CV and include a descriptive subject line.
If appropriate or you want to, ask them a question or ask to meet up to discuss this in more detail (or a Skype even, although I've never tried this).
Thank them, an appropriate closing line, your full name.
I don't do this as it's on my CV, but it might be worth stating your grades up front.
Most importantly, you should personalise an email to them and their research - the worst thing you can do is make it seem like a mass email, which results in an instant delete.
(edited 9 years ago)
Thank you so much!
Thank you so much! This was really helpful yes -- it's the Classical Languages and Literature MPhil, which is 2 years long. The main person I'd like to supervise me is kind of the big cheese, and I'm worried he'll be offended or straight up reject me! Also, can we contact anyone that is a full-time lecturer or do they have to be a researcher?
Original post by punctuation
1) You haven't said what course I assume it's Classics? The best thing you can do is email the admissions person at Oxford. They are always there for you to send stupid, silly questions (as I've done too many times ) and will give you the most accurate advice. TSR users can speculate but only Oxford can give you the right answer. I think you will be fine but best check with them - if your tutor thinks you've done Latin to degree level and you've achieved highish Firsts, that should be good enough.
2) You email them, but make sure you send a good email - there is lots of advice online on how to do it e.g. http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/informatics/postgraduate/apply/contactingsupervisors In my opinion, first impressions matter, and if you are serious about doing a master's with them, you need to come across well. The standard way I email supervisors is something like
Dear (Prof/Dr) Blah,
[Say who you are e.g. your year, course, uni]. Mention you're interested in doing a master's with them, state your research interests and tell them why you think they're the right supervisor for the job. If you have a research proposal, mention it or any ideas you have - read a couple of their papers for hints or points to shoot off from. Attach your CV and include a descriptive subject line.
If appropriate or you want to, ask them a question or ask to meet up to discuss this in more detail (or a Skype even, although I've never tried this).
Thank them, an appropriate closing line, your full name.
I don't do this as it's on my CV, but it might be worth stating your grades up front.
Most importantly, you should personalise an email to them and their research - the worst thing you can do is make it seem like a mass email, which results in an instant delete.
I assume it's Classics? The best thing you can do is email the admissions person at Oxford. They are always there for you to send stupid, silly questions (as I've done too many times ) and will give you the most accurate advice. TSR users can speculate but only Oxford can give you the right answer. I think you will be fine but best check with them - if your tutor thinks you've done Latin to degree level and you've achieved highish Firsts, that should be good enough.2) You email them, but make sure you send a good email - there is lots of advice online on how to do it e.g. http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/informatics/postgraduate/apply/contactingsupervisors In my opinion, first impressions matter, and if you are serious about doing a master's with them, you need to come across well. The standard way I email supervisors is something like
Dear (Prof/Dr) Blah,
[Say who you are e.g. your year, course, uni]. Mention you're interested in doing a master's with them, state your research interests and tell them why you think they're the right supervisor for the job. If you have a research proposal, mention it or any ideas you have - read a couple of their papers for hints or points to shoot off from. Attach your CV and include a descriptive subject line.
If appropriate or you want to, ask them a question or ask to meet up to discuss this in more detail (or a Skype even, although I've never tried this).
Thank them, an appropriate closing line, your full name.
I don't do this as it's on my CV, but it might be worth stating your grades up front.
Most importantly, you should personalise an email to them and their research - the worst thing you can do is make it seem like a mass email, which results in an instant delete.
Thank you so much! This was really helpful
yes -- it's the Classical Languages and Literature MPhil, which is 2 years long. The main person I'd like to supervise me is kind of the big cheese, and I'm worried he'll be offended or straight up reject me! Also, can we contact anyone that is a full-time lecturer or do they have to be a researcher?If it helps at all, I have a friend who did Latin ab initio at undergrad and he's just finished a masters in Latin in Oxford. I'm not sure exactly which course it was, but it was something to do with Latin poetry, so it's a good chance you'll be fine. E-mail the Classics graduate office though, I'm sure they'll clarify it too.
As long as your e-mail is super enthusiastic, coherent and tone-appropriate, they won't be offended and they definitely won't reject you other than for some super logical reason (e.g. they will be on sabbatical when you're writing your dissertation). My current supervisor is a gigantic cheese, and I was terrified the first time I e-mailed him, but he was lovely and friendly, more than happy to answer all my questions and then I felt even better because the giant cheese said how interesting my ideas were! This cheese metaphor has outlived its gouda-ness (), but as long as you follow the advice above ^^^ and don't send a generic "Dear Prof. Bigname, I am very interested in learning more about Latin literature on a masters course at Oxford. Would you be my supervisor?" e-mail, you'll be fine.
Original post by Pyrapika
The main person I'd like to supervise me is kind of the big cheese, and I'm worried he'll be offended or straight up reject me! Also, can we contact anyone that is a full-time lecturer or do they have to be a researcher?
As long as your e-mail is super enthusiastic, coherent and tone-appropriate, they won't be offended and they definitely won't reject you other than for some super logical reason (e.g. they will be on sabbatical when you're writing your dissertation). My current supervisor is a gigantic cheese, and I was terrified the first time I e-mailed him, but he was lovely and friendly, more than happy to answer all my questions and then I felt even better because the giant cheese said how interesting my ideas were! This cheese metaphor has outlived its gouda-ness (
), but as long as you follow the advice above ^^^ and don't send a generic "Dear Prof. Bigname, I am very interested in learning more about Latin literature on a masters course at Oxford. Would you be my supervisor?" e-mail, you'll be fine.Original post by Pyrapika
Thank you so much!
Thank you so much! This was really helpful yes -- it's the Classical Languages and Literature MPhil, which is 2 years long. The main person I'd like to supervise me is kind of the big cheese, and I'm worried he'll be offended or straight up reject me! Also, can we contact anyone that is a full-time lecturer or do they have to be a researcher?
Thank you so much! This was really helpful
yes -- it's the Classical Languages and Literature MPhil, which is 2 years long. The main person I'd like to supervise me is kind of the big cheese, and I'm worried he'll be offended or straight up reject me! Also, can we contact anyone that is a full-time lecturer or do they have to be a researcher?Glad it helped
Not sure about your question as I'm in sciences, sorry :/ It will probably help for your career/future publications if they are actively publishing, though.Original post by Noodlzzz
Got a response from Surrey! The supervisor is very interested in what I proposed and we're meeting next month to discuss it
Wow so exciting! Good luck
Original post by Noodlzzz
Got a response from Surrey! The supervisor is very interested in what I proposed and we're meeting next month to discuss it
Woop woop!
Original post by Noodlzzz
Meeting with supervisor in Oxford for 1+3 psychology next month!
Ooh exciting! Who is it, if you don't mind me asking?
Original post by punctuation
Ooh exciting! Who is it, if you don't mind me asking?
Rather not say in case for some bizarre unlikely reason he reads TSR!
Do people think it's best to apply as soon as possible (i.e. October) or wait until we get our first lot of results from final year? I wanted to get it off as soon as possible but I'm worried it might not be the best idea
Ooh, well done I was planning to apply to that one, do you have to have a supervisor/topic in mind when applying to the 1+3 as well as the +3 then?
Original post by Noodlzzz
Meeting with supervisor in Oxford for 1+3 psychology next month!
Ooh, well done
I was planning to apply to that one, do you have to have a supervisor/topic in mind when applying to the 1+3 as well as the +3 then?Original post by TeaAndSugar
Do people think it's best to apply as soon as possible (i.e. October) or wait until we get our first lot of results from final year? I wanted to get it off as soon as possible but I'm worried it might not be the best idea
Ooh, well done I was planning to apply to that one, do you have to have a supervisor/topic in mind when applying to the 1+3 as well as the +3 then?
Ooh, well done
I was planning to apply to that one, do you have to have a supervisor/topic in mind when applying to the 1+3 as well as the +3 then?If you want to get into good programs I'd personally apply before the end of the year, January at the latest - mostly because a lot of funding decisions have that sort of deadline.
Original post by TeaAndSugar
Do people think it's best to apply as soon as possible (i.e. October) or wait until we get our first lot of results from final year? I wanted to get it off as soon as possible but I'm worried it might not be the best idea
Ooh, well done I was planning to apply to that one, do you have to have a supervisor/topic in mind when applying to the 1+3 as well as the +3 then?
Ooh, well done
I was planning to apply to that one, do you have to have a supervisor/topic in mind when applying to the 1+3 as well as the +3 then?No I emailed. Just need the one who confirms they'll cover you for whatever course you get on to.
Original post by punctuation
If you want to get into good programs I'd personally apply before the end of the year, January at the latest - mostly because a lot of funding decisions have that sort of deadline.
Thanks! We'll get the first set of results in about December; do you think it's more beneficial to wait for them or apply asap in October?
I suppose there's no straight answer! It's very easy to start fretting about these things ;]
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