Postgrad at Oxbridge for international students - a glimmer of hope? Help!

Hey there! I apologise for the length of this post - but a big dilemma is torturing my mind. I am currently studying as an undergrad in Italy (English & German linguistics & literature) and as the day of my graduation approaches, I have to start thinking about my postgrad. I had never even dreamed of applying to Oxbridge until I realised that I might have the grades to get in.

I'd be interested in either 'English Studies: Criticism and Culture' at Cambridge or 'English Language' or 'Worlds Literatures in English' at Oxford.
So my question is: how difficult is it to get into Oxbridge as an international student? I will be graduating in March, I finished all my exams and only have to write my final dissertation, which is due in February. It is very likely that I will graduate with a first (perhaps cum laude, depending on my dissertation). The thing is, how can I prove this before the actual final mark is published in March?

I don't know if this is of any relevance, but I spent my year abroad in Ireland as an Erasmus student, also qualified as an English teacher (TEFL) while I was there and meet the English language requirements (I am also a native speaker of German).

From what I've read, people applying generally know already in what area they'd like to do research in: having studied both English literature and linguistics, my interests are quite broad. This worries me because of the research proposal both unis require. I know that being passionate is one of the most important bits, and believe me when I say that there is nothing I am more passionate about than the English language and literature. (However, I don't know whether having studied it at uni would be enough to prove it?)

Another drawback, coming from an Italian university, is that almost all of our exams are oral, so I'd have to send something I wrote on Erasmus as my 'sample of work'.
Finding academic references is not easy either as students here do not have much contact with the professors (we basically only see them at lectures and the day of our exam), but I can probably get one from my tutor for my dissertation.

What do you think? Would I actually stand a chance of getting into a postgrad? Should I try or is it just too competitive to even consider it? This would be a dream come true but I don't want to get my hopes up for nothing. I hope someone could give me some sort of advice before I undertake the long and strenuous process of applying.

Thanks everyone!

Reply 1

El Salvador

Yes, you should try applying.

You don't have to prove your final grade. You just declare one, and they may set that as a condition if you're given an offer. Your referees will need to tell them whether you're the top X% in your class.

I don't know where you're going with the difficulty in finding work samples and academic references. If you have them, you'll be fine; if you don't, you won't be considered.

University of Oxford

Oxford

Reply 2

izzyO1

Okay, thank you very much! As the courses I'm interested in are MPhil, I gather that I need to know the topic of my future research before applying? Or can the research proposal be changed later on during the course? I'm just a bit confused because I assume that at undergrad level not everyone knows what they want to do research on before even starting the master?

Thanks again!

Reply 3

Doones

Original post by izzyO1

What do you think? Would I actually stand a chance of getting into a postgrad? Should I try or is it just too competitive to even consider it? This would be a dream come true but I don't want to get my hopes up for nothing. I hope someone could give me some sort of advice before I undertake the long and strenuous process of applying.

Thanks everyone!

Its harder to find postgrad application stats than undergrad...but this might help judge how competitive it is at Cambridge:

http://www.graduate.study.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.2016.graduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/graduateadmissions_2013_2014.pdf

and

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/284913/response/702133/attach/2/FOI%202015%20247%20Burano%20response%20letter%20and%20data.pdf

Reply 4

Jantaculum

Original post by izzyO1

Everybody who applies to Cambridge thinks like this at the beginning of the process. If you think you've got a chance, you just have to get on with it.

As far as the research proposal goes, it can be changed slightly during the year for most departments (things you discover during your reading of the literature surrounding the subject are likely to send you off in different directions). Depends on the department. But it's still an important part of the application procedure because they are assessing your academic writing as well as the subject matter - things like your presentation of:

…what does the current literature say about your area of research?
… what would you like to investigate that will fill a gap in the body of knowledge?
…why is this important?

In some ways it's not the area of research that is important, so much as your ability to present an academic argument that it is indeed important.

(and being international is irrelevant)

(edited 8 years ago)

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Articles for you

Is a postgrad course worth it? The pros and cons of postgraduate study

Where to look for financial support to help you study law

What A-levels do you need to study physiotherapy?

What students wish they’d known about postgrad study