Getting into Oxbridge for Postgraduate Study

Does anyone know anything about Mst Film Aesthetics? I'm at Bristol at the moment studying Drama (but essentially I study film). r

Also my A levels are AAAAb in Drama, Film, Media, Business and English lit (the As) and I have a Distinction Merit on an Acting Btec...all of which I believe are frowned upon at undergrad entry for oxbridge....so it's not so much my A level grades as my A level subjects...pretty sure they won't matter though yes?

Also how important are things like volunteering, extra curricular activities at post grad level and where on earth do I start trying to understand the college system/application process (I didn't have any interest in applying to Oxbridge at Undergrad so wasn't in the oxbridge program at my college).

So confused....please help me oh wise ones.

Also when do you apply? Do you apply in your final year of undergraduate study and then get a sort of "conditional" offer on your degree result? Or is it best left til after you already have your degree result?

Apologies if I'm sounding naive...I am.

Reply 423

Valkyrja

Does anyone know anything about Mst Film Aesthetics? I'm at Bristol at the moment studying Drama (but essentially I study film). r

Also my A levels are AAAAb in Drama, Film, Media, Business and English lit (the As) and I have a Distinction Merit on an Acting Btec...all of which I believe are frowned upon at undergrad entry for oxbridge....so it's not so much my A level grades as my A level subjects...pretty sure they won't matter though yes?
They won't care about your A-levels at that stage. What will matter is your performance on your undergraduate degree.

Also how important are things like volunteering, extra curricular activities at post grad level

I'm afraid I haven't got a clue about the Film MSt, so I can't really answer this question, sorry. :dontknow:

and where on earth do I start trying to understand the college system/application process (I didn't have any interest in applying to Oxbridge at Undergrad so wasn't in the oxbridge program at my college).

Have a look around the section for graduate applicants on the university website and the course-specific information on the faculty website. There's a lot of useful information there, so take your time to read through it all. For specific information on how to fill in the application form, have a look at the notes of guidance. If you have any specific questions and you can't find the answers there, do ask, obviously, but I don't think there's much point in copying and pasting things from the relevant websites.

Also when do you apply? Do you apply in your final year of undergraduate study and then get a sort of "conditional" offer on your degree result?

Yes. Usually the offer will be conditional on your getting a good 2.1 or higher.

Or is it best left til after you already have your degree result?

You can do either, really. If you expect to do a lot better in your final year than during your first two, it might be worth waiting for your results before applying, but obviously that means you'll have to take a year out.

Reply 424

hobnob

Wisdom

Thank you so much :biggrin:

Reply 425

Craghyrax

17

Valkyrja

Thank you so much :biggrin:

Also skim read this thread from beginning to end as there will be lots of relevant Q&A. Find the Cambridge / Oxford Applicants Threads in this forum which have all the applicants discussing their various questions and sharing experiences and stuff. Then go to the Oxbridge, Cambridge and Oxford forums on TSR and pay attention to the stickies which have lots of advice about choosing colleges, and there may be relevant guides in the TSR wiki.

Reply 426

Craghyrax

Also skim read this thread from beginning to end as there will be lots of relevant Q&A. Find the Cambridge / Oxford Applicants Threads in this forum which have all the applicants discussing their various questions and sharing experiences and stuff. Then go to the Oxbridge, Cambridge and Oxford forums on TSR and pay attention to the stickies which have lots of advice about choosing colleges, and there may be relevant guides in the TSR wiki.

Oki I really want to go to Oxford now....the people on this thread are lovely.

Reply 427

Valkyrja

Oki I really want to go to Oxford now....the people on this thread are lovely.

Craggy's at Cambridge, actually. :wink:

Reply 428

hobnob

Craggy's at Cambridge, actually. :wink:

Darn Cambridge and their not doing film studies :frown:

haha

Reply 429

marcosgll

Hm... I'm sorry to say that, but the CamDATA link of the first page is broken...

Reply 430

marcosgll

Hm... I'm sorry to say that, but the CamDATA link of the first page is broken...

Fixed. They appear to have changed the word 'graduate' in the link to 'postgraduate'. :rolleyes:

Reply 431

Angelil

19

As hobnob said, it's difficult to say for certain how much extra-curriculars and volunteering matter when you are applying for postgraduate studies. However, I'd take a guess that as with most courses, they want to see evidence of relevant activities (e.g., for film: I had a two week work experience placement at MGM; attended x conference on film aesthetics in 2008...) rather than of your mere leisurely pursuits (e.g. I also enjoy hang gliding and was president of my university's white water rafting society).

Reply 432

roxy potter

13

Debris

Hi.

I got 74 for my first year in Economics but I go to a pretty average university. Oxbridge seems a long shot...but is MPhil Economics achievable? What would I have to do apart from being super nice to potential referees? I'm on an internship right now but I gather that it wouldn't have much weighting.

Can't blame a fella for having goals! :awesome:

I went to an average Uni and got 74 for Economics in first year. I've just finished the Cambridge MPhil. It's totally achievable for you.

Reply 433

rmn002

General question addressed to anyone:

How choosy does Oxford's more prominent Faculties/Departments (and Supervisors) tend to be when selecting Taught Masters students (in terms of the area of interest within a field of study)?

Reply 434

The_Lonely_Goatherd

20

I'm just reading through the 'Notes of Guidance' booklet for Oxford and have noticed this sentence:
"Please note that in order to submit an online application you MUST be able to pay the application fee using
either a Visa or Mastercard credit card."

I only have a Solo debit card :s-smilie:

Does the card have to be mine? e.g. could I pay my sister and put her card details on the payment section? Or do I have to just do the paper application instead? :smile:

The_Lonely_Goatherd

I'm just reading through the 'Notes of Guidance' booklet for Oxford and have noticed this sentence:
"Please note that in order to submit an online application you MUST be able to pay the application fee using
either a Visa or Mastercard credit card."

I only have a Solo debit card :s-smilie:

Does the card have to be mine? e.g. could I pay my sister and put her card details on the payment section? Or do I have to just do the paper application instead? :smile:

I'm sure they will be quite happy to take the money from anyone prepared to pay :smile:

Reply 436