Getting into Oxbridge for Postgraduate Study

You are supposed to express an interest. You say for example I would like to work on this for that reason. I don't think it's binding though and you don't need to come up with a title and stuff, just a general idea.

Is explaining that I want to study Assyriology in order to further study Ancient Near Eastern scripts in the future too general?

Yes

Aaargh damn then I have a problem. So far the whole application has treated the MPhil as equal to an MA. But then on one of the funding pages I found the mention about the dissertation and got worried. My entire statement and everything basically is aimed towards a much more general application.

What do you mean equal to an MA? Also, if you are applying for 2012 then you have a lot of time till the deadline right?

I want to apply by the start of October. Oxford's deadline is November 19, Cambridge 'as soon as possible' (aka yesterday lol), and Birmingham doesn't really have one. But I am taking 4 summative based modules this year so I will be absolutely swamped with coursework and I don't want to be finishing my applications in the middle of that. My average this year was only 64% (damn Classics) so I'd like to get that up a little bit and really focus on my summative work.

Besides, I have no particular research proposal. I love Assyriology, but it is Assyriology: as in, not taught at UG level (except at SOAS). I have no idea how to approach it at the moment. Obviously I want to, and I will - which is why I am applying for the course, and afterwards for a PhD.

I am doing my UG dissertation in a topic related to Assyriology but obviously I have not finished it yet. I am actually about to start on it tomorrow.

Are you sure Oxford doesn't have a second deadline in january? It might be different for each course but I remember when I was checking that most courses had two deadlines. Also, there is a funding deadline (if you want to be considered for funding) which at my course was the same as the second deadline.
I applied in the end of January in all three of them btw.
As for the personal statement, I realize that you have no experience on the subject but maybe you could relate it to something you did at undergrad? The thing is, you need to fill a page with why you like the course, so you have to be more specific. Why assyriology? What interests you in particular? How can this relate to your undergrad (you did history so there must be something there that points towards this area). What are your future plans? (PhD etc). Why cambridge? Things like that.

I'm currently entering my final year at Durham...

Hello!

I know this is going to be another annoying "is it worth applying" question, but would just like an opinion anyway.

I'm currently entering my final year at Durham studying international relations. I wasn't intending to ever do a postgrad but after shaping much of my degree around Middle East Politics and Islam I have become so much more interested in the region (love reading and learning about it) and now want to study it further. I thought I'd look at a few courses and think the Mphil in Modern Middle East Studies at Oxford looks everything I'd want to do. Now I realise the competition for getting in will probably be very high and after reading a few threads and seeing peoples year averages I'm thinking that maybe mine wont be good enough overall and was wondering whether I should give it a go anyway or save myself some time and money.

Basically, in my first year I got 62.5, which I thought was pretty standard for a fresher. Can't remember my individual module results.

This year I got 66% with the individual grades 72,72,68,65,63,56.

I know compared to the many genius brains on this site, it is by no means fantastic, I also have absolutely no clue about colleges either or any of that. Does it seem worth it? I think I'll need 72-73% to get a first next year and will work very hard for it, but obviously I'll be up against people that probably apply with 75-80+%.

Any thoughts?


Thankyooou in advance

It's certainly worth a shot. I've been accepted onto an Area Studies degree (Latin American Studies) at Cambridge, so it's probably not too dissimilar.

I also had very similar marks, I think I averaged 65% for 1st year and 69.5 for 2nd year, I got 70/68/68/78/75/54 so I had one stinker that let me down.

They wouldn't have known my final year marks but I put down 1st as predicted.

Your application seems to be mostly down to references and research proposal. Do you talk to your lecturers a fair bit? This helps a lot, not only for references but for shaping your own research interests and proposals also.

In terms of marks, for most courses you need 68%. Good marks seem important but not that important, it seems to be more down to the extra value you can add.

Did you study Latin America or Spanish in undergrad? I'm interested in applying to that program but Edinburgh didn't offer options on Latin America in the history department.

I am about to apply to Oxbridge and I am getting slightly nervous over the mention of first year marks here.
Due to medical reasons I have only scored 58 or something in my first year- upon requesting extenuating circumstances, the department acknowledged my legibility but told me it wouldn't change the marks as the first year does not count towards the final degree. Second year was 69 so not the problem, I honestly didn't expect to be asked for first year marks. (?)

You're applying for an MSt now? Wow, I'm getting old. I still remember you as an eccentric and slightly over-eager undergraduate applicant.

Anyway: yes, you'll have to send in a full transcript, and that means all of your marks up to this point will show up, even the ones which don't count towards your final classification. A 58 on your transcript won't look great, of course, but if the circumstances of that mark are explained in your reference, and your first-year modules don't happen to be the ones which are the most crucial for your chosen course, you should still be OK.

Mphil, as I would like to do a PHD.

I was actually debating to create a new account and delete this one, but I must admit I didn't expect anyone to remember after two years on a board as huge as this.

This is not best news, I will contact my university in order to get -at least- an official remark as to why the results differ so greatly from my second year.

As far as my impression goes, the research proposal and personal statement weigh in significantly, provided that I have a high upper second or first.

You can do a PhD after an MSt, but I didn't notice you were applying to Cambridge.

Sorry, I just have a very good memory for unimportant stuff. Never mind me.

It doesn't have to be anything official. Just try to make sure that your referees include some explanatory note along the lines of 'Linda was battling with ill health throughout her first year, which caused her to underperform. Her second-year marks are a much better reflection of the standard of her work'.