Getting into Oxbridge for Postgraduate Study

Thanks for the support! How is graduate life in Oxford? Nice instagrams

I know this has been done a million times but I need to know I'm no wasting my time and money on little hope.

I plan on applying to an msc in integrated immunology at Oxford:
- I have a first (75% average) over 3 years studying biology with management at imperial college London.
- I won the award for achieving the highest mark in the module 'advanced topics in infection and immunity' in my third year (80%)
- Have 6 months lab experience in and out of uni
- I only have 2 academic references though and one professional (but not really a field related to biology-more economic and statistical analysis). Oxford say they require 3 academics for this :s

Will my references be a massive hindrance to my application overall?

Sorry if this question was asked before. I hope someone can enlighten my understanding in just a few words.

Does a very good mark in MA degree make up for bad undergraduate grades during phD admission at Oxford? I know grades are not the only thing admission committees look at, but I like to know if I have a chance if my grades aren't very good during my undergraduate years.

Thanks a lot!

Shrimpball

I guess it depends how you define 'bad undergraduate grades'. A 2.1 might not be the end of the world (though it certainly won't help your application) but anything below that would make things pretty tricky- although this of course does depend on your department, how competitive the PhDs they have are, etc. It might be the case that although getting a place is possible, your chances of getting funding will be severely reduced. But again, it depends on what marks we're talking about, and how good your MA mark is, and whether your MA is in the area that you want to do a PhD, amongst other factors.

Thank you for answering so fast! I'm about to start my MA in Medieval Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London. I don't want to get my hopes too high, but I want to work towards getting a distinction. I went to a very good (top 20) university in the US, but I didn't get very good grades. I'd be applying in department of English or History I believe.

Thank you for answering so fast! I'm about to start my MA in Medieval Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London. I don't want to get my hopes too high, but I want to work towards getting a distinction. I went to a very good (top 20) university in the US, but I didn't get very good grades. I'd be applying in department of English or History I believe.

It is good that you went to a top 20 university in the US but, strangely enough, I actually think it's better to have gone to a slightly 'worse' university and to have achieved better grades, unfortunately (although of course both is ideal). But as Ellie said, if you do well in your master's and get the other factors right you could get an offer. Do you get marks for the MA throughout the year or are you having a gap year between the MA and potential PhD? That's the other concern I'd have; you won't find out your final MA grade until after you'll have applied for the PhD which is why undergrad marks tend to end up getting considered more. If there's a way around this then go for that.

Ellie is right about the funding situation- it's dire. Even as someone with a 1st at undergrad I only got funding at the last minute, and this was from a department that is in the medical sciences division (i.e. there's usually more funding about). But try your best with the MA and you never know.

Good luck with the MA. Good choice of university, by the way- Holloway's a great place so I'm sure you'll enjoy your time there.

Someone on this forum went to QMUL and is now at Oxford for a masters.

I don't think they look at A-Levels at all. I don't recall mentioning my scores or grades from high school when I applied to PG courses.

Hello all - I'm back with a question about supervisors for MSt courses. How usual is it to contact a potential supervisor for a Masters dissertation before you apply? I've seen some faculty staff mention that they're willing to supervise both MSt and DPhil students but I'm not sure if making contact prior to application is a DPhil-only thing. Any help much appreciated, as always.


Posted from TSR Mobile

So, sorry to do this, but here's my 'what are my chances' question, and here are my results:

I have a first class english degree from the University of Liverpool. I have just completed an MA in Eighteenth-Century Worlds from the same institution, getting between 72-5 in every module bar one. I have also just got my dissertation mark back: 85, with both markers saying that I should revise for publication.

I would like to apply for either a History or English DPhil, probably straddling the departments, whichever one I go for. It would be a continuation of my MA dissertation.

I've been chronically ill for the past 10 years, so though I speak a few other languages, and set up 2 societies during UG, running 3 in total, my general CV looks very bare indeed.

It depends entirely on your department. Mine (Classics) dictates it's basically essential and you shouldn't apply without contacting a supervisor, but for others (linguistics, for example) advise you not to. Try and find information about it on the departmental website for your potential university. Alternatively, I would ask someone in your department and see what they say