Oxford Graduate Application 2012/13

Dont you think its unfair to expect all of these(teaching experience, publications etc ) from a recent graduate who wants to go straight for a Phd?

I have applied for a MPhil in International Relations.

I really understand how stressed you can feel. People keep asking me if I feel alright because it seems I am going to cry at any moment. But well if I have to wait one more week I may start to cry for real ...

Absolutely . Their food's one of the best (sadly baklava isn't on the menu).

But I dont think much of my chances of getting in though.

Got my rejection letter in the post today.

I'm really devastated. As I'm sure you all did, I spent hours and hours on the application, and my £50 application fee came out of my food budget for October. Had I got in, it would've been the best £50 I ever spent! Not sure what more I could have done to maximise my chances - I have a first class degree in English, a year working as SU officer, lovely referees and a painstakingly written research proposal.

I think it's that my research proposal ('problematic' or censure-inducing sexuality in modern American literature) is too contemporary/doesn't match up to Oxford or Cambridge lecturers' fields but I kind of want to shout, well if you don't take one a student studying this unusual new area, how do you expect to be ahead of the curve?! I suppose they'd argue that they are at the forefront of research in Renaissance/Modernist/Romantic literature and have that covered in such a world leading manner to be able to leave late C20th developments to Sussex or Warwick. I predict I'll come up against this dichotomy at PhD level too.

I've got offers elsewhere but there's no denying the cachet of Oxbridge. Thanks for your support and good luck to everyone en route to dreaming spires.

Truly agree that ONLY ' Best takes the offer' may NOT necessarily be true because my brother's classmate who had 2.1 undergrad and 2.2 postgrad got a place for a PhD last year in oxford. Even he was shocked when he got the offer. I think we need a little bit of luck as well.

You can accept the offer for now and wait for the outcome of the funding. Do you have to pay certain amount of money once you accept the offer?

No i don need to make any deposit. But the problem is once i accept the offer i must submit my financial guarantee paper. That is the issue i am concerned of.

It seems this week have got more rejections than acceptances. Sorry for those who got rejected and wish you all the best with your other best options.

Yes, and what a darn exasperating wait it is! I have been having nightmares for weeks now, eating way too many potato chips, and I am ready to bite the heads off even mildly irritating people. I'm not always Buddha-like but this shakiness of the nerves is making me kind of wish that I could sleep tonight and wake up only a week later by which time IR department's "late March" will have arrived.

I have applied for the same course too.

I believe the stress is getting worse due to the news of other people getting offers from different departments. It does not help to know either that out of 600-something taught degree applicants, only 80-something are accepted. This weekend, I am going to sleep a lot and watch some silly Indian movies to keep my mind diverted.

Do you have a first degree in Politics or IR? Mine is in History and the negative part of me is scaring me that they may prefer an IR student over me.

that's weird. I had to submit my financial guarantee by the end of July.

Congratulations! I have an offer for the MPhil. My letter said exactly the same, but later specified this as 65%. Maybe that's helpful for you.

Is that actual formal paper letter, or an email?
I got an email and it is also very vague, but the actual offer letter will follow in about 2 weeks and will spell everything out.

I'm very sorry to hear that. I was rejected by Oxford when I applied straight from undergrad; it was crushing and particularly frustrating not to know why. Everyone talks about the sheer numbers you're up against, but I felt I had to know what was 'wrong' with my application.

I sent emails to the dept (sounds pathetic now, I know) asking what went wrong and for advice on how to beef up future applications; they were very sweet but couldn't give feedback on individual applications of course. As many have pointed out, the app process can be idiosyncratic. Once you have the grades, SOPs and written samples are very significant (references too of course, but Ive always wondered how objectively they are judged when written by external sources), so is a clearly defined and well thought out research area (though not necessarily a full RP). I got the feeling that it doesn't harm to demonstrate familiarity with different elements of the MSt course (a very intensive 9 months), and articulate your enthusiasm for and how you stand to benefit from them. Things like publication and teaching experience sound more relevant to the DPhil to me (and I'm not sure about the latter to be honest).

I'm glad you have other great options and wish you all the best for the future. I'm very keen on gender and sexuality in texts, and 'censure-inducing sexuality in American lit' sounds very interesting. Which authors are you referring to?

Just came back from vacation thinking, it's been a week--surely there will be news! No news yet from English 1550-1700. Are there any other English M.St. applicants still waiting to hear back???