Accepted to Oxford and Cambridge - help me decide?

This thread may get merged with the Official Oxford or Cambridge thread, but this a bit different, because that thread seems geared toward helping undergrad applicants decide which of the two to apply to.

On the other hand, I was accepted for graduate study at both Oxford and Cambridge, so now it's about deciding which to accept the offer from!

Not a bad problem to have, I know. I'm super thrilled and thankful.

But I need to have made my decision in less than a month (Oxford requires a yes or no by January 12th), so I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask for advice here.

The course I was accepted for at Cambridge is an MPhil in Education; the course at Oxford is an MSc in Education. They differ a bit in what they emphasize, but I honestly think both courses sound amazing, intellectually stimulating, and helpful for my career (otherwise I wouldn't have applied to them.)

Is there any big difference in the UK for a how an MPhil vs an MSc is viewed? From what I've read so far, it seems the MPhil is slightly more prestigious, but again, not really a deciding factor.

Anything else I should consider heavily? (I haven't been offered a college place at either yet, and won't know about funding until after too.)

Reply 1

Parliament

12

Congratulations, first of all! Not many people can say they've been offered by both.

If you're equally impressed by both courses' academic credentials, don't have a college, or any guarantee of funding, then a lot of the decision comes down to which city you like more. I'm at Cambridge, so I'm completely biased and won't say anything more than I personally think Cambridge to be prettier and a nicer place to live, but it's obviously totally subjective and plenty of people prefer Oxford. Have you visited both?

Would you only be assigned a college after you accepted an offer? That'd be an easy way to pick one over the other, but if they won't give you a college until you accept then it's not hugely useful.

Reply 2

hannah00

18

formal education is overrated, put your money in bitcoin and energy futures

Reply 3

Doones

21

Original post by Flambeau

This thread may get merged with the Official Oxford or Cambridge thread, but this a bit different, because that thread seems geared toward helping undergrad applicants decide which of the two to apply to.

On the other hand, I was accepted for graduate study at both Oxford and Cambridge, so now it's about deciding which to accept the offer from!

Not a bad problem to have, I know. I'm super thrilled and thankful.

But I need to have made my decision in less than a month (Oxford requires a yes or no by January 12th), so I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask for advice here.

The course I was accepted for at Cambridge is an MPhil in Education; the course at Oxford is an MSc in Education. They differ a bit in what they emphasize, but I honestly think both courses sound amazing, intellectually stimulating, and helpful for my career (otherwise I wouldn't have applied to them.)

Is there any big difference in the UK for a how an MPhil vs an MSc is viewed? From what I've read so far, it seems the MPhil is slightly more prestigious, but again, not really a deciding factor.

Anything else I should consider heavily? (I haven't been offered a college place at either yet, and won't know about funding until after too.)

You might want to check out the postgrad threads (rather than the undergrad versions you mentioned).

Cambridge:
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4839450

Oxford:https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4839452

Reply 4

Stickman

19

Original post by hannah00

formal education is overrated, put your money in bitcoin and energy futures

OP is smart enough to get into Oxbridge, so they're smart enough to know where to put their money.

Reply 5

Slowbro93

20

I would ask yourself the following:

- what do you plan to do afterwards? If it's more research, a MPhil may work in your favour
- what topics are you most interested?
- do you want to work with any particular people in the field?