Oxford Postgraduate Waitlisters 2021

Oh wow! That’s not so far then; perhaps y’ll should hear before the end of the week

Someone posted this in the general Oxford thread, and I figured it might be relevant for some people here, although the process seems to vary a lot between departments.

"I received a response from the department regarding the waitlist for the MSt in Applied Ethics: they could not tell me how many places were left on the course as they 'offer over' due to a high number of withdrawals, the list is not ranked, and there are around 20 applications to be re-evaluated against."

I received a response (after 7 days) to my enquiry about the waitlist for the MSt in Practical Ethics: the list is not ranked and they could not tell me how many places were left as they tend to 'over offer' due to high withdrawal numbers, and there approx. 20 other candidates that will be re-evaluated under the second deadline. I get an answer by the 9th April, but I do not like my chances.

Hi, I think yours is the post that @rkcg and I are responding to (and I also just replied on the general chat with some information although some of it isn't as relevant given that you have a date to hear back from). I would still try and stay positive given that, like you say, they give out more offers offers their capacity due to high levels of withdrawal. It's good though that you should hear back soon, have you applied elsewhere may I ask?

I haven't applied elsewhere yet as I am just finishing an MA and could move onto PhD in ethics at my current RG university. I couldn't find any suitable funded PhD opportunities in my field so there was no early deadlines to apply for. Since this MSt is supervised by the world leaders in the field I was willing to do another Master's level course (and pay the whole course costs out of my own savings). I'm a mature student, and I'm not convinced that I want to continue studies if they aren't at the highest level, since I was planning on entering academia rather than looking for a job. So I'm all up in the air at the moment...

Hi everyone, I'm currently on the waiting list for the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Emailed Oxford a couple of weeks ago, but they were unable to provide me with any information about my position, how many people are on it, or when I am likely to hear if a spot does become available. So I suppose I'm in the same shoes as you guys, crossing my fingers for you all!

Hi! I know it is different for each department, but can I ask how long it took for them to reply to your email? I sent some question about my position on the waiting list etc to my department almost two weeks ago and they have not replied at all, so it would be nice to see if it is considered to be a normal waiting period or if they are just ignoring me :/

Hi! I know it is different for each department, but can I ask how long it took for them to reply to your email? I sent some question about my position on the waiting list etc to my department almost two weeks ago and they have not replied at all, so it would be nice to see if it is considered to be a normal waiting period or if they are just ignoring me :/

When I contacted my department about the waiting list, I also asked whether its possible to get feedback on applications and they said that whilst they don't provide feedback, students can contact the University Data Protection team to request a copy of your assessment form as a Subject Access Request ([email protected]) . So I did this, not really knowing what to expect back and the form has now come through and it basically breaks down the scoring system that applications have gone through and how the individual applicant has performed according to the criteria. I would definitely recommend doing it because it helped me to understand where my application needed improvements and what went well so thought I'd share it on here in case anyone else is interested in finding out this information about their application. Also, I imagine that this applies to all departments but in case it doesn't I should just mention that I applied for the English (1830-1914).

I think doing this just means that one has resigned to the fact that they wouldn’t be taken off the wait list. It might be better to wait until after the outcome of the wait list status before requesting this information especially if the feedback afterwards wasn’t in the affirmative

I do think that this might be the case, however for me I have found the jnformation useful to understand both my application better but also how competitive the whole process is more broadly. I personally haven't resigned to not coming off of the waiting list, but at the same time it's useful information to have not only in terms of Oxford but also for the scholarships applications that I'm currently working on and so in that sense thats why I wanted to let other people know who might also find the process useful. It is though completely optional and up to personal preference so I completely understand why some people might not want to and the reasons that you've provided.

Oh I see! It makes a lot of sense then and I’m thankful for every information you provide on this platform. I hope your research/thesis is going well. I think you mentioned ( if I remember correctly) that you were working on it

Thank you, I know though that some of the stuff I post is useful for some people and not for others, especially when factoring in how differently the departments approach the waiting list in particular. I also should have specified that the type of information they provide is scores based on grades, personal statement, references, example of work/portfolio and preparedness for postgraduate study and so many of these are also applicable to other applications but I also understand what you said in the previous post about resigning to being on the waiting list. It's a difficult balance to work out what the realistic and pragmatic thing to do in this situation give that we're all in a bit of a limbo state right now - hopefully some good news will come through for us soon though! And thank you for your comments about my research/thesis, its going okay - stressful as always but getting really into it and looking forward to printing it off and having the dissertation photo at university hopefully! I can't remember whether it has been said before but are you currently studying right now? Either way, best of luck with everything you're doing! 😊

For real, the waitlist is a difficult place to be; the uncertainty and all can be crippling because it feels as though you can’t take any step forward with regards to school admission. If it’s of any help though, I’m a Christian and my religion teaches me to have faith in God which is what I’m focused on. I’m done with studying though.

When I contacted my department about the waiting list, I also asked whether its possible to get feedback on applications and they said that whilst they don't provide feedback, students can contact the University Data Protection team to request a copy of your assessment form as a Subject Access Request ([email protected]) . So I did this, not really knowing what to expect back and the form has now come through and it basically breaks down the scoring system that applications have gone through and how the individual applicant has performed according to the criteria. I would definitely recommend doing it because it helped me to understand where my application needed improvements and what went well so thought I'd share it on here in case anyone else is interested in finding out this information about their application. Also, I imagine that this applies to all departments but in case it doesn't I should just mention that I applied for the English (1830-1914).

I do think that this might be the case, however for me I have found the jnformation useful to understand both my application better but also how competitive the whole process is more broadly. I personally haven't resigned to not coming off of the waiting list, but at the same time it's useful information to have not only in terms of Oxford but also for the scholarships applications that I'm currently working on and so in that sense thats why I wanted to let other people know who might also find the process useful. It is though completely optional and up to personal preference so I completely understand why some people might not want to and the reasons that you've provided.

Thank you for letting us know! I just emailed them and I hope the copy of my assessment form help me as well. I also haven't resigned about my waitlisted status, and I'm currently focusing in scholarships applications. So, any feedbacks will be useful. Specially because I'm almost resigned regarding my current "no funding" situation (), which makes me think that I might have to apply again next year.