The Student Room Group

Official Oxford 2023 Postgraduate Applicants Thread

Welcome to everyone, and best of luck with your applications!

Prospective course:
Achieved (or expected) grade:
Nationality:
Current (or last) university:
Current (or last) course:

College preferences:
Other universities you’re applying to:

Disclaimer: Please note, unless stated otherwise, posters on this thread do not work for the Oxford's admissions department, therefore do not take our opinion as being 100% accurate. If you need certainty, contact Oxford directly.

Last year's thread: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7053424
(edited 2 years ago)

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Prospective course: A101 Graduate Entry Medicine and PhD
Achieved (or expected) grade: AAAA (max grades)
Nationality: Singaporean
Current (or last) university: NUS
Current (or last) course: BSc
College preferences: -
Other universities you’re applying to: Cambridge
Prospective course: DPhil in Fine Art
Nationality: UK
College preferences: undecided


Anyone else applying to the Ruskin for graduate art? Hit me up if so!
Reply 3
Prospective course: Msc Software Engineering
Achieved (or expected) grade: 65% in Second Year, expected to graduate with First
Nationality: UK
Current (or last) university: Coventry
Current (or last) course: BSc Information Technology
College preferences: - no clue
Other universities you’re applying to: Imperial
I was an unsuccessful applicant last year so hope I have really improved and will try again!

Is there any advantage for going for the November deadline at all?
Prospective course: MSt Musicology
Achieved (or expected) grade: Expected First
Nationality: UK
Current (or last) university: University of York, (Vanbrugh College)
Current (or last) course: BA Music
College preferences: Jesus
Other universities you’re applying to: Cambridge, Yale, Durham, KCL and Edinburgh


Any other Music applicants for any universities please message me - I'd love to chat :smile:
I planned to apply for OMMS, however, I read on the website that the student‘s socio-economic background plays a big role when shortlisting candidates. It‘s a kind of pilot approach. Does anyone know what that exactly mean ?
Does it make sense at all to apply if you cannot tick a box on the socio-economic questionnaire?
Does Oxford reserve a certain number of places for such students? Do other students need higher grades?
Prospective course: MSc in MCF or MMSC/Statistical Sciences
Achieved (or expected) grade: First Class Honours
Current (or last) university: University of Malaya
Current (or last) course: BSc in Applied Mathematics
College preferences: Undecided
Other universities you’re applying to: Similar programs @Cambridge

Please dm me if any applicant studying in Malaysia and across the world who are interested in to discuss more :smile: All the best!
(edited 2 years ago)
As a head's up to some of you, it is reluctantly I would say not to apply to Linacre College, Oxford. I am an academic now, and expect I will be for my life. My time there was mostly beautiful, but I have seen quite genuinely that admin staff have deleted people's work (essentially one staff) if unaffiliated but old non-academic members (literally and explicitly) become jealous of relationships of 'the young'uns' (pervy old men who hang around thinking some of the young girls might like them).

This is against 99.999% of my experience of that college, but it is a real thing. All it takes is for one or two bad eggs to completely destroy your degree, research etc. Stay safe guys and happy applications! :smile:
Prospective course: DPhil Cancer Science / Clinical Medicine
Achieved (or expected) grade: 1st in undergraduate degree
Nationality: British
Current (or last) university: University of Leicester
Current (or last) course: Master of Research
College preferences: unsure
Other universities you’re applying to: Cambridge
Original post by Anonymous
I planned to apply for OMMS, however, I read on the website that the student‘s socio-economic background plays a big role when shortlisting candidates. It‘s a kind of pilot approach. Does anyone know what that exactly mean ?
Does it make sense at all to apply if you cannot tick a box on the socio-economic questionnaire?
Does Oxford reserve a certain number of places for such students? Do other students need higher grades?


To not apply because of this would be crazy.

For the "pilot scheme" details about how socio-economic background is taken into account are deliberately vague and one suspects that the purpose of these "pilot schemes" may really just be to placate those who (perhaps rightly) complain about diversity at Oxford. If socio-economic background is taken into account, it would affect only the very small number of people from disadvantaged backgrounds who end up applying to OMMS, and thus have a negligible affect on other students admissions chances. Remember that in England you can't even get enough funding from the Government to do OMMS, meaning nearly all English applicants will be getting a significant amount of support from their parents in terms of paying course fees and living expenses. This pretty much precludes the people whom the pilot scheme would benefit, from applying in the first place!
Hi there, it seems that almost all courses require not one, not two, but THREE academic references.

Why so many are required? On big undergraduate courses most students will only know personally one or maybe two professors who could possibly provide a reference. Could one argue this requirement disproportionately benefits internal Oxbridge applicants because of the college and tutorial system?

More importantly, does anyone have ideas on how to magic up more references?
Original post by Oxfordbound
I was an unsuccessful applicant last year so hope I have really improved and will try again!

Is there any advantage for going for the November deadline at all?


It's interesting to think about why they have that deadline. All it says that candidates who apply before are more likely to receive early decisions.

Since decisions can be positive, and take up places, you definitely wouldn't want to be applying after others have already received decisions. You wouldn't want to be rejected because your place had already been offered to a weaker candidate.

To me, (and this is pure conjecture but it makes a lot of sense when you think about it) the deadline suggests that they start looking at applications and making decisions at that point in November. If this is the case, it would probably be better to submit before the November deadline. In any case, the earlier you know your future the better!!
Original post by Sandtrooper
Welcome to everyone, and best of luck with your applications!

Prospective course:
Achieved (or expected) grade:
Nationality:
Current (or last) university:
Current (or last) course:

College preferences:
Other universities you’re applying to:

Disclaimer: Please note, unless stated otherwise, posters on this thread do not work for the Oxford's admissions department, therefore do not take our opinion as being 100% accurate. If you need certainty, contact Oxford directly.

Last year's thread: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7053424


Does Oxford not like students from Nottingham? A friend my average 90% in her undergrad maths course, did a summer research project, mentored 1st and 2nd years whilst in her third year but she got rejected when applying for a OMMS. I can only think that Oxford don't value the course at Nottingham. She's at warwick now doing a masters there.
Original post by soulthm
Does Oxford not like students from Nottingham? A friend my average 90% in her undergrad maths course, did a summer research project, mentored 1st and 2nd years whilst in her third year but she got rejected when applying for a OMMS. I can only think that Oxford don't value the course at Nottingham. She's at warwick now doing a masters there.


Honestly, I get the impression that for OMMS and Part III (but also for a lot of Oxbridge postgraduate courses) they are mainly interested in internal Oxbridge applicants or internationals. To apply from Notts I think you’d need 90% on the MMath to even have a chance. The Bsc would not be considered adequate preparation.

Internationals aside, if you don’t get in at 18 it’s hard to get in postgrad I feel. Especially in maths.
Prospective course: OMMS
Achieved (or expected) grade: year 1: 96.6% year 2: 96.2 %
Nationality: EU, settled status
Current (or last) university: RG University
Current (or last) course: BSc. in Mathematics
College preferences: no idea
Other universities you’re applying: Imperial, Cambridge
Original post by quentino
Honestly, I get the impression that for OMMS and Part III (but also for a lot of Oxbridge postgraduate courses) they are mainly interested in internal Oxbridge applicants or internationals. To apply from Notts I think you’d need 90% on the MMath to even have a chance. The Bsc would not be considered adequate preparation.

Internationals aside, if you don’t get in at 18 it’s hard to get in postgrad I feel. Especially in maths.


You could be right there. But looking at the Part III website, Cam say that out of 250 or so candidates each year only 90 are internal Cam students. Majority are outside applicants. Because they don't give reasons why they reject applicants it's hard to say what they are exactly looking for
Original post by soulthm
You could be right there. But looking at the Part III website, Cam say that out of 250 or so candidates each year only 90 are internal Cam students. Majority are outside applicants. Because they don't give reasons why they reject applicants it's hard to say what they are exactly looking for

Fair point. But of course external candidates could mean Oxbridge or internatinal. Happily FOI requests have been made so that we have admissions data on both Part III and OMMS. Since this is the Oxford thread lets look at how non-Oxbridge UK (NOU) university students fared in OMMS applications in 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21.

Source: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/application_stats_for_msc_in_mat_2?unfold=1

Unhappily the data seems a bit suspect since if you actually sum the columns it doesn't add up to the totals they say it does. I guess Oxford is smart but not that smart.

If we take their word for it however... Apparently there were 493 applications from NOU students in this period of which 23 were accepted, giving an acceptance rate of 4.4%. compared to (Internationals + Oxbridge's) acceptance rate of 12.4%, suggesting that NOU students were nearly 3x less likely to get in than their international counterparts.

The 23 lucky winners break down as follows:
Imperial - 8/79 applicants
Bath - 3/18 applicants
Warwick - 4/42 applicants
UCL - 5/75 applicants
Durham - 3/72 applicants.

Everyone else was 0%. If you're curious, Nottingham was 0/8 applicants and none of those 8 got an offer.

Don't mean to discourage anyone from applying though!

If you want to look at Cambridge Part III data its here (for all Part III not just maths):

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/en/request/application_stats_for_part_iii_o_2?unfold=1
Original post by quentino
Fair point. But of course external candidates could mean Oxbridge or internatinal. Happily FOI requests have been made so that we have admissions data on both Part III and OMMS. Since this is the Oxford thread lets look at how non-Oxbridge UK (NOU) university students fared in OMMS applications in 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21.

Source: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/application_stats_for_msc_in_mat_2?unfold=1

Unhappily the data seems a bit suspect since if you actually sum the columns it doesn't add up to the totals they say it does. I guess Oxford is smart but not that smart.

If we take their word for it however... Apparently there were 493 applications from NOU students in this period of which 23 were accepted, giving an acceptance rate of 4.4%. compared to (Internationals + Oxbridge's) acceptance rate of 12.4%, suggesting that NOU students were nearly 3x less likely to get in than their international counterparts.

The 23 lucky winners break down as follows:
Imperial - 8/79 applicants
Bath - 3/18 applicants
Warwick - 4/42 applicants
UCL - 5/75 applicants
Durham - 3/72 applicants.

Everyone else was 0%. If you're curious, Nottingham was 0/8 applicants and none of those 8 got an offer.

Don't mean to discourage anyone from applying though!

If you want to look at Cambridge Part III data its here (for all Part III not just maths):

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/en/request/application_stats_for_part_iii_o_2?unfold=1


good analysis @quentino :smile:

sort of not surprised they dish out a fair number of places to intl students as they want to rake in those fees....

it's kinda depressing in a way - once you get past the Cam, Ox, Warwick, ICL group, the depth and coverage of maths courses drops off a cliff so much so that those courses (as you mentioned earlier) do not prepare a person for a course like Part III or maybe even OMMS and so we see the distribution of places in the FOI data.
Original post by soulthm
good analysis @quentino :smile:

sort of not surprised they dish out a fair number of places to intl students as they want to rake in those fees....

it's kinda depressing in a way - once you get past the Cam, Ox, Warwick, ICL group, the depth and coverage of maths courses drops off a cliff so much so that those courses (as you mentioned earlier) do not prepare a person for a course like Part III or maybe even OMMS and so we see the distribution of places in the FOI data.

In 2021/2022 a student from my university got into OMMS (not one of the universities mentioned above). He was top of class in year 2 and year 3. He finished OMMS with distinction, his acquired knowledge seemed to be ok for OMMS. However, Part III admission (I think part III is a bit more difficult) offered about 30% (30 out of 90 during the last years) a spot. Cambridge experiences seemed to be ok with people coming from the university I am attending.
On the other hand, most of those students are international students who attended a university in UK for their Bachelor studies. So, I am not sure if this is somehow important. But if Cambridge seems ok with other universities in the UK, Oxford might be biased in some ways.

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