How to break through to Cambridge/Oxford/Imperial, the top universities, for masters?

Hi all,
I have just finished my bachelors in Computer Science and was very happy to receive a strong first class degree. I have applied to Imperial and Oxford but to no avail. I really want to study at one of these top universities, so I have taken a gap year and will be applying for the 2025 cycle. I was fortunate enough to get an acceptance to Southampton Uni for the MSc in Artificial Intelligence but I am going to defer it for next year since the modules are not very interesting to me..
I go to a not highly ranked university (about rank 60 in the UK) so I'm not really sure how to make my application stand out over the next year. I'm going to work as a TA for my project supervisor this year, so I guess that's something? I have a strong interest in machine learning, and have done some projects with it. Any advice is really appreciated.

Reply 1

SS378

Recommendation letters are very important. Consider looking for research assistant positions. Since you did so well in your undergrad, why not consider applying to some US programs as well.

Reply 2

ChillerAlpha

Original post by SS378

Recommendation letters are very important. Consider looking for research assistant positions. Since you did so well in your undergrad, why not consider applying to some US programs as well.

Thanks for the response. How would I look for research assistant positions? I've tried looking for this within my own university but apparently it's not available. Honestly a bit frustrated because I've wanted research experience for a while now but I'm not sure how to get it.