Oxford MPhil in Modern Middle Eastern Studies 2025

I applied, but haven't heard back yet! Have you?

Nothing yet! Although, the closest date of results (regarding to their dealings) would be 4th March, so not really pressed about it.
Have you study any Middle Eastern language or studies before?

I am wondering if everyone who applied had a strong language background, because I did not.

I have a pretty decent language background (B2, planning to achieve C1 by summer) when it comes for a language I have applied for.
I have no idea how it would influence admissions. In the past years threads they have mentioned that apparently it is very beneficial to know language beforehand, but then admissions do not specify it themselves, so idk? Also, group of people to speak about it on SR is extremely limited and often comes from bubbles, therefore they are definitely not a reliable source

That's impressive! I applied to this program because it said it was for applicants who had zero language knowledge, so if it does influence admissions, I'd be very disappointed. One of the reasons I applied is because of the opportunity to gain proficiency in a particular language, and I made it clear for what and why in my statement of purpose. ):
But, yeah. There is such limited info on this particular Oxford programme!

I think that as long as you put it in statement of purpose, then it should be alright? Do you speak any other languages? If so, have you highlighted them in personal? As far as I know from my peers who have been prior applying to similar programs (although at undergrad) without knowledge of particular language, they have been often offered a spot on the base of having a strong foundation and talent to learn languages, which was proven by the prior knowledge. So, I would say, you shall be safe if you did so.
Have you applied for any other course? And what was your undergrad? Also, which language did you opt? This might also play a huge role in allocation. Especially less popular languages to learn (Persian, Turkish) might be considered as an asset.
Personally, I think it makes a lot of sense. By all fairness, if the faculty is standing between a decision of getting someone who at least attempted to learn, and someone who did not, then realistically speaking it is better for the overall good of faculty to take one who does try with learning already. It saves them time and improves research capability, also opens the conferences and additional resources. Also, one could argue that shows greater passion to the subject. So, even if I take those people by the lenses of "might be might not" and consider a bubble, I would not be very surprised if this is a fact. But then again, I do not know and might as well do tarot on this, that's how relevant my word (or reddit people's one) is

I applied to learn Farsi in particular. Though, I am a Psychology major, so I don't have anything "Middle Eastern" related under my belt apart from my extra curriculars and research which do involve ME communities. It really is hard to say for me. Everyone applying to Oxford have very strong applications, obviously. So Ill just hope for the best.

Is it common that universities send you a vague "a decision has been made" email when you dont get placement? Because I assumed if you were accepted youd just get a direct email that says "Congrats! etc."

Depends which uni and what is the context. I have not applied to unis in such a while (five years lol), but back in almost half of the decade ago, I got rejected from Oxbridge undergrad. When it happened, I did not get solely "a decision has been made", but a full "a decision has been made and we could not offer you a place".
British unis have this specific thing that they do not really say congrats like Americans do. They tend to say "a decision has been made and therefore we would like to offer you a spot" or "a decision has been made and we could not offer you a place". Pretty much British politeness in the nutshell. If decision has been made, then I recommend checking the portal!

No decisions yet! Just a general q.

Re: your question about your limited language background, I don’t think that should be an issue at all, at least based on the course description (it mentions complete beginners)! The broader expectation of intensive language study reads to me as if they have developed a course that accommodates all experience levels. Crossing my fingers for you that it’s not an issue.
Also, assuming the faculties have a standardized notification process, maybe it’s helpful to mention that when I was (sadly lol) rejected from an MSt course in International Human Rights Law back in 2018, the email I received on March 14th of that year was simply titled the course name, “Master of Studies (MSt) in International Human Rights Law”, and they attached a PDF notifying me of my rejection. So that might be what either an acceptance or rejection email will look like. Either way, really wishing the best of luck to all three of us, and I hope we get to meet this fall after happy news (including funding)! 🙂

That's impressive! I applied to this program because it said it was for applicants who had zero language knowledge, so if it does influence admissions, I'd be very disappointed. One of the reasons I applied is because of the opportunity to gain proficiency in a particular language, and I made it clear for what and why in my statement of purpose. ):
But, yeah. There is such limited info on this particular Oxford programme!

language skills definitely don’t influence! I know people in this programme who came with zero lang skills and were fine