Mst in English (1900-present)
Hi all!
I'm writing with a few questions as I feel a little out of my depth applying to the master's program for English at Oxford. While Oxford is my main goal, I'll be applying to other English courses so this is not just directed to those who know Oxford standards and expectations personally and in accordance to the subject (in this case English obv).
This may seem weird, but I am in the process of getting my bachelor's degree in filmmaking (one year left to go!) and am thinking (as most people always are, especially at these times) about my future. I'll spare you the history of why I want to apply because no one actually cares.
My questions stem from my likeability to get in, because although I feel that I have an adequate level of english for the course lol, I'm scared the admissions team will simply reject me because I don't directly come from an english/humanities background. The other issue is, the admission process requires you to submit written essays from your past course, however my essays are centered around film, with some references to general media, but no direct link to (modern) literature. I fear that just because of that, they'll deem my interest for the subject to be unexplored and uninvested.
If you have any advice to share or just things I should do/avoid, I'd be incredibly grateful.
I'm writing with a few questions as I feel a little out of my depth applying to the master's program for English at Oxford. While Oxford is my main goal, I'll be applying to other English courses so this is not just directed to those who know Oxford standards and expectations personally and in accordance to the subject (in this case English obv).
This may seem weird, but I am in the process of getting my bachelor's degree in filmmaking (one year left to go!) and am thinking (as most people always are, especially at these times) about my future. I'll spare you the history of why I want to apply because no one actually cares.
My questions stem from my likeability to get in, because although I feel that I have an adequate level of english for the course lol, I'm scared the admissions team will simply reject me because I don't directly come from an english/humanities background. The other issue is, the admission process requires you to submit written essays from your past course, however my essays are centered around film, with some references to general media, but no direct link to (modern) literature. I fear that just because of that, they'll deem my interest for the subject to be unexplored and uninvested.
If you have any advice to share or just things I should do/avoid, I'd be incredibly grateful.
I know people who've done that course but I don't know if they came from what you could call a non-traditional academic background. My advice to you would be to email someone in the English faculty, like the director of graduate studies, and ask their advice (in addition to looking at the entry requirements and the interactive 'competitive application' tool, here.) There's no reason not to email people at the university seeking informal advice; in my experience they are more than happy to provide it.
I see from the entry requirements that it's "exceptional" for them to let in someone without a previous degree in English. That suggests to me that you'd need to have a really convincing story to tell about yourself as to why you wanted to study English and were a suitable candidate. Working out what your story is is an important step of the master's application process anyway, IMO.
If you find that you're not likely to succeed in applying for English, I suggest you have a look to see if Oxford (if that's where you're set on doing a master's) offers master's courses which combine English and something else, or if there's another course the faculty is involved in which interests you (list here).
Re. essays, it says on the course page that it is "preferable" that they're on the same subject i.e. English, but it doesn't say it's necessary. See the 'how to apply' tab on the course page for details of how they'll assess the essays. If I were you, I'd ask the faculty if I was allowed to write a new essay on an English literature subject and then submit that as one of the two. (I did this for my successful MPhil application at Oxford, in a different subject) This would be quite challenging of course; you'd have to make sure that you were choosing a suitable title and you'd need confidence in your ability to write a strong essay outside a teaching environment. But you are essentially taking a gamble here anyway, so why not? It could pay off.
I have other master's advice but I think you should first of all find out if it's worth you applying for it.
I see from the entry requirements that it's "exceptional" for them to let in someone without a previous degree in English. That suggests to me that you'd need to have a really convincing story to tell about yourself as to why you wanted to study English and were a suitable candidate. Working out what your story is is an important step of the master's application process anyway, IMO.
If you find that you're not likely to succeed in applying for English, I suggest you have a look to see if Oxford (if that's where you're set on doing a master's) offers master's courses which combine English and something else, or if there's another course the faculty is involved in which interests you (list here).
Re. essays, it says on the course page that it is "preferable" that they're on the same subject i.e. English, but it doesn't say it's necessary. See the 'how to apply' tab on the course page for details of how they'll assess the essays. If I were you, I'd ask the faculty if I was allowed to write a new essay on an English literature subject and then submit that as one of the two. (I did this for my successful MPhil application at Oxford, in a different subject) This would be quite challenging of course; you'd have to make sure that you were choosing a suitable title and you'd need confidence in your ability to write a strong essay outside a teaching environment. But you are essentially taking a gamble here anyway, so why not? It could pay off.
I have other master's advice but I think you should first of all find out if it's worth you applying for it.
(edited 1 month ago)
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