IWing

For my PhD I had to take 4 classes a semester, otherwise I would be taking classes for nearly 4 years and I wasn't willing to do that.  I think 4 classes a semester is quite doable if you have few other commitments.  It sounds like you don't have any (no RA, TA, work, etc.) so I think you can do it.  It is a little rough, but not impossible.

This is coming from a person who hasn't started their engineering masters yet, so take my advice as you wish.
But I am going to be in the same position as you, and I plan to take 4 classes a semester. The ~30 credit hours + any background credit hours I need is going to push me to 3 semesters. I don't want to add extra money on to that with another semester. So your financial budget should be an important factor in your decision. I can't say how difficult your courses are going to be but with no working I think you should give it a shot. It's also a good sign that you are aware that only certain classes are offered in spring or fall. This seems to always get masters students. You need to make sure all your spring offered classes you want will be there for you or otherwise you might have to replace them with something you don't find interesting at all.

The waiting is such a killer! You can take a look here:
http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?t=t&o=
And it looks like some S15 decisions are still being sent out. (I take it that S15 means January 2015 entry, since some schools call the May entry "Spring".) Try calling/emailing the grad unit to ask if you can get any update, and when you can expect a decision. Good luck!

I finally received my first acceptance. This does take off the edge a bit, but right now I'm so giddy I'm being equally unproductive.

I disagree, it would not be "completely moronic" to turn down oxford: being a grad student isn't glamorous. Even the highest prestige places dont have 100% matriculation rates, and he sounds interested in the job.
 
The fact that he's given weight to should say that much.
 
You are going to get biased opinions here: this is a graduate school website. The real question is: do you see yourself going to graduate school in the future even if you take this job. If the answer is yes, then you should probably just go to oxford, since its one of the best schools in the world. But if the answer is maybe, the answer becomes a bit more muddled. 
 
Can you see yourself happy without this Job?
 
Can you see yourself happy without going to graduate school?
 
The question isn't Oxford or job, the real question should be graduate school or job.
 
I hope that this helps you think about it. 

This. I'm not kidding when I say I spent 6 months on mine. And it changed MANY times. At the end, it was worth it.

I'll start with this one. There is no such thing as a safety school. A school is either a good fit or not. A poorly ranked school doing research in everything you're not interested in, will reject you. Before you apply make sure the program is a good fit.


What about everyone else. What do you wish you'd known at the beginning?

^ re: my previous comment: I misread the context of that comment, sorry. I actually agree - they definitely will not look down on you for being thorough and double-checking your applications and wanting to correct a mistake.

I respectful disagree and think that this advice isn't sound - why not just email them? You will look more honest. They will find out your GPA anyway when they look at your transcript and this will make you look dishonest, don't forget that they can rescind your acceptance. I understand that it was just your major GPA but the difference between a 3.5 and a 3.7 is actually pretty big when you think about it. Also look at it this way - if you accidentally typed 3.5 and you had a 3.7 you would definitely contact them and inform them. 

If trying to correct a minor typo lowered my chances in a program I'm not really sure I'd want to join that program anyway.

Why wouldn't you contact them? Doesn't the act of contemplation make it dishonest?