o.j.

Not sure it is entirely right though. I am guessing you have looked at cultural hegemony. If you find out let me know too please!

I wrote to many universities over summer and they insisted that they do not discriminate on age. Most universities' average applicant age was 28. They also added that recently, in the past few years, there was a trend in political science that many people joined straight after college (perhaps due to the recession?). I am 29, and hold an undergraduate in engineering, so lots of wild cards in my application. Here's hoping that my work experience would help.

I think you mean cultural production: the active and creative use of available symbolic materials in ways shaped by people's structural position…(see: Willis, also Hebdige)

I am actually working on a research proposal, which is 2,500 words, for a British University. While designing research, work plan and embedding it in theories is quite challenging and rewarding, the process itself brings the research project tantalisingly close. I feel that getting a rejection from this type of application is potentially worse: it becomes too real to let go.

But is it more true that colleges accept younger people with no clear POI than older people? I have heard people say that in economics--that they prefer younger (below 25) applicants, but not sure how true this might be for political science too...

Congratulations!

I hope so!

After seeing all your comments, I have gone and checked my Linkedin profile--no one unusual has checked. I have also double-checked spam folder too, but nope no news there either. I have to admit that I am also stalking one of my POIs on Twitter and I am a little concerned that he is travelling on his book tour until 19th Jan. I can't decide how to feel about it: on the one hand, if he reads my personal statement quickly then hopefully he won't notice typos and/or logical fallacies in the statement; on the other hand, it is entirely possible that he is not even going to read applications this year! Other POIs thankfully don't have Twitter accounts!

Hi all, I have been lurking around this thread since submitting my applications last month and thought I'd say hello.

I think it is all a matter of how well you get to know the Professors, quite a few people get the upgrade, but this kind of happens in the second year of the MPhil. I am guessing you still have a year to go before you finish, I think you could use this time to make contacts with Professors at Oxford. Does your University have any conferences where these Professors might be present? In any case, I think you should write to them and see if you can go meet with them to discuss your idea, especially for your Master's thesis. Getting a publication out of this master's would be great too and you could then directly apply for a DPhil.

Congratulations! I didn't think they reviewed applications this fast! But I guess they do! So nervous.

Think you should apply for the MPhil, as I think it will shave off more than 2 years from DPhil at Oxford.