abraxas

Hello everyone, I'm an American moving to Balliol College for an MPhil in IR this fall. I'll be in Holywell Manor. I've heard its amazing and the MCR is great, but I haven't heard much about the actual nuts and bolts of the accommodations, such as the conditions of the rooms or the food. Anyone familiar with Balliol?

If the MPhil is one year long, you might be able to wrangle something up with your local Rotary, since they only pay for one year courses. It sounds like its two years, though, so you're ineligible (I know, I tried myself). Also, the Rotary deadline is this week, I believe. Talk to the tutor at whichever college you've been admitted to as well; they sometimes offer aid. It's not a whole hell of a lot, but it might help. I'm lucky that I have family support for the cost for my MPhil in IR at Balliol beginning this fall, but I will admit that I haven't stopped looking for funding. I wouldn't be upset about missing the Marshall and the Rhodes deadlines; they're so competitive to begin with that it's not a good idea to pin your hopes on them. I was nominated for the Marshall and went through the process with no luck. The Rhodes accepts somewhere in the neighborhood of 32 out of 1000, too. At any rate, send me a PM if you're interested. in hearing more.

Thanks for the advice guys. My parents are thrilled that I got in and have no problem with funding me. It's a big deal for them since they never went to college and my grandmother grew up illiterate in a British crown colony. Needless to say, they're really excited about Oxford and are encouraging me to go. I've talked to some of my professors who highly recommend Oxford and praised the networking connections and the fact that Mphil and IR is supposedly so selective (how selective could it be...I got in ) . Ironically, both of my profs are British but teach in the US and only one of them went to a British grad school--SOAS--but they still recommend the program. Also, two years gives me more time for a thesis and for research, whereas Chicago's one year program feels really rushed and not enough time to really do anything or make connections, even if it is cheaper.

I thought it was difficult to apply for a Dphil straight out of Undergrad? You need a detailed research proposal, which is not something I just have laying about, so I assume you need a Master's of some sort for the DPhil. Anyway, thanks for the advice!

Thanks for the response. I guess, like tons of people on this site and in the wider world, that there's a certain benefit to prestige and cachet, and I was pretty sure Oxford had that cachet. I've also heard, somewhat unflatteringly that they like to lure Americans Mphil students to Oxford to gouge them for funds.....

I'm actually in a similar boat--I just visited both Korbel and CIR last week, and both offered me the same amount of money (30K). However, at Korbel this covers two quarters of tuition, while this covers nearly the whole program at Chicago. While I was a bit more worried about the one year program and the intensity of it, I was impressed by the strong faculty and the small cohort. 40 to 50 people means that you get much much more attention from the career coordinator and the preceptors, as opposed to the hundreds of students that attend Korbel or other MA programs. Everyone at Korbel was arguing how being out in the middle of nowhere in Denver wasn't bad for their careers and they could make the same connections, but I didn't buy it. Their faculty seems to have a high turnover rate was well I also noticed that nearly all 130 people there were white, except for me, which was a little off putting for someone who grew up in an urban, diverse environment. That obviously was just a "could you see yourself living here" factor for me though. I also remember seeing a fox run through the campus the morning I arrived, which really kind of underscored how out of the way the place is. Despite CIR not being the same as a two year master's, I'd actually think it would have more connections and opportunity for networking. Also, Zahar, I asked about Mearsheimer and was told that while he won't be teaching next year, he will be at Chicago and working on research, and he will be available for CIR students to consult with him, he will be holding workshops, and might be looking for RAs from CIR. Supposedly he treats CIR people no differently than his own PhDs. My tour guide actually was working with him on her second year specialization

Well, there's the slight chance some of us are on a reserve list and we might get offers if others turn it down (I can't imagine that happens too often, though), but it looks like its over. Are there any other sources of funding for us Yanks that anyone might know about?

I'm going straight into an MA (well, I took a year off, but when you apply in the fall you don't have much experience anyway). I got into some good IR MA programs (GWU Korbel, CIR) with offers of funding, but didn't get into my top picks (Yale, Fletcher, SAIS) because of lack of work experience. However, one of my friends from college got into SAIS straight away, so make of that what you will. If you have tons of study abroad, internships, etc, you might get into a top pick right out of your BA.

With the Claredon Scholarship results for Oxford now in, I don't have any funding for the MPhil in International Relations at Oxford. I'm excited about the department's reputation and the chance to study at Oxford, but the steep price tag put me off. On the other hand, it seems like a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I might regret it forever if I passed it up. My next choice is Chicago's Commitee on International Relations, which is offering me 2/3 funding for the one year MA program. I visited the school and really like the program, and I can afford it without going into debt, but I still feel torn. Any other Americans do grad degrees in the UK without aid? If so, was it worth it?

UPDATE: Social Science Scholarships have been given out, and I'm not one of them. About 37 have been given out. Any lucky gradcafe patrons get any funding?

Great. I am going to be incredibly pissed off if I accept an offer from another school (which have looming deadlines) and then get an email telling me I received the Clarendon. ...

No, didn't get into MSFS (not enough experience) but got into the Governance and Democracy MA program (unfunded). Thanks for letting me know though; hopefully I don't hear back on April Fool's Day, given that my anxiety is already unbearable...

Have you heard back? Its March 31st and I haven't received any information....so that doesn't bode well. Then again, they didn't inform me that I was accepted until a week after the official date they were supposed to.

If anyone else going to visit day on April 4 wants to share their plans regarding accommodations or anything, feel free to message me. I guess I'll see you all there!

Well, basically the University's letter of rec service told me that grad schools trust that the letter is genuine since it comes from the official letter of rec service (or at least that they should trust UCLA's letter service). So that's that, then.