armouredapple

Hi swizzle24, I'm doing an MPhil Stud and I don't think there really is a difference. I get the sense that that is the term used by the London programmes. The Oxford "BPhil", for instance, is also a two-year Master's programme...in St Andrew's it's an MPhil...etc. What you do want to look at is how many years it is (but it it's not two years then it probably won't be an "MPhil" at all) and how the programme is structured (which can vary quite a lot, e.g. narrowness or broadness of course requirement). But I think, generally, an "MPhil" of any stripe is a research preparation degree.

cold_logic, sorry for a late reply...the things off the top of my head are Fulbright, Rhodes...but you have to apply for these in the October/November before you apply. My general sense (from having done PhD applications from the UK to the US, although in economics) is that non-university funding usually must be applied for quite early. However by now you probably already know about offers (I was rejected by Oxford ) and you may have heard about college scholarships, which is the other thing that springs to mind. There may also be Oxford scholarships focused at particular countries (e.g. the US). I think for instance there are the Clarendon scholarships. As for debt, ultimately it's a personal choice...I took on quite a lot as an undergraduate (coming here from overseas) and an economics Master's student, and whilst I wouldn't go back and change history, it has been quite stressful and I do regret the strain it put on my family. But then if you're fairly sure it's the thing you want to do... I say all this in case you are thinking of postponing for a year. Then it is worth (1) looking into external funding over the summer - I think the Fulbright website gives nice general advice on this; and (2) looking into university/college funding before choosing colleges.

Hi cold_logic! I've just applied too, and just to add to what balderdash has said, firstly colleges are great! - but also, I'm pretty sure there is some group content. I have scribbled in my notes that there are weekly classes with presentations - I think this might be mentioned somewhere in the BPhil handbook on the department website. But yes I got the sense too that it's a much more individually driven thing.

Thanks for the replies! Yes you're right, I should look into Cambridge - again, I overlooked it because Leiter doesn't mention it in his page on MAs. And thanks for pointing out the Guardian info Bukharan - I've been a bit US-focused in my thinking, as, thinking ahead to the PhD, most of the higher-ranked faculties in my areas (ethics and political philosophy) seem to be there. But that table suggests looking at a few other UK departments too.

On the writing sample, in case any one else is considering the same question, there seems to be variation even on either side of the Atlantic. At St Andrew's it's <2000 words, UCL none at all (?!), Georgia State <5000 and Brandeis <35 pages. So I feel like I could end up trying to write on similar material in (at least) 3 different formats.

Hi - I saw a thread on this from 2008/9, but my question is slightly different, so I thought I'd start a new post. I'm moving to postgraduate study in philosophy after a few years away from the subject, so I was thinking of doing a one-year Master's before putting in PhD applications. As I'm in the UK, I was going to just apply here (St Andrew's, the MA at University College London...I'm crossing out Oxford as it's a 2-year program), but now I'm wondering whether I should add some US applications to places like Brandeis, Tufts, Georgia State...I'm going by the Philosophical Gourmet. However I noticed one comment in the old thread saying that the UK programs have stronger records in placing people at top places in the US. What are opinions on this - i.e is there a significant difference? Since the US applications seem to have different requirements (e.g. longer writing samples), I'm wondering if this would be the best use of my time. Thanks!

Hi Peanut! I've pretty much *only* ever studied at Oxford...which makes it a little hard to answer as I can't compare! I can have a go answering, but if you could mention your expectations of what it might be like and why it might be different to your current program, or what features you're particularly interested in, then I might be able to give a more informative response. Also I'm a humanities/social sciences student, so my experience may or may not be relevant. But some features that might (or might not) be distinctive: like any grad program your academic experience is completely in the department - the colleges have nothing to do with the courses - but the advantage of the colleges is that you have a very mixed community you can live and socialise in, in terms of disciplines. How much you take part is up to you - some people mainly socialise with their academic peers, and others mix it up, which can good when you need to get away. It's also fun to be able to share ideas across disciplines (and colleges sometimes try to organise this formally). I've heard (though I don't know if this is really true) that the culture in the US in terms of impressing professors, making sure you ask questions in class etc is a bit different. I get the impression it's a bit more laid-back here - people do ask questions of course (sometimes, I've found, not particularly smart ones), and I don't think it has particular significance. One difference for the humanities and social sciences is that the Master's is recognised as a completely separate degree to the PhD, and plenty of people come just to do the Master's, or come to do both but change their mind and leave. There are lots of big-name speaker events and visitors, plenty of seminar series. The graduate body is very internationally mixed, in contrast to the undergraduates who are (by a large majority) British. Undergrads and grads mix a bit socially in college - this depends on you of course - but especially in extracurricular activities. Speaking of which, there is a *huge* amount going on there: a professionally conducted orchestra, some of the top choirs in the country, lots of sport and very impressive drama, politics, etc. It's a genuinely beautiful town and a great place to live. And it's much much much better than Cambridge, of course! On the negative side...my impression is that the Master's-level training (at least for social sciences) is not as wide-ranging or as thorough as in the top programmes in the US. Also, there is a bit more of an old-fashioned culture of leaving PhD students to just get on with it. There *are* opportunities to present, to teach and so on, but I don't think you get pushed to do it in the same way, and it is not as structured. This depends on your subject and, I guess, on your supervisor. I left before this stage so I can't speak from experience. And again this is more for humanities and social sciences - the culture in sciences I think would be pretty much the same as in the US. Hope that's of some help.

I know!! The timing is not ideal - I'm in an odd situation, as for the last 3 years I've been an economics postgrad, and increasingly aware that something was wrong, but only 10 days ago realised that I'm in the wrong subject, and I should really have known this since I finished my undergrad studies 5 years ago. So I'm pulling out of my course (I just started a PhD in Europe), and although I could wait another year to apply, it seems a waste. So I'm reading up on professors' work as quickly as I can, and hope to send out some emails in 2-3 days' time. I have a question though. I'm planning to contact a professor in my particular area of interest in philosophy, but the university doesn't seem to have a course in a different area, which I'm interested in both intrinsically and also because there is a link with my intended research topic. It doesn't seem right to ask him about a course he has no connection to, although it does demonstrate my interest and that I've thought things through, but then do I really write a whole other email to the Director of Graduate Studies? Should I be trying to make an impression on him too? Sorry if this is a naive question: I'm from the UK and not really used to the concept of making contact beforehand. Neither are some of my professors here! Thanks

Hello - I've just joined the forum, having discovered this site yesterday, but I just wanted to say thank you to everyone as I've found this thread (and many of the others) hugely helpful!! I'll try to be back to report my experiences of contacting professors when that happens.