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Dear GradCafe community, I’m an international law attorney currently working in India for a mid-size law firm and I’m planning to move to the UK for good; looking to transition into a job involving more of policy advocacy and policy analysis. I have applied to both Cambridge (have already received an offer, waiting on scholarships) and Oxford (waiting to hear from them) for their respective public policy programs; however, I’m unsure of the prospects which might be there after a public policy degree from the prestigious Oxbridge. I do have the right to work in the UK, but quite sceptical about the preference, if there is any, given to the MPP graduates when it comes to policy roles there. Also, I want to do a debt-free degree as I can’t afford to go into debt whilst planning to move to a different country as it would already take up all my savings. Therefore, I’d appreciate it if anyone has any comments regarding Public Policy programmes from Oxford and Cambridge, and how good the chances of securing a job are in the same economy after a degree? P.S. I have a 3-year international law experience, and I am also working as a research scholar with a research organisation.

I'm in 3rd year and looking to do a history MA at Oxbridge or one of the Ivies. I was wondering if they look at your course load in admissions? Will they penalize you if you took a class less for a semester or two? I took some classes in the summer and as a result I took one less class then the usual. I was thinking of doing it again next year but wanted to check if that would cause some problems. Thanks everyone!

Hello there, so I am applying for Fall 2018 admission to both the MPhil in American History at Cambridge as well as the MSt in US History at Oxford. I come from a Top 5 US institution with a very high GPA, won a thesis prize/departmental honors in history. I decided to apply to Oxbridge about a month ago as I have been really on the fence about pursuing a PhD in history (given the uncertainty and the insecurity of the job market for PhD candidates) but thought it would be worthwhile to do a year's worth of graduate study to confirm for myself if I want to pursue further studies. I have a couple of friends who studied history who go to Cambridge now and have been asking for their advice, but so many of them applied at different times and did different things during the application season that I have been very confused on the whole UK admissions process. My questions are: 1. Would I be at a significant disadvantage if I am an Americanist from America trying to study American history in the UK? Would they question my motivations? (There are certain professors that I'd like to work with, and surprisingly both courses offer options courses in modern US history, which is what my research focus is.) 2. Was I supposed to have contacted a potential supervisor before submitting my application? How does this work? 3. I submitted my Cambridge app a few days ago and am planning to submit my Oxford one in a week, at least before the funding deadlines. Was I supposed to have applied way back in October to increase my chances of admission? 4. Luckily I am privileged enough where I can still attend and pay full tuition/fees if I don't get funding. Should I have indicated that instead of checking the box that says I'm interested in funding to increase my chances? Any help would be greatly appreciated. This is all so confusing. Thank you so much.

Hi guys I couldn't find a thread for Oxford applicants this year for postgrad so I thought I would make one (feel free to link the thread if there is one and i've missed it!!) What's everyone applying for?

Hallo! Currently working on a draft of my statement for Cambridge's Mphil in Health, Medicine, and Society. Does anyone want to look over it? The limit is ~600 words, so I'm struggling with cutting out fluff and including information that would make me an appealing candidate (they sadly don't look at CVs!). It's meant to be framed as a research proposal, so that is what I'm aiming for. I'd be happy to edits others' statements as well