Ertegun Scholarship

[osru]

Was just wondering if anyone here has applied to the Ertegun Scholarship at Oxford and heard back from them. Any chance anyone might know when the scholarship decisions would be communicated this year?

[CFW99]

Also wondering this! There's been some discussion around when interview invitations might be sent out over on thestudentroom.co.uk, if you search 'Ertegun' in the forums. In 2019 and 2020 people were called to interview around this time in February, but in other years that didn't happen until March. I haven't seen anyone post about getting an interview yet, but obviously it's possible they might have gone out...... The Ertegun website just says 'end of March' for when final acceptances will be sent out (they don't contact you if you've been rejected ? ).

Edited February 17, 2021 by CFW99
*2019 & 2020, not 2018 & 2019!

[osru]

What is the chance of a candidate if s/he is invited for an interview?

[sdas123]

4 hours ago, osru said:

What is the chance of a candidate if s/he is invited for an interview?

Hey! When did you get an invite for interview? And if I may ask, which program did you apply to? 

[CFW99]

8 hours ago, osru said:

What is the chance of a candidate if s/he is invited for an interview?

I'm not completely sure, but someone on The Student Room last year said they interviewed 4 applicants from that subject area (3 Masters and 1 DPhil). For my subject area (Music), they usually give scholarships to 1 or 2 people. They generally seem to favour Masters applicants over DPhil, if you look through the lists of current and previous scholars.

[ofer]

9 hours ago, osru said:

What is the chance of a candidate if s/he is invited for an interview?

Hey! Have you heard back from them? 

[remediaris]

Ertegun scholar in the 19/20 season here - will be happy to answer any question you guys might have! Quick recap of some important info that you guys might be interested in:

- Your respective faculties will decide who to nominate for the scholarship, and for that they'll arrange an interview with you in about two weeks. Afterward, they'll make a shortlist and send it over to the Ertegun board members, who will make their decision. I'm not sure if everyone interviewed will end up getting nominated by the faculty/department, but from what I know, the Ertegun board members will take about 30% of the eventual shortlist across ALL humanities programmes.

- That means if your faculty doesn't contact you for an interview in late February or early March, then I'm sorry, but chances of getting the scholarship will be pretty low then...

- The meeting will happen sometime mid-March. I can ask to find out when it's gonna happen, but anything beyond that is unfortunately confidential (no scholar has access to any information re: the nominees, etc.).

- They do have a preference for Master's degrees over DPhils. We always have a few people in archaeology, music, ancient history, theology, English (that is, counting the alumni who are still studying at Oxford). People from other fields aren't as lucky. I was the only classicist to have received that scholarship in the 19/20 academic year, and this year there's none.

Let me know if you have other questions!

Edited February 19, 2021 by remediaris
typo

[CFW99]

Thanks so much for this info remediaris!!

[ofer]

2 hours ago, remediaris said:

Ertegun scholar in the 19/20 season here - will be happy to answer any question you guys might have! Quick recap of some important info that you guys might be interested in:

- Your respective faculties will decide who to nominate for the scholarship, and for that they'll arrange an interview with you in about two weeks. Afterward, they'll make a shortlist and send it over to the Ertegun board members, who will make their decision. I'm not sure if everyone interviewed will end up getting nominated by the faculty/department, but from what I know, the Ertegun board members will take about 30% of the eventual shortlist across ALL humanities programmes.

- That means if your faculty doesn't contact you for an interview in late February or early March, then I'm sorry, but chances of getting the scholarship will be pretty low then...

- The meeting will happen sometime mid-March. I can ask to find out when it's gonna happen, but anything beyond that is unfortunately confidential (no scholar has access to any information re: the nominees, etc.).

- They do have a preference for Master's degrees over DPhils. We always have a few people in archaeology, music, ancient history, theology, English (that is, counting the alumni who are still studying at Oxford). People from other fields aren't as lucky. I was the only classicist to have received that scholarship in the 19/20 academic year, and this year there's none.

Let me know if you have other questions!

Hi, thank you so much for this! Is it true that departments nominate their candidates for Clarendon and Ertegun, as in one shortlist for both scholarships? Does the interview include questions on the proposal, etc. or is it mostly about potential contributions to the Ertegun community? Thanks a lot! 

Edited February 19, 2021 by ofer

[remediaris]

31 minutes ago, ofer said:

Hi, thank you so much for this! Is it true that departments nominate their candidates for Clarendon and Ertegun, as in one shortlist for both scholarships? Does the interview include questions on the proposal, etc. or is it mostly about potential contributions to the Ertegun community? Thanks a lot! 

Afaik the nomination processes for these two scholarships are independent of one another, especially because they would usually try to get as many students covered by funding as possible. Ertegun results are also out before the Clarendon board meets, so I don't see why they would re-nominate someone who already has funding secured. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if there's some overlap between the two lists.

The interview can be about anything, really. It depends on who will interview you, and I know people who were asked questions such as 'what changes would you make toward the Ertegun community?' or 'if you can think about an activity to organise in the Ertegun House, what would it be?' As for me, I remembered talking to my DGS a lot about my senior thesis back then (like, more than half an hour, because he was really curious about my topic). I guess my tip would be to approach it just as you would any other grad school interview? Of course, there's also the big 'Ertegun factor,' so if you are interested in knowing more about the community and what it's like living there, I can also share a bit about my experience!

[CFW99]

It would be great to hear some more about your experience!

[remediaris]

18 minutes ago, CFW99 said:

It would be great to hear some more about your experience!

Any specific thing you're dying to know about? XD It's pretty hard to talk about everything in one forum post, I wouldn't even know how to start... XD

[CFW99]

I saw on the website that they have a senior scholar in residence who's meant to act like a mentor, right? Did you have much to do with him? Also anything you were surprised by or didn't anticipate before starting the scholarship?

[remediaris]

14 minutes ago, CFW99 said:

I saw on the website that they have a senior scholar in residence who's meant to act like a mentor, right? Did you have much to do with him? Also anything you were surprised by or didn't anticipate before starting the scholarship?

Yep, every scholar will have one or two senior scholars who will fill the role of their 'academic big sibs.' I'm great friends to both scholars who mentored me, and hung out with them quite a lot! It really depends on the person, though, but in general I think the 'mentoring' is a great idea to familiarise new scholars to the Ertegun culture, as well as to introduce you to your new Oxford life. They'll usually try to pair you with someone similar in terms of interests, but my two mentors work in completely different fields from me, so that's actually not too big of a factor.

All my surprises re: the scholarship were pleasant, such as how I didn't expect there would be so many awesome activities for us throughout the year. My third term was kinda uneventful because of COVID, but the other two terms were splendid. Ertegun scholars are given a lot of freedom and support when it comes to organising activities, and it's not rare for someone to host an event, organise a movie night, or anything along those lines. (Those things would also be funded by Ertegun; I can't recall anyone ever being turned down, but of course it didn't mean we could ask for a 10-grand budget XD.) In addition, we can also make suggestions for termly events. For every (non-COVID) term there will be 6-8 cultural events in the House, and if there's something you really want to see (for example, a Beethoven concert), you can suggest it to the Director and they will take that into consideration.

Hope this helps! Feel free to let me know if you want to know about some other thing.

[osru]

Hi Remediaris! Thank you so much! May I request you to please find out when the Ertegun Board will meet to decide on the scholars in March? Or even if you could find out when the decision will/not be communicated, that'd be a huge help!

Also, I haven't applied for Clarendon. I've received an offer. If I don't get selected for Ertegun, what in you opinion are my chances of receiving a central scholarship? Thanks in advance.

[remediaris]

2 hours ago, osru said:

Hi Remediaris! Thank you so much! May I request you to please find out when the Ertegun Board will meet to decide on the scholars in March? Or even if you could find out when the decision will/not be communicated, that'd be a huge help!

Also, I haven't applied for Clarendon. I've received an offer. If I don't get selected for Ertegun, what in you opinion are my chances of receiving a central scholarship? Thanks in advance.

Hi there! I've asked my contact, and she said the board meeting will happen in early March. If you don't hear back from them by the end of the second week in March, then you should probably assume that you are unsuccessful... I also just got words from another friend who has just been invited for an interview (out of interest in his privacy I don't think I can share info about his programme, but this likely means that interview invites will be sent out pretty soon from all faculties, if not already).

Clarendon doesn't require you to make a separate application. All applicants will automatically be considered - your faculty will be the party responsible for making the shortlist/nominations. I've heard that this year Clarendon will meet around maybe late March, which means results will prob be out earlier compared to previous years. You can also check the list of scholars to see the 'quota' they have for each programme - most programmes get two Clarendon scholarships each, except for History which has like ten thousand lolol

I can see that you're applying for the DPhil this season, so you'll stand a higher chance of getting some funding than if you were a master's candidate, but it really comes down to how strong your faculty is financially, or whether there are specific scholarships for your programme in the colleges. There's unfortunately no centralised tool to see all the scholarships offered by all colleges/departments, so maybe it's worth visiting each college to see the kind of financial support they offer. I myself am also waiting for funding info, so let's keep our fingers crossed XD

[ojrd]

On 2/20/2021 at 6:44 AM, remediaris said:

Hi there! I've asked my contact, and she said the board meeting will happen in early March. If you don't hear back from them by the end of the second week in March, then you should probably assume that you are unsuccessful... I also just got words from another friend who has just been invited for an interview (out of interest in his privacy I don't think I can share info about his programme, but this likely means that interview invites will be sent out pretty soon from all faculties, if not already).

Hey remediaries,

Thank you for all your useful posts – the effort you put into answering people's questions is truly wonderful. Do you know if, in previous years, interview invites have been sent across programs / faculties on the same day? I was accepted for an MSt in English and applied to the Ertegun Scholarship... but I guess at this point I should sadly accept I won't be considered further for it... 

[ofer]

4 minutes ago, ojrd said:

Hey remediaries,

Thank you for all your useful posts – the effort you put into answering people's questions is truly wonderful. Do you know if, in previous years, interview invites have been sent across programs / faculties on the same day? I was accepted for an MSt in English and applied to the Ertegun Scholarship... but I guess at this point I should sadly accept I won't be considered further for it... 

Hey there, congratulations on your offer! ? I'm pretty sure interview invites have been sent on different days in previous application cycles. I think it's the department that sends them so it depends on your programme. Hopefully we'll all hear back from them soon! 

[remediaris]

2 hours ago, ojrd said:

Hey remediaries,

Thank you for all your useful posts – the effort you put into answering people's questions is truly wonderful. Do you know if, in previous years, interview invites have been sent across programs / faculties on the same day? I was accepted for an MSt in English and applied to the Ertegun Scholarship... but I guess at this point I should sadly accept I won't be considered further for it... 

Hi there, and sflr! I don't have much to add to what Ofer already said above, and unfortunately I don't know anyone applying to the English faculty this year, so I have no insider information on that side... That said, faculties do handle the invites themselves, and it's not unthinkable for them to send out individual invites over several days. My friend got interviewed over the weekend, but that's really just how his faculty works, so I wouldn't lose hope just yet! Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

[ojrd]

3 hours ago, ofer said:

Hey there, congratulations on your offer! ? I'm pretty sure interview invites have been sent on different days in previous application cycles. I think it's the department that sends them so it depends on your programme. Hopefully we'll all hear back from them soon! 

 

51 minutes ago, remediaris said:

Hi there, and sflr! I don't have much to add to what Ofer already said above, and unfortunately I don't know anyone applying to the English faculty this year, so I have no insider information on that side... That said, faculties do handle the invites themselves, and it's not unthinkable for them to send out individual invites over several days. My friend got interviewed over the weekend, but that's really just how his faculty works, so I wouldn't lose hope just yet! Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Thank you both ofer and remediaris for the good luck and for the comforting answers! ☺️ Yes, it may be that the English faculty has not yet sent interview invites... but oh well, not much one can do but wait. Thank you and good luck to you both as well if you're waiting on decisions! 

[sdas123]

Hello! I have applied for a DPhil in Music! Applied for Ertegun too! Haven't recieved an interview invite yet. Does this only mean bad things?

[remediaris]

15 minutes ago, sdas123 said:

Hello! I have applied for a DPhil in Music! Applied for Ertegun too! Haven't recieved an interview invite yet. Does this only mean bad things?

Hi there! I wouldn't lose hope just yet if I were you. If my guess is correct, then the faculties are probably finalising the nominations this week, and it's only Monday! You might get contacted any time now. Plus, I remember there are a couple of scholarships for Music in the colleges, and there's always Clarendon, so you still have your chances of securing some funding ❤️ Fingers crossed!

[sdas123]

20 minutes ago, remediaris said:

Hi there! I wouldn't lose hope just yet if I were you. If my guess is correct, then the faculties are probably finalising the nominations this week, and it's only Monday! You might get contacted any time now. Plus, I remember there are a couple of scholarships for Music in the colleges, and there's always Clarendon, so you still have your chances of securing some funding ❤️ Fingers crossed!

Thank you so much for the encouraging response! ❤️

 

When can I expect to hear back about the admission decision? Will I be notified separately? Slightly confused as I heard that decisions are extended without interviews too. 

[remediaris]

Just now, sdas123 said:

Thank you so much for the encouraging response! ❤️

 

When can I expect to hear back about the admission decision? Will I be notified separately? Slightly confused as I heard that decisions are extended without interviews too. 

I know Oxford doesn't do interviews, at least for my field, but I'm not sure about Music. I can ask to find out!

Admission decisions and scholarship decisions are also separate; admissions decisions will come first, then college decisions (to determine which college you'll be put in provisionally), and finally scholarship decisions (which might override college decisions if the scholarship they decide to give you is tenable at only one or some specified colleges). Hope this helps!

[sdas123]

3 minutes ago, remediaris said:

I know Oxford doesn't do interviews, at least for my field, but I'm not sure about Music. I can ask to find out!

Admission decisions and scholarship decisions are also separate; admissions decisions will come first, then college decisions (to determine which college you'll be put in provisionally), and finally scholarship decisions (which might override college decisions if the scholarship they decide to give you is tenable at only one or some specified colleges). Hope this helps!

Thank you so very much. So very grateful. Thank you thank you thank you. This is a very anxiety ridden time. Any help is welcome - it would be great if you could ask! 

This wait is unbearable. 

Edited February 22, 2021 by sdas123