Questions about UK system, specifically Oxford

[grad_wannabe]

Hello cafe-goers,

 

I have some questions about Oxford:

 

1) Do UK schools follow the same acceptance time-table (i.e. ultimate deadline of April 15th) as US schools?

 

2) Can anyone give me some guidance as to how to choose a college at Oxford? I've been told to choose either St John's or Christ Church, but neither of those are options in my online app. Is Trinity College a good bet? (I was also told "the older the better when it comes to colleges.")

 

3) I know that funding for US students is rare at UK schools, but can anyone tell me what the time-table for funding notifications looks like? My contact at Oxford told me that an acceptance is extended "several weeks" before any funding decisions are made. 

 

4) How is the hiring of US students in the European higher education system? I had a friend who got her doctorate at King's College and she said they hustled her out of the country pretty quick after graduation. 

 

5) The Oxford online app asks about my "rank" (I forget what term they use exactly) at graduation, either Pass, Pass with Merit, or Pass with Distinction -- but I got my master's at a school that does not award honors at graduation. If I received a high GPA (3.95) do I simply assign myself "pass with distinction"?

 

Thank you!

Edited November 5, 2014 by grad_wannabe

[Meglet]

I can't speak to Oxford, but I got my MA at SOAS (University of London) a few years ago.  Here's what I know:

 

1.  Nope, at least SOAS didn't for MA programs.  I don't remember exactly when I found out, but I think it was May or June.  I had only applied to the one program, so it didn't screw me up too badly - either I was going or I wasn't.  Part of this was that they did rolling admissions with a pretty late final deadline.  If your Oxford program has an actual deadline around the same time as US programs, maybe it will be different.

 

4.  Within academia, I'm not sure.  When I was finishing up my degree, the UK started a new scheme to give 1 (and then 2) year work visas to graduates of UK universities at any level.  I stayed as long as I could, but ended up temping and teaching English.  I found a lot of people were hesitant to hire me when I couldn't guarantee how long I would be in the country and stay at a job.  Ironically, they would have just had to hire me and pay me more than 20k per year to qualify me for another visa, but nobody seemed to be OK with that.

 

5.  Tricky.  I guess distinction if you can't leave it blank.  http://www.ten-percent.co.uk/conversion-table-for-us-gpa-to-uk-class-degrees

[grad_wannabe]

Thanks, Meglet!

[ExponentialDecay]

I found this very handy website that answers all your questions, and I leave it here for posterity: http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate

 

4) That depends on your field. If you're in STEM, you will have an easier time outside of your country of citizenship. If you're in the arts, you'll have a harder time to find jobs that aren't 100% official and full-time (which is unfortunately often the reality for arts students) because you may not be eligible for work visas, or getting you a work visa may incur an extra cost for the employer. 

Edited November 8, 2014 by ExponentialDecay