Need advice from people who have done postgrad studies at the following schools:

[a fragrant plant]

I would like to hear from folks who have done or are doing their postgrad (taught master or MPhil/PhD) at the following institutions: SOAS, LSE, Oxford and Cambridge.

In particular, what do you think of the taught master programs at SOAS, Cambridge, and Oxford? Is admission to the taught master programs at these three schools competitive? I'm only considering LSE for research degrees because their taught masters are prohibitively expensive (nearly £9000 for home/EU students; unbelievable).

[someDay]

Some courses at the LSE are very competitive, particularly economics. Research degrees are incredibly competitive, or so I was told. It may very well be a completely different story for anthropology.

Oxbridge: You'll need a First (or at the very least a very high 2.1) and some good letters to get an interview and go from there. I have no clue about SOAS.

sD.

[pietjekanarie]

The MPhil at Oxford that I was admitted into had 80 applicants till now and will admit around 15-18. I have no clue about other programs, because this probably varies. I also applied at Cambridge and was interviewed for the MPhil but still don't have an offer. They said they'd interview all interesting applicants, but didn't tell me how many applied. You do need a first or upper second degree. The person that interviewed me at Cambridge told me that they'll now discuss every student again with the board and determine whether that student has a first or upper second. If I would not have that, they can not admit me (they have some way to calculate my grades into British grades).

I have no clue about LSE, but don't all UK schools charge a max of 3390 GBP tuition for EU/UK students? I didn't know that LSE charges 9000 GBP!

[Gigsed]

The MPhil at Oxford that I was admitted into had 80 applicants till now and will admit around 15-18. I have no clue about other programs, because this probably varies. I also applied at Cambridge and was interviewed for the MPhil but still don't have an offer. They said they'd interview all interesting applicants, but didn't tell me how many applied. You do need a first or upper second degree. The person that interviewed me at Cambridge told me that they'll now discuss every student again with the board and determine whether that student has a first or upper second. If I would not have that, they can not admit me (they have some way to calculate my grades into British grades).

I have no clue about LSE, but don't all UK schools charge a max of 3390 GBP tuition for EU/UK students? I didn't know that LSE charges 9000 GBP!

No, they don't all charge a maximum of 3390! I think your confusing the undergrad and grad degrees.

Fees are as follows for Cambridge, LSEPS and SOAS :-

Cam - http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/gradstud/funding/costs/courses/costs2010.pdf

SOAS- http://www.soas.ac.uk/registry/fees/postgraduate/

LSEPS- http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/tableOfFees/2010-11.htm

Incidentally, pietjekanarie you are doing IR right? You should take a look at this cause http://www2.admin.ox.ac.uk/studentfunding/fees/coursefees.php5 if you do go to Ox they are going to be hitting you for like 5 grand in tuition. Then they will take you for another couple of thousand in college tuition.

[pietjekanarie]

No, they don't all charge a maximum of 3390! I think your confusing the undergrad and grad degrees.

Fees are as follows for Cambridge, LSEPS and SOAS :-

Cam - http://www.admin.cam...s/costs2010.pdf

SOAS- http://www.soas.ac.u...s/postgraduate/

LSEPS- http://www.lse.ac.uk...ees/2010-11.htm

Incidentally, pietjekanarie you are doing IR right? You should take a look at this cause http://www2.admin.ox...coursefees.php5 if you do go to Ox they are going to be hitting you for like 5 grand in tuition. Then they will take you for another couple of thousand in college tuition.

I get this:

Tuition Fee: Fee rates for this programme have not yet been confirmed for 2010/11. For an indication of your fee level the 2009/10 rate was £3,390, but note that this is subject to change. The 2010/11 Home/EU (ELQ) rate is £6,800 College Fee: College Fee rates have not yet been set for 2010/11. For an indication of your fee level the 2009/10 rate was £2,343 but note that this is subject to change.

However, that 3390 GBP is like 5000 USD. Still, it is pretty affordable in comparison with the 30,000 USD tuition fees in the States.... I applied for a lot of funding, but if I don't get it I'd rather go to Oxford than to a US school. I won't get any money from the US schools, so I'm dependent of external funding.

Cambridge also charges 3390 GBP for my program.

[pietjekanarie]

This would be a MPhil by the way.

I'm not applying for PhD, so that might be different.