Is Oxbridge a realistic option for grad school?

I'm an international applying there (Cambridge) under the mentor ship of a few people (5) who attended for grad in recent years and/or have worked there.

The Oxbridge system is very competitive at the grad level, especially for international students. Funding is much harder to come by if you're international, and there are no equivalent systems to the TA-ships in the US. So many will need significant scholarships such as the Gates-Cambridge, which are even more competitive. Your grades need to be absolutely stellar. These scholarships also expect leadership, so you need to be heading clubs, establishing systems, and doing general outreach work. One person I know who got it for Law actually set up her own Law firm for disadvantaged members of the community (refugees/homeless/abused) as an undergrad, which was already thriving when she applied.

So as an international applicant, the bar is higher, especially because you're from the US. In the U.K. system, students will often do integrated Masters as a part of their Bachelors, or they'll do a fast-tracked version called "Honours". Many programs will require "first class honours" in order to even apply, which is a qualification you simply do not have. An Honors degree or senior thesis in the US is not the same thing, so be very careful to check degree requirements specifically for your country. You may be required to do a Masters first, which is going to be even harder to fund (either as a student in the US or as a standalone degree in the U.K.). They may accept the GRE, but you'd have to check that. That's one metric only US students will be judged on, so make sure it's good. Basically, check the requirements yourself, and contact the university if in doubt. Don't take second-hand information on that one.

Oxbridge graduate degrees (in fact, most graduate degrees from any country) expect you to know what your thesis will be on before you technically apply, and your proposal may need to be submitted with your application for study. That means contacting researchers far earlier that the deadline in order to discuss projects and supervision. US applicants often have earlier deadlines for some reason, so make sure you're looking at the US deadline, not the generic "international" one. You would normally do this in the first couple of years of a US PhD (for a rotation system), but you instead need to do it during undergrad here. You cannot enter without a clear notion of what you will do, as no one will agree to supervise you without an actual project to propose.

In order to know what you want to do, you need to do research experience during undergrad. That is non-negotiable for competitive programs, as is having an amazing GPA (3.8-3.9 to have a reasonable chance). Publications are greatly preferred as you're still competing for those top scholarships, and you can bet many of the applicants have been published. Presenting your work at international conferences is also a plus, but the undergraduate journals and conferences that exist in the US are not all that highly regarded. Make sure it's all legitimate, fully-fledged stuff, not undergrad specific.

And once you know what you want to do as your vague project, make sure someone in the Oxbridge system actually researches it. There's no point applying there if they don't do what you're interested in, and have nothing relevant to offer.

And of course, you can't apply to both Cambridge and Oxford, only one. They have slightly different specialities, so ask people in your field to find out which will be better for you.

/r/GradSchool Thread