Oxford MSc Application Experience

By Eva / @the_psycholinguist

I applied for an MSc course at Oxford thinking that I probably won’t get in because it’s very competitive. Well, guess what, I did get in!! Unsure about what I wanted to do next, I started a full-time job after finishing my undergraduate degree. After graduating in September 2023, I knew that I wanted to continue in higher education, but I wasn’t sure what subject I wanted to pursue, as there are so many things that interest me. I remember desperately searching for master's degrees to find ‘the one’ every single day. It wasn’t until the end of October that I decided I wanted to pursue a Master's in Applied Linguistics after my Psychology degree, and I started my Oxford application on the 1st of November. It took a bit over a month for my perfectionist self to finish everything and submit the application on the 18th of December (2 weeks before the deadline).

The application itself was not as daunting as the thought that I was applying to OXFORD. I had to write a personal statement about my reasons for applying, my suitability for the course and my future aspirations. Trying to cover everything in just 750 words was complicated, but also fun as it made me reflect a lot on my academic journey and how I have pursued my interest beyond my studies. If anything, it made me realize that I truly wanted to study this and that I was worth of a place at this prestigious university.

31st January 2024

I received an invitation to an interview for the 8th of February. I found it very helpful that I was told in advance who my interviewers would be and what to expect. I really enjoyed the interview (despite feeling nervous), as it felt more like a chat and the interviewers were lovely and made me feel so comfortable that by the end of the interview, I was sad it was over! However, there were so many more things I could have talked about, which is what made me think that perhaps it wasn’t ‘the perfect interview’, but what does ‘perfect’ even mean?

18th March 2024

I received an email starting with ‘‘Dear Eva, Congratulations!’’. The day I had been waiting for finally arrived and I received an offer from Oxford. It felt so surreal that I kept reading the email over and over again.

September 2024

I am now about to start my course and if I had one piece of advice for you, that would be 1) to believe in yourself more and 2) to apply anyway! If you don’t try, the answer will always be no. But what if you try...?