The one-year master's study has ended.
Two years ago, in October, I chose to apply for a master's degree in social sciences in the UK, and I had just begun to feel the torment and test of the application season.
On the one hand, I had to deal with academic pressure and busy internships every week between school, internship and home, and on the other hand, various British schools had opened application channels one after another, and I even heard that some people had already received offers, and I still had no clue about the idea of essays, and I was even worried that I "didn't study".
In retrospect, that application season was probably the most stressful and fastest of my four years of college, but it ended up with good results (I applied to seven colleges and got six offers).
I hope my summary of the application process can help more students, especially those who are interestedApply for a master's degree in social sciences in the UKof students save energy, avoid detours, and have a relaxed and successful application season.
Undergraduate
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Communication (87 100).
IELTS: First 75 (9 for listening, 8 for reading.)5, Speaking 6, Writing 6) July 2017.
2nd 75 (Listening 8.)5, Reading 8, Speaking 7, Writing 65) September 2017.
offer：
london school of economics, msc culture and society
ucl, ma material culture
ucl, ma digital media, culture and education
king’s college, ma digital culture and society
university of manchester, ma digital technologies, communication and education
goldsmiths university of london, ma culture industry
rejection：
oxford, msc in visual, material and museum anthropology
LSE's Christmas ** party.
My personality is a bit free-spirited, and growing up, I prefer to do things that I find interesting rather than competing with others.
Although the undergraduate school has quite good resources and atmosphere, I hardly participate in clubs or student unions, and spend my spare time watching performances and exhibitions;
Although I have a bachelor's degree, and most of my classmates also intern in public relations companies, I prefer culture and art, and my three internship experiences were in cultural and artistic institutions.
When I was in my junior year, when the people around me began to think about where I would go after graduation, I also had the idea of studying abroad.
The reason I wanted to go abroad was simple: I felt from the bottom of my heart that I hadn't learned enough in my undergrad.
*Communication is a practical major, but it's not something I'm really interested in, so I hope to study culture and art-related majors through a master's degree and eventually work in the cultural industry.
The choice of the UK is the result of personal interests, economic conditions, academic atmosphere and other considerations
I have been to the UK twice and have a good understanding of British society and culture;
A master's degree in the UK usually takes only one year, which is relatively time-saving and cost-saving;
British universities are quite leading in the field of culture, arts and social sciences, and there are relatively many choices;
The UK's cultural industry is very well developed, which can be regarded as a learning resource.
Therefore, although the master's programs in the UK and Hong Kong are similar in terms of time and requirements, I chose to apply only to the UK-only program after comparison.
Although my intention to study abroad was not too late, I was slow to take action.
Before the application season began, the only preparation I had to make was to attend a summer school at King's College, where I signed up for a three-week program focused on museums and curation.
I signed up for this project on the one hand to understand the study experience of a UK university, and on the other hand, I felt that I lacked academic experience in culture and arts, and I wanted to enrich my CV through this project.
I think it is quite cost-effective for undergraduate students who want to apply across majors to participate in summer schools for related majors.
Although the summer school is not long, it allows you to understand the foreign teaching mode and the major you are interested in in a relatively short period of time. If you can make good use of a few weeks, you may be able to make a good project that can show your academic ability and passion for the subject on CV.
Of course, if you can determine your direction early on, you can seize the opportunity to go to a European and American university for a semester exchange, or publish a related major during your undergraduate studies.
Students who want to study abroad, especially those who want to apply across majors, I would like to advise you with my own blood and tears:
Be sure to start preparing early.
Not only do you want to enrich your experience in the long term, but also take advantage of the free time before the start of the application season to do more homework and gather more information.
I suggest you roughly refer to the following schedule:
Participate in activities, internships, and scientific research before the third year;
Determine the direction and complete the language exam in the second half of the third year;
Collect school and project materials and start writing essays in the summer before the start of your senior year;
After the start of the senior year, basically as long as you revise and submit the materials according to the requirements of each school, you can complete most of the tasks of the application season.
One of the biggest reasons why my application process was so stressful was that I had to squeeze all the tasks into three months.
Due to blind confidence in my English skills, I signed up for the IELTS test at the end of July, but I had little preparation, and I ended up with a small score of 6 in speaking and writing5. It was not until the end of September that I got satisfactory results; Although I have a certain understanding of well-known universities in the UK, I have not collected information about each school and program in advance, so that in November I was still looking for suitable programs; As for the paperwork and recommendation letters, I put it off until the end of September, and it was basically completed at the end of November.
If you can learn from my lesson and manage your time wisely, application season isn't really scary.
As you may notice from the results of my application, the program I applied for is actually more about culture than art. In addition to cultural programs, I also applied for majors in anthropology and education.
Although I chose the culture and society of LSE, I found that there was a difference between my original expectations and the final result.
Originally, I wanted to apply for more art-oriented majors such as curating, cultural industry, and art management, but after learning about the admissions requirements of various universities, I found that these majors often have stricter requirements for undergraduate majors (usually art history and other majors); I didn't know enough about art theory and didn't want to frame myself in the small circle of art, so I decided to turn my focus to a broader culture, and combine culture with the background of my undergraduate studies such as Xin**, and apply for digital culture-related programs.
When I searched for programs from university to university, I found that many of them have similar names, but the teaching content may be completely different.
For example, King's College's Digital Culture and Society and LSE Culture and Society, the former studies the relationship between technology and society, emphasizing technology; The latter, on the other hand, studies culture from a sociological perspective, with an emphasis on sociology.
This seemingly subtle but important difference requires you to carefully read the ** of each school and have a clear understanding of the basic social science concepts.
Knowing the project is not only about being more targeted when writing the paperwork, but also about being responsible for yourself. The more you know about the project, the clearer it will be that you can see if it's something you really want to learn.
Don't wait until you come to England and take a class only to find out that you are not interested in what you are learning at all (there are really such tragic cases around the author).
In addition to navigating the program introduction page, the following information should be important to look for when choosing a program:
A list of courses for each program, knowing which courses are required and which are elective;
The content of each class (you can find it by searching for the course**), the assessment method, and the book list;
The faculty and faculty of the program – what are the other majors of the college and what are its strengths;
The teacher in charge of the project and the teacher in the class, what is the research direction of each of them, and whether there is any research content of the teacher that you are particularly interested in;
The relevant research institutions and hardware facilities of the college, such as multi-**lab, research center of a certain topic, etc.;
Employment information of the program, such as whether the program provides students with placement (internship) opportunities, and the employment destination of previous graduates (some schools have special careers** can be inquired).
In this information, pay attention to the things that excite you, such as, Is there a class you particularly want to take? Which teacher is doing research that is very close to your direction? Are there any special activities or facilities at the school or program that you would love to participate in?
These "points" that make you excited can help you find your most suitable project, and can also make your PS show your true sincerity and desire to stand out from the crowd.
I also follow the principle of "collect information and find excitement" when choosing projects.
When I was looking at the book lists of different projects, I also unconsciously read the works of some famous social science experts, and I also had a better understanding of the differences and research content of various social science disciplines.
Although I was not very interested in academics as an undergraduate, after learning about some theoretical works on culture and sociology, I found that I was very interested in theory and wanted to study more deeply during my master's degree, so I finally chose the more theoretical LSE major in culture and society.
My application process is based on the selection of programs, and in terms of school selection, due to practical factors such as employment, priority is given to schools with high comprehensive rankings and good reputation in China.
I only applied to universities in London and Manchester except for Oxford, but there are also many good schools in the rest of the UK, and the gap in the rankings is not huge.
It is recommended that students who want to apply for social science majors find out if there are any academic experts among the teachers of the major or college you are applying for, in addition to considering the school ranking; After considering the specific teachers, I will look at the professional rankings, because I think that the reference value of the rankings of some more subdivided majors is not as high as the personal achievements of teachers.
Of course, this point is just my personal opinion and is just for information.
Visit the Tate Gallery in London during the summer school.
The importance of PS must be well understood. Compared with a professional CV, PS can better show your growth experience and personality as an independent individualIt's the primary way admissions officers and professors get to know you beyond the cold GPA numbers and various award accomplishments.
I also took a lot of detours in the process of writing PS, and it took me nearly two months and at least ten changes before I wrote a satisfactory version.
I've distilled my experience of writing PS into five words: Tell your story.
Of course, the style of British universities is still more serious, so I don't recommend that you write all kinds of dramatic short stories in PS; But your PS must have a compelling thread throughout the text: who you are, what you're interested in, why you're interested in it, what you've done that has to do with your interest, how the program you're applying to can help you continue to explore that interest, and how your interest will affect your future after graduation.
When I first started writing PS, I didn't realize the importance of the main line, so I just took it for granted that I had some of my outstanding strengths and experiences.
It wasn't until I asked a senior sister who had applied to a prestigious school for help that she pointed out the problem with my PS.
After reading her PS, I found that the language of PS is not necessarily gorgeous, but the main line must be clear, and it is best to give readers the impression that "you are destined to study this major".
Even if there may not be a direct connection between your undergraduate major, internship, or extracurricular experience and the program you are applying for, you can interpret your experience through the lens of the major you want to study and discover the relevance of these experiences to your professional interests.
For example, in my PS application for LSE, I took "cultural exchange and internationalization" as my main line, starting from the documentary I co-filmed with my classmates when I was an undergraduate, and talked about the cultural differences I felt when I communicated with international students.
Next, I wrote about my internship experience, and I wrote that during my internship at the organizer of a cultural event, I introduced artists from all over the world to the Shanghai audience, and felt the power of culture to transcend language and national borders.
Finally, I expressed my desire to study at an international university like LSE, and pointed out that some courses are very relevant to my research interests.
In a similar vein, I modified my storyline according to the specifics of different schools and projects, and the upgraded PS is no longer a pile of experiences, but a mini-autobiography with fun, personality and persuasion.
Reading this, you may have a question: what if I can't think of the "main line" of PS?
I think in the face of such a situation,There are three ways you can try:
First, start by combing through your own experience and carefully think about whether there are some commonalities in all aspects of your experience;
Second, start with your "excitement", which refers to the things mentioned above that attract you to each school and program, and you can think about why these points attract you;
Third, start from the information of the program, major, or school, and look at the direction of the program, and even whether there is anything in a professor's book that you particularly want to learn.
Grabbing the main line of PS is not only to get an offer, but also to make you reflect on what you like and what you want to get from your study abroad experience. Thinking through these questions will also benefit you in the longer term after graduation.
This section may be a little brief.
Although I was rejected by the anthropology department at Oxford, I still wanted to share my experience of applying to Oxford with students who are interested in sprinting to Oxbridge.
First of all, not every major in Oxbridge is the top in the UK, and it is recommended that you look at the aura of Oxbridge rationally according to the specific situation of the major you want to apply for;
Secondly, although Oxbridge is one of the top schools in the UK, it is not unattainable.
There are two main differences between the application requirements of Oxbridge and other UK universities:
First, IELTS requires a minimum score of 7 (the vast majority of UK schools require a minimum score of 6 or 6.)5 or more);
Second, each project usually requires one or two 1,500-word writing samples (which are not required by most UK schools).
If you have fulfilled the requirements of the first IELTS, then your level is close to Oxbridge; Don't be discouraged if you don't reach it for the time being, as long as the writing sample you provide is good enough and the PS is sincere enough, there is also a chance.
Oxford and Cambridge have high requirements for students' academic ability, and writing samples are the most direct way to prove students' academic foundation.
From my personal experience, although I am quite confident in applying for PS at Oxford, and I have some internship experience related to the major I applied for, I do lack academic experience and the level of writing samples.
1500 words of English ** is actually not long (when you study abroad, you will find that writing 3000, 5000 words ** is nothing at all), but for students studying in Chinese universities, it is indeed very difficult to write high-quality English**: not only the language is difficult, but it is even more difficult to write ** that conforms to European and American academic logic and norms.
The two ** I submitted ** were both translated by the Chinese class** and in retrospect, they did not meet the requirements of British universities in terms of content and structure.
Therefore, I recommend students who want to apply to Oxbridge:
If you have an overseas exchange or summer school opportunity, be sure to use this time to write one or two English essays**, and try to ask the professor to help you revise or give comments;
If you don't have this experience, it's best to start familiarizing yourself with academic writing in English a few months in advance, read more classic academic books and journals**, and write writing samples before your senior year.
If your application season has already started and the remaining time is limited, do not translate Chinese** directly into English, but should use the research you have already done or ** content to rewrite it into English academic norms**.
In addition to showing your teachers the written writing sample, you can also find seniors with study abroad experience to help you check the checks.
Oxford. Let me summarize my application experience: prepare early, do enough classes, discover your interests, and show your personality.
In addition to these "dry goods", I would also like to talk about the mindset of the application process.
I understand the pressure of the different stages of the application process: the confusion before the application begins; In the middle of the application season, I am worried that I will not be able to write an essay and will not be able to catch up with DDL; After submitting the materials, I saw that others had received a response but I had not found anything - these may be the mental journeys that every international student applying for DIY will go through.
When you are overwhelmed by the pressure of applying, remember that you are not alone, your family, teachers, friends, and seniors have your back. Make good use of experienced and reputable third-party services, such as school selection consultation, revision of essays, etc., which will take you around the detours on the application road, so that you can get twice the result with half the effort.
Finally, I would like to encourage you who are reading: don't feel that you are "unworthy" of Oxbridge or G5 schools, how do you know if you can do it without trying? Leave your doubts behind yourself and brave your application season with 100% confidence!