Massive update to the blog coming soon

Everyone in this year's GGD recently learned about this blog, which has brought me a wealth of information to share with aspiring 2010 applicants. If people follow through, there may even be some direct contributors to the blog starting in December. If you are in this year's GGD, it would be great to receive additional perspectives on the programme as it currently exists. Even if you only have time to write a couple paragraphs or chat on facebook, it would be of great benefit to the people who want to follow in your footsteps. You'll probably be doing the end of Michaelmas term evaluations soon anyway...

As I have mentioned earlier, I will be applying for more grad school in 2010 as well. One of those places will be Oxford, and I have more to share of my own research. But for obvious reasons I will not be discussing the Oxford programme I have decided to apply for this time.

I will be on the beach for a couple days, but expect some new posts by the end of the week.

Former GGD student standing for election next year for US congress

Will Gregory, a Republican from Connecticut, is standing for election next year. Check out his website.

What key factors are the admissions committee looking for?

After talking with some current applicants, it looks a (or the) key factor was having a First/3.7+ GPA.

You can apply for more than one Oxford programme, but...

There is nothing preventing you from applying for more than one programme at Oxford. But nobody likes this. And, the other programme(s) you are applying to will know you are applying to another programme. Which could hurt your chances.

Honestly, just apply for the one programme that best fits you. All have 10:1 or worse odds, so if you're a strong candidate you should have the better chance with the programme that most fits your background.

Picking a College

This is probably the most important decision you will make, aside from deciding to apply to Oxford and accept a place in a programme.

The Student Room has several suggestions on how to go about picking your potential college, as well as the pros and cons for each one. OUSU explains the college system and, offers suggestions on how to pick your college, and features profiles for each college in its Alternate Prospectus.

Push.co.uk has a profile for each college.

You can also take an online quiz or two on which Oxford college would fit you.

Remember, many colleges do not accept GGD students. Check out the links on the side for a current list. You don't want to end up at a random college because you picked Christ Church, St Johns, or Balliol, only for them to not take GGD students.

Oxford Student Newspapers

Find out what life is like at the university

The Oxford Student
Published by the Oxford University Student Union

Cherwell
Independently published by students

Where did the other blog go?

Well, I had a lot less to talk about following my disaster on the GRE. This has limited my options, but I am still moving forward with plans for grad school.

But, more content will soon be coming to GGD Blog:

-- More about the individual Oxford colleges
-- The other international studies / politics programmes offered at Oxford
-- What other universities have on offer
-- Funding options
-- Additional information on the GRE, for those braving US or Canadian education

What programmes are you looking at? Or are you already enrolled in graduate study? If so, would you like to contribute to the blog?