Are top schools like Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford, impossible to get into for Grad school if you are not rich?

Question

I was going to apply to schools for a Master's Degree in English literature. Obviously, it would be great to get into a top school. But are those ivy league schools impossible to get into if you are an average joe? My family is not of a high social status, although I have managed to graduate from a top Canadian school (McGill University with honours in my program). Would I be wasting time and money applying to those schools?

Answer 1

Do you mean the Oxford and Cambridge that are in the UK? If so, they are not Ivy League, although they are the equivalent.

If this is the English Oxford and Cambridge, then it is definitely worth applying. You will need the equivalent of a UK 1st or 2.1 in your undergraduate degree (BA). I'm not sure how common MAs are in English Literature, a PhD would be more common (masters tend to be more vocational). Have a look at MA, MRes (master by research) and MPhil (a 2 year masters somewhere between a master and a PhD).

As you're Canadian, the admissions board will not care about your social background and probably wouldn't be aware of any indicators of it. With a good degree, enthusiasm, other skills etc... you stand as good a chance as anyone else.

You usually have to pay to do a masters though, unless you can get a grant. If you were British it would cost you about £3000 in tuition and about £7000 to live for a year. For an overseas student the tuition could be at least £11,000. Unless you could fund this yourself you would definitely need a scholarship from the uni (harder to get these than to get into the uni) or from an external source of funding. You might be better off doing a funded PhD. As it is much harder to get funding for masters, especially in non-vocational subjects.

Answer 2

Their admission has nothing to do with your financial status. It has everything to do with your academics. Social status will not prevent you from attending. Even Oxford and Cambridge have undergone significant change re: this in recent years, and Harvard has been fairly egalitarian (relatively speaking) for decades.

Your financial status may, however, prevent you from being able to pay for your degree program. Most degrees at the Master's level don't come with a lot of institutional financial support. This can be made a bit more difficult for international students, as many universities expect you to be able to fully fund your own education - getting loans, grants, scholarships, etc, both from home and from the insitution, if they are available. Most institutions don't provide a lot of Master's level funding in general, and even less for foreign students. They have info about this on their websites.

Of course, if you were to do a PhD instead, at top programs you'd be funded and likely get a stipend.

Should any of the funding concerns stop you from applying? No, not at all. But in addition to the foreign schools, you may also want to apply to the finest English Lit grad program in your own country. In Canada, I think that might be Queen's, but that would need some research to confirm.

Answer 3

On the contrary, most people who go to those schools are not rich -- especially for graduate programs.

The bad news for you is that most of the top schools do not accept students for an MA in English. They only accept students going on for a PhD. They will let them take a MA along the way, or grant them to students unable or unwilling to complete their PhD. Almost all of those accepted students get financial aid.

Incidentally, the top rated English Literature department in the USA is not an elite private university -- it is a state university (The University of California at Berkeley).

Answer 4

I live in a really small town, in the south none the less, so it is reather hard to get into northern schools like the one you talked about. I had a girl in my class who made nothing but straight As her whole school life, She got letters from all of the MIT schools that you asked about above and she turned them down, because she got into the college right here in the south that she wanted to go to. If you make excellent grades like her, then you should be good to go. If not then it is going to be rather hard to get into them, the best thing to do is to keep trying and don't give up. Send them letters once a week explaining that you are very interested, that you will try your best, and that you deserve to be a student at their school because you have the drive to do that. Put the will in it, and hopefully I will hear on the news one day that you came up with a cure for cancer or something like that.

Answer 5

I knew some guys who got into Harvard or Yale who did not have parents with great influence. Your grades are still the key element. Consider yours objectively, and if you think they are good enough, I'd say give it a shot.

Answer 6

Yes