Admissions update: What happens next?
Estimated reading time: 3 Minutes
Applications for our MPP Class of 2017 have now drawn to a close and we have received an exciting pool of 762 applications from 109 countries and territories, including first time applications from Costa Rica, Swaziland and East Timor. Awarding places to just 120 students from an exceptionally strong bunch is set to be incredibly tough! Our Admissions team has put together the following guide for applicants who are waiting to hear back on their application – if you’re wondering what happens now, and whether you need to do anything further to secure your place, read on!
The most important question: what happens next?
Your application is with us! We assess all applications thoroughly and holistically to enable us to put together an outstanding, international cohort, and we are therefore unable to make any final decisions until all applications have been equally considered. No news is good news; if you don’t hear from us for a while it simply means that we are busy focusing on giving your application the care and attention it is due.
Who will be making the decision on my application?
We have an outstanding group of highly qualified assessors who come from a range of academic backgrounds and you can be assured that your application is in the best possible hands! The assessment team is led by our Tutor for Admissions, Adam Ritchie, and the group is supported by the BSG Admissions team, Sarah and Natalie.
Will I need to attend an interview?
We will not be conducting interviews this cycle, and will only be contacting you if we require any further information to support your application. You should check your emails regularly and make sure that nothing from us goes through to your spam account!
When can I expect to hear the outcome of my application?
We aim to release all final decisions by 17 March. You will initially be informed by email, and if you are offered a place, we will include your formal offer letter. It is unlikely we will be able to notify applicants of an outcome much earlier, so please don’t ask us for a decision before 17 March, as a high level of enquiries will only delay the process.
Will my offer have funding and a college place assigned?
Not initially. All successful applicants are guaranteed a college place, however it will take some time to allocate all our successful candidates. Funding decisions will also be made later on in the cycle; along with your offer letter we will send you a link to our BSG Scholarship Questionnaire, which you will need to return to us if you wish to be considered for any of our departmental scholarships alongside the central University funding schemes. Final decisions on college and funding allocations will be communicated from April onwards and, particularly for funding decisions, could be made at any time until the end of June. If you think you need financial assistance, we suggest you think about ways you can secure help: you can find useful tips and links in our blog "Funding your study - Five steps to success".
If I’m unsuccessful, can I request feedback so I know what to do for next time?
Due to the high volume of applications, we are unable to offer individual feedback to applicants. As we are limited to 120 students each year, this means that many great applicants may not be successful this time around – but if you feel the MPP is something that would benefit you at a later point we would encourage you to apply in a future cycle, with further experience and even deeper insight into how the MPP can help you contribute to a world better led, better served and better governed.
Do I need to do anything now?
Unless we contact you, we don’t require you to take any further action at present. But it can’t hurt to be fully clued up so you are well-informed to decide whether you will accept your offer if you’re successful! If you will require an English Language test, you should look into the different tests we accept and how you can take them; likewise, you should start to think about what you will need for your visa application if you require this to study in the UK. Read the FAQs on our website (MPP here and DPhil here) - it's likely that the answer to your question is already there. Finally, make sure you stay up-to-date with our website and blogs.
We would also greatly appreciate it if you could complete and return to us the BSG MPP Applicant Survey. This will be sent/emailed to you shortly so keep an eye out for it and please do make some suggestions of ways you feel we could improve our process!
Natalie Turner is the Blavatnik School's admissions assistant.
The most important question: what happens next?
Your application is with us! We assess all applications thoroughly and holistically to enable us to put together an outstanding, international cohort, and we are therefore unable to make any final decisions until all applications have been equally considered. No news is good news; if you don’t hear from us for a while it simply means that we are busy focusing on giving your application the care and attention it is due.
Who will be making the decision on my application?
We have an outstanding group of highly qualified assessors who come from a range of academic backgrounds and you can be assured that your application is in the best possible hands! The assessment team is led by our Tutor for Admissions, Adam Ritchie, and the group is supported by the BSG Admissions team, Sarah and Natalie.
Will I need to attend an interview?
We will not be conducting interviews this cycle, and will only be contacting you if we require any further information to support your application. You should check your emails regularly and make sure that nothing from us goes through to your spam account!
When can I expect to hear the outcome of my application?
We aim to release all final decisions by 17 March. You will initially be informed by email, and if you are offered a place, we will include your formal offer letter. It is unlikely we will be able to notify applicants of an outcome much earlier, so please don’t ask us for a decision before 17 March, as a high level of enquiries will only delay the process.
Will my offer have funding and a college place assigned?
Not initially. All successful applicants are guaranteed a college place, however it will take some time to allocate all our successful candidates. Funding decisions will also be made later on in the cycle; along with your offer letter we will send you a link to our BSG Scholarship Questionnaire, which you will need to return to us if you wish to be considered for any of our departmental scholarships alongside the central University funding schemes. Final decisions on college and funding allocations will be communicated from April onwards and, particularly for funding decisions, could be made at any time until the end of June. If you think you need financial assistance, we suggest you think about ways you can secure help: you can find useful tips and links in our blog "Funding your study - Five steps to success".
If I’m unsuccessful, can I request feedback so I know what to do for next time?
Due to the high volume of applications, we are unable to offer individual feedback to applicants. As we are limited to 120 students each year, this means that many great applicants may not be successful this time around – but if you feel the MPP is something that would benefit you at a later point we would encourage you to apply in a future cycle, with further experience and even deeper insight into how the MPP can help you contribute to a world better led, better served and better governed.
Do I need to do anything now?
Unless we contact you, we don’t require you to take any further action at present. But it can’t hurt to be fully clued up so you are well-informed to decide whether you will accept your offer if you’re successful! If you will require an English Language test, you should look into the different tests we accept and how you can take them; likewise, you should start to think about what you will need for your visa application if you require this to study in the UK. Read the FAQs on our website (MPP here and DPhil here) - it's likely that the answer to your question is already there. Finally, make sure you stay up-to-date with our website and blogs.
We would also greatly appreciate it if you could complete and return to us the BSG MPP Applicant Survey. This will be sent/emailed to you shortly so keep an eye out for it and please do make some suggestions of ways you feel we could improve our process!
Natalie Turner is the Blavatnik School's admissions assistant.