I have been offered a place to study PPE at Oxford this morning and currently have an EDII application open at the University of Chicago. I am now contemplating whether to remove myself from consideeration in the early round.
As such, (i) Is it possible to move my application from ED2 to RD, or would I have to withdraw my application entirely?
(ii) Does anyone have any advice on choosing between UChicago (likely majors: Economics, Math w/ specialisation in Econ, Political Science) vs Oxford PPE (if I were to have that choice)?
If it’s relevant, I’m from the UK so Oxford fees would be much lower and I applied test optional (with top UK grades instead) so I think my chances at Chicago EDII are relatively high.
You can withdraw your ED supplement at remain in the RD round at almost all US colleges & universities which offer ED. However, I do not have specific knowledge regarding the University of Chicago. Contact admissions & ask.
If Oxford is significantly lower in cost, then that might be the wiser choice.
My sense is that it depends on your planned career path. If you are planning to go into UK politics or govt then a PPE from Oxford is unbeatable.If you planning to stay in more hard core economics and move into academia/World Bank/Corporate roles (or manage a Latin American economy), probably Chicago is a step ahead. You will also have to also assess the likely impacts of BREXIT on UK Academia - likely EU funded research will decline, and depending on how they deal with EU citizens right to remain in the UK post Brexit, EU professors may choose to leave the UK,as they are doing in the NHS. I just don’t know how much research there is in PPE and how many EU professors are PPE faculty.
Of courses all the above considerations maybe trumped by the issue of cost.
Congratulations on the PPE admissions and Good luck!
You can’t go really go wrong with either at the end of the day, though agree Chicago probably has a slight edge if you want to be more mathy. My question would be if it is only academics that would differentiate it for you, and not the general university undergrad experience? They’re very different. Which oxford college offered you a place?
(FWIW i know a number of Oxford (and European for that matter) graduates who have had jobs in the international financial organizations, some very senior, I don’t see an advantage to a US education from that specifically).
U of Chicago is an interesting place, but even if the costs to attend were equal, I can’t see why you would pick it over Oxford. It’s farther away (costly travel), the weather is harsher in Chicago, it’s 4 years to a degree instead of 3, you’d be required to take a lot of classes in subjects you probably already know quite a bit about, the city and neighborhood it’s in are more dangerous, etc.
@Publisher I’ll reach out to admissions and ask to change it (if I decide to). I think its best not to ask before as if I decide to stay in the EDII pool, it’d make me look as though I were questioning how much I really want to go to Chicago. Thanks.
@Tiglathpileser Yes the main thing that makes Chicago seem stronger than Oxford is the extremely rigorous Econ/ Math training and strong placement into top10 Econ PhD programs (one of the few things I am considering pursuing).
I think the Oxbridge Brexit ‘exodus’ is something more relevant to the quality of its postgraduate programs than its undergraduate degrees which IMO are still held in extremely high repute (similar to HYPSM & Chicago).
And yes, whilst both could be made to work financially, Chicago would be at a strain, and I’m not sure the far higher fees are justified when compared to Oxford.
@SJ2727 I like both the Chicago & Oxford experiences (although admittedly have never visited Chicago). The “That works in practice, but what about in theory”/ “Where [ordinary people] fun goes to die” environment is one where I feel I would fit in, but Oxford is a lovely town and I’m not sure the tutorial system can be beaten! Again, its primarily the reason I outlined above that would make me consider Chicago over Oxford.
Ask Chicago to move you to RD. Plan for now on attending Oxford. If you are accepted eventually at Chicago, and your family can afford for you to attend there, that will be the time to worry about Chicago vs. Oxford.
@student2983456 …in my opinion, the Oxbridge collegiate undergrad experience is unrivalled, though I know it’s not for everyone. (Not just the tutorial system, though that’s certainly a big part of it.) And if Chicago is going to be a financial strain then I really think it’s a no-brainer.
Okay - thank you all! I think you’ve helped me make up my mind to try to change my Chicago EDII to RD and look forward to Oxford (unless something significant changes with regards to Chicago and I’m accepted RD).
Important to change now because if you wait until an ED decision is made by Chicago, then you might be contractually bound to attend Chicago. If accepted to Chicago RD, then you still have the choice of school within your power.
Although of course “contractually bound” is pretty meaningless, especially for an overseas student. The only consequences might be for future students from your school, not for you.
Having said that, it would be hard to justify paying much more for Chicago. Better to save the money and go to the US for grad school if you have the desire to study overseas. A few Oxbridge colleges also have exchange programs for undergrads, where you’d spend an extra year (between the second and third year) abroad. That’s another option to consider.
One thing to think about is that your Oxford offer is presumably conditional on your A levels, whereas a Chicago offer would not be. There’s an argument to be made for accepting an offer in the US and paying a deposit, then waiting to confirm that you did get the required A level results for Oxford. But given the timing of when most US schools start (mid August), this would get tricky unless you requested a gap year (you can do that after acceptance at some schools).
How challenging do you think it will be to achieve your Oxford offer? If you feel that’s at all uncertain then I think you might well want to keep your options open with regard to a US alternative, including possibly UChicago ED. If admitted RD you would still have to commit by May 1 without knowing your A level results. So you would still end up breaking a “contract” by accepting and failing to attend.
Since the US and UK systems are completely separate, there wouldn’t be any way for them to know you had 2 offers. And I will add that US students are advised to do exactly that with an Oxbridge conditional offer: deposit at a US school then drop it once the UK offer conditions are met (in July for AP scores).
Although I agree that Chicago would be unlikely to share with Oxford that an ED contract was violated, and that OP could “get away with it” if so desired, but I do believe that there is an ethical and moral component to be considered. And what about subsequent British applicants to Chicago ?
After reading the above post in full, if true, then maybe the Oxford initial conditional acceptance should be treated as if the student was waitlisted at Oxford as acceptance has a major contingency.
@Twoin18 Hi, thank you for your insight. Yes, I think I’ve decided I’ll change to RD and expect to attend Oxford. Yes, my Oxford offer is conditional on my A levels, but it’s an offer than I’m basically 100% I’ll get.
The offer is AAA. Currently, I’m expected to achieve 4A*, although in reality might let one/two slip down to A’s in the real thing. And just because its a “low” offer doesn’t mean I’m going to stop working for my A levels because the grades are important for jobs etc after graduation. I think it is highly unlikely I won’t meet it. In fact, even schools like Exeter & UCL have given my higher offers. It’s Cambridge who normally gives very high offers; with Oxford its more the case that if you get an offer, they want you and won’t let slightly poor grades get in your way of attending.
Oh and sorry just to add, additionally to @Publisher 's comment, I’m in no mood to violate any ED contracts/ agreements even if they are made without legal standing just in good faith, and even if Chicago wouldn’t tell Oxford/ Oxford wouldn’t care even if they did.
Accepting an offer and when fall comes turning it down (after paying a deposit etc) I don’t think is a big deal and I don’t think colleges mind that much (surely one could simply change their mind, no?) (please forgive me if I am wrong), so doing this wouldn’t be too bad, I don’t think, but I’d still rather not.
And doing so would mean that I’d have to get into UChicago RD (given that I’m not willing to break an ED contract) which I think is highly unlikely anyway!
That’s a great offer from Oxford. But you still have to decide if you’ll accept a RD offer by May 1. If you won’t accept it, then you could just withdraw, but I suppose you want to see the result. Remember that the probability of RD acceptance is very low.
Oxford PPE is amazing, and UChi is amazing, but the biggest diff is whether you want a broader liberal education (with a Core curric) or you want a focus solely on PPE (which is interdisciplinary, sure, but still a UK course). Nobody else can really answer that for you.
Of course it’s a win-win, so either way you’re doing great!