I’m a freshman at UC Berkeley and these are the two schools I’m targeting to further my studies. I was just wondering which one is harder to get into. I’ve read somewhere that Oxford’s admit rate is around 36% for MPhil in Economics and I couldn’t find any for Stanford. Anyway, what’s important is that does anyone have experience with this? The Oxford MPhil programme should logically be easier to get into being a Master’s programme, but since Stanford doesn’t have a Terminal Master’s Degree in Economics, it makes me wonder.
What kind of GPA should I be realistically aiming to get in order to stand a chance at both (or either) of these programmes. I’m an international student so financially, they are both almost the same to me so money is not really a consideration. I tried to maintain a 4.0 GPA, and I did for the first semester at Berkeley, but the grade deflation here is really bad and I’m expecting to see a B this semester. If all goes according to plan, I would see myself with a 3.7 - 3.8 sort of GPA, will I be competitive enough for either (or both) of these programmes?
Also, how much research experiences is needed prior to these programmes? I’m guessing I don’t need that much experience for the MPhil programme at Oxford, but seeing as Stanford is a straight up PhD programme, I’m not so sure. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!!