The Oxford TSA thread - 2016 applicants - 4th November 2015

C - The argument would be most weakened if the result was actually determined by music (i.e. what they like) and not by geo-politics.

'Western countries have no hope of winning' but have one 75% of the contests? It has to be D surely


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'Western countries have no hope of winning' but have one 75% of the contests? It has to be D surely


Posted from TSR Mobile

They've won in the past, but it says that there are more eastern european countries who vote for each other now so this trend might not continue into the future. I'd say C as the argument is that the winner is decided by geo-politics as eastern european countries vote for each other but if in fact they simply like each other's music (as they share the same taste) then they are voting for the winner based on music- not geo-politics.

I'm a prospective PPE applicant for next year though- just finished GCSEs- so I'm no expert, just curious!! This sort of logical thinking is so interesting.

I'm scoring in the mid to high 70s -- will working through a TSA book significantly increase my chances of admission?

Difficult to say... Some people find them advantageous and others don't. Personally I find them really helpful, but then again I'm not scoring as high as you

Well, there's 2 components here:
- Will boosting my score further substantially help my chance of admission, considering i'm an international student (I get fewer, lower quality (skype, not in person) interiews)?

-Will a TSA prep book help me to do that? Which would be the best (specifically for moving from high 70s to 80s and 90s)?

Also, I'd be happy to offer specific tips if you want...

Well, first of all, a score in the high 70s is already a great score that will help your application. I however have no idea how much a better score will improve it, but I'm pretty sure it won't weaken it



I think this depends on what your weaknesses are right now. Is it that you don't know how to solve some questions or is it more of a time management problem? I think that some books can help you with specific TSA-taking skills while others can help you with more overall problem solving and critical thinking knowledge.

I actually haven't taken any past test yet (but I'm pretty sure I won't score in the high 70s yet) but if you'd like to offer some advice I'd be more than happy to receive it

Well, there's 2 components here:
- Will boosting my score further substantially help my chance of admission, considering i'm an international student (I get fewer, lower quality (skype, not in person) interiews)?
-Will a TSA prep book help me to do that? Which would be the best (specifically for moving from high 70s to 80s and 90s)?

Also, I'd be happy to offer specific tips if you want...

Hi, current E&M student here. Please do not bother with TSA books. I got one while preparing for the TSAs and it was absolutely useless. Completely irrelevant to the test itself. Just do the past year papers and you'll be fine.

I tried the 2008 TSA for the first time today and I scored roughly 50
Is that an indicator that I may not score better even by practising other papers?


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I'm pretty sure you will improve your score by practicing other papers

I'm getting around 40/50 on the TSA, what does that convert to as a percentage roughly? Also does anyone have a source of practice questions at interview for ppe? thanks

It differs from year to year but 40/50 equals roughly a score of 69

Where do you find the translation between real mark and percentage?