Samples of Submitted Work

Scroll to see replies

Sure, but I don't approve of going completely over the top. Of course I want to impress the Oxford dons, but I want to do so in an understated way rather than oozing pretension as many people do. Notice also that "trying" is the operative word here.

Reply 41

Wstroud

For PPE:

1. "The United States of America has a Federal system of government, whereas the UK's system is Unitary, however the two systems have become blurred" - Discuss

2. Discuss the Arguments For And Against Adoption of the Euro

Reply 42

pedy1986

Drogue

From what I know of Meg, which while is not a lot, is far more than you do, she's far closer to an colourful, original, interesting, vibrant person than someone who purely works hard.

Meg? Vibrant? Intereting? Are you sure? nononono, you have it all wrong! :tongue:

Reply 43

Belle Noire

bavman

Well, i was planning to submit a bit of Creative Writing (my best) and something analytical, though i am having trouble finding something up to scratch...and really dont want to make something from scratch (anyone know where this idiom comes from?).The choice between my analytical submissions is either a Prat. Crit of Graham Greenes Brighton Rock or a comparision between a peice by Dickens and Golding. Any Reccomendations? Would it be advisable to get these up to par by asking the subject teacher if they would remark it?Or shall i just write something completely new by Nov. 15th? :smile:

Thanks guys, good forum!

I don't think creative writing is allowed. Check the prospectus.

Reply 44

tomcoolinguk

Wstroud

2 would be terrible; it is like doing an essay on fox-hunting or abortion: can you bring anything new to the debate?

I would suggest not writing something specifically, but just tarting up an existing piece of work [which is all my school lets people do, and they have always had positive feedback about the 'authenticity' of work submitted]. Put simply, you need to do something you have been taught about because otherwise you will be at a disadvantage having not spent as much time academically considering a topic.

Reply 45

Drogue

I'm really not sure it matters too much. I sent in two bits of history coursework I'd done, both almost a year old the first time, and almost two the second time I applied, and I was commended on them by the tutor who read them. It's just them wanting to see how you write an essay, since you'll be doing a lot of it, so the actual subject doesn't matter all that much.

Reply 46

Amrad

tomcoolinguk

2 would be terrible; it is like doing an essay on fox-hunting or abortion: can you bring anything new to the debate?

Looks like I've fallen into the same trap, although my title is slightly different, placing more emphasis on Europe as a whole. Even if it was a little long it was pretty good. Meg, what happened to your Euro essay? Not like it?

My other essay is a history homework essay on Gladstone, but I may not submit this as it has typo errors and spelling names wrong and my teacher said no editing is allowed.

Remember on the Oxford coversheet both you and your teacher must declare that the work is original and not been corrected or modified.

Reply 47

H&E

tomcoolinguk

2 would be terrible; it is like doing an essay on fox-hunting or abortion: can you bring anything new to the debate?

I completely disagree. At undergraduate level, there are almost no topics at all on which you can bring anything new to the doubt, unless you are utterly, utterly exceptional. You'll spend the majority of your time in Economics and Politics (which I believe that poster is applying for) making your conclusions off other people's books and journals; in the first term in Economics, you do some expcetionally basic essay topics (that does not mean they're easy, btw) . I'd say a good essay about fox hunting would be fabulous - if you can effectively summarise all the conflicting viewpoint with a cogent argument and a cogent conclusion, you've shown some real ability.

Reply 48

BazTheMoney

Having a simple essay title dosen't mean it's going to be a simple essay. There's nothing wrong in playing it safe; in fact, the worse thing an applicant can do is deliberately pick a complex title, and than proceed to completely cock it up. Euro/Europe is a very good, and popular basis for an essay, and there's a reason for that.

Reply 49

Danfrank10

Hmm.. getting a bit worried about three things...

My essays were for PPE, two for Economics, and my teacher wouldn't let me change them... I think this might be a problem...

Second, both were under 3,000 words

Third, compared to what I looked at on that history essay, mine seem really simple... my essays were answering the following two questions (my teacher's very wordy!)

"An analysis of the merits and demerits of privatisation, with focus on the UK economy"

In this essay I didnt put in about PPP's...

"Explain the reasons for, and effects of, government or EU support for agriculture, and how has this affected LEDC development?"

In this essay I didnt put in about protectionism of former colonies....

All in all they were both given an A grade, but being the only person who got above a C grade in AS out of our class of 20... worrying... not only that but one of them has a couple of spelling errors (assests and there not their- so typing errors really..)

Also, on one the comments are very good, but on the other it says (in addition to good of course)

"minor grammatical issues" and "ensure you clearly draw conclusions and make judgements"

They dont seem to have a spark about them that other essays do... we dont write many essays for Economics (4 I think...) and I'm now very worried because I think even though my PS and grades are fine (Well, for most
other Unis, for Oxford they're mediocre) I think its gonna let my app down...

Words of condolence??

Oh, by the way, the history intro- always been very interested in world wars and history (decided to take Geography at GCSE though- WHY??!, oh yes, because I thought I might become toooo obsessed... :confused:

) I thought it was great, but Im not going to get into the argument about what history is, having last studied it three years ago I'm in no position to judge!)

By the way Meg, I read a couple of books on that list- New Ideas from Dead Economists and The Armchair economist- they were great! Thanks, as for the colours of pen, sounds kinda cute, lol, depends what tutor looks at it, but Iv read a few of your posts here and there and I think they might well overlook your problem with your intials because the rest of your app is probably VERY strong)

Dan

Reply 50

Amrad

From the website:
Assessors will take note of the circumstances under which the work was done, and assess it accordingly. A very different standard of content and presentation will be expected from pieces of highly prepared course work, on which many hours have been spent, than from pieces of written work for homework with a short dead-line, or written under examination conditions

Your essays will be judged in context, do not worry. The tutors will also consider your school and probably recognise that not much is offered for Oxbridge students if most people are getting Cs or below.

The fact that there are minor spelling and grammar mistakes is hardly the end of the world. On one hand it shows that you do not read through your essays before giving them in, but this is merely a matter of habit not ability. On the other hand it is at least a mark of some authenticity - that the essay is a real piece of homework. One of my essays for PPE (a history one) contained a few spelling mistakes and my teacher said I could not amend it. At first I was annoyed and thought that had I known I would be submitting the essay to Oxford I would have certainly read through it but I now see it is no bad thing. So many people bend the rules and rework essays to the extent that the essays themselves become of little value to admissions tutors.

Don't worry about the length or the sophistication of your essays either. The aforementioned History essay was a homework essay that I wrote in less than three hours and was 2,000 words. I was slightly worried when my teacher wrote on the coversheet that I had 3 weeks in which to complete the essay. Although the teacher did set out the term's work at the start of term I did have another History essay for the week before, so effectively had a week. The other piece I submitted was an Economics essay on the Euro which was a two part homework essay that I decided instead to combine as one and do some further research on which came to over 4,000 words.

Reply 51

RobbieC

There is nothing wrong with working hard. Genius is 99% perspiration, and God do I sweat it out... But im proud of it. We can't all be born amazing thinkers with social eloquence to match, as you clearly have, we instead have to go through the daily grind and hope to come out on top.