Random Oxford question

Hi, I'm shortly going to be sending off my UCAS application and currently plan to apply to St.Hugh's, Oxford. Just as a last second thought I was wondering if any of the colleges grant any preference to athletes (I'm a national tennis champion). I know it's unlikely, and I'm perfectly happy with my choice of college as it is, I just felt it was worth asking because well.... you never know.

Reply 1

onlywee

Oooh tell us your name!

Reply 2

Unregistered

OP

Errrrr, it's Mark if you must know ;D I suppose the achievement does sound slightly less impressive when you consider that I am Irish

Reply 3

tagzt

4

Unregistered

Hi, I'm shortly going to be sending off my UCAS application and currently plan to apply to St.Hugh's, Oxford. Just as a last second thought I was wondering if any of the colleges grant any preference to athletes (I'm a national tennis champion). I know it's unlikely, and I'm perfectly happy with my choice of college as it is, I just felt it was worth asking because well.... you never know.

i doubt any colleges will prefer you because you're good at tennis,sorry (congratulations on your acheivement though!)

Reply 4

hildabeast

7

St Hugh's sounds good - almost applied there myself...

What u hopin 2 do there unreg??? (apart from play tennis of course).

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Reply 5

Unregistered

OP

Allright then, it was a worth a try I guess :biggrin:

. Oh and I'm applying for Modern History

Reply 6

Unregistered

OP

This is my personal statement by the way if anyone is willing to cast judgement :wink:

The 22nd of May 1986, the day the person who is currently taking up your time was born. Despite the “pastness” of this event however, Carr informed me that it is not a historical fact as shockingly enough no historian has found my birth worthy of note. Once I got over this knock to my delusions of grandeur however, I realised that I was actually quite happy that history didn’t involve studying the births of random Irish teenagers, I want to study history for one reason: I want to understand. I have been passionate about reading from a young age and have always enjoyed being able to look at a book and say “yea, that’s a perspective which sheds an entirely light on things for me”. During the course of my IB this has come up in the context of looking at Said’s postcolonial approach while reading Heart of Darkness or Collingwood’s “Idea of history” while writing my TOK essay (“In order to find out how things really are, one must understand the filters through which one perceives the world”)

A slightly more unusual reason for my interest in my history is the frequent disputes between historians. Now, this is not to say that I get some kind of sadistic pleasure out of the watching two adults arguing about whether Hitler was an inevitable creation of a desperate situation or a brilliant public speaker and propagandist who managed to single-handedly foster the attitude of intolerance which underlined Nazism. I simply I find the intellectual tinderbox of ideas which surround every historical issue a major attraction. I also love the fact that history allows me the freedom to form my own “take” on events. Perhaps it’s simply a manifestation of slightly disturbing megalomaniacal tendencies but I must confess to loving the power to decide what I feel was the strength of the grip the autocracy held over Russia immediately prior to WW1. Even more so, I’m looking forward to being able to listen to people who know far far more about it than me speak about what they felt was the situation.

I would also strongly disagree with the claim that history is “irrelevant”. While I feel that history has an intrinsic intellectual interest, I am also of the opinion that the past has a constant bearing the present. Only yesterday the front page of the Herald Tribune ran with the story of how Turkey and Switzerland found themselves in a diplomatic row (with Turkey going so far as to cancel an official visit) due to Switzerland's recognition of the Armenian genocide in 1915. The past clearly hasn’t been thrown into a historical graveyard by either country. I got some personal experience of this influence of the past on the present while representing Russia at SLN. I found that almost all the “contemporary” issues we were discussing had some sort of historical background to them, in particular one heated debate on the rights of the permanent members (or the “World War II victors club” as they were frequently referred) to springs to mind.

On a personal level, I believe that my wide range of life experiences gives me something different to offer to university life. Having already been educated by both the Irish Christian Brothers and the International School of Geneva I’ve learned about being flexible when it comes to approaches to learning. When not sat in a classroom, I try to get involved in as many extra-circular activities as possible. Tennis has in many ways been dominant in this respect, as I play for a professional team in Switzerland and spend much of my summers gallivanting around Europe playing tournaments. I have even been lucky enough to twice win the Irish Nationals, finishing the year ranked number one in the country both times. I have also been involved in (and enjoyed immensely) all the debating and current affairs groups which have met during my time at La Chat. Last year also saw me try me something new, resurrecting and subsequently editing the school newspaper with two classmates. I am also currently in the process of arranging a football match between Aston Villa and Servette in association with UNICEF and UEFA in order to raise money for Sudanese former child soldiers (www.sportforhumanity.tk). I also try and find time to “get in touch with my roots” and enjoy reading the writings of people such Dr. Senia Paseta and Professor Roy F Foster on Irish history.

Reply 7

hildabeast

7

Unregistered

Allright then, it was a worth a try I guess :biggrin:

. Oh and I'm applying for Modern History

Cool!

I've met the history tutors @ st hugh's - they're all nice, esp Dr Garnett

Reply 8

hildabeast

7

U didn't by any chance enter the Julia Wood essay competition for 6th formers did u?
I did last year - I came 3rd and was invited 2 lunch @ the college and was sent a letter basically saying that they wanted me to apply there 4 hist, but i didn't wanna do history. Other ppl who did well in the competition did apply 2 hugh's and apparently they still let 1 guy in even tho he only got a c in hist a-level.
They are really nice ppl - it's ur choice, but from what i experienced st hugh's is a great place.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Reply 9

Unregistered

OP

hildabeast

U didn't by any chance enter the Julia Wood essay competition for 6th formers did u?
I did last year - I came 3rd and was invited 2 lunch @ the college and was sent a letter basically saying that they wanted me to apply there 4 hist, but i didn't wanna do history. Other ppl who did well in the competition did apply 2 hugh's and apparently they still let 1 guy in even tho he only got a c in hist a-level.
They are really nice ppl - it's ur choice, but from what i experienced st hugh's is a great place.

x-x-x-x-x-x

No, I didn’t enter the competition, I’m actually attending the International School of Geneva. Oh and that’s great, one more reason to apply there then

Reply 10

Brown Patrick Bateman

10

Unregistered

I am also currently in the process of arranging a football match between Aston Villa and Servette in association with UNICEF and UEFA in order to raise money for Sudanese former child soldiers.

Bloody hell!!

An amazing statement, well balanced and modest.

Reply 11

Unregistered

OP

Jools

Bloody hell!!

An amazing statement, well balanced and modest.

Hmmm, well cheers :biggrin:

. The thing is, I personally feel happy with it but the UCAS advisor at my school is still pushing me to change it (I've already modifed it about 19 times in the last week:P). Would you mind having a read of a modified version so that the two could be looked at in comparison?

Reply 12

m_asghar2001

onlywee

Oooh tell us your name!

My name is asghar bhatti,of age 29 years,virgin

Reply 13

tagzt

4

m_asghar2001

My name is asghar bhatti,of age 29 years,virgin

possibly a bit more information than was required

Reply 14

tagzt

4

“yea, that’s a perspective which sheds an entirely light on things for me”.

this sounds a bit colloquial, you should use "yes, that's..."

a brilliant statement!

Reply 15

Unregistered

OP

tagzt

this sounds a bit colloquial, you should use "yes, that's..."

a brilliant statement!

Yea, I've changed that to "hmmm". I also changed the opening two lines, so that instead of talking about my birth I reflect on a letter I wrote to the families of the victims of the Omagh bombing while a twelve-year old student in Ireland. The only other changes I made were changing the part about Hitler, instead focusing on the debate which surrounds the causes of World War I. Oh and I took out a bit of the tennis info [the galivanting around Europe (superfluous) and the "finishing the year both times ranked number 1 in the country" part (my teacher told me it would be better if she wrote this in her reference)]. Thanks for the positive feedback guys, after a week of 2am finishes followed by comments of "nah, it's still not good enough, you're not doing yourself justice, it doesn't sound like you" I really is much appreciated.

Reply 16

Brown Patrick Bateman

10

Unregistered

Oh and I took out a bit of the tennis info [the galivanting around Europe (superfluous) and the "finishing the year both times ranked number 1 in the country" part (my teacher told me it would be better if she wrote this in her reference)].

Being ranked #1 in the country for tennis is the sort of thing anyone would of course naturally put in their Personal Statement. If you don't mention it but it's in the teacher's reference, I think it'll be a bit obvious to the tutor that the teacher would have told you to do it that way to come across as more modest. Provided you don't come across as too arrogant (which you definitely didn't), the Personal Statement is there for you to sell yourself by showing off achievements like that.

Reply 17

Jayar

Hi,
The names Jayar and I'm and IB student in the states. Great choice of schools (and major for that matter). I noticed that you are writing or wrote the same ToK essay as me and I was wondering if you were aware of the name of the person who originally said “In Order To Find Out How Things Really Are, One Must Understand The Filters Through Which One Perceives The World.” It is not terribly important but could come in handy if you were willing to help.

Reply 18

GH

13

Jayar

Hi,
The names Jayar and I'm and IB student in the states. Great choice of schools (and major for that matter). I noticed that you are writing or wrote the same ToK essay as me and I was wondering if you were aware of the name of the person who originally said “In Order To Find Out How Things Really Are, One Must Understand The Filters Through Which One Perceives The World.” It is not terribly important but could come in handy if you were willing to help.