Biomedical Sciences BMS Oxford

Hi everyone, I really want to go to Oxford to study Biomedical Sciences. I find the prospect of learning about the human body in depth really interesting - physiology disease etc but not genes and genetics.

Hence I was looking at the other course topics and thought that neuroscience seemed pretty interesting although I never thought about it before.

Applications are 2 months away- do you think it would be good idea to write my personal statement on neuroscience and read books/watch lectures etc on it? Also, granted that you can graduate with an Msc in Neuroscience I thought it would increase my chances. Or should I stick to Physiology/the body despite my disinterest in Genetics?

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

Hi,
As you study all areas in your first year it doesn’t really matter what area you focus on in your personal statement. I focused mainly on human disease and metabolic processes in mine yet I have just graduated with a neuroscience degree from Oxford from the biomedical sciences course

I would recommend writing about what you are passionate about because at interview you will be interviewed by different professors with a range of specialities from across the biomedical sciences course.

If you would like to include something on neuroscience then the spark of life is a great book for an introduction to basic neuroscience concepts

Reply 2

17277282kiosk

OP

9

Original post by Anonymous

Hi,
As you study all areas in your first year it doesn’t really matter what area you focus on in your personal statement. I focused mainly on human disease and metabolic processes in mine yet I have just graduated with a neuroscience degree from Oxford from the biomedical sciences course

I would recommend writing about what you are passionate about because at interview you will be interviewed by different professors with a range of specialities from across the biomedical sciences course.

If you would like to include something on neuroscience then the spark of life is a great book for an introduction to basic neuroscience concepts

thanks for your reassuring reply. i’ve been looking at the selection criteria for the course and i noticed the points “research intensive” and “laboratory based” - do you need to mention examples of these in your PS? i’ve only done practicals in class and i dropped my epq after a few months of taking it so no real progress was made. i’m worried i will be rejected because of the lack of evidence of such skills

Reply 3

Jhux

7

Original post by 17277282kiosk

thanks for your reassuring reply. i’ve been looking at the selection criteria for the course and i noticed the points “research intensive” and “laboratory based” - do you need to mention examples of these in your PS? i’ve only done practicals in class and i dropped my epq after a few months of taking it so no real progress was made. i’m worried i will be rejected because of the lack of evidence of such skills

From what I remember I did not write about practical skills in my personal statement for Oxford and I definitely was not asked about them at interview. The practicals in first year are quite basic and teach you the necessary skills so I wouldn’t worry. Just focus on conveying your passion for the subject and you will be good!

(edited 8 months ago)

Reply 4

17277282kiosk

OP

9

Original post by Jhux

From what I remember I did not write about practical skills in my personal statement for Oxford and I definitely was not asked about them at interview. The practicals in first year are quite basic and teach you the necessary skills so I wouldn’t worry. Just focus on conveying your passion for the subject and you will be good!

ok thank you! does this also apply for research as oxford mentioned the course is research intensive. do i still have a good chance of getting in without any research experience?

Reply 5

Jhux

7

Original post by 17277282kiosk

ok thank you! does this also apply for research as oxford mentioned the course is research intensive. do i still have a good chance of getting in without any research experience?

Yes it also applies to research! I also had no research experiments but just made sure I had a strong ps and bmat scores and got my offer.

Reply 6

emilyalexandria

9

Original post by 17277282kiosk

ok thank you! does this also apply for research as oxford mentioned the course is research intensive. do i still have a good chance of getting in without any research experience?

Oxford won't prioritise people with research experience, and they're not expecting you to have any. Realistically, a 17-18 year old is not doing any meaningful research anyway. You have to study first.