PPE Personal Statement Help

I'm currently writing my personal statement for PPE, although I haven't decided which uni to apply to yet (I'm thinking Warwick York or Durham if I have the grades)

The main thing I was wondering is how I can use what I'm learning in my A level course in my PS to promote myself for PPE?

I take maths, economics, history and geography at AS, I think I will be dropping geography at A2 so will be taking maths economics and history.

Maths - Helps with the economics section
Economics - Obviously relevant to the economics section
History - Much of my course is political history. One half of it is Britain in the 21st century which is mainly politics (e.g. the rise of labour, home rule in Ireland..). A lot of my German course is also politics; how the Nazis came to power, the division of Germany after WWII etc leading into the Cold War.
History can also link to economics; political economics.. like how the Weimar government dealt with hyperinflation in 1923. Would it be worth mentioning these in any way in my statement?

I'm also struggling to link Geography to much, and I'm struggling finding anything to link to philosophy.. although half of my RS gcse was philosophy and I got an A* in that and found it very interesting.

Any comments?

Reply 1

oxymoronic

You do not have to mention your A levels at all if you've got other ways of showing your interest in a subject which you've done outside of the classroom. Remember that unless you can say anything original about your Economics course, for example, it's not going to make you stand out as every single other applicant will have also written about how they've studied X in economics and this was really interesting so therefore it just sits you on the same level as everyone else. If you've done something original say an independent coursework topic, and then this is relevant include the research you've done on this and how you're enjoying learning about it. Or say if you've covered a particular topic in class and then gone on to read more about it, include this, or if you've gone on a trip anywhere and what you got from that. Don't just write about your A levels in a way which repeats the sylabus.

Focus on exactly why you want to study PPE - what has driven you to apply for the course exactly? why do you want to study it for 3 years? Link this to reading or anything you've done in your life, only a small part of your PS (1 paragraph) needs to be about your A levels but you can also get away with not mentioning them at all if you don't feel they're relevant. Although in this case obviously discuss history and economics as they fit 2 aspects of the course. For philosophy perhaps think back to GCSE, what did you enjoy specifically, and now go back and find something to read about this topic by which you can give an opinion of the work/idea.

Reply 2

dannycarr1

I'm currently considering PPE at uni and am trying to write a personal statement for it at the moment.

I think I take great A levels for PPE: Maths, History, Economics, Geography.
I'm dropping Geography after AS, so will be left with Maths, History, Economics.

But I'm struggling to work out what I can write about what I've learned from these subjects which will help me in PPE.. maybe the links seem too obvious e.g. economics at A2 will help me study economics at degree level.

Also, probably most importantly, can anyone suggest what books I can include in my PS (and read over the summer) to help me in my application?
e.g. I currently would like to read up on Marxism, can anyone suggest any books?

Thanks for anyyyy tips

Reply 3

bodybuilder22

dannycarr1

Did you read the advice given here:

Also this thread is extremely useful

Reply 4

ac101

Obviously for Marxism the best thing to do is read his books! I would recommend The Communist Manifesto to start, really easy to read and really short!
I would also recommend "Contemporary Political Philosophy- An Introduction" by Will Kymlicka which is pretty heavy going, but well worth it imo.
Make sure as well that you have read about some philosophers of "general philsophy" (as opposed to political philosophy). An easy one to start with is Descartes' meditations.
Obviously read books about politics and economics as well. Maybe choose a subject you are particularly interested in for each, and read around it. For example, I read several books about development economics.
In terms of linking you could for example say that history has helped you develop your analytical skills, or you could discuss a topic you have learned about and the political/economical parts that you found interesting. I don't really think the maths and economics need to be linked, like you say it is fairly self-explanatory really.
Hope this was helpful.

Reply 5

dannycarr1

bodybuilder22

Did you read the advice given here:

Also this thread is extremely useful

Wow, ok, I'd completely forgotten I'd made that thread :p:

my bad

Yes ive read the complete guide. Ok more specifically, can anyone, possibly who already does PPE, suggest any books that I can read that are useful?

Reply 6

dannycarr1

ac101

Thank you

this is very helpful :smile:

if anyone can add to this with a few books I can read over summer that'd be good.
I've read things like The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins - would that be useful? That's philosophical to me.

For history I guess I can link a lot of politics and economics quite easily after learning about Nazism etc.

edit: Im having trouble linking my current knowledge to interest in NATURAL philosophy.. any help? im interested but dont really know anything about it..

Reply 7

yemisdate

I am in the same boat... atm I'm just trying anything to try and make me understand the course and subjects better and make myself stand out!

I've found A History Of Economic Thought by William Barber is really interesting - explains just what all the most important economists like Smith, Mill, Marx and Keynes all thought and did.

Apart from that all the unis have PPE reading lists - try reading some of the stuff on there, if you point out you've read them and say something original about them it can only go in your favour for the uni whose list it was on!

Reply 8

Buffyboy

ac101

This is interesting, a Mansfield tutor recommended looking at a particualr philisophical work rather than a general introduction, she recommended reading Descarte's meditations as well, would you say Mills ethical philosophy is too political philosophy, I'm not sure whether to read Utilitarianism or not?

Reply 9

username141550

Buffyboy

You study Utilitarianism in your first year of PPE at Oxford, so Mill sounds pretty good. On Liberty is better though.

Reply 10

tabsybelle

On Liberty you do as a politics-text rather than a philosophy one, but Mill, basically, is gold in terms of PPE :tongue:

It's basic, but if you can have a good discussion when it comes to it and you're comfortable discussing various aspects of it, then that's way more impressive than knowing scraps about more "advanced" theories. Although that advice would probably be more geared towards interviews than personal statements, come to think of it.

In general, don't, whatever you do, reel off the lists of books you've read; talk about why they were useful and how you reacted to them and why you thought they were good/bad. (have an opinion about it other than what's given in it, yeah?)