Oxford Applicants 2016 Entry & Interview chat

I didn't start to use UCAS yet, but to be sure to not to miss deadline because of posting process, is there anything that I should post to England(I'm international) that couldn't be send electronically? My exam scores are accessible in Collegeboard now, and I don't know if there is a different process for those scores. Also one new score will be available before TSA, but after 15 oct. , how can I inform Oxford about that score? Just updating UCAS is enough?

Would anyone happen to have any insight into why the entrance requirement for Physics is not A*A*A? It's incredibly competitive and I would imagine that most offer holders go on to get A*s in at least Maths and Physics, probably even in Further Maths? For Engineering it's A*A*A but that course is nowhere near as competitive as Physics..

I don't know why there's such a difference within the sciences though, Chemistry for instance is one of the least competitive subjects (at least in terms of applications per place, which doesn't tell you everything) yet their entry requirement is A*A*A.

I surprised there isn't some sort of Chemistry aptitude test to reduce the workload on interview days. Maybe because, like you say, it's a lot less competitive than other subjects?

Maybe because they think the other parts of their admissions process tell them more about the person's ability than grades? Medicine's even more competitive than Physics yet their entry requirement is also 'only' A*AA. When I was applying for my subject, they said they're not massively bothered about what grades you get as long as you get the standard offer since they use the interview to decide who they want and who they don't and I guess it's a similar thing for Physics - they're probably fairly confident with who they've chosen because of tons of information they gather about their applicants so they just use A Levels as a basic competency check? I don't know why there's such a difference within the sciences though, Chemistry for instance is one of the least competitive subjects (at least in terms of applications per place, which doesn't tell you everything) yet their entry requirement is A*A*A.

I surprised there isn't some sort of Chemistry aptitude test to reduce the workload on interview days. Maybe because, like you say, it's a lot less competitive than other subjects?

I understand that generally, Oxford tries to interview around 3 applicants for every place they have. Because subjects like Chemistry simply don't attract that many applications, they can afford to just interview most people (all serious applicants).

Also, do you know why you have to take the MAT for Computer Science and Philosophy, but not for Computer Science on its own? Or is that just an error on the website?

I don't agree that you couldn't have a fair admissions test if the Oxford course is very broad – after all, the admissions test could be used to see how applicants would deal with one part of the course while interviews focused on another, if you could interview a large enough proportion of applicants. I would imagine it's more likely that the A levels people study (i.e. OCR chemistry vs AQA chemistry, etc.) don't overlap enough to create a test that would be equally approachable for students on different boards while also providing meaningful differentiation between candidates.

has anyone started writing their personal statements yet?

Yeah my school wanted my first draft in before we even broke up for the summer, so now I'm on my fourth and almost finished

Does your school give you a lot of support for the statement? I'm a French student and they really dont give any as few people apply to the UK. I was wondering if there was a place where i could get my drafts reread by students for cheap?

Depending on what subject you are applying for, I could point you in the direction of such a place

PPE, willing to spend up to 10£

Hmm, not sure the place I was thinking of can do PPE (very few reviewers), sorry

PPE, willing to spend up to 10£