Oxford Applicants 2016 Entry & Interview chat

Personally I wouldn't recommend it. There are a gazillion of successful Oxbridge applicants on TSR already, and they would be more than willing to review your PS for you... although, one could argue that they're not admissions tutor. But they were successful... so I guess it all depends on where you stand.

Remember, it'll be entirely subjective and you don't want to fall into the trap of having too many inputs and being stressed out. So it depends. I had my PS reviewed by 3 teachers; one who oversees Oxbridge applications at my school, one who studied the subject I'm applying for, and a teacher who successful completed her Masters this year at Oxford. Surely you must have teachers fitting similar criteria at your school? Also, the best advice I've heard was from an aspiring Cambridge Medic (unfortunately her UMS in comparison to other applicants meant she just missed out on an offer). Get the History department at your School/College, they're surprisingly helpful in ciphering out the unnecessary rambling from the serious academic jargon. Trust me, exhaust all other options before investing in outside sources.

I hope I've helped!

Are there any specific things the referee is supposed to write? I'm from Sweden and the teacher writing my letter of recommendation has written a few before, but she asked me for the specific things the universities I am applying to wanted to be included. Is there such a thing? If so, where do I find it?

Oxford has a guide for teachers on writing the letter of recommendation here

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?

Hey hey guys, as a prospective med applicant I'm a little stuck on my personal statement. I sent it to 2 different people to proofread - a girl in med school in the UK and a guy from harvard but gahhh the girl says my statement is good but the guy says i should basically change everything.

So my question is: Should it be more of a factual "i got this and i achieved this and I read this and hence I would make a good doctor" or like an "i want to do medicine because..." sort of thing? Do you think Oxford would be more impressed with something more achievements based or something more philosophical?

Also a prospective applicant here From what I've gathered it's more of a "I want to do medicine because..." sort of thing. For some seemingly decent advise look at Jamie Miles videos. http://www.jamoemills.com/oxbridge

YAY!! Thank you so much

Hey hey guys, as a prospective med applicant I'm a little stuck on my personal statement. I sent it to 2 different people to proofread - a girl in med school in the UK and a guy from harvard but gahhh the girl says my statement is good but the guy says i should basically change everything.

So my question is: Should it be more of a factual "i got this and i achieved this and I read this and hence I would make a good doctor" or like an "i want to do medicine because..." sort of thing? Do you think Oxford would be more impressed with something more achievements based or something more philosophical?

Basically, I've studied French since I was about 10 and it has always been my favourite language; I dream of becoming fluent, and carrying it on to degree level seems like the best way to do this. Also, the added exposure to literature and culture that you get by completing a degree cannot compare in my eyes to the linguistic ability I would obtain if I simply carried on informally learning French in my free time, so French was my obvious course choice.

However, I wanted to expand my horizons a little by learning a new language ab initio, and when I considered all of my options, Hebrew seemed like the best choice for me. I wanted to take on the challenge of a non-european language for a start, and do something a little different. But by studying Hebrew I can also maintain a variety of my interests. For a while, I contemplated taking Theology, and therefore the option to do Biblical Hebrew as part of this course really appealed to me. I'm also really interested in conflict geography and international relations, and the opportunity to look at the Palestinian conflict in detail as part of the course sounded really interesting. Finally, as a Christian, I can't deny that the idea of spending a year in Israel really speaks to me. I've never had the opportunity to go before and everything I have seen or read, makes me think that I would love it.

Sorry, I realise that this is a huge splurge of information, I got a little carried away..
What about you? Why are you combining the two?

Guys, apparently CIE(my exam board made A the highest grade possible for AS & A2 levels. If the exam requirements for Economics and management is A*A*A, will I meet the requirements if I get AAA? thank you!

Guys, apparently CIE(my exam board made A the highest grade possible for AS & A2 levels. If the exam requirements for Economics and management is A*A*A, will I meet the requirements if I get AAA? thank you!

The British person would be a more reliable source. Uni applications in the US are TOTALLY different.

Oxford do not care about the PS. Cater your PS for other unis i.e. talk about your work experience and volunteering and what it has taught you about medicine and about why you want to do medicine.

Hi guys! Just wondering if anyone knows, with regard to the Open Day on Friday (which is a definite Go! for me now, woohoo!), do we just check into the relevant college's reception on arrival? For example, I'm going to check out Hertford and have checked the website but all I can see for sure is the doors open a 10am and lunch is ticketed! Anyone happens to know? (Figured I'd ask here first just in case rather than email the office!) x

Have you booked to visit anywhere? If so they should have sent you instructions and/or a timetable.

If not don't worry - you can just drop in on any college. They usually have a welcome desk of some sort clearly visible, and either someone will show you around or you can wander around by yourself. There will be lots of people around to help don't worry.

Some colleges only open for non-bookings later on (12ish) so probably best if you start with Hertford given they specifically open at 10.

Hi I'm thinking about applying to Oxford for engineering post A levels. I have achieved 4 A*s in Maths, Physics, Chemistry, and Further Maths. I have already been accepted to study Mechanical engineering at Bristol, And I wonder if there is a big difference between Bristol and Oxford for engineering. I'm sure I will enjoy Bristol but it's been a lifelong dream for me to go to Oxford, and now seeing my A levels I'm a bit more confident and I wish I had applied last year. Any advice would be helpful, thanks