Does Oxford's attitude to personal statements really vary by college?

I doubt any colleges have a college-wide policy on whether to read/use personal statements. I know of some tutors who don't read it, so I'd say it's more a tutor-by-tutor (as opposed to a college-by-college) basis

Its more subject than college or tutors to be fair. If your applying for a sciences then the chances of your statement getting read are slim to even none in some cases, but it will sure be read very thoroughly if you apply to many humanities subjects as the content is often used in interviews, and can show your thought process behind ideas or materials.

If you have a test associated with your subject then actually this often holds so much weighting that anything you write in your statement isn't going to have any affect if you don't perform well on the test.

Hi all,

Does anybody have any experience with this? I've tried to look into it further and tried to find out which colleges do or don't read personal statements but have found almost nothing.

I'd really appreciate any answers, especially from current undergraduates at Oxford. Thanks.

I think this is faculty policy not individual college. So you won't find it on the college websites.

e.g. Oxford PPE Website FAQ.

"We have the time to interview those applicants that we shortlist and personal statements do not play a significant role in our shortlisting decisions. We may use your personal statement to inform our discussion at interview, but we do not use its contents to award places as they are not written under controlled conditions."

I don't feel it's prudent to share which tutors don't read personal statements Largely because it is irrelevant, in any case. Even if an Oxford don is not going to read your PS, your PS still needs to be stellar for all those other unis you apply to that won't be interviewing you (and thus where the PS will hold more weight).

Just write the strongest PS you can and see how you go!

Yeah, it does, but it's a medical personal statement. :/ The reason why I'm being so ambitious with my fifth choice is that I don't see the sense in what a lot of other medical applicants do .

Yeah, it does, but it's a medical personal statement. :/ The reason why I'm being so ambitious with my fifth choice is that I don't see the sense in what a lot of other medical applicants do with their fifth choice in treating it as an 'if I don't get medicine offers, I'll do this and do medicine through graduate entry' option.

I've researched this a lot and graduate entry is, in my view, the worst possible way to get into medicine and should really be treated as a last resort in situations where somebody's grades are so bad that they can't go for any of the other routes into medicine, such as resitting or studying abroad. I would just reapply if I didn't get medicine offers in that situation.

So, for me, the fifth option, however low my chance of success, has to be worth doing for its own sake rather than simply treating it as a fallback option to take a roundabout route into medicine.

Sorry for ranting. xD

Ah I see why you are asking now. I'm afraid I have to agree with the others - I don't think applying for Biological Sciences at Oxford with a medicine-based PS is a good idea, at all I think your statement is more likely than not to be read, and they will realise straightaway that you are not a "serious" Biological Sciences applicant and probably not invite you to interview

I seem to remember meeting somebody at interview who'd applied for biochem as their 5th choice with medicine, so you might stand some chance – but as the others have said, it's a bit of an outside shot.

x

Applications to Oxford University for Biological Sciences are competitive, and not all students that apply are offered an interview. Applicants who fail to meet the selection criteria to a high standard will not be called for interview. Students are selected for interview from their UCAS forms on the basis of: examination scores (achieved and predicted); referee’s report; personal statement – showing an interest in, and an academic potential for Biological Sciences

This is what Keble says ...


source: http://www.keble.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/subjects/past-feedback/biol2014


The lack of aptitude test probably weakens your chances but If you could get through to interview you might be able to argue your case.

But if you know you have zero interest in anything other than medicine or Biological Sciences at Oxford, I guess you aren't losing anything by applying just in case...