Oxbridge personal statement

What do oxford uni love to see in personal statements? Also would mentioning being a scholar at my current college be right to mention?

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What do oxford uni love to see in personal statements? Also would mentioning being a scholar at my current college be right to mention?

Google is your friend, there are thousands of articles on this already as well as threads on TSR. If you have more specific questions then fire away, otherwise the answers you're looking for are already out there!

I'll give you a brief overview of my personal statement.

Introduction - why I like my subject (brief, avoid cliches), why my A levels suit my degree course.
Paragraph 1 - reference to a political philosophy book I've read and what I thought about it in comparison to modern day UK.
Paragraph 2 - reference to another political philosophy book about morality I've read with reference to a modern problem.
Paragraph 3 - reference to my EPQ and how it's improved me as a student.
Extra curricular - brief semi-related things about me I've tried to relate to my course.

Something to bare in mind, universities don't want well rounded people, they want people who are bloody good at the subject they are applying for so show that if someone gives you 10 books to read on your subject you will read them and take in what they have to say.

Something to bare in mind, universities don't want well rounded people, they want people who are bloody good at the subject they are applying for

Hi, I am looking to study econ and management, i have discussed an economics topic and my management skills. What else should i include?- maybe hobbies? or would that be irrelevant

Second part is true, but the first part is very misleading advice. In truth if you fail to extend yourself as a person beyond the confines of academic interest, you will be at a disadvantage to other candidates. I'm not sure who told you this, but I hope you still have time to change your PS!



Absolutely! As I've said above, it's important to show you are a real person with interests outside the subject like hobbies, and these do not all have to relate to economics. Make sure to convey passion (without using the word passion as it's a big cliche) in both your subject and in anything else you enjoy and it'll be a strong PS.

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...However, when composing your personal statement, you should consider the importance that your other university choices may place on extra-curricular activities.

That's surprising! However, assuming OP is also applying to other unis, I'd stand by my advice. Cambridge themselves said this in the FAQ just below your own quote:



There are a lot of fair points in that article too, but it does sound like this opinion is more or less limited to oxbridge. If most unis only looked at academic ability, there wouldn't be much need for a PS in the first place!

What you're saying does not apply to Oxbridge applications, and is extremely misleading. From Cambridge's admissions FAQ:

"Your participation (or not) in specific extra-curricular activities that aren’t relevant to the course applied for are not taken into account and don’t affect your chances of being made an offer of a place at Cambridge."

From the Oxford's online personal statement guide:

"There’s a myth that Oxford is looking for the most well-rounded applicants, and that you will only be offered a place if you have a long list of varied extracurricular activities. In fact, extracurricular activities are only helpful in so far as they demonstrate the selection criteria for your course."

You might also want to read this article.

If the OP is applying to Oxford then the other unis they're applying to are probably going to be prestigious as well, and therefore also fairly uninterested in extra-curriculars that aren't course related. For example from Warwick:

"Although we are keen to hear about your work experience and extra-curricular activities, they should not dominate your personal statement; remember that you are applying for an academic course of study, and the limited space available to you for your personal statement should predominantly focus on this."

And from the Imperial personal statement guide:

"Remember: the person reading your statement is an academic who has devoted their life to a subject you claim to have an interest in. Therefore, the main focus of the statement should be your interest in the course and there should be plenty of relevant academic and/or vocational examples you can include to prove your interest."

The overall sense you get from reading what these unis say is that they are primarily interested in academic stuff and extracurriculars related to the course, but that other extracurriculars don't play a major role.

Also, remember that the OP is going to be applying to most of these other unis with predicted grades above their standard offer, and a very strong academic background worthy of Oxbridge. They are unlikely to be rejected based on extracurriculars when they're probably going to exceed the enterance requirements. The only exception to this is I think Durham, who do specifically ask for stuff unrelated to the course. This is an exception though.

Also I find it strange that you say there wouldn't be much point to a personal statement if unis only cared about ability. Personal statements are meant to be academic, and demonstrate interest/dedication in the course and further reading- they've never been anything to do with presenting yourself as "well rounded."

I'd say non-course related extracurriculars should be one paragraph maximum, and there should be some effort to link back to the course by saying you've developed skills like teamwork/responsibility/time-management. Anything more then it seems like you don't have much to say on the course.

All good points! If it wasn't clear, I was trying to stress the importance of a balance of each - you're exactly right that the subject should come first, and that interests outside of the course should only play a small (but important!) part.

Thanks for providing some good counter. Hopefully this has been very useful to OP!

Thank you! Also do oxford like to see diversity- if i were to include my religious background and how im from an ethnic minority? or would that put my application at risk

It wouldn't put your application at risk but such things don't really belong in a personal statement tbh As a PS Reviewer here, my advice is generally to keep religion out of personal statements/uni applications