University of Oxford 2022 Applicants Official Thread

Which course would you like to study

Hello All!

I'm a student from the US who recently submitted my UCAS application!

I hope to study PPE at Oxford and I'm applying to Mansfield College.

I currently go to a middle sized public (non magnet, non charter) school in the US (what you guys would call a state school) where no one has ever applied to UK uni, much less Oxford.

I'm taking 6 AP courses this year which are roughly the American equivalent of A-Levels (although easier than A-Levels). This spring I'll be taking AP exams in BC Calculus, Statistics, Macroeconomics, English Literature, US Government and Politics, and European History and I have predicted 5s (AP exams are graded 1-5) in all of them, as well as As and A+s for my predicted course grades. I've taken 3 AP exams already (English Language, US History, and Biology) all of which I took last year and got all 5s in. I also took the SAT (which forms part of the US qualifications) and scored a 1520 (770RW, 750M) on my first attempt.

Not really sure what my GCSE equivalents would be, but my GPA (which is my average grades throughout high school) will be about a 3.95-4.0 on a 4 unweighted scale.

I chose to apply to Oxford mainly because they're the undergraduate world leader in PPE, and I really want to study PPE extensively! I like the tutorial system, the college system, the location, and basically everything about Oxford. I chose Mansfield because I want a smaller college with a diverse range of viewpoints and Mansfield's high proportion of state school students seems to guarantee that! I also spent some time looking over their faculty's research and found it really interesting so yea! Just liked Mansfield's vibe from the site and promotional material!

For my PS I wrote about how my interest in the relationship between political and economic inequality made me interested in Marxism and from there politics, economics and philosophy generally! I mentioned like 5 books (I think) and 2 lecture series that I had read/listened too. A little on the high side but I thought it turned out well and I explained my thoughts on each of them extensively.

I'm currently studying for the TSA! On my first go at it in a practice test I scored a 67.2. My main issue was my timing, as I guessed at the very end on the last 11 questions. Problem solving takes me far longer than critical thinking so for my next practice test I'm going to do all the critical thinking first then do the problem solving and hopefully that will go better. Goal is to get it up to a 75 by November 4th!

Just posting in case anyone has any general advice for US applicants to PPE, or advice on studying for the TSA (specifically the problem solving section). I'm currently just taking practice tests and then correcting my answers and redoing problems I get wrong, is there something else I should do too? Thanks!

Check out posts by @youyouxue He and a group of other Oxford offer-holders (now students) did a series of workshops on it. I'm not sure if you can search up a user by name on here, but you can search 'TSA' in this thread by clicking on the 3 dots on the blue bar at the top of the page (the ones with the page numbers on it).

Good luck!

Can't decide between applying to Magdalen, Merton, St John's or Lincoln. Just the few lol! Any input?

Lincoln pretty, small and not much green space,Magdalen,spendid, large and massive meadow plus gardens on river also rich,St Johns very rich,large grounds but you are not allowed on most them.Not great architecturally lots of newish buildings added.Merton very clever?

Oxford Mum replied with a link to a brilliant post - I'd really suggest you take a look at the links in there.

Good brief summary from Scotney. Would add that you don't necessarily have to be any cleverer to get into Merton!

Merton is in a similar position to Magdalen, but slightly tucked away, obviously with smaller grounds than Magdalen(!) but still very spacious, with a beautiful garden. Lincoln is the odd one out in your list as far as space is concerned, but is lovely if space isn't an issue for you.


I think both Lincoln and Merton guarantee accommodation for all years of your degree. Can't remember St John's, as we ruled it out early on. We ruled out Magdalen too, a little later in the process - something to do with accommodation in the 2nd year, I think...

What is most important to you?

Thank you! I checked out the link to the post and it was very helpful. Swaying towards St John’s - food seems good and reasonable price, large college, and accommodation for whole course!

Subject applying for ~ Fine Art

College applying to ~ St John’s

A Levels/ equiv ~ History, Classical Civilisation, Fine Art

Additional qualifications (if any) - Doing a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at the Northern School of Art next year

Predicted/ Achieved grades ~ A*A*A (I’m in Y13 at the moment)

Achieved GCSE/ equiv ~ 887666666

Why Oxford? ~ The Fine Art course looks ace. Oxford is a nice city. Close to London so I can visit some cool art galleries. Small student intake for the subject so it’s a nice community. Plus I only need to take two trains to get there

Why that college? (if you know why) ~ It’s one of the few colleges that provides fine art. I want to live on site. Its not too far from the Ruskin but not too close. My great grandad went to St John’s in 1938 to study medicine but the war broke out so he never got to finish (would be nice to do it in his memory)

State/Private/Grammar/Home ~ State

Don’t take fine art, you will never get a job related to it and people will make fun of you for years for what your degree is in. If you are as smart as your predicted grades why wouldn’t you do something more academic that will provide a stable career and excellent income?!

Don’t take fine art, you will never get a job related to it and people will make fun of you for years for what your degree is in. If you are as smart as your predicted grades why wouldn’t you do something more academic that will provide a stable career and excellent income?!

Don’t take fine art, you will never get a job related to it and people will make fun of you for years for what your degree is in. If you are as smart as your predicted grades why wouldn’t you do something more academic that will provide a stable career and excellent income?!

Respectfully, shush.

When you get older you will realise wasting 3 years of tuition on something you enjoy but doesn’t have good job prospects is not worth it. This is real life, I’m reality you need to find something with a stable income. You’ll realise you can have art on the side as a hobby, just don’t rely on it for income.

'I'm reality'.
Sure you are, buddy. Once again - no one's trying to ruin your career prospects. People who are capable of applying to Oxford are also capable of making informed choices. Let them make them.

I’m dyslexic, doesn’t make me an idiot “buddy”.

...I wasn't referring to that. I was more referring to the idea that you believe yourself to be the physical embodiment of 'reality.' Anyway, I've said my piece and you're going to disagree with me regardless, so there's no point picking holes in your arguments any longer.

Only giving my advice based on personal experience. Art degrees get you no where in life. That’s honest advice. Art is wonderful as a hobby and interest but for someone who is extremely intelligent, wasting it on an art degree is a shame. I’m not going to encourage someone to do something that will hinder them in the future.

sent off my application just now