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Oxford Demystified – by Oxford Mum
CAVEAT: READING THIS BOOK DOES NOT GUARANTEE YOU A PLACE AT OXFORD
THESE IDEAS ARE MY OWN AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
PLEASE CHECK YOUR FACTS BEFORE APPLYING
Introduction
Myth Busters
“A playground always locked trains no winning teams”
“Tomorrow” Bugsy Malone
If you were to ask me what my favourite city is, I would say “Oxford”. If you asked me to name my favourite university, I would also say “Oxford”, without hesitation.
This video is a short overview of Oxford itself
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9EUqIoBJXA
and here’s a little bit of information about the amazing colleges
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL6DE6yrEyo
Okay, so maybe I’m biased. Both of my children have studied there. Indeed, one is still there, reading medicine.
Yet we are a single parent family. We come from the North of England. That means we have beaten the statistics.
Let’s look at the gloomy truth.
According to the Linacre Institute, who work hard to help underprivileged students get to top universities:
“Each year nearly 2,000 sixth-form students from disadvantaged backgrounds with the required academic capabilities to apply to, and win places at, our leading universities, do not reach these institutions”.
(Linacre Institute website)
https://www.linacreinstitute.org/the-problem/why-were-needed/
It may be that you are not wealthy enough:
“Research from the access Offa indicates the richest 20% of young people are seven times more likely to enter the most selective institutions than the poorest 40%”
(Offa, May 2010, Linacre Institute Website)
CAVEAT: READING THIS BOOK DOES NOT GUARANTEE YOU A PLACE AT OXFORD
THESE IDEAS ARE MY OWN AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
PLEASE CHECK YOUR FACTS BEFORE APPLYING
Introduction
Myth Busters
“A playground always locked trains no winning teams”
“Tomorrow” Bugsy Malone
If you were to ask me what my favourite city is, I would say “Oxford”. If you asked me to name my favourite university, I would also say “Oxford”, without hesitation.
This video is a short overview of Oxford itself
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9EUqIoBJXA
and here’s a little bit of information about the amazing colleges
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL6DE6yrEyo
Okay, so maybe I’m biased. Both of my children have studied there. Indeed, one is still there, reading medicine.
Yet we are a single parent family. We come from the North of England. That means we have beaten the statistics.
Let’s look at the gloomy truth.
According to the Linacre Institute, who work hard to help underprivileged students get to top universities:
“Each year nearly 2,000 sixth-form students from disadvantaged backgrounds with the required academic capabilities to apply to, and win places at, our leading universities, do not reach these institutions”.
(Linacre Institute website)
https://www.linacreinstitute.org/the-problem/why-were-needed/
It may be that you are not wealthy enough:
“Research from the access Offa indicates the richest 20% of young people are seven times more likely to enter the most selective institutions than the poorest 40%”
(Offa, May 2010, Linacre Institute Website)
https://www.linacreinstitute.org/the-problem/the-north-south-divide/
Or too Northern:
“Twelve Private Schools gain more Oxford places than the North”
https://cherwell.org/2017/11/24/twelve-private-schools-gain-more-oxford-offers-than-the-north/
(Headline in the Cherwell – Oxford Student Magazine)
If I were a Martian, and read the above statistic, I might think “are Southerners super-intelligent, and Northerners less so”? Of course, I’d be wrong!
You only have to look at the results obtained by the Linacre Institute. They select pupils from a handful of Northern partner schools, where fewer than 15% of university goers reach leading institutions. The results are astounding.
“A Linacre student was 27 times more likely to make an Oxbridge application, and something like 63 times more likely to win an offer. An offer rate of 38% is in line with that of the country’s leading independent schools. Ninety-five per cent of Linacre students won an offer from a Sutton trust 30 university - one of the 30 recognised by the Sutton Trust as the most selective.”
https://www.linacreinstitute.org/news/2018-05-ucas-report/
So why is this roaring success not being replicated throughout the UK and across all socio-economic backgrounds?
Another under represented group is black students. A shocking article in the Cherwell (23 May 2017) carried the banner headline
“Access denied: Oxford admits more Westminster pupils than black students”
https://cherwell.org/2018/05/23/access-denied-oxford-admits-more-westminster-pupils-than-black-students/
Recently I met a Jamaican girl in a restaurant. She was highly intelligent and was considering moving to LA to work. After encouraging her to follow her dreams, I asked her if she had ever considered applying to Oxford. She replied that surely Oxford would be more interested in privileged, wealthy people than people like her. I spent the next ten minutes telling her that Oxford would have been delighted to receive an application from her and are busy trying to overcome the very misconception she had mentioned.
Or too Northern:
“Twelve Private Schools gain more Oxford places than the North”
https://cherwell.org/2017/11/24/twelve-private-schools-gain-more-oxford-offers-than-the-north/
(Headline in the Cherwell – Oxford Student Magazine)
If I were a Martian, and read the above statistic, I might think “are Southerners super-intelligent, and Northerners less so”? Of course, I’d be wrong!
You only have to look at the results obtained by the Linacre Institute. They select pupils from a handful of Northern partner schools, where fewer than 15% of university goers reach leading institutions. The results are astounding.
“A Linacre student was 27 times more likely to make an Oxbridge application, and something like 63 times more likely to win an offer. An offer rate of 38% is in line with that of the country’s leading independent schools. Ninety-five per cent of Linacre students won an offer from a Sutton trust 30 university - one of the 30 recognised by the Sutton Trust as the most selective.”
https://www.linacreinstitute.org/news/2018-05-ucas-report/
So why is this roaring success not being replicated throughout the UK and across all socio-economic backgrounds?
Another under represented group is black students. A shocking article in the Cherwell (23 May 2017) carried the banner headline
“Access denied: Oxford admits more Westminster pupils than black students”
https://cherwell.org/2018/05/23/access-denied-oxford-admits-more-westminster-pupils-than-black-students/
Recently I met a Jamaican girl in a restaurant. She was highly intelligent and was considering moving to LA to work. After encouraging her to follow her dreams, I asked her if she had ever considered applying to Oxford. She replied that surely Oxford would be more interested in privileged, wealthy people than people like her. I spent the next ten minutes telling her that Oxford would have been delighted to receive an application from her and are busy trying to overcome the very misconception she had mentioned.
“Oh, I didn’t know that”, she mused, pleasantly surprised.
Unfortunately for her and for many other prospective black applicants, this revelation has come too late.
What is Oxford’s stance?
Oxford is so determined to break down the privileged stereotype, they have improved access written into their strategic plan.
“The University has access targets which relate to some of these groups and form part of the access agreement between the University of Oxford and the Office for Fair Access (OFFA). Our OFFA Targets for 2010-11 to 2016-17:
Target 1: to increase the percentage of UK undergraduate students to 25% by 2016-17 at Oxford from schools and colleges that historically have had limited progression to Oxford.
Target 2: to increase the percentage from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds (ACORN postcodes 4 and 5) to 9% by 2016-17.
Target 3: to increase the percentage from neighbourhoods with low participation in higher education (Participation of Local Areas (POLAR) postcodes 1 and 2) to 13% by 2016-17.
Target 4: to meet the HEFCE benchmark on UK undergraduate students at Oxford with declared disabilities or specific learning differences.”
(Oxford University website)
http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/media/global/wwwadminoxacuk/localsites/educationcommittee/documents/accessagreements/University_of_Oxford_Access_and_Participation_Plan.pdf
Each Oxford college has its own access workers, whose job it is to reach out to people who would not normally consider applying. They are allotted their own region (for example Pembroke works with its partner region of the North West, Cheshire and Greater Manchester) and go to speak to sixth-formers in their schools.
Catherine Canning (VP Access and Academic, Oxford SU, writing in the Cherwell, 27 May 2017) is one such access worker.
“We need to keep improving and go even further. I love meeting young people and trying to change their perceptions of this town and university”.
Yet despite all this effort, “Oxford is letting down those from disadvantaged backgrounds by continuing to accept a large proportion of privately educated students”
(Charles McGrath, The Cherwell, What new admissions data actually means for access, 15 May 2016)
Unfortunately for her and for many other prospective black applicants, this revelation has come too late.
What is Oxford’s stance?
Oxford is so determined to break down the privileged stereotype, they have improved access written into their strategic plan.
“The University has access targets which relate to some of these groups and form part of the access agreement between the University of Oxford and the Office for Fair Access (OFFA). Our OFFA Targets for 2010-11 to 2016-17:
Target 1: to increase the percentage of UK undergraduate students to 25% by 2016-17 at Oxford from schools and colleges that historically have had limited progression to Oxford.
Target 2: to increase the percentage from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds (ACORN postcodes 4 and 5) to 9% by 2016-17.
Target 3: to increase the percentage from neighbourhoods with low participation in higher education (Participation of Local Areas (POLAR) postcodes 1 and 2) to 13% by 2016-17.
Target 4: to meet the HEFCE benchmark on UK undergraduate students at Oxford with declared disabilities or specific learning differences.”
(Oxford University website)
http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/media/global/wwwadminoxacuk/localsites/educationcommittee/documents/accessagreements/University_of_Oxford_Access_and_Participation_Plan.pdf
Each Oxford college has its own access workers, whose job it is to reach out to people who would not normally consider applying. They are allotted their own region (for example Pembroke works with its partner region of the North West, Cheshire and Greater Manchester) and go to speak to sixth-formers in their schools.
Catherine Canning (VP Access and Academic, Oxford SU, writing in the Cherwell, 27 May 2017) is one such access worker.
“We need to keep improving and go even further. I love meeting young people and trying to change their perceptions of this town and university”.
Yet despite all this effort, “Oxford is letting down those from disadvantaged backgrounds by continuing to accept a large proportion of privately educated students”
(Charles McGrath, The Cherwell, What new admissions data actually means for access, 15 May 2016)
https://cherwell.org/2016/05/15/what-new-admissions-data-actually-means-for-access/
So why are deserving, clever, but non-stereotypical students not applying to Oxford? Maybe they lack confidence. Maybe they’ve never considered it. Maybe their teachers have never entered their pupils for Oxford, and are not sure how to go about it.
Oxford realise they have a problem attracting under-represented groups. They have identified those groups in the article below, and are keen to rectify the situation (see chapter 4 – Schemes for State school students)
http://www.ox.ac.uk/about/oxford-access/the-facts
The media must shoulder its share of the blame for the access situation.
Just imagine if you are a bright A-level student, whose only image of Oxford is “The Riot Club”, a film about a pack of entitled Oxford upper class students, who ransack a pub during their debauched revelries, and put the owner in hospital with serious injuries.
The Riot Club was based on a club called the Bullingdon, which counted David Cameron and Boris Johnson amongst their members.
https://www.theweek.co.uk/65410/bullingdon-club-the-secrets-of-oxford-universitys-elite-society
Since the “Riot Club”, the Bullingdon’s membership, though just about in existence, has dwindled to only two members. Its image is so toxic, students who may have joined in the past have now been deterred.
They are not exactly popular with Oxford students:
https://cherwell.org/2017/06/27/bullingdon-club-kicked-out-of-christ-church-by-college-porters-video/
My favourite Oxford TV series, “Lewis”, although popular with the public, does not always present a true reflection of the real Oxford University. One episode mentions students who talk to each other entirely in Shakespeare quotes! Even if this were remotely possible, who would wish to look so pompous? Other students are portrayed as utter brats, who believe themselves to be exceptional and special, in comparison to the rest of us mere mortals.
Articles in the Daily Mail tend to portray Oxford students as out of touch idiots, partying at balls or drinking two bottles of prosecco at once during matriculation.
Cherwell journalist Maxim Parr-Reid shares his frustration at media intrusion
https://cherwell.org/2017/06/29/recent-reporting-proves-that-oxford-is-unfairly-portrayed-by-the-media/
Matriculation (a ceremony to register students as part of the university) does not have to involve heavy drinking. It only happens once in a student’s career.
So why are deserving, clever, but non-stereotypical students not applying to Oxford? Maybe they lack confidence. Maybe they’ve never considered it. Maybe their teachers have never entered their pupils for Oxford, and are not sure how to go about it.
Oxford realise they have a problem attracting under-represented groups. They have identified those groups in the article below, and are keen to rectify the situation (see chapter 4 – Schemes for State school students)
http://www.ox.ac.uk/about/oxford-access/the-facts
The media must shoulder its share of the blame for the access situation.
Just imagine if you are a bright A-level student, whose only image of Oxford is “The Riot Club”, a film about a pack of entitled Oxford upper class students, who ransack a pub during their debauched revelries, and put the owner in hospital with serious injuries.
The Riot Club was based on a club called the Bullingdon, which counted David Cameron and Boris Johnson amongst their members.
https://www.theweek.co.uk/65410/bullingdon-club-the-secrets-of-oxford-universitys-elite-society
Since the “Riot Club”, the Bullingdon’s membership, though just about in existence, has dwindled to only two members. Its image is so toxic, students who may have joined in the past have now been deterred.
They are not exactly popular with Oxford students:
https://cherwell.org/2017/06/27/bullingdon-club-kicked-out-of-christ-church-by-college-porters-video/
My favourite Oxford TV series, “Lewis”, although popular with the public, does not always present a true reflection of the real Oxford University. One episode mentions students who talk to each other entirely in Shakespeare quotes! Even if this were remotely possible, who would wish to look so pompous? Other students are portrayed as utter brats, who believe themselves to be exceptional and special, in comparison to the rest of us mere mortals.
Articles in the Daily Mail tend to portray Oxford students as out of touch idiots, partying at balls or drinking two bottles of prosecco at once during matriculation.
Cherwell journalist Maxim Parr-Reid shares his frustration at media intrusion
https://cherwell.org/2017/06/29/recent-reporting-proves-that-oxford-is-unfairly-portrayed-by-the-media/
Matriculation (a ceremony to register students as part of the university) does not have to involve heavy drinking. It only happens once in a student’s career.
https://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/blog/guide-matriculation
Even an innocent matriculation ceremony can be twisted out of all proportion, as the Daily Mail demonstrates:
https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2014/05/08/daily-mail-in-matriculation-photo-mare/
A pity they do not take pictures of students in the library studying, or doing quiet work for their charities,
https://www.exeter.ox.ac.uk/exvachalfmarathon/
as this would be nearer to their actual day to day lives.
The false, “posh” image of Oxford, as portrayed by literature and the media is a massive part of the problem.
Tottenham MP David Lammy tweeted in May 2018;
“Oxford is a bastion of entrenched, wealthy, upper-class, white, Southern privilege”.
He is not alone in that view. Alan Rusbridger, in his article “If Oxford Shrugs” (Prospect Magazine, 18 September 2018) asserts;
“Recent research for the University found the “toxic” Oxford image was entrenched in public perceptions. Focus groups around the country believed typical students to be white, disproportionately male and privately educated (estimates pitched the proportion as high as 95%). Academic ability wasn’t thought to be enough to get in: people thought family connections or money were also needed.
But most of these perceptions are inaccurate. In fact, more women than men received offers of a place at Oxford this year, and the figure for state-educated students receiving an offer last year was not 5% but 58% (and is above 60% this year). As for those with minority ethnic backgrounds, the proportion has been rising, at least when it comes to attracting applicants, and at nearly 18% last year is now in line with the pack of Russell Group universities”.
Oxford tutors are concerned at this disparity between perception and reality:
“I could see the frustration, even anger, at Oxford’s apparently glacial pace of change. To many outside it is posh, snobby, unattainable. Bridging this gulf in perception is not easy”.
https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/if-oxford-shrugs-alan-rusbridger-admissions-lmh
The vast majority of Oxonians are polite, surprisingly down to earth, pleasant young people who just happen to work hard. Sometimes they may be stressed because of looming essay deadlines, but mostly they are happy just to be at Oxford.
Even an innocent matriculation ceremony can be twisted out of all proportion, as the Daily Mail demonstrates:
https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2014/05/08/daily-mail-in-matriculation-photo-mare/
A pity they do not take pictures of students in the library studying, or doing quiet work for their charities,
https://www.exeter.ox.ac.uk/exvachalfmarathon/
as this would be nearer to their actual day to day lives.
The false, “posh” image of Oxford, as portrayed by literature and the media is a massive part of the problem.
Tottenham MP David Lammy tweeted in May 2018;
“Oxford is a bastion of entrenched, wealthy, upper-class, white, Southern privilege”.
He is not alone in that view. Alan Rusbridger, in his article “If Oxford Shrugs” (Prospect Magazine, 18 September 2018) asserts;
“Recent research for the University found the “toxic” Oxford image was entrenched in public perceptions. Focus groups around the country believed typical students to be white, disproportionately male and privately educated (estimates pitched the proportion as high as 95%). Academic ability wasn’t thought to be enough to get in: people thought family connections or money were also needed.
But most of these perceptions are inaccurate. In fact, more women than men received offers of a place at Oxford this year, and the figure for state-educated students receiving an offer last year was not 5% but 58% (and is above 60% this year). As for those with minority ethnic backgrounds, the proportion has been rising, at least when it comes to attracting applicants, and at nearly 18% last year is now in line with the pack of Russell Group universities”.
Oxford tutors are concerned at this disparity between perception and reality:
“I could see the frustration, even anger, at Oxford’s apparently glacial pace of change. To many outside it is posh, snobby, unattainable. Bridging this gulf in perception is not easy”.
https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/if-oxford-shrugs-alan-rusbridger-admissions-lmh
The vast majority of Oxonians are polite, surprisingly down to earth, pleasant young people who just happen to work hard. Sometimes they may be stressed because of looming essay deadlines, but mostly they are happy just to be at Oxford.
The bottom line is this: the disadvantaged/state school/Northerners (all of whom Oxford desperately wants) are not applying. This leaves the field open to independent school pupils.
Until things change, many Oxford places will keep on being passed down from generation to generation amongst the most privileged groups in the UK.
One of the alumni at Exeter College was Sir Roger Bannister. Although a talented neurologist, his fame was derived from being the first person to run the four minute mile. For years, this was considered an impossible feat. Then, in 1954, Bannister proved everyone wrong. In 3 minutes 59.4 seconds, he made history, on Iffley Road track, Oxford. Within 2 months, two more runners followed suit, then another and another.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Bannister
The point of this story is, it only takes one trailblazer to give hope to many others.
Let’s take the example of Brampton Manor Academy. Situated in East Ham, a deprived borough of London with many pupils of ethnic minority or immigrant background, the school still managed to get Oxbridge offers for 41 of its pupils. In 2014 it was one offer, yet in 2018 it rose to 25.
I see a bit of the Bannister effect here. Once they had learned the secrets of applying successfully to Oxford, there was nothing stopping them. Certainly not the scaremongering statistics!
No-one told me how to go about applying. As a determined (my kids would say, obsessive) parent I got on the computer, researched everything and talked to as many people as I could until I got the answers.
The system I came up with worked for us. Okay, so I only know about getting in for German and Medicine, but if you apply my basic principles to your own course, it may produce surprising results.
If you need more convincing, I have asked my own children and their friends to demonstrate how they researched, aced the test and interviews and won places at one of the greatest universities in the world (in their own, separate chapters). Want to know what the courses are really like? Find out, right here.
Be like Adam Wicks, who wanted to become a tennis coach, but applied to Oxford in a “have-a-go moment” and was rewarded with a place. As he says:
“No student should think they do not deserve or would not be able to apply to a prestigious university”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/blogs/dispelling-myths-around-elite-universities
Until things change, many Oxford places will keep on being passed down from generation to generation amongst the most privileged groups in the UK.
One of the alumni at Exeter College was Sir Roger Bannister. Although a talented neurologist, his fame was derived from being the first person to run the four minute mile. For years, this was considered an impossible feat. Then, in 1954, Bannister proved everyone wrong. In 3 minutes 59.4 seconds, he made history, on Iffley Road track, Oxford. Within 2 months, two more runners followed suit, then another and another.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Bannister
The point of this story is, it only takes one trailblazer to give hope to many others.
Let’s take the example of Brampton Manor Academy. Situated in East Ham, a deprived borough of London with many pupils of ethnic minority or immigrant background, the school still managed to get Oxbridge offers for 41 of its pupils. In 2014 it was one offer, yet in 2018 it rose to 25.
I see a bit of the Bannister effect here. Once they had learned the secrets of applying successfully to Oxford, there was nothing stopping them. Certainly not the scaremongering statistics!
No-one told me how to go about applying. As a determined (my kids would say, obsessive) parent I got on the computer, researched everything and talked to as many people as I could until I got the answers.
The system I came up with worked for us. Okay, so I only know about getting in for German and Medicine, but if you apply my basic principles to your own course, it may produce surprising results.
If you need more convincing, I have asked my own children and their friends to demonstrate how they researched, aced the test and interviews and won places at one of the greatest universities in the world (in their own, separate chapters). Want to know what the courses are really like? Find out, right here.
Be like Adam Wicks, who wanted to become a tennis coach, but applied to Oxford in a “have-a-go moment” and was rewarded with a place. As he says:
“No student should think they do not deserve or would not be able to apply to a prestigious university”
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/blogs/dispelling-myths-around-elite-universities
(Times Higher Education, Adam Wicks)
You don’t need money or a daddy who’s a cabinet minister to get into Oxford. If you are clever and willing to work hard, why not apply and change your life?
You have four (or, as a medical student, three) other chances to apply to different universities, and as a bright student, all your hard work should ensure places at your other university choices, whatever the outcome. As Cherwell journalist Daanial Chaudry asserts (May 27, 2018)
“Only through persistent efforts to encourage people from underprivileged backgrounds, based on class or race, to apply and by telling them that they can succeed, will these statistics change”.
So don’t tell me “I’m from Barnsley, I can’t apply”. Read this book, and ignore the statistics.
Of course, I can’t promise you a place at Oxford by reading our theories. You need to first decide if Oxford is for you, then make your own plan of action, having read all the relevant chapters. Someone else may win that place by working harder or smarter than you, but don’t be put off trying. All we can do is to tell you how to make a start.
As my son so rightly says, “Someone has to get in, and it might as well be me”.
You don’t need money or a daddy who’s a cabinet minister to get into Oxford. If you are clever and willing to work hard, why not apply and change your life?
You have four (or, as a medical student, three) other chances to apply to different universities, and as a bright student, all your hard work should ensure places at your other university choices, whatever the outcome. As Cherwell journalist Daanial Chaudry asserts (May 27, 2018)
“Only through persistent efforts to encourage people from underprivileged backgrounds, based on class or race, to apply and by telling them that they can succeed, will these statistics change”.
So don’t tell me “I’m from Barnsley, I can’t apply”. Read this book, and ignore the statistics.
Of course, I can’t promise you a place at Oxford by reading our theories. You need to first decide if Oxford is for you, then make your own plan of action, having read all the relevant chapters. Someone else may win that place by working harder or smarter than you, but don’t be put off trying. All we can do is to tell you how to make a start.
As my son so rightly says, “Someone has to get in, and it might as well be me”.
Excellent articles, thanks so much for all the work that went into them! 
@Fullofsurprises Thanks for your kind remark. The book took 2 years to write and before that I spent 5 years following Doones round like a ghost, taking mental notes. There have been several rewrites, especially when Nulli Tertius posted an excellent article written by Alan Rusbridger called If Oxford Shrugs. This now forms the backbone of my book. I was just about to post my 3rd chapter about actually applying, when Brasenose unintentionally and this prompted an almost full rewrite! Even my trolls have influenced my writing in a good way.
Original post by Fullofsurprises
Excellent articles, thanks so much for all the work that went into them!
Original post by Oxford Mum
@Fullofsurprises Thanks for your kind remark. The book took 2 years to write and before that I spent 5 years following Doones round like a ghost, taking mental notes. There have been several rewrites, especially when Nulli Tertius posted an excellent article written by Alan Rusbridger called If Oxford Shrugs. This now forms the backbone of my book. I was just about to post my 3rd chapter about actually applying, when Brasenose unintentionally and this prompted an almost full rewrite! Even my trolls have influenced my writing in a good way.
Lol, let's hear it for the trolls!
There are some really good people on TSR. Glad you've found some of them.
I surround myself only by the very best, eg @harrysbar @Themysticalegg etc. One of my trolls I have blocked, however not before she told me about a brilliant angle I had not thought of before. Oxfossil also inspired me as well (although he/she is not a troll)
Original post by Fullofsurprises
Lol, let's hear it for the trolls!
There are some really good people on TSR. Glad you've found some of them.
There are some really good people on TSR. Glad you've found some of them.
Original post by Oxford Mum
I surround myself only by the very best, eg @harrysbar @Themysticalegg etc. One of my trolls I have blocked, however not before she told me about a brilliant angle I had not thought of before. Oxfossil also inspired me as well (although he/she is not a troll)
Thank you so very much again for more interesting masterpieces with an exhilarating content which enhances my beliefs that everything is possible with determination and hard work.
To be honest, drive and hard work should never be underestimated when applying to Oxford (and after you have got in, too). But that is another chapter.
Original post by rawan_s93
Thank you so very much again for more interesting masterpieces with an exhilarating content which enhances my beliefs that everything is possible with determination and hard work.
Just a quick post-if you're interested in further demystifying Oxford, please follow @mertonjcraccess on instagram for a real representation of student life at one of Oxford's oldest colleges!
Sounds cool to me @rsmithson00
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