Oxford application

Hey, I want to study History and Politics at Oxford.

My predicted grades are AAA in English Lit, History and Politics

My GCSEs are 3 A*s, 4 As, a B and 2 Cs in a school in London where only 33% passed their GCSEs

I come from quite a disadvantaged area and have personal extenuation circumstances, do you think I have a chance at Ox?

Your stats are OK, it really depends upon whether you have the intellectual curiosity they are looking for. Have you prepared for the HAT?

I'd encourage you to apply with those predicted grades. Re: the HAT, you've probably read it already, but just in case you haven't, the tab about preparation at http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/tests/hat is vital reading, and also has links to the past papers. All the tabs on the page are vital, really.

I can't offer all that much useful advice on the test itself, but remember that it's designed to test your thinking, not your knowledge—so don't try to second-guess the question by drawing on what you reckon you might know about the source provided. Instead, engage with it as a self-contained intellectual task, and build your answer using close reference to the source in the paper. And give yourself time to read and take notes on the source in the paper, and organise a plan for your response, rather than rushing into writing an answer as soon as you have your first idea.

Hey, I want to study History and Politics at Oxford.

My predicted grades are AAA in English Lit, History and Politics

My GCSEs are 3 A*s, 4 As, a B and 2 Cs in a school in London where only 33% passed their GCSEs

I come from quite a disadvantaged area and have personal extenuation circumstances, do you think I have a chance at Ox?

dunno about oxford but at Cambridge they love to see performing way better than your circumstance. I think you'd have a very very strong chance there at a college with a good outreach programme (e.g Homerton)

the requirements for Cambridge is A*AA and I have AAA that's why im applying to Oxford instead; cos at least I have the same chance as everyone else

I guess that makes sense - bare in mind however that predicted grades are only a part of a lot of things they look at in an applicant. I'd encourage you to visit them both and decide which city you prefer as they have a very different feel! Message me if you decide you want any more info about cam

Hey, I want to study History and Politics at Oxford.

My predicted grades are AAA in English Lit, History and Politics

My GCSEs are 3 A*s, 4 As, a B and 2 Cs in a school in London where only 33% passed their GCSEs

I come from quite a disadvantaged area and have personal extenuation circumstances, do you think I have a chance at Ox?

Thank you! I have a question i'm applying to wadham college? If I was to get an interview how would that work?

Once you have done the HAT, after a few weeks you will get an email from Wadham saying either your application is not being taken any further i.e you have been rejected before interview, or that you are being invited to interview i.e progressing to the next stage of application. Wadham would then send an email saying what dates and specific time to arrive in oxford for the interviews, and you will probably have to stay overnight at least 2 nights / 3 days. You would get free room and meals. The dates for interview for your subject are usually advertised on the oxford website so you can block out those days just in case. Occasionally if wadham is oversubscribed, you might get an email from them saying you have been allocated to another college for interview - then you will get an email from that other college giving you times and dates. That new one will then be your college and not wadham. That happens quite often and doesn’t indicate the strength of your application.

Crossing my fingers that you will be in this situation @xcxvictim

Thank you! Honestly today I had admissions test practice and I didn't feel smart enough because the teacher kept cutting me off with every point I made and the other people were actually so much smarter than me... like they were talking about their fave historians and just stuff I didn't know

But then I took some time to myself to remember why I love history and politics... and so im trying to know my stuff but from my own special perspective

Do you have any tips to stand out in the admissions test and interview!

Probably good practice, the tutors may well cut you off too, so at least you will get used to it. My son had 2 interviews both on sources for history, so he didn’t need to talk about any favourite historians anyway! It will be fine.

I have someone who is submitting a chapter for my book about how to get into Oxford for history and politics. Will tag you in when it’s ready ( he is just writing it at the moment)

Thank you!

Thank you!