Oxford TSA 2020 official thread!!

Hi! I'm doing the TSA for chemistry, so only doing section 1. I want to score 7-ish, but my scores on papers vary from 60-70 - hoping I get the upper end of that! Also, section 2 looks like an absolute nightmare (especially since you can't really mark it yourself and see how you do!) Good luck to you all, and if anyone has any tips I'd appreciate it hahaha

Ok so for this one, it's not difficult if you think of it as the more popular version "All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares" (maybe it's because I'm a math person but the way I would go about it is to convert every answer to this same form and compare). In this case, we have the same parallel arguments:

Q: (All trees have leaves) -> All squares are rectangles . (That oak is a tree)-> That shape is a square. (Therefore, it has leaves)-> Therefore, it is a rectangle.

The goal is to essentially create a parallel argument (logically equivalent statement) using the same words for each of the answers to make things easier. All this talk about leaves and trees is designed to make you confused, so this will make it more clear. It doesn't take long to do it in your head.

A: All squares are rectangles.That thing is a square. Therefore, it has to be a rectangle. (Correct)
B: All squares are rectangles. That thing is a rectangle. Therefore, it is a square. (Wrong, because we can't assume that all rectangles are squares. Not only is this not the answer, it is flawed reasoning)
C: All squares are rectangles. That rectangle is pink. therefore, all squares are pink rectangles. (Obviously wrong)
D: All squares are rectangles. That thing is a rectangle. Therefore, it is a square. (This is the answer that you were confused about in the PM, this is not right for the same reason as (B). I like the rectangle and square example because it is obvious that although all squares are rectangles, the opposite statement is not true. This statement is the equivalent of saying all rectangles are squares)
E: All squares are rectangles. That thing is not a square. Therefore, it's not a rectangle. (Again, flawed logic here but in the negated form. So it's incorrect)

Hopefully that helped a little, I know my way of thinking might be a bit weird but I think the answer is more clear when you do it this way. In the end, all of the incorrect answers had flawed logic

If you (or anybody else!) have any other questions, I might be able to help with those too!
Good luck next week

*edit made bc I messed up one of the answers

Ok so for this one, it's not difficult if you think of it as the more popular version "All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares" (maybe it's because I'm a math person but the way I would go about it is to convert every answer to this same form and compare). In this case, we have the same parallel arguments:

Q: (All trees have leaves) -> All squares are rectangles . (That oak is a tree)-> That shape is a square. (Therefore, it has leaves)-> Therefore, it is a rectangle.

The goal is to essentially create a parallel argument (logically equivalent statement) using the same words for each of the answers to make things easier. All this talk about leaves and trees is designed to make you confused, so this will make it more clear. It doesn't take long to do it in your head.

A: All squares are rectangles.That thing is a square. Therefore, it has to be a rectangle. (Correct)
B: All squares are rectangles. That thing is a rectangle. Therefore, it is a square. (Wrong, because we can't assume that all rectangles are squares. Not only is this not the answer, it is flawed reasoning)
C: All squares are rectangles. That rectangle is pink. therefore, all squares are pink rectangles. (Obviously wrong)
D: All squares are rectangles. That thing is a rectangle. Therefore, it is a square. (This is the answer that you were confused about in the PM, this is not right for the same reason as (B). I like the rectangle and square example because it is obvious that although all squares are rectangles, the opposite statement is not true. This statement is the equivalent of saying all rectangles are squares)
E: All squares are rectangles. That thing is not a square. Therefore, it's not a rectangle. (Again, flawed logic here but in the negated form. So it's incorrect)

Hopefully that helped a little, I know my way of thinking might be a bit weird but I think the answer is more clear when you do it this way. In the end, all of the incorrect answers had flawed logic

If you (or anybody else!) have any other questions, I might be able to help with those too!
Good luck next week

*edit made bc I messed up one of the answers

I’m getting C but it’s saying D. What am I doing wrong

i keep giving up on my essay practices 😣

So the 58 could be at the start:
588011
The first 8 could be the 8 in the 58, giving 10 more solutions:
580110
580111
580112
580113
580114
580115
580116
580117
580118
580119

And finally the scrap may be upside down giving the final answer:
581108
So 12 solutions

I have a video on how to approach the essay if you want to have a look.

Ohhhh, I didn’t add the “0” option. Thanks soooo much. Can we share essays?

My essays haven't been great compared to section 1 so don't feel like sharing them. More than happy to discuss it with you though, feel free to PM me!

How have your practice test scores been?

Generally 70-75 range but a bit worried as I just got 64 on my last go. How about you? Applying for HumSci btw

How is one supposed to answer this question? I suspect it has got to do with arithmetic progression but dunno how to proceed.

I started at around 75, went down to in the 60s, then after some specific things to study I worked up to 80s and a 92 at my highest... Hopefully I won't get nervous and mess it up on test day tho. I'm applying for PPE, idk the general scores for Humsci but I think your score range will set you up well!