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How do I improve my CV??

Hey, I'm trying to go to Oxford and obviously I need an AMAZING CV to do this but im not sure how to make mine really stand out - e.g. what extra curricular are best.

I do LAMDA and DofE which both give me UCAS points and I have applied for summer courses to enhance my learning.

But what other extra curricular would be good for my CV so that Oxford see me as the perfect candidate??
Reply 1
Original post by Cccamy
Hey, I'm trying to go to Oxford and obviously I need an AMAZING CV to do this but im not sure how to make mine really stand out - e.g. what extra curricular are best.
I do LAMDA and DofE which both give me UCAS points and I have applied for summer courses to enhance my learning.
But what other extra curricular would be good for my CV so that Oxford see me as the perfect candidate??
One easy win would be to just make sure the formatting, spelling and grammar is squeaky clean!
Which subject(s) are you thinking of applying for? Generally speaking, super-curriculars are more important than extra-curriculars for Oxford...
Reply 3
Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd
Which subject(s) are you thinking of applying for? Generally speaking, super-curriculars are more important than extra-curriculars for Oxford...


Hopefully I'll do a PPE - philosophy, politics and economics. But if not then ill do law - maybe not at Oxford
Original post by Cccamy
Hopefully I'll do a PPE - philosophy, politics and economics. But if not then ill do law - maybe not at Oxford

The most important thing (pre-interview) will be the TSA (for PPE) or LNAT (for Law). Wider reading and essay competitions are other things you should consider :yes:
Reply 5
Original post by Cccamy
Hey, I'm trying to go to Oxford and obviously I need an AMAZING CV to do this but im not sure how to make mine really stand out - e.g. what extra curricular are best.
I do LAMDA and DofE which both give me UCAS points and I have applied for summer courses to enhance my learning.
But what other extra curricular would be good for my CV so that Oxford see me as the perfect candidate??
Subject specific activities that go beyond what you study at school are the way to go - books, podcasts, MOOCs, public lectures etc etc are all options, it does not have to be anything fancy or expensive, but it does need to demonstrate a genuine passion for the subject you're applying for at Oxford. I would also caution against any expensive summer schools in Oxford that might claim to enhance your CV - they might be fun but they're not affiliated with the uni and won't make you more likely to get in, they're generally a waste of money. If you qualify for UNIQ (Oxford's own free summer school for students from widening participation backgrounds) I highly recommend applying for that though, again it won't necessarily increase your chances of getting in but since it is free it's worth it and you'll get plenty of opportunities to speak to current students to get advice on applying. Similarly mentoring programs like Zero Gravity if you come from a state school background are a great way to get extra application support.

When the time comes, ensuring you have predicted grades that meet the requirements and get an excellent score in admissions tests are very important too. Oxford probably won't care much about LAMDA or DofE (but other unis might and it's also just good generally to do broader extracurriculars to enrich your life so I'm not suggesting you stop doing them!) and make decisions based on grades rather than UCAS points.
Reply 6
Original post by eeeli
Subject specific activities that go beyond what you study at school are the way to go - books, podcasts, MOOCs, public lectures etc etc are all options, it does not have to be anything fancy or expensive, but it does need to demonstrate a genuine passion for the subject you're applying for at Oxford. I would also caution against any expensive summer schools in Oxford that might claim to enhance your CV - they might be fun but they're not affiliated with the uni and won't make you more likely to get in, they're generally a waste of money. If you qualify for UNIQ (Oxford's own free summer school for students from widening participation backgrounds) I highly recommend applying for that though, again it won't necessarily increase your chances of getting in but since it is free it's worth it and you'll get plenty of opportunities to speak to current students to get advice on applying. Similarly mentoring programs like Zero Gravity if you come from a state school background are a great way to get extra application support.
When the time comes, ensuring you have predicted grades that meet the requirements and get an excellent score in admissions tests are very important too. Oxford probably won't care much about LAMDA or DofE (but other unis might and it's also just good generally to do broader extracurriculars to enrich your life so I'm not suggesting you stop doing them!) and make decisions based on grades rather than UCAS points.


Thank you so much - this makes me a lot less stressed thank you

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