is applying to Oxford law worth it? +ps help pls!

for context i'm predicted A*A*A* in english lit, maths, and philosophy
studying at oxbridge would be a dream of mine, howver my personal statement is just not ready at all and my in-college deadline for early applicants is the 9th of september
this stresses me out bc ofc i want to perfect my ps and i want multiple people to read over it to give me clarity but im scared ill miss this deadline, although i have no clue on how strict it is
i dont want to mess up my ps at all
also idek if my ps is strong enough, i dont necessarily have any work experience in the legal sector, only a week at the local council, and theres not necessarily any essay competitions ive entered
ive read around the subject but its just so difficult to think of how to make my ps flow with everything so far this is all i have for my supercurrcicular
* finalist in the ethics cup (sort of debate thing)
* was part of my colleges law academy
* books
* one week work experience at a local council's housing sector (although there is some interesting things i can talk about this when it comes to immigration law)
and thats it lol !! and i have no clue where i want to focus my ps on, at first i was thinking about jurisprudence but i was wondering if that would be a disadvantage as most unis dont even include that in their law modules
pls send me help lol!!!!!!!

My daughter was accepted into Oxford to study law this year, she will be starting there in October. I can tell you that she had not completed any work experiences with law firms so I would not worry too much about that. What I can tell you is that the admissions tutors are far more interested in learning what you took away from the experiences that you did take part in and the journey you were on with them. Think about what drew you to join the colleges law academy, did you participate in any interesting debates, what were they, why did they matter to you and did they inspire you to do anything next - like find a book to learn more about it. You need to think about the inspiration you had to do something and what it took you to next, and then what you got from that. I think you'll find that although you do not think you have much to talk about, there is a lot in there that I am sure you can talk about. There are quite a few YouTube videos about putting a good personal statement for Oxford together, watch a couple as they can give you some good ideas about the kinds of things to say, but do remember that this is a personal statement and they want to see who YOU are within it. Be honest with the reader, open up about what you liked or didn't like and say why. That's the things that they are looking for, not just a list of what Extra Curriculars you did. Good luck with your application!

oh gosh thankyou so much for this!! i feel like this brings me so much more clarity because it feels like every oxbridge ps i’ve read, they’ve included some special work experience placement at top firms and it just stresses me out that i didn’t focus on getting those work experiences during year12. but i’m glad it’s not necessarily needed 🙂

oh gosh thankyou so much for this!! i feel like this brings me so much more clarity because it feels like every oxbridge ps i’ve read, they’ve included some special work experience placement at top firms and it just stresses me out that i didn’t focus on getting those work experiences during year12. but i’m glad it’s not necessarily needed 🙂

If you only watch one video on it, watch this one:
https://youtu.be/955Z7n2L_C0?si=YVlw8UOOWyt6xkdY
It is by an Oxford admissions tutor and explains the journey they want to see in your Personal Statement.

for context i'm predicted A*A*A* in english lit, maths, and philosophy
studying at oxbridge would be a dream of mine, howver my personal statement is just not ready at all and my in-college deadline for early applicants is the 9th of september
this stresses me out bc ofc i want to perfect my ps and i want multiple people to read over it to give me clarity but im scared ill miss this deadline, although i have no clue on how strict it is
i dont want to mess up my ps at all
also idek if my ps is strong enough, i dont necessarily have any work experience in the legal sector, only a week at the local council, and theres not necessarily any essay competitions ive entered
ive read around the subject but its just so difficult to think of how to make my ps flow with everything so far this is all i have for my supercurrcicular
* finalist in the ethics cup (sort of debate thing)
* was part of my colleges law academy
* books
* one week work experience at a local council's housing sector (although there is some interesting things i can talk about this when it comes to immigration law)
and thats it lol !! and i have no clue where i want to focus my ps on, at first i was thinking about jurisprudence but i was wondering if that would be a disadvantage as most unis dont even include that in their law modules
pls send me help lol!!!!!!!

The Oxford deadline is in October and it is not fair of your sixth form to press you to apply early.
My daughter, who starts her law degree at Oxford next month, devoted one line in her statement to the week she had spent in a barristers' chambers. She wrote about human rights in the context of environmental law and about jury trials. She briefly mentioned Tom Bingham, but got away with it! She had done no essay prizes, moots, mock trials, or summer schools. She had read a lot.
Write about what interests you in the law. Use short sentences. Use the active voice, never the passive. Avoid adjectives and adverbs. Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Good luck!

thank you so ,uch for this piece of advice !! those topics sound interesting to talk about in the ps aswell !!! thankyou again for tge reassurance, and yes my college has got very scary deadlines lol but thats j how it is sadly amd they keep telling me im unprepared for applying bc i havent met *theyre* deadline whereas if i was applying normally, id be in a good spot rn

The Oxford deadline is in October and it is not fair of your sixth form to press you to apply early.
My daughter, who starts her law degree at Oxford next month, devoted one line in her statement to the week she had spent in a barristers' chambers. She wrote about human rights in the context of environmental law and about jury trials. She briefly mentioned Tom Bingham, but got away with it! She had done no essay prizes, moots, mock trials, or summer schools. She had read a lot.
Write about what interests you in the law. Use short sentences. Use the active voice, never the passive. Avoid adjectives and adverbs. Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Good luck!

I mentioned the topics merely as examples. Your statement should of course reflect your own ideas. I assume that your sixth form college wishes you to finish your application over a month before the Oxford deadline so that the college can check the application and organise a reference, but this sounds like putting the college's internal administrative arrangements ahead of the interests of its students. Teachers are of course very busy, but adding that extra pressure to students might be counter-productive.

When at university, and when practising law, my advice remains the same. Write in short sentences and short paragraphs. Always use the active voice. "Eschew the stationary passive" (Arthur Quiller-Couch). Keep adverbs and adjectives to a minimum. Clear English need not be dull English. Check out the judgments of the late Lord Justice John Laws for elegant and efficient legal prose.
Anti-adverb warning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWSxMKO8Y2M

Good tip about using sentences that go straight to the point without flowery language. When I read my daughters personal statement I didn't like it as it felt a bit disjointed and didn't flow, but it turns out I was wrong. It's not an essay writing contest, they want to see your journey in your own words and you've only got 4000 characters so don't waste it on lots of descriptive language.... Start off by brain dumping and putting down everything you want to say, and then ruthlessly edit and prioritise one point over another until you're within the character limit and you've said everything you consider relevant..

i totally get why my college has made such an early deadline but then again it just seems too extreme to me?? and whenever i raise worry about it to my form tutor she just looks at me as if im stupid and as if i am so unprepared for it like it feels so belittling lolllll

Teachers face a lot of pressures, but, unless your college has dozens of Oxbridge applicants to assist, it's not readily apparent why the college sets its internal deadline so early. Having said that, presumably the college told you a while ago to be ready by September, and you could probably have done more preparation over the summer.
Note, by the way, that deadlines at Oxford are pretty firm. In some universities you can obtain one or more extensions of time for the submission of written work. At Oxford you may have two or three essays to write every two weeks, and two , three, or even four tutorials over a two week period, and extensions aren't easy to obtain. Tutors can be adept at saying "no" in a polite and even charming manner, but no means no.
This by the way, gets you into good habits if you later become a lawyer. Clients generally don't like waiting for documents, and Judges definitely don't like waiting for documents.

When at university, and when practising law, my advice remains the same. Write in short sentences and short paragraphs. Always use the active voice. "Eschew the stationary passive" (Arthur Quiller-Couch). Keep adverbs and adjectives to a minimum. Clear English need not be dull English. Check out the judgments of the late Lord Justice John Laws for elegant and efficient legal prose.
Anti-adverb warning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWSxMKO8Y2M

Do you mean something like this?
judicial-law-making-in-constitutional-law-and-public-law-paper.pdf (supremecourt.uk)

What about Lord Denning? He was the man who devised the A-Level "Curriculum 2000" reforms in 2000?!