PPL supercurriculars

1

Hi!
I'm currently in year 12 and am looking at hoping to apply to Oxford for PPL (psychology, philosophy and linguistics). Does anyone have any super curricular recommendations.
I have been to a widening participation small subjects residential (for philosophy and linguistics) at Cambridge recently and have read some paper which interested me by philosophers such as Peter Singer. In terms of psychology, I have spent time reading outside of the syllabus and do plan on doing my EPQ around the topic of the psychology behind para-social relationships but after this I am entirely stuck. I need some supercurriculars across these topics that will actually help me stand out, and possibly ome advice on how to make these sound good on a personal statement.
Thank you in adavance!

Reply 1

kingsleyartha

12

Original post

by effiehughes

Hi!
I'm currently in year 12 and am looking at hoping to apply to Oxford for PPL (psychology, philosophy and linguistics). Does anyone have any super curricular recommendations.
I have been to a widening participation small subjects residential (for philosophy and linguistics) at Cambridge recently and have read some paper which interested me by philosophers such as Peter Singer. In terms of psychology, I have spent time reading outside of the syllabus and do plan on doing my EPQ around the topic of the psychology behind para-social relationships but after this I am entirely stuck. I need some supercurriculars across these topics that will actually help me stand out, and possibly ome advice on how to make these sound good on a personal statement.
Thank you in adavance!

read logic, language and truth by AJ Ayer it will be very useful- he taught at Oxford and it will help you with your philosophy since logic is a large part of Oxford philosophy

Reply 2

Szara_SOAS

9

Original post

by effiehughes

Hi!
I'm currently in year 12 and am looking at hoping to apply to Oxford for PPL (psychology, philosophy and linguistics). Does anyone have any super curricular recommendations.
I have been to a widening participation small subjects residential (for philosophy and linguistics) at Cambridge recently and have read some paper which interested me by philosophers such as Peter Singer. In terms of psychology, I have spent time reading outside of the syllabus and do plan on doing my EPQ around the topic of the psychology behind para-social relationships but after this I am entirely stuck. I need some supercurriculars across these topics that will actually help me stand out, and possibly ome advice on how to make these sound good on a personal statement.
Thank you in adavance!

Hi there,

It sounds like you're making amazing progress already - well done! When including super-curriculars in your personal statement, my biggest tip would be to add your own opinion on the topic and not just what you learnt or found interesting. This shows the admission teams that you can engage critically with ideas rather than just absorbing them.

Since PPL combines three disciplines, it would also be really effective to explore how they connect or overlap. You could explore a topic through each subject lens to explain how diverse angles enrich your understanding. SOAS is really strong in this interdisciplinary approach - their public lectures from the Philosophy of Linguistics departments could provide great material to reference. You can browse their events by department here: SOAS Events.

Competitions are another excellent way to develop your understanding while showcasing initiative - for example, the Kavita Singh Essay Competition. While I'm sure there are many other options available, it's worth researching competitions that align with your interests and checking their submission deadlines carefully.

I hope this helps and good luck!

Reply 3

TCUoS

Official Rep

8

Original post

by effiehughes

Hi!
I'm currently in year 12 and am looking at hoping to apply to Oxford for PPL (psychology, philosophy and linguistics). Does anyone have any super curricular recommendations.
I have been to a widening participation small subjects residential (for philosophy and linguistics) at Cambridge recently and have read some paper which interested me by philosophers such as Peter Singer. In terms of psychology, I have spent time reading outside of the syllabus and do plan on doing my EPQ around the topic of the psychology behind para-social relationships but after this I am entirely stuck. I need some supercurriculars across these topics that will actually help me stand out, and possibly ome advice on how to make these sound good on a personal statement.
Thank you in adavance!

Hello!
Don't panic too much, you have already done some great work which will come across well in your application :smile:

Finding ways to showcase that you are passionate about all three disciplines of this course is really important as it shows you'll be a well-rounded student. But more importantly, understanding how they all connect is crucial, you need to be analytical and think outside the box. Your EPQ idea sounds great, perhaps could you bring in a linguistic side to it? How language plays a role in constructing para-social relationships? Think of ways to add a touch of the other subjects onto whichever one you're discussing, so it shows you really understand the complexity of the course.

There are some great online mini courses that can give you further learning opportunities and are good for a personal statement, check out sites like Coursera and FutureLearn. You can earn certificates and it shows that you naturally want to learn more :smile:

Maybe you could create a blog with mini opinion articles on topics related to PPL?
As a linguistics student, I found that showing an interest for reading and languages was really important. Are there any foreign languages you like learning? You could try and link this again to psychology for example, like the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, or psycholinguistics.

A really important thing to do is critically engage - this means that whatever you do or read, fully evaluate it and question it. For example, the papers and books you are reading, do you fully agree with them? What further work could they do? Don't just believe everything you hear, the university wants students who can think for themselves and critically evaluate :smile:

Good luck!
Lia | University of Southampton Student Ambassador

Reply 4

Stiffy Byng

19

Original post

by kingsleyartha

read logic, language and truth by AJ Ayer it will be very useful- he taught at Oxford and it will help you with your philosophy since logic is a large part of Oxford philosophy

You mean Language, Truth, and Logic. Good recommendation!

Reply 5

tomrrippin

1

Original post

by effiehughes

Hi!
I'm currently in year 12 and am looking at hoping to apply to Oxford for PPL (psychology, philosophy and linguistics). Does anyone have any super curricular recommendations.
I have been to a widening participation small subjects residential (for philosophy and linguistics) at Cambridge recently and have read some paper which interested me by philosophers such as Peter Singer. In terms of psychology, I have spent time reading outside of the syllabus and do plan on doing my EPQ around the topic of the psychology behind para-social relationships but after this I am entirely stuck. I need some supercurriculars across these topics that will actually help me stand out, and possibly ome advice on how to make these sound good on a personal statement.
Thank you in adavance!

hey, im also interested in doing this exact course, what supercurriculars are you deciding on?

Reply 6

mollie.20

5

hey! i got an offer for psychology and linguistics at pembroke, oxford! First of all, I found it useful when planning for my personal statement to focus on one specific topic and develop my knowledge from there. So what I did was find the reading list for PPL (its pretty old but has some good books) and i selected a book to read from there. I read The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker and was really interested in the fourth chapter (mentalese), and did a lot of further research around something called the linguistic relativity hypothesis (the idea that the language we speak influences our perception). Most of my further supercurriculars was based on this concept. I watched a few Ted Talks and read a few articles, although i did not include it all in my personal statement. I found it useful to keep a concise list of everything I read, or concepts I explored so when it came to writing my personal statement, I had a lot of ideas. Also, having relevant work experience was quite good, I shadowed a speech and language therapist.
At this point, I would really advise practicing for the TSA as its a big factor in securing an interview! I would also say, enjoy the process of applying!! I loved having the opportunity to explore concepts I was really interested in. Also, please don't feel too intimidated by the process, I applied for linguistics only being fluent in english so please know that the tutors don't want you to be perfect!! Feel free to ask me any further questions 🙂
here is the reading list btw: https://www.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxford/media_wysiwyg/EP_PPL_Suggested_Reading_List_June_2013.pdf

(edited 7 months ago)

PPL supercurriculars

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