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Be accepted to Oxford University in the future

Hi! I'm a student from Spain (still in high school) and I'm interested in applying to Oxford in the future. Are there any Spanish students here who could share their experience and maybe give me some tips? I still have more than two years until I have to apply to college, but I'd like to know what would be a good idea for me to do in the meantime. I'm interested in pursuing a career related to literature.

Thank you!!

Reply 1

In your application, express the same interests as the tutors who would read your application. Be similar to Oxford students. During the interview(s), come across as a person the tutors would enjoy talking to in tutorials.

Reply 2

Original post
by letterstooxford
Hi! I'm a student from Spain (still in high school) and I'm interested in applying to Oxford in the future. Are there any Spanish students here who could share their experience and maybe give me some tips? I still have more than two years until I have to apply to college, but I'd like to know what would be a good idea for me to do in the meantime. I'm interested in pursuing a career related to literature.
Thank you!!
Get the best grades you can achieve in your year group. 😉
(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 3

Original post
by letterstooxford
Hi! I'm a student from Spain (still in high school) and I'm interested in applying to Oxford in the future. Are there any Spanish students here who could share their experience and maybe give me some tips? I still have more than two years until I have to apply to college, but I'd like to know what would be a good idea for me to do in the meantime. I'm interested in pursuing a career related to literature.
Thank you!!

Holaaaa

I'm in the middle of the application process for a scientific course, so I don't know if this is going to help much, but I can tell you what I have learnt so far:

Definitely start as soon as possible. UCAS won't be open for your cycle yet, but it's a good idea to create an account, read some of the articles and recommendations and just have a look around to have a clear idea of what you have to do. The cycle starts in your early de bachillerato, so that's way sooner than you might expect. Also have a look on the university websites (it took me a bit to get around easily on the Oxford one, so definitely do that), because they have really interesting resources for you to look at.

Sign up to the mail lists of the universities you're interested in. Oxford has a general undergraduate one and also subject-specific ones. It's actually usually interesting and/or useful, and it's an easy way to be updated. They also tell you about any online courses, talks or webinars they have, and those are a must because you can ask your questions directly and it's actually quite awesome that a teacher from oxford replies to you live the first times. They are addressed to people of many years, so there's probably some already for you, and even if it's addressed to older people you might find it interesting? They're (like 99.9% of the time) completely free, so that's another plus.

Get as many supercurriculars as possible. This means to do things outside of school that are related to what you want to study (extracurriculars are good, but only if they have clearly transferable skills). For literature, maybe read some classics and attend a few talks? Obviously try to get as much of this in English as possible. In the UCAS web page there should be specific supercurricular recommendations for your course, and each university usually has those as well in their own web pages (Oxford definitely does, including a suggested reading list). This is useful both to showcase your interest in the personal statement and for your own enjoyment and learning. It is also a perfect way of making sure that you like your subject, and to further develop your passion.

If you have some kind of admissions test and/or written work to submit, prepare for that in advance, at least a bit. In my case, I've been studying all summer for a few hours a day to prepare for my admissions test, but it's been more fun than I thought, because it turns out that I actually really love my subject!

If you know you want to do something related to literature, you're already doing great! Do some research on your specific course options in the university web pages, and have an open ming because some courses are pretty different from the Spanish ones (even if they do have the same name), or don't exist here at all! I would base my research on looking at the subjects in each course and researching what each one of them is in depth.

Even if the people around you aren't considering applying for the UK (and they might think you're a little crazy sometimes), because it's not that common in Spain, definitely apply because it will be worth it, and the application process itself is great.


I don't know if any of that helped, and this is just what I've personally found the most useful/important. Basically, I'd say be really passionate about your subject and really get yourself exposed to it and what studying it might be like. If anybody else has any other recommendations (for me as well haha) please reply as well!

Good luck with everything!

Reply 4

Original post
by Anonymous
In your application, express the same interests as the tutors who would read your application. Be similar to Oxford students. During the interview(s), come across as a person the tutors would enjoy talking to in tutorials.


Thank you!!

Reply 5

Original post
by thegeek888
Get the best grades you can achieve in your year group. 😉


thank you!!

Reply 6

Original post
by curious_wisdom
Holaaaa
I'm in the middle of the application process for a scientific course, so I don't know if this is going to help much, but I can tell you what I have learnt so far:

Definitely start as soon as possible. UCAS won't be open for your cycle yet, but it's a good idea to create an account, read some of the articles and recommendations and just have a look around to have a clear idea of what you have to do. The cycle starts in your early de bachillerato, so that's way sooner than you might expect. Also have a look on the university websites (it took me a bit to get around easily on the Oxford one, so definitely do that), because they have really interesting resources for you to look at.

Sign up to the mail lists of the universities you're interested in. Oxford has a general undergraduate one and also subject-specific ones. It's actually usually interesting and/or useful, and it's an easy way to be updated. They also tell you about any online courses, talks or webinars they have, and those are a must because you can ask your questions directly and it's actually quite awesome that a teacher from oxford replies to you live the first times. They are addressed to people of many years, so there's probably some already for you, and even if it's addressed to older people you might find it interesting? They're (like 99.9% of the time) completely free, so that's another plus.

Get as many supercurriculars as possible. This means to do things outside of school that are related to what you want to study (extracurriculars are good, but only if they have clearly transferable skills). For literature, maybe read some classics and attend a few talks? Obviously try to get as much of this in English as possible. In the UCAS web page there should be specific supercurricular recommendations for your course, and each university usually has those as well in their own web pages (Oxford definitely does, including a suggested reading list). This is useful both to showcase your interest in the personal statement and for your own enjoyment and learning. It is also a perfect way of making sure that you like your subject, and to further develop your passion.

If you have some kind of admissions test and/or written work to submit, prepare for that in advance, at least a bit. In my case, I've been studying all summer for a few hours a day to prepare for my admissions test, but it's been more fun than I thought, because it turns out that I actually really love my subject!

If you know you want to do something related to literature, you're already doing great! Do some research on your specific course options in the university web pages, and have an open ming because some courses are pretty different from the Spanish ones (even if they do have the same name), or don't exist here at all! I would base my research on looking at the subjects in each course and researching what each one of them is in depth.

Even if the people around you aren't considering applying for the UK (and they might think you're a little crazy sometimes), because it's not that common in Spain, definitely apply because it will be worth it, and the application process itself is great.


I don't know if any of that helped, and this is just what I've personally found the most useful/important. Basically, I'd say be really passionate about your subject and really get yourself exposed to it and what studying it might be like. If anybody else has any other recommendations (for me as well haha) please reply as well!
Good luck with everything!


Woah, this means so much to me, thank you so much!!

Also, could you explain a little more about UCAS? I know what they are, but I'd like to know a little more about them.

Muchas gracias and good luck to you too!!

Reply 7

Original post
by letterstooxford
Woah, this means so much to me, thank you so much!!
Also, could you explain a little more about UCAS? I know what they are, but I'd like to know a little more about them.
Muchas gracias and good luck to you too!!

Haha where to start?
Actully, here: https://www.ucas.com/
Basically, UCAS is the application you have to fill out for UK universities. It's just that one for all of them (as opposed to the Spanish system). You only have 5 choices (this means you have to choose 5 courses throughout all universities, but it is possible to apply to different courses within the same university and stuff). Oxbridge is a bit different though: you can't apply to both Oxford and Cambridge and you may only apply to one course at that uni.
Apart from a LOT of information about yourself (it's quite long, they ask basically everything), you have to write a Personal Statement (you tell them why you want to study your course and those kinds of things), which is the only opportunity you have to actually tell them things rather than ticking boxes. Also, you need a reference (from one of your teachers, probably), which is a letter from your teacher explaining how you have a lot of potential and stuff.
You have to send it in January, usually, but for Oxbridge, medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine you have to submit it by October (October of de bachiller I mean).
I think that covers the basics!
A dormir, q es veranooo

Reply 8

Original post
by curious_wisdom
Haha where to start?
Actully, here: https://www.ucas.com/
Basically, UCAS is the application you have to fill out for UK universities. It's just that one for all of them (as opposed to the Spanish system). You only have 5 choices (this means you have to choose 5 courses throughout all universities, but it is possible to apply to different courses within the same university and stuff). Oxbridge is a bit different though: you can't apply to both Oxford and Cambridge and you may only apply to one course at that uni.
Apart from a LOT of information about yourself (it's quite long, they ask basically everything), you have to write a Personal Statement (you tell them why you want to study your course and those kinds of things), which is the only opportunity you have to actually tell them things rather than ticking boxes. Also, you need a reference (from one of your teachers, probably), which is a letter from your teacher explaining how you have a lot of potential and stuff.
You have to send it in January, usually, but for Oxbridge, medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine you have to submit it by October (October of de bachiller I mean).
I think that covers the basics!
A dormir, q es veranooo


thank you smm!! you're such a life saver!!

Reply 9

Original post
by curious_wisdom
Haha where to start?
Actully, here: https://www.ucas.com/
Basically, UCAS is the application you have to fill out for UK universities. It's just that one for all of them (as opposed to the Spanish system). You only have 5 choices (this means you have to choose 5 courses throughout all universities, but it is possible to apply to different courses within the same university and stuff). Oxbridge is a bit different though: you can't apply to both Oxford and Cambridge and you may only apply to one course at that uni.
Apart from a LOT of information about yourself (it's quite long, they ask basically everything), you have to write a Personal Statement (you tell them why you want to study your course and those kinds of things), which is the only opportunity you have to actually tell them things rather than ticking boxes. Also, you need a reference (from one of your teachers, probably), which is a letter from your teacher explaining how you have a lot of potential and stuff.
You have to send it in January, usually, but for Oxbridge, medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine you have to submit it by October (October of de bachiller I mean).
I think that covers the basics!
A dormir, q es veranooo


help i'm so so sorry for asking so many questions i'm just so anxious abt this whole thing and i feel like i'm light years behind everyone!! how do i sign up to the mail lists of oxford?

Reply 10

Original post
by letterstooxford
help i'm so so sorry for asking so many questions i'm just so anxious abt this whole thing and i feel like i'm light years behind everyone!! how do i sign up to the mail lists of oxford?

Nooo that's OK, asking and being interested is the best thing you can do, you're doing great!

This is the general undergraduate admissions newsletter: https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/undergraduate-admissions-and-outreach-newsletter (you fill in that form and emails will come).

I don't really remember how I signed up for the course-specific one and I can't find a link for that now but I can see that in the form they ask you to pick the course you're most interested in so maybe it signs you up automatically? Then again, I'm not sure if every single course has a specific newsletter.

Hope that helps!

Reply 11

Original post
by letterstooxford
help i'm so so sorry for asking so many questions i'm just so anxious abt this whole thing and i feel like i'm light years behind everyone!! how do i sign up to the mail lists of oxford?
Which mail lists? 😧 Please elaborate?

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