Oxford PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) Students and Applicants

Hi,
does Cambridge ask for certain UMS scores as part of a conditional offer (for Natural sciences)? I'm studying in Germany and trying to compare my offer with the typical UK offer requirements.

Hmmm been doing a bit of personal statement researching, I want to read and thus discuss a book that is slightly more unusual... I'm afraid any PPE tutors would be very bored trawling through another;

"I read On Liberty, Utilitarianism and Utilitarianism For and Against, the books provided powerful arguments for liberty. Jonathan Wolfs An Introduction to Political Philosophy provided a powerful example…"

Anyone got any more unusual PPE relevant books they can recommend?
 

Cambridge don't do work experience. I really don't thinink it would have made any difference to my application. Apply to do the senior physics challenge... http://www-spc.phy.cam.ac.uk/ that might give you an edge, and it's a great course!

So really, all you need to get in is excellent grades (I'm pretty I can get that) and a decent interview?

If so, I'd be a very happy person.

Hmmm been doing a bit of personal statement researching, I want to read and thus discuss a book that is slightly more unusual... I'm afraid any PPE tutors would be very bored trawling through another;

"I read On Liberty, Utilitarianism and Utilitarianism For and Against, the books provided powerful arguments for liberty. Jonathan Wolfs An Introduction to Political Philosophy provided a powerful example…"

Anyone got any more unusual PPE relevant books they can recommend?
 

Hi i'm new to the website, thought id join because i'll be looking to apply for universities soon.

I'm a student in Year 12 and i would like to do PPE in Oxford when i go to uni. I'm currently doing 5 AS's (English Lit, History, Maths Statistics, French and Spanish), which i'm relatively pleased about thus far. I had good grades at GCSE level (7 a*'s and 5 a's) and i am pretty confident that i could acheive the grades i need to get into Oxford at AS and A2 levels, providing i work hard enough.

However what im worried about regarding applying to do PPE at Oxford is the fact that i believe i do nowhere near enough reading around Politics, Philosophy and Economics in my spare time, and i think that there will be many other applicants who know much more about them than me. This is the only thing that worries me about applying for Oxford, and as a result i'm not very confident of my chances of success if i do apply later this year. Does anyone have any advice for me at all? It would be greatly appreciated

Hmmm been doing a bit of personal statement researching, I want to read and thus discuss a book that is slightly more unusual... I'm afraid any PPE tutors would be very bored trawling through another;

"I read On Liberty, Utilitarianism and Utilitarianism For and Against, the books provided powerful arguments for liberty. Jonathan Wolfs An Introduction to Political Philosophy provided a powerful example…"

Anyone got any more unusual PPE relevant books they can recommend?
 

Hi i'm new to the website, thought id join because i'll be looking to apply for universities soon.

I'm a student in Year 12 and i would like to do PPE in Oxford when i go to uni. I'm currently doing 5 AS's (English Lit, History, Maths Statistics, French and Spanish), which i'm relatively pleased about thus far. I had good grades at GCSE level (7 a*'s and 5 a's) and i am pretty confident that i could acheive the grades i need to get into Oxford at AS and A2 levels, providing i work hard enough.

However what im worried about regarding applying to do PPE at Oxford is the fact that i believe i do nowhere near enough reading around Politics, Philosophy and Economics in my spare time, and i think that there will be many other applicants who know much more about them than me. This is the only thing that worries me about applying for Oxford, and as a result i'm not very confident of my chances of success if i do apply later this year. Does anyone have any advice for me at all? It would be greatly appreciated

Sounds like hearsay - certainly there's no official stance to that effect. That's not to say that certain tutors don't haver preferences towards A-level, but then again some of them have preferences for IB.

Hi, I got an offer for Natural Sciences (physical) and was wondering how natScientists found the transition from A level science to Cambridge NatSci, especially in the first term. Was the level of the work really high compared to your A level work?

Firstly, welcome!

Secondly, don't think too much about other applicants, if you think you have a shot (and your grades clearly say you do) then go for it! You have a stupid amount of time yet until you have to apply, so if your worried about reading then you can make a nice early start on it. There have been lists of books come up on this thread hundreds of times, if you just search 'books for PPE' in the search bar, you should get a relatively comprehensive list.

Don't get too bogged down by it, though. The tutors aren't concerned with how much you know, especially if it is too far outside your A level sylabuses (sylabi...?), so I recommend finding an area of specific interest and read some stuff about it to start with. Personally, I researched the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the reply...

...but what would be the reasons for the tutors preferring A levels especially for a degree so broad such as PPE?

They're not supposed to favour one over the other, but I imagine if they do, it's because they are more familiar with it.

Ok...but if an applicant had a good PS, previous academic record, school reference and good results on the TSA, then the course path will be irrelevant? It wouldn't stand in the way of securing an interview...

No, not at all (I can imagine in a few years, when the IB establishes itself, it will be much preferred over the A level, assuming it's as hard as they make out).