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

read wolff's introduction to pol philosophy first and/or adam swift's book. then, if you want to read some primary texts, go for on liberty as it's proably the easiest to understand. can't say anything about marx because i've never studied him.

reading the textbooks listed by rustlessbowl (i can recommend kay and kavagnagh) will help you, but it isn't necessary. i knew **** all about us politics and very little about british politics at interview.

The admissions tutors would probably ask you why, if you are so interested in Turkish politics, you applied for a degree in which Turkish Politics is only studied in one optional finals course (as far as I know). The chances are that the tutors who interview you will know very little to nothing about Turkish Politics, so using all of your time learning about it is a bit silly. These books will give you a fairly good introduction to the main areas of politics studied in the first year:

British Politics:
The State We're In by Hutton
British Politics: Continuities and Change by Kavagnah
Developments in British Politics by Dunleavy

American Politics:
American Politics and Society by McKay
Primary Colors Anonymous
Politics in the USA by Vile

French Politics:
The Government and Politics of France by Knapp & Wright

Political Theory:
Marx's Manifesto
Mill's On Liberty
Political Theory: An Introduction by Heywood
The Origins of Totalitarianism by Arendt
The Nature of Fascism by Griffin

Thanks a lot london prophet =)
And would you know if your admittance chances are diminished if you apply for a deferred entry?

The NatSci leaflet Emmanuel sent out recommended working through certain chapters of Engineering Connections by K.A. Stroud, 5th edition, before we get there..
Is it worth doing so? And if so, is it worth trying to buy (cheaply!) or will it just end up a very expensive doorstop?

Not officially, but I expect so - if they accept you deferred you have to prove that you're not only better than most of the current applications, but better than their guestimate for next year too.

Not officially, but I expect so - if they accept you deferred you have to prove that you're not only better than most of the current applications, but better than their guestimate for next year too.

I think you asked a while ago who had gotten in for PPE at Oxford but was rejected somewhere else? York rejected me the other day, if it's still relevant.

Can anyone tell me about the example questions they usually give during the interviews to test your abitlity? It would be great to hear some examples and some answers.

this is aimed at everyone who either is or has done PPE;
currently im doing my AS Levels- History, Economics, Philosophy, Maths and Further Maths, and I've got to drop one at the end of this year. I've got a while to decide but basically I've found history quite boring but philosophy the complete opposite. I know tutors would be far more impressed with history A2 than philosophy, but I just can't comprehend dropping philosophy.
What do you think I should do, seeing as I dont think History will be quite as boring as this year, but still nowhere near as good as philosophy?
Oh and I don't think I've said this before, but this thread has been incredibly helpful!