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

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Worcester? Don't worry too much about how 'competitive' the colleges are, if you're good enough you'll get offered a place somewhere even if it's not your first choice.
steelmole
I got an offer for natural sciences at fitzwilliam. I'll definitely do physics and computer science, not sure about what else though. Chemistry might be quite useful, but something like geology or materials science might be interesting as a bit of a new subject.


Ditto. The compsci and physics courses looks amazing.
TsarinaMeg
Thanks. :smile: But do stereotypes apply? For real? Like, I've heard Balliol people are meant to be quite eccentric... And Christ Church etc. I only was interested in because of the choir and drama. But are they only likely to let you in for all those extracurricular activities if you're "good enough"? Do you even have TIME for all that??


You will have plenty of spare time for extracurricular activities - it's all about time management.
Nika A
I have a question about final exams and classes. Approximately what percent of points do you have to achieve in your exams to get a first or 2.1?


It's 70% first, 50% second and 40% third. They don't officially differentiate between 2i and 2ii in the first year, but a 2i will be 60%. I don't think they are raw marks however, as they are probably scaled somewhere.
Yeah, and another thing, you're not being marked on how well you know the course, you're being marked against each other.
Nichrome
Yeah, and another thing, you're not being marked on how well you know the course, you're being marked against each other.
This is only explicitly the case in the first two years. Information on how it's done in the first two years is available on the Natsci website. Later years depends on the policy of the department.
I want to do PPE at oxford.

in my gcses i got 8A* 3As and 1B,

my As levels are
english lit,
physics.
biology,
history
critical thinking.

i am predicted As. (yes this doesn't include maths but i did get A* at gcse and an A in stats so im not awful :s and i am doing an open university course in maths this summer)

i am interested in all three areas and am just starting to read around books in preparation for interviews/personal statements etc.

AM I WASTING MY TIME?

:smile:

or should i concentrate on durham, wawrick, york, manchester etc
Reply 4107
Excalibur
It's 70% first, 50% second and 40% third. They don't officially differentiate between 2i and 2ii in the first year, but a 2i will be 60%. I don't think they are raw marks however, as they are probably scaled somewhere.


Thanks! :smile:
tom gavin
I want to do PPE at oxford.

in my gcses i got 8A* 3As and 1B,

my As levels are
english lit,
physics.
biology,
history
critical thinking.

i am predicted As. (yes this doesn't include maths but i did get A* at gcse and an A in stats so im not awful :s and i am doing an open university course in maths this summer)

i am interested in all three areas and am just starting to read around books in preparation for interviews/personal statements etc.

AM I WASTING MY TIME?

:smile:

or should i concentrate on durham, wawrick, york, manchester etc


If you can get your A's at A2 level then you're fine. You're in the same boat as most people and it is definitely worth giving it a try - best of luck.
thank you your guide is invaluable, a really thorough comprehensive guide to ppe at oxford.

primarily i do want to do ppe, but there are similar courses such as Philosophy and political economy at exeter AAB-ABB and obviously Government and economics at LSE AAB.

so im looking at all the options, i will keep you posted :smile:
I've been avoiding asking people about my chances of getting into Oxford for PPE, but I've decided to bite the bullet and ask for the honest opinion of my utmost critics: my peers.

I come from a state school in Lowestoft; both my middle and high schools were put on the Ofsted special measures, and I hated every moment I was there. In year 10, my attendance went down to about 40% because I had completely lost all motivation to learn and I was considering dropping out. However, I've always had a passion and fascination with politics and philosophy, and have keenly written fiction and non-fiction throughout my life. Now I've started A levels (even though I'm still at Kirkley) I'm much happier and I feel like I'm finally studying what I love. I took Philosophy, Politics, English Language and Law A levels, and I'm predicted AAAB at AS (although I feel like I royally messed up one of my politics papers...argh). In a couple of weeks I'm doing work experience and writing for my local paper, I voluntarily 'guest speak' in year 10 classes teaching rudimentary philosophy, and I play squash and run - so I'm getting on the extra curriculors... haha.

I'm currently on an Oxbridge access scheme with a bunch of bright kids from local schools. On Monday we went to Cambridge and one of the professors said that the 'average' Oxbridge applicant had between 4 and 8 A* GCSEs and will achieve 88-92% UMS in AS modules. My heart sunk because, despite my genuine zeal for my subjects, my previous academic credentials are far from gleaming: my GCSE's were A*AAABBCCCC. I've read up A LOT on people's admissions stories, and if people with a million A* GCSEs and like, 5A Levels at A grade have been denied, I begin to feel disparaged.

I was going to ask whether I should bother applying, but that is much too flippant for my character. Instead, do you think I have a reasonable (or any) chance of being considered for the course? I would really love to go.

Thank youuuuuuuuuu! Clare
Reply 4111
clarehistory101
I've been avoiding asking people about my chances of getting into Oxford for PPE, but I've decided to bite the bullet and ask for the honest opinion of my utmost critics: my peers.


You don't want your peers advising you, you want people who are at Oxford and/or do admissions work :p:

I come from a state school in Lowestoft; both my middle and high schools were put on the Ofsted special measures, and I hated every moment I was there. In year 10, my attendance went down to about 40% because I had completely lost all motivation to learn and I was considering dropping out. However, I've always had a passion and fascination with politics and philosophy, and have keenly written fiction and non-fiction throughout my life. Now I've started A levels (even though I'm still at Kirkley) I'm much happier and I feel like I'm finally studying what I love. I took Philosophy, Politics, English Language and Law A levels, and I'm predicted AAAB at AS (although I feel like I royally messed up one of my politics papers...argh). In a couple of weeks I'm doing work experience and writing for my local paper, I voluntarily 'guest speak' in year 10 classes teaching rudimentary philosophy, and I play squash and run - so I'm getting on the extra curriculors... haha.


Extra-curriculars are largely irrelevant.

I'm currently on an Oxbridge access scheme with a bunch of bright kids from local schools. On Monday we went to Cambridge and one of the professors said that the 'average' Oxbridge applicant had between 4 and 8 A* GCSEs and will achieve 88-92% UMS in AS modules. My heart sunk because, despite my genuine zeal for my subjects, my previous academic credentials are far from gleaming: my GCSE's were A*AAABBCCCC. I've read up A LOT on people's admissions stories, and if people with a million A* GCSEs and like, 5A Levels at A grade have been denied,


So long as you can get predicted 3As at A level you have a chance. Oxford takes into account the school you went to when looking at your GCSEs. Sure if you'd done better your chances might be better, but people do get in with poor GCSEs and the advantage gained from extra A levels is minimal.

I begin to feel disparaged.


That word. I do not think it means what you think it means. :p:

I was going to ask whether I should bother applying, but that is much too flippant for my character. Instead, do you think I have a reasonable (or any) chance of being considered for the course? I would really love to go.

Thank youuuuuuuuuu! Clare


Yes you have a reasonable chance.
Thank you! Although I am standing firm with my use of the word disparaged... I do feel belittled at times.
clarehistory101
I've been avoiding asking people about my chances of getting into Oxford for PPE, but I've decided to bite the bullet and ask for the honest opinion of my utmost critics: my peers.

I come from a state school in Lowestoft; both my middle and high schools were put on the Ofsted special measures, and I hated every moment I was there. In year 10, my attendance went down to about 40% because I had completely lost all motivation to learn and I was considering dropping out. However, I've always had a passion and fascination with politics and philosophy, and have keenly written fiction and non-fiction throughout my life. Now I've started A levels (even though I'm still at Kirkley) I'm much happier and I feel like I'm finally studying what I love. I took Philosophy, Politics, English Language and Law A levels, and I'm predicted AAAB at AS (although I feel like I royally messed up one of my politics papers...argh). In a couple of weeks I'm doing work experience and writing for my local paper, I voluntarily 'guest speak' in year 10 classes teaching rudimentary philosophy, and I play squash and run - so I'm getting on the extra curriculors... haha.

I'm currently on an Oxbridge access scheme with a bunch of bright kids from local schools. On Monday we went to Cambridge and one of the professors said that the 'average' Oxbridge applicant had between 4 and 8 A* GCSEs and will achieve 88-92% UMS in AS modules. My heart sunk because, despite my genuine zeal for my subjects, my previous academic credentials are far from gleaming: my GCSE's were A*AAABBCCCC. I've read up A LOT on people's admissions stories, and if people with a million A* GCSEs and like, 5A Levels at A grade have been denied, I begin to feel disparaged.

I was going to ask whether I should bother applying, but that is much too flippant for my character. Instead, do you think I have a reasonable (or any) chance of being considered for the course? I would really love to go.

Thank youuuuuuuuuu! Clare


1. Your circumstances will work in your favour - Oxford are keen to shrug off their elitist image and you are, in that sense, an ideal candidate - bright and without the school advantages many people (like myself) had. For instance they will likely expect someone from a good school to have better GCSEs - they know the teachers are better at getting the kids through the right hoops.

2. I shouldn't worry about your truancy - you've clearly shown that you've turned yourself around in the last few years

3. The extra curricular can offer a point of discussion in an interview (I had a friend who spent almost the entire interview talking about rowing) and it also shows you're a well rounded person - something they like for PPE.

4. Your A-levels look good - now just push for straight A's

5. Go for it - I would actually put your chances as better than some people with straight As. You might consider picking your college carefully.

Check out Table 8: http://www.ox.ac.uk/gazette/2008-9/supps/2_vol139.pdf

Look for a college with a low number of applications from state schools, and preferably a higher % of offers from state schools - Pembroke would be a good choice in that sense (41% of last year's applicants came from state schools and they made up 54% of the offers). St. Edmund's Hall also does well on these statistics.
Bargh! I keep losing my subscription to this thread!?! :woo:

It's almost as if the gods are throwing out the 09/10 Offer Holders in favour of the 10 applicants...

Anyway, I actually have a question:

Do we need to think about buying books? I haven't recieved a reading list yet, but one should be coming pretty soon. How many of the books do we need to buy and are there some that are 100% recommended?

I'm really not liking the idea that a wrestle in the library for the last copy of a book will be the difference between a pass and a fail. :o:
Reply 4115
pinkpenguin
Bargh! I keep losing my subscription to this thread!?! :woo:

It's almost as if the gods are throwing out the 09/10 Offer Holders in favour of the 10 applicants...

Anyway, I actually have a question:

Do we need to think about buying books? I haven't recieved a reading list yet, but one should be coming pretty soon. How many of the books do we need to buy and are there some that are 100% recommended?

I'm really not liking the idea that a wrestle in the library for the last copy of a book will be the difference between a pass and a fail. :o:


The only books I'd say it's really useful to have are a copy of Mill's utilitarianism (if you can get one that comes with Liberty even better) and the basic Macro and Microeconomics textbooks (should be Varian and Mankiw). You can probably buy/borrow the economics textbooks off second or third years when you get there though.
pinkpenguin
Bargh! I keep losing my subscription to this thread!?!


Why do you think this is happening? It's happening to me and Kneechuh also...
Reply 4117
pinkpenguin
Bargh! I keep losing my subscription to this thread!?! :woo:

It's almost as if the gods are throwing out the 09/10 Offer Holders in favour of the 10 applicants...

Anyway, I actually have a question:

Do we need to think about buying books? I haven't recieved a reading list yet, but one should be coming pretty soon. How many of the books do we need to buy and are there some that are 100% recommended?

I'm really not liking the idea that a wrestle in the library for the last copy of a book will be the difference between a pass and a fail. :o:


you dont need to buy any books in advance. there are always copies of the core econ textbooks in the social sciences library and you can just buy any primary texts or guidebooks (crisp on utilitarianism) if you decide that you need them for revision and cant get hold of a copy from the library.
Today one of my teachers on my Summer school course told me that he advises against me applying for the PPE course as I don't take A Level Maths and didn't get a grade A in Maths at GCSE. What do you think, could I manage the economics?
hiya, this is probs a bit too late to ask, but was wondering if anyone had a pic of the IA class list that they could send me?