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

Personally I preferred warwick, in all honesty I only applied to oxford because I thought if I got an interview it would be brilliant experience (come on, it must be one of the hardest interviews out there right?) I never expected an offer, even when I got my offer I knew if Warwick offered me a place it would still be my first choice.

Reply 4201

starcarton

10

Clements-

I can't help but feel your sig is lying as you're physically unable to have Oxford as an insurance as the offer is higher than your firm. UCAS won't allow it to go through.

Yes they will.

wow lol

starcarton

Yes they will.

I'm pretty sure you can't.

Although, even if that were possible, why would you do it? You may as well have just declined Oxford because it's not like you can go there if you do get AAA.

Reply 4204

jabed786

15

Have you considered other unis like York?

Reply 4205

foxo

17

I can't see why it wouldn't be worth a shot, as long as you've got a 'safe' option in your other choices. Ultimately, it's up to the admissions tutors and interviewers to decide - if you are given an offer, it's far more than likely that you are able to do the course. You certainly seem motivated enough.

Clements-

I can't help but feel your sig is lying as you're physically unable to have Oxford as an insurance as the offer is higher than your firm. UCAS won't allow it to go through.

No.

Reply 4206

thenewromance1234

14

foxo

I can't see why it wouldn't be worth a shot, as long as you've got a 'safe' option in your other choices. Ultimately, it's up to the admissions tutors and interviewers to decide - if you are given an offer, it's far more than likely that you are able to do the course. You certainly seem motivated enough.

No.

Even then, as said above, what would be the point? They can't go there so why not just decline it?

Edit: Just realised, that's for equivalent offers. What's the case for higher offers for insurance? We were told it can't physically be done but I'm struggling to find anything on UCAS about it :dontknow:

Reply 4207

starcarton

10

Well I'm absolutely certain you can, screen shot of my ucas below (if it works????)

Reply 4208

foxo

17

Clements-

Even then, as said above, what would be the point? They can't go there so why not just decline it?

Well, the person you're accusing of lying already stated why. Given that my insurance was an unconditional, asking me is quite irrelevant.

Clements-

Edit: Just realised, that's for equivalent offers. What's the case for higher offers for insurance? We were told it can't physically be done but I'm struggling to find anything on UCAS about it :dontknow:

If you actually read more than the top line, you'd see that it's not.

Reply 4209

starcarton

10

Clements-

Even then, as said above, what would be the point? They can't go there so why not just decline it?

As I said before, my school were telling me I had to put something as insurance, so I did. It shut them up, so why are you so bothered by it. I'm sorry OP this thread has completely gone off at a tangent, I was simply trying to offer some advice based upon my personal experience, not for you to decide whether I'm honest or not.

Reply 4210

MancStudent098

13

123banana123

Hi,

I am unsure whether to apply for PPE at Oxford or not. I am really interested in the subject, but I do not have the 'useful' Maths A level and I know the chances of getting an offer are only 20%.

I also heard that some admissions tutors refuse to accept applications without A level Maths... I am unsure if this is true though...

My GCSEs are nothing special (and I go to a private school so I have no real excuse), and I really don't think I'm good enough for the course. But I'm really tempted to give it a shot because were I to get in I would love the course.

Do you think I should bother applying, or would it be a waste of an application? :s-smilie:

Thanks

You categorically do not need maths to do PPE, I can't believe how many people tell me 'I wanted to do PPE but I hadn't done maths A level'.

Reply 4211

thenewromance1234

14

starcarton

As I said before, my school were telling me I had to put something as insurance, so I did. It shut them up, so why are you so bothered by it. I'm sorry OP this thread has completely gone off at a tangent, I was simply trying to offer some advice based upon my personal experience, not for you to decide whether I'm honest or not.

Even so, I saw your advice and whilst you got in, we don't know anything about the OPs situation. I tried asking them grades, subject combination, etc. but they haven't replied so your advice may not be all that helpful. It's not helpful to tell people they should just because you got in. That may be the case once we know more about the OP but until then, it can't really be answered.

Granted, there's no reason why they absolutely shouldn't but there's no point wasting a choice.

As for the UCAS thing, fair enough but that is strange of your school to suggest you put a higher insurance

Reply 4212

Rustlessbowl

Graphix

Thanks for this Rustlessbowl...

...anything you recommend? What did you read?

It's hard to go wrong with the major works of any of the 20th century's big names in philosophy: Strawson, Nozick, Wittgenstein, Ayer, Russell etc. Some older philosophers are still relevant, too, e.g. Hume, Descartes, and Locke.

It depends what you're interested in, really. Generally speaking, every problem in philosophy has at least two major works associated with it, most of which you can find online with a bit of googling. Firstly, where the problem was originally stated, and second, where it has been most originally/interestingly/plausibly answered; for example, the problem of induction is first raised (or at least most famously raised) in Hume's Enquiry, and is most famously answered in Goodman's New Riddle of Induction.

Reply 4213

London Prophet

OP

17

123banana123

Does anyone know which colleges/tutors always reject applications without A level maths?

Few will admit it, many will do it. I was chatting with a tutor the other day who said many of his colleagues will simply not consider an applicant who does not have a reasonable grounding in maths.

However some colleges have a reputation for being less mathsy (tends to depend on the tutor - Pembroke in my day was fairly maths-lite)

Reply 4214

desfes

Im in Year 11 and i am thinking of doing PPE at university but im not sure about my a-levels

Im thinking of doing

Chemistry
Biology
History
Philosophy

Im considering changing Economics for one of the sciences.

Is is vital that i do either maths or economics?
I really enjoy all of PPE and have read many books on the different parts.

Do i need to change my choices to give myself the best chance?

Reply 4215

starcarton

10

Clements-

Even so, I saw your advice and whilst you got in, we don't know anything about the OPs situation. I tried asking them grades, subject combination, etc. but they haven't replied so your advice may not be all that helpful. It's not helpful to tell people they should just because you got in. That may be the case once we know more about the OP but until then, it can't really be answered.

Granted, there's no reason why they absolutely shouldn't but there's no point wasting a choice.

As for the UCAS thing, fair enough but that is strange of your school to suggest you put a higher insurance

My school didn't tell me to put Oxford, they told me to put something, so I did. Sheesh is that so difficult. And I was not saying because it happened to me, it will happen to him but was simply saying that by no means at all do you HAVE to have maths a-level, and I can say this from experience. Why is it a wasted choice, let them have a go, there is nothing wrong with a bit of aspiration you know, that why there are 5 choices.

Reply 4216

123banana123

2

starcarton

You don't need maths, end of. I got an offer this year without maths, and I didn't even have an A* at GCSE I have only (???) an A. What A-levels are you taking? What are you predicted? Maybe think about the college you apply too (ask the oxford uni goers), perhaps certain ones have more emphasis on the maths/eco side of it, I know when I had my interview I had one whole interview dedicated to the politics side, and then a joint interview which spent less than half on eco, and just over half on philosophy, which may suggest they are less focused on the eco/mathsy side of things ?!?!? I'm not certain, but no maths a-level is certainly not going to end it for you.

Which college was your interview at?

Reply 4217

trollman

12

is balliol or exeter by any chance less "mathsy"?

Reply 4218

123banana123

2

foxo

I can't see why it wouldn't be worth a shot, as long as you've got a 'safe' option in your other choices. Ultimately, it's up to the admissions tutors and interviewers to decide - if you are given an offer, it's far more than likely that you are able to do the course. You certainly seem motivated enough.

No.

How can you tell I'm motivated enough? :smile: