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

Congratulations to you all!

I just got my AS results today, and I'm a bit disappointed to be honest. Maths: A, Econ: A, Pol: A but History: B...

I don't understand what went wrong on my unit 1 module, I felt as though I'd done okay. Ended up with a D... Got 94% in the other one meaning B overall.

The other A's were all pretty strong. It's just I thought I'd be getting an A in history. Have no idea if I should apply any more. Advice will be appreciated, oh and don't party too hard

Congratulations to you all!

I just got my AS results today, and I'm a bit disappointed to be honest. Maths: A, Econ: A, Pol: A but History: B...

I don't understand what went wrong on my unit 1 module, I felt as though I'd done okay. Ended up with a D... Got 94% in the other one meaning B overall.

The other A's were all pretty strong. It's just I thought I'd be getting an A in history. Have no idea if I should apply any more. Advice will be appreciated, oh and don't party too hard

Hi!! I´m an Austrian fellow and I want to apply for PPE at Oxford University and `government and economics` at LSE.
I´ve read a lot on the official websites, so I know most of the details, but there are a few things which I couldn´t find out and I hope you guys can help me out.

1. Well, I found the official TSA-homepage and I spotted the examples of last years´ TSA-tests and the books about critical thinking. Does anybody have experience with the recommended books? And where can I get more examples to practise? How many words am I expected to write in the essay?

2. How are the chances to get an admission to Oxford? I mean I´ve acadamic ability, but if I think about Oxford, I would think about the brightest people in the world and therefor getting a place must be very hard.

3. Do you think, that the education in Oxford is worthwhile? I´m reffering to the tuition fees, because there would also be the opportunity to study political science in Austria for free.
Well, I´m keen on studying at Oxford because of the good reputation and the excellent level of education, but I have to take a loan from the government and if it´s not profitable I want to know it at first place.

4. I´ve read about what kind of students the admission tutors are looking for, but can you give some general advice. For example I´m interested in other sciences like mathematics or physics too. Would it be an advantage or disadvantage if I mention this aspect.

5. As my mother tongue is German, I would also appriciate your comments on my English. Well, I know that I have to improve it for the essay and for the interview, but i´d be interested in your opinion.

I know these are a lot of questions to talk about, but I would be grateful for every comment and help I can get.

Thanks!!

Do you plan on carrying on History? Does your school cash in AS grades? Because if the first is yes and the second is no, you don't have to declare that B.
Otherwise, just go for it anyway. Maybe resit that one module if it's possible, but otherwise, it's just one out of five slots. You neve know unless you try.

Um I do want to carry it on, I'm not sure if they cash in AS grades, how would I check other than ringing them up as it is the weekend?

Yeah I've paid for the remark and will be retaking the module, such a shame though. Do you think I'd be seriously disadvantaged if I applied with a B in history? Have to wait up to 30 days for the results of the remark .

I expect ringing them up is the easiest way to find out.
Maybe you'll be disadvantaged. Anything that isn't 100/100 disadvantages you in a way because there are so many people with great grades. But there's nothing that can be done about that, so it's pretty useless to worry about. Do all the stuff you're doing already, make sure your predictions are good, work hard on your PS and admissions test and just see what happens. It's only one out of five, you might as well give it a shot.

Hey, seeing as nobody has replied to my comment yet, i was wondering if you could help me out here - you seem like you know what your talking about lol
I got my AS results today and well I got AAAB +A in general studies. The actual breakdown of my marks are as follows (Eco1:100% Eco2:95% Politics1:100% Politics2:100% Mechanics1:99% Core maths 1:93% Core maths2:83% Physics1:116/120 Physics 2:90/120) Now having got the B in physics and being 2 marks off an A im not sure whether I should get my paper remarked or not? Also, I really want to do PPE at Oxford and having achieved high marks on the others which I plan to take forward to A2, Im worried that my physics grade could mean I'm at a significant disadvantage - am I right to think that? Although I have been told that my results were really good, I'm still feeling quite dissapointed with myself and am contemplating resitting my physics unit 2 exam even though I will have sent off my UCAS application before I sit the retake. Again, some help would really be appreciated! thanks in advance

You might as well have it remarked, you can't go down right? (that was an actual question, I don't know that much about A-level procedures) As I said above, maybe a B is not ideal, but no application is perfect. It's definitly not a dealbreaker though, especially if you plan on carrying on with it to A2 and have an A prediction, so just make sure all your other stuff is good and see what happens.

Congratulations to you all!

I just got my AS results today, and I'm a bit disappointed to be honest. Maths: A, Econ: A, Pol: A but History: B...

I don't understand what went wrong on my unit 1 module, I felt as though I'd done okay. Ended up with a D... Got 94% in the other one meaning B overall.

The other A's were all pretty strong. It's just I thought I'd be getting an A in history. Have no idea if I should apply any more. Advice will be appreciated, oh and don't party too hard

I expect ringing them up is the easiest way to find out.
Maybe you'll be disadvantaged. Anything that isn't 100/100 disadvantages you in a way because there are so many people with great grades. But there's nothing that can be done about that, so it's pretty useless to worry about. Do all the stuff you're doing already, make sure your predictions are good, work hard on your PS and admissions test and just see what happens. It's only one out of five, you might as well give it a shot.

I always thought Oxford weren't aware of the individual module marks, just the overall AS level; it is only Cambridge who have access to this information, no?

Well, that's slightly worrying because I only have 100% in one out of all 9 of my modules - in history. Although, I do have 4 A's overall (maths, economics, eng. lit, history) only 4 of the modules are over 90% - will this seriously be a hindrance? That hadn't actually crossed my mind once I'd seen I'd achieved the top grade across the board.

Hi!! I´m an Austrian fellow and I want to apply for PPE at Oxford University and `government and economics` at LSE.
I´ve read a lot on the official websites, so I know most of the details, but there are a few things which I couldn´t find out and I hope you guys can help me out.

1. Well, I found the official TSA-homepage and I spotted the examples of last years´ TSA-tests and the books about critical thinking. Does anybody have experience with the recommended books? And where can I get more examples to practise? How many words am I expected to write in the essay?

2. How are the chances to get an admission to Oxford? I mean I´ve acadamic ability, but if I think about Oxford, I would think about the brightest people in the world and therefor getting a place must be very hard.

3. Do you think, that the education in Oxford is worthwhile? I´m reffering to the tuition fees, because there would also be the opportunity to study political science in Austria for free.
Well, I´m keen on studying at Oxford because of the good reputation and the excellent level of education, but I have to take a loan from the government and if it´s not profitable I want to know it at first place.

4. I´ve read about what kind of students the admission tutors are looking for, but can you give some general advice. For example I´m interested in other sciences like mathematics or physics too. Would it be an advantage or disadvantage if I mention this aspect.

5. As my mother tongue is German, I would also appriciate your comments on my English. Well, I know that I have to improve it for the essay and for the interview, but i´d be interested in your opinion.

I know these are a lot of questions to talk about, but I would be grateful for every comment and help I can get.

Thanks!!

In terms of admissions, is the 18% that are offered a place a percentage of the 68.7% that are shortlisted for interview or 18% of all applicants. I really hope it's the latter.

1. I found the Butterworth book they suggested on the TSA site helpful, and reading that and doing the one of the past papers was probably the only TSA prep I did. For the essay, there's a limit of two sides of an A4 sheet, so whatever you can fit in. Remember, quality, not quantity. Though personally, I took up almost all the space given.

2. I got in and I don't think I'm exceptional or brilliant. For PPE, 68.7% of applicants are shortlisted for interviews, and 18% are offered places. Some schools (like mine) would encourage us not to apply if we didn't have great predicted grades, and some don't... but the chances of getting an interview at least seem quite reasonable.

3. Can't comment because I haven't started yet, but I think so. Afterall, I am an overseas student too! But maybe it's worth not only considering the education, also that there may potentially be more employment opportunities offered to Oxbridge/LSE students than to others.

4. ... my personal statement didn't quite follow the recommended format on TSR. I did mention quite a lot of my subjects, including Physics and Mathematics, though tied that into thinking in different ways and applying the different types of knowledge and approach to problems. Still it seems that an emphasis on PPE/Government and Economics in your PS would be better, but there is room to mention other interests. I was told by my school advisers for the PS to be about 70% subject related, 30% other things

5. Your English is fine, just a couple of spelling and grammar mistakes, nothing terrible. Just read more, and practice writing a few essays.


Sorry for the terribly long ramble, but hope that helped you (and maybe others?) out a bit. Good luck!

Thanks a lot!!
I also think it´s not that hard to get an invitation for an interview.

The only thing I´m afraid of is the essay and the fact that you have to finish your TSA in 90 minutes, 1,8 min per question!!