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

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Reply 6860
Avatar for dbmag9
dbmag9
15
Original post by suicidaloverbusiness
I'm sorry, I had the intention of making it brief. It's just not a great Aspie trait. :colondollar:
I remember the acronym 'JCR' from LMH, but they never mentioned the associated welfare committee at all.
Oh...do you really think I have a decent chance?
Thanks for the name drop...the person I spoke to from the Disability Advisory Service also mentioned Wadham, New College and St Catherine's for their close proximity to the Manor Road Building and for their welfare repute. Although, I think some were moreso for proximity than the latter.
In terms of welfare support, would you say Merton was the most understanding from the entire university cohort.
I really appreciate your insight and patience to read that lengthy post! I'll + rep you, it's the most I can offer unfortunately.

Different JCRs will have different welfare structures, but they'll all have welfare reps and some peer supporters, who get trained to give decent advice and forward people to the right places. At Merton the two welfare reps, along with the LGBTQ rep (me), international, academic affairs and equal opportunities reps and the JCR vice-president make up the JCR welfare committee, and we also get invited to some meetings of the college welfare team, so I've heard a bit about what college is like in that regard. Last term we had someone over from a Student Union programme about mental health awareness in to talk to us, and in the discussion it came up how good Merton was at that side of things (essentially our chaplain, as head of welfare, pushes loads of money into welfare things, so the college is able to do stuff like hire a private psychiatrist when the counselling service was being too slow, do our peer support training in-house and other stuff). I don't know what other colleges are like though.

And yeah, I see no reason why you wouldn't have a decent chance. Best of luck with it all. :smile:
Original post by dbmag9
Different JCRs will have different welfare structures, but they'll all have welfare reps and some peer supporters, who get trained to give decent advice and forward people to the right places. At Merton the two welfare reps, along with the LGBTQ rep (me), international, academic affairs and equal opportunities reps and the JCR vice-president make up the JCR welfare committee, and we also get invited to some meetings of the college welfare team, so I've heard a bit about what college is like in that regard. Last term we had someone over from a Student Union programme about mental health awareness in to talk to us, and in the discussion it came up how good Merton was at that side of things (essentially our chaplain, as head of welfare, pushes loads of money into welfare things, so the college is able to do stuff like hire a private psychiatrist when the counselling service was being too slow, do our peer support training in-house and other stuff). I don't know what other colleges are like though.

And yeah, I see no reason why you wouldn't have a decent chance. Best of luck with it all. :smile:


Thanks for the information! I'm going to go for it.
I've sent an open application. When should I expect to receive an email from Oxford informing me of the college that has been selected for me? Additionally, do all universities acknowledge that they have received my application?
Reply 6863
Avatar for Bax-man
Bax-man
2
Original post by idreamofoxford
I've sent an open application. When should I expect to receive an email from Oxford informing me of the college that has been selected for me? Additionally, do all universities acknowledge that they have received my application?


The chances are that Oxford won't acknowledge your application. You'll know which college you've been assigned to when they inform you whether you're being invited to interview or not.
How important is it to take history or an essay subject when applying to do PPE? I do maths, further maths, chemistry, and economics and am wondering whether this will affect my application. Thanks
Well in my prospectus it says 'it is not necessary to have studied Politics, Philosophy or Economics. History and Mathematics are useful backgrounds, but are not essential'
And so your subjects seem okay - you definitely have the maths down.
Original post by aceofspades95
How important is it to take history or an essay subject when applying to do PPE? I do maths, further maths, chemistry, and economics and am wondering whether this will affect my application. Thanks


Economics IS an essay subject :tongue: 1/3 of the exam comprises 5-6 line answers, and then you have a big 3-4 page essay.

Your A-levels are fine. Just make sure you're taking part in things like debating, reading around philosophy and politics, finding academics whose works you're familiar with etc. so that you can compete knowledge-wise with people who took phil/pol
Original post by The Polymath
Economics IS an essay subject :tongue: 1/3 of the exam comprises 5-6 line answers, and then you have a big 3-4 page essay.


Thanks, although some of the people I have spoken to have said economics is seen as a sort of half essay subject :P


Original post by The Polymath
Just make sure you're taking part in things like debating, reading around philosophy and politics, finding academics whose works you're familiar with etc. so that you can compete knowledge-wise with people who took phil/pol


Do u by any chance have any recommendations with respect to books/academics that i should know and read about? thanks
Original post by aceofspades95
Thanks, although some of the people I have spoken to have said economics is seen as a sort of half essay subject :P

Do u by any chance have any recommendations with respect to books/academics that i should know and read about? thanks


Here is a list of recommended Economics reading (reading 2-3 books from there will do for econ, obviously you don't need to read them all)


Wikipedia is also a fantastic resource for reading around PPE topics, as the articles are well written and have good solid references to further reading.

Stephen Law's The Philosophy Gym and Julian Baggini's The Pig that Wants to be Eaten are great introductions to philosophy (particularly the former).

Other notable academics are Freud, Kant, Marx (his and Engels' Communist Manifesto), Weber, Mill (Liberty and Utilitarianism).

You might also look at legal studies which can link heavily into PPE - try researching the Wolfenden report from the 1950s (I think).

Otherwise, debating is a great thing to do, but I hate the formal versions. Blabbing on and on for five minutes at a time without being stopped just leads to the skill of committing fallacy to win. I set up a more informal debating soc at my school where we just make short points by raising hands, which allows for a much more logical and snappy discussion.
Thanks very much, really helpful! Do you know if some colleges require a subject such as history more than others?
I am applying for PPE at Oxford. Does anyone have any experience of what sorts of things they ask you in the Interview? Has anyone got any tips/ past experiences?
Original post by h.b123
I am applying for PPE at Oxford. Does anyone have any experience of what sorts of things they ask you in the Interview? Has anyone got any tips/ past experiences?


Maybe consider this once you get an interview :tongue:?
haa good point, yeah I didnt take that into account. Im just wondering...
Reply 6873
Avatar for Mouth
Mouth
12
Personal statement is stressing me out.
Original post by Mouth
Personal statement is stressing me out.


y?
Reply 6875
Avatar for Mouth
Mouth
12
Original post by sreddy17
y?


Just can't get it to sound right, some of it isn't very good and it's taking forever :lol:
Reply 6876
Avatar for Bax-man
Bax-man
2
Original post by The Polymath
Economics IS an essay subject :tongue: 1/3 of the exam comprises 5-6 line answers, and then you have a big 3-4 page essay.

Your A-levels are fine. Just make sure you're taking part in things like debating, reading around philosophy and politics, finding academics whose works you're familiar with etc. so that you can compete knowledge-wise with people who took phil/pol


aceofspades95
x


Just for the record: you need not get involved in debating, or any other extra-curriculars. It will make no difference to your chances of success. Similarly, reading is only useful in so far as it demonstrates interest and, possibly, giving you something familiar to touch upon in your interviews. However, the process is mostly about how you think, rather than what you know and however much you have read, you'll be steered toward something that you've not covered. Reading Principia Ethica might be interesting it, but it won't mean you get an offer instead of someone who hasn't read it.
Original post by Bax-man
Just for the record: you need not get involved in debating, or any other extra-curriculars. It will make no difference to your chances of success. Similarly, reading is only useful in so far as it demonstrates interest and, possibly, giving you something familiar to touch upon in your interviews. However, the process is mostly about how you think, rather than what you know and however much you have read, you'll be steered toward something that you've not covered. Reading Principia Ethica might be interesting it, but it won't mean you get an offer instead of someone who hasn't read it.


I never said debating, reading and extra-curriculars will directly increase your chance, of course they won't.

They will, however, help you to become interested in the subject, to become used to critiquing arguments, familiar with the subject, appreciative of the nature of it etc. Basically what you said.
Do you know what TSA score you need to get approximately to be shortlisted for an interview? I have done 2 TSA Sections 1s and both of them are in the mid 50s- is this enough to get an interview? (I know that the sucessful applicant gets around 60 +). I´m going to apply for PPE in a college thats not going to very competitive.
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by Questions questi
Do you know what TSA score you need to get approximately to be shortlisted for an interview? I have done 2 TSA Sections 1s and both of them are in the mid 50s- is this enough to get an interview? (I know that the sucessful applicant gets around 60 +).


I would say you probably need to go higher, for E&M this is what Keble said in 2010 as a reason for rejection: 'Low performance on the Thinking Skills Assessment – candidates must have scored in the top 2 bands to secure an interview, and the mean and median score of candidates invited for interview were 67.7 and 66.5.'
(edited 11 years ago)

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