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

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Does anyone have any advice? Thank you.
Is it a bad thing if one has been relocated from Balliol?
Original post by american.
Does anyone have any advice? Thank you.


This might help. I don't know what uni or specific course you're applying for so I got you some general tips for applying the best uni would basically guarantee getting into lower unis :/
Just stay calm, don't watch other interviewees cramming in knowledge, don't be like them, don't talk to other people because this can stress you out if they're showing off about how much better they are etc -_-
Good luck

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Ppe_at_oxford

http://www.ppe.ox.ac.uk/images/stories/Web_PDFs/PPE_Prog_Spec/PPE_Programme_Specification_2013-14_final.pdf

http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/6092/economics/application-tips-for-ppe-at-oxford-university/

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zzwxQ164FE0
Reply 7483
Avatar for flai96
flai96
Interview at Corpus Christi! Anyone else?
What are people doing to prepare for the interviews? I have a Skype interview on Monday and my college wifi isn't the best so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping it decides to behave
What about keeping up with current affairs? Do the tutors expect us to know all of the stuff that happened recently or just events that are somehow linked to areas we mentioned in our personal statements? Any help from current/former students or people who did an interview would be greatly appreciated. :redrose:
Original post by JerseyGirl
What about keeping up with current affairs? Do the tutors expect us to know all of the stuff that happened recently or just events that are somehow linked to areas we mentioned in our personal statements? Any help from current/former students or people who did an interview would be greatly appreciated. :redrose:


They'd expect you to know a bit about what's going on in the world beyond just the areas you wrote about. Don't just look at stuff for your personal statement, as many tutors don't even look at it properly. Really, if you want to do PPE it shoudn't be too much of a struggle to read a newspaper occasionally! (Also, most interview questions probably won't be about something happening currently, but you can often relate the questions to things you know about.)
Original post by JerseyGirl
What about keeping up with current affairs? Do the tutors expect us to know all of the stuff that happened recently or just events that are somehow linked to areas we mentioned in our personal statements? Any help from current/former students or people who did an interview would be greatly appreciated. :redrose:


Above all, they want to know that you can think and are interested in the subjects and the ideas that surround them. Keeping up with, for example, current national political and economic debates might give you some interesting things to mention in passing as part of your answer to a question.
Original post by magicmuggle
They'd expect you to know a bit about what's going on in the world beyond just the areas you wrote about. Don't just look at stuff for your personal statement, as many tutors don't even look at it properly. Really, if you want to do PPE it shoudn't be too much of a struggle to read a newspaper occasionally! (Also, most interview questions probably won't be about something happening currently, but you can often relate the questions to things you know about.)


Can I ask what Maths we might expect to do for the interview? I asked a friend who's at Oxford to ask PPE students and they said they had to do some differentiation. Is there any other maths likely to come up?
Original post by magicmuggle
They'd expect you to know a bit about what's going on in the world beyond just the areas you wrote about. Don't just look at stuff for your personal statement, as many tutors don't even look at it properly. Really, if you want to do PPE it shoudn't be too much of a struggle to read a newspaper occasionally! (Also, most interview questions probably won't be about something happening currently, but you can often relate the questions to things you know about.)


Thank you! I am reading a newspaper daily but I wanted to know what I should prepare for in depth.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Askaud
Can I ask what Maths we might expect to do for the interview? I asked a friend who's at Oxford to ask PPE students and they said they had to do some differentiation. Is there any other maths likely to come up?


You might get some integration, or graph sketching. Be familiar with things like exponential functions, quadratics, cubic function shapes, a/x, graphs involving ln and e. My interview involved none of this, but I know others who had nothing but graph sketching for one econ interview. You never really know. Just generally make sure you know C1 and C2 if you did AS level maths.
Original post by JerseyGirl
Thank you! I am reading a newspaper daily but I wanted to know what I should prepare for in depth.


To be honest, you're unlikely to be asked to talk about something you've prepared for in depth - they more want to know how you react to new information. As long as you know vaguely what's been going on and you can talk about your personal statement if asked, you're all set. Good luck!
Reply 7492
Avatar for fumar4
fumar4
Original post by flai96
Interview at Corpus Christi! Anyone else?


Same. I have one on Monday for PPE at Corpus Christie too. I am nervous about it already. How are you feeling? When is your interview?
How is everyone feeling now the whole process is over? What are your thoughts on both parts of the application process?
Just wanted to get peoples opinion on my dilemma.
I am unsure if I want to apply for E&M, economics at cambridge, ppe at oxford, philosophy/theology at either.
I enjoy economics more than theology but theology is way easier to get into and i find it interesting enough to study at uni.
Because i like them both, i thought ppe was a good option but that was highly competitive as is E&M.
I dont want to apply for economics if i have a bad chance of getting in especially as i really want to go to oxbridge and study.
The question is, is a degree at oxbridge better than a degree in a subject you enjoy but at a worse uni more valuable?

N.B. My igcse was 10 A* and 1 A. And my. AS subjects are maths, further maths, theology and economics

Would love to get ur opinions on what i should do
Original post by AbsurdBanana
How is everyone feeling now the whole process is over? What are your thoughts on both parts of the application process?

After I sat the TSA I thought I had no chance at all and just wanted to get my rejection letter. Then I got an invitation to interview and was completely baffled. The interviews weren't great but I fell in love with Magdalen College so much during the interview period that I'm seriously considering to reapply if I don't get in - something I never thought I'd do before.

What about you?
Original post by JerseyGirl
After I sat the TSA I thought I had no chance at all and just wanted to get my rejection letter. Then I got an invitation to interview and was completely baffled. The interviews weren't great but I fell in love with Magdalen College so much during the interview period that I'm seriously considering to reapply if I don't get in - something I never thought I'd do before.

What about you?


I was at Magdalen as well! I think everyone hated the TSA but that hasn't stopped me worrying about it. My interviews were okay - Lizzie's Philosophy one was definitely the nastiest, but I feel I did myself justice on some level!!
Original post by AbsurdBanana
I was at Magdalen as well! I think everyone hated the TSA but that hasn't stopped me worrying about it. My interviews were okay - Lizzie's Philosophy one was definitely the nastiest, but I feel I did myself justice on some level!!

Really? Haha, what a coincidence!
I thought "Lizzie's" interview was by far the best! The Economics one on the other hand was rock bottom, I just sat there and stuttered and the Politics one wasn't too good either as it was my first interview and the whole thing just made me f-ing nervous and anxious.
Original post by JerseyGirl
Really? Haha, what a coincidence!
I thought "Lizzie's" interview was by far the best! The Economics one on the other hand was rock bottom, I just sat there and stuttered and the Politics one wasn't too good either as it was my first interview and the whole thing just made me f-ing nervous and anxious.


Most people hated the economics one because of the problem solving question at the beginning but i managed to get that one right! Out of interest was your Philosophy interview on the last day? Did you have the three syllogisms to look at before hand?
Original post by AbsurdBanana
Most people hated the economics one because of the problem solving question at the beginning but i managed to get that one right! Out of interest was your Philosophy interview on the last day? Did you have the three syllogisms to look at before hand?

My Economics interview was the last one on Monday, at like 5.40 pm and hence I was both nervous and tired, not a good combination! How did you solve the puzzle?
And yes, my Philosophy interview was on the last day and I had those three syllogisms but we managed to talk only about the first two because time was over soon.

On a different note, I have to email my half-year report to them and whilst it is probably better to send it to the college than to the university(?), I'm unsure whether to address it to the Admission Officer, the Tutor for Admissions or the Admissions office in general. What would you do?

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