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

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I know two guys who got offers for PPE who did:

Politics
Economics
Maths
History
Maths, its not necessary, but its on Oxford's list of 'helpful' subjects for PPE. Would you really want to pursue a degree involving substantial amounts of Maths without an ALevel in it. Selfteaching may be an option?
A friend of mine has an offer for PPE based on Maths (A) Further Maths (A) Chemistry (A) and Latin.
If you have a look at the PPE thread then you'll see that many of this years successful applicants have history or maths or both as these are the subjects are 'useful'.
History can sometimes be done without if you have another essay-based subject to replace it and many get by without maths A-level. However if you didn't get at least an A grade at GCSE it's likely that you'll struggle.
Someone in my year got an offer of AABB in Maths, English, History and Physics for PPE. She's also doing Further Maths by herself.
Thanks for the help...

So would History, Philosophy (The OCR exam board call it 'religious studies') and Law at A2 be acceptable A-levels for apply for PPE? Sorry to repeat my self!

Thanks again
charlie47
Thanks for the help...

So would History, Philosophy (The OCR exam board call it 'religious studies') and Law at A2 be acceptable A-levels for apply for PPE? Sorry to repeat my self!

Thanks again


You have two 'traditional' subjects which is absolutely fine for PPE. Fortunately Oxford does not have a 'black list' of subjects like Cambridge so Law shouldn't pose as much of a problem either. As long as you do some reading/show potential in each of the subjects of PPE then you should be ok.
imo you'd be better off doing graphics, leisure studies and textiles.
Does anyone have any comments, experiences or thoughts about doing Economics as an AS in year 13? Would it help when applying for PPE?

Thanks again for the help

"He's usually a good puller - but he couldn't get it up that time." - Richie Benaud (cricket commentator) CLASSIC!!!
ASs in year 13 are largely pointless. Concentrate on your A2s, you'll pick up economics from scratch at uni anyway.
hahaha well if the whole oxford process was the major part of your last few months then yes i suppose so, however i've got far to much on my plate at the mo to have to worry about that :biggrin:. Btw a question for those already at oxford. How often do you get tutorials at other colleges? I mean , with my knowledge, i'd imagine itd be failry common seing as ones interests may not match specialisations of college tutors. Plus i like the idea of moving from college to college to be taught, i love variety like that. Any info would be awesome.
Forget economics, taking up maths is probably more beneficial. Having said that, as The West Wing has said, even that is ill-advised.
What about doing the full A-level in one year? Has anybody done this?

Do you think doing either Maths or Economics as a full A2 would be beneficial when applying for PPE at Oxford?

Thanks for the help
A friend of mine who got into Oxford to do PPE this year took A Levels in History, English Literature, Politics and Economics.
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charlie47
Does anyone have any comments, experiences or thoughts about doing Economics as an AS in year 13? Would it help when applying for PPE?


I'm doing AS Economics this year and I'm not sure how much it affected my application, other than causing minor confusion regarding what type of economics interview to give me. It does show a motivation to study the subject I suppose. I find it interesting and I enjoy it, but it's unlikely to give your application a major boost so if you value your free periods or think you might need to concentrate on your 3 A2s then I wouldn't bother.

On the other hand, I think that Maths AS in year 13 would be very useful and relevant to the course; I know someone who has an offer for 2008 which includes an A in AS maths.
I did A level economics in one year! Sorry to come in so late! I got an offer- I can use the A I got in economics last year, and need two more this year from Maths, History, or Philosophy. I's definately doable if you just get yourself a good textbook. There's really not that much to it (sorry to anyone doing economics!). But it did help that I'd done the GCSE, and had a teacher to give me a few private lessons to make sure I had the basics sorted. But, like the others, I'd say maths is more important, and you could do that in one year too. Why don't you like that idea?
All the best anyway,
Sally
I'm thinking about doing a full maths A level in year 13. I got an A at GCSE but I havent studied it for almost a year so will have probably forgotten most of it.
well to be honest maths a level is quite different to GCSE, so if you feel you'd be able to cope with the full a level in one year then i'd say go for it. No doubt it would be rather hard. But if your going for PPE i would really encourage you to do some maths, in a post a while ago i mentioned as to why. Basically at my college all the people who did maths, got these really easy calculus questions , wheraes everyone else who didnt do a level maths got these logic questions which are fine if your really good at them, but they were comparitively much harder.
aaah.. but DON'T just do it for the interview! You need to be good at maths because, to cope with the course, you need to be good at maths. So do prepare for the interview, but also prepare for the course afterwards if you get accepted! I didn't need maths at all for my interview but the logical demands of it helped me A LOT.
Yes of course, as sally said above, to do it just to get in would be foolish because of the demands during the course. Personally i love studying maths, its one of the reasons why i chose PPE!

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