<p>I didn't have my personal statement proofread or edited. And looking at it again after sending it... (shudder). </p>
<p>My choices were Oxford (PPE), UCL (Philosophy and Economics; pretty sure I won't get in cuz I didn't talk about economics extensively), Warwick (PPE), Durham (PPE), and LSE (Philosophy and Politics). I'm an intl student applying from the U.S.</p>
<p>Where did you guys apply to?</p>
<p>I submitted mine for Oxford (PPE) only. I don't relish the thought of living in the UK, so I doubt it would have been worth it to apply to another university. My personal statement was fine for the most part (although, looking back, half of it could be interpreted as a rant against the mainstream media), but I made a glaring, fundamental error towards the end. Are you interviewing in NYC for Oxford?</p>
<p>Oxford for engineering. It's my favorite university, and ideal place to be. My P.S. was 37 lines outa 47...and my reference was written by a braggart of a counselor, who had no idea of UK references. But I have solid grades n stuff...think I have a chance?</p>
<p>My reference is pretty solid. I asked a college philosophy teacher from for reference. I think I'll withdraw my application because the personal statement just worries me like hell. Moreover, I'm so not prepared for the interview AND the PPE test. Applying to PPE is like trying to crack a stone with an egg. I haven't even prepared that intensively, so I'm not really sure now.</p>
<p>^^What was the fundamental error, if I may ask?</p>
<p>Well, in school (this was in World History, so not exactly a philosophy course) we learned that consequentialism was the opposite of utilitarianism. So in my essay, I wrote extensively about how consequentalism and utilitarianism were diametrically different paradigms. Unfortunately, our teacher mistook deontological ethics for consequentialism; it turns out that consequentialism is just a type of utilitarianism and that the two are essentially the same. Of course, I had the bright idea of looking this stuff up on Wikipedia only after submitting my PS.</p>
<p>But you shouldn't withdraw your application. The personal statement isn't that important; plus, I wouldn't know how to prepare for the interview or the PPE test even if I wanted to. You can't predict what questions they'll ask and the test seems to be SAT-like, so preparation hurts as much as it helps. I'm just hoping not to come off as a complete fool during the interview (I have tendency of doing that) and to do reasonably well on the test.</p>
<p>^Are you sure about that? I always thought that the personal statement is as important as the interview. I still have a little more than one week to decide whether to withdraw, so I'm gonna think about it.</p>