<p>E&M is almost impossible to get into. Again, my buddy with a dumptruck full of 5s and a 2400 got in, but not even to his first choice res college.</p>
<p>As for the personal statement, which is the only place where you can really talk about your extracurriculars, it's usually pretty easy to fudge that. ECs are not really that important to british schools. Often, you can say you're applying to a course because it interests you, and it you've always been interested, and you read The Economist, etc. Just make sure you sound like you've spent a little time researching the field.</p>
<p>Don't worry if you don't get into your first choice college - it's really not an issue. About 20% of students at Oxford are at colleges different from the ones they specified on the app. It doesn't mean they're the worst 20% at all - it just means that the college they applied to had too many good applicants so they spread them out to other colleges! </p>
<p>Treasurer and fundraisers both sound good :) And yeah, make sure you read The Economist! Not just for your economics interview, but just in case they throw something random at you about politics or something. Plus, The Economist is just great anyway. (<em>Proud subscriber</em> ;) )</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. :)
I'm going to start reading the Economist and other magazines and books during the summer. The thing that worries me the most about British schools is the interview (if I ever get to that point). :(</p>
<p>You will get to that point assuming you are intent on going to a British school. I think the interview would be hard because you're nervous, not that you don't know the stuff. Like the helium question, I could display how to approach it from the computer screen but at an interview I know I'd look like a fool.</p>
<p>Don't worry, I got most things wrong in my interview and I still got in! The thing is not to panic - if you don't know the answer, ask your interviewer to guide you. Just don't try and bluff it, because they will be able to tell! When I was applying, my teacher told me that they don't care about what you already know - they will teach you what they want you to know. What they're interested in is how you think, how you make connections, how you pull limited facts together to create a coherent conclusion. </p>
<p>The helium question was actually for engineering/NatSci at Cambridge, I realise now. Apparently the answer is something to do with the atomic weight of helium: </p>
<p>"24 dm^3 of hydrogen will produce about 26 grams of lift (molecular weight of nitrogen 28), so infact it's close to one gram per litre. So 60 kg will need 60,000 litres, which is 60 m^3 (actually that's probably abit more than you need, but with the weight of the balloon etc. you need that excess)". </p>