How to prepare for Oxford?

Student Lounge International Students
1

I am a south Asian HS sophomore living in the US. Oxford is one of my dream schools, and I plan to pursue the economics and management course. I’ve heard that in order to have a shot at oxford, you need to have depth of knowledge on the subjects you want to study. So here are my questions:

  1. I would imagine that to do well on the interview, you need to know more about Econ than what’s offered in the AP curriculum. How can I prepare for this interview? What should I be doing/studying?
  2. What was the econ interview like for those who have taken it?
  3. Does Oxford care about extracurriculars? I have started a business and I would hope admissions officers would look upon this favorably.

Thank you to anyone who responds!

2

Here is the admissions information from Oxford: https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/international-students/international-qualifications?wssl=1

3
  1. Very tough course to get into, perhaps harder for Americans than PPE. Very mathy: 5 on Calc BC (and probably more math beyond that) is critically important (you'd get a conditional offer if you didn't already have it in your junior year). Remember you need a reference from a teacher, ideally your AP Economics teacher saying you are the best student he's ever taught.
  2. S18's economics part of his PPE interview was essentially mathematical economics. His lack of familiarity with economics (he'd not done AP Economics) which prevented him from figuring out an obscurely phrased question about demand/supply curves was a big problem, even though he's competent at math (800 on SAT 2 etc). Read some UK A-level economics textbooks as a starting point. Try and find an internship with an economics professor or a summer program in economics. Demonstrate it's your passion.
  3. No, it's irrelevant. Frankly, if it seems like a distraction from your studies, then it would be a negative not a positive.
4

If this is truly your aim it might be worth looking into whether any of the public schools in your area offer the IB program. My daughter took IB econ at her public California high school and it was way more in-depth than both AP classes combined. In fact she only got a 5 out of 7 on the IB econ exam but easily scored a 5 out of 5 on both AP tests without any extra studying. I would assume but the UK parents can confirm that the IB econ class is more similar to what an A-level econ class would be.

5

If you aren’t already reading the Economist, start reading it now- pretty much cover to cover, every week. Reading the Financial Times is also a good plan.