<p>I'm a Korean national living in the United States. Reading PPE at either Merton, Magdalen, New or Christ Church has been a goal of mine since middle school. I've studied at an American public school for all four years, and now I'm about to apply to Oxford (through UCAS) alongside US schools in the Common Application. GPA aside, here are my qualifications:</p>
<p>-2350 Combined SAT score
-800 SAT II World History
-800 SAT II Math 2
-730 SAT II US History
-117 TOEFL
-All 5's in AP World History, AP Environmental Science, AP English Language & Composition, AP Calculus AB, AP US History.
-Enrolled in AP Statistics, AP Comparative Government, AP Literature, AP Physics B for senior year.
-Language&Composition teacher offered to write me a recommendation for Oxford.
-Significant ECs in mathematics + politics + international relations + business + law. I won't specify ECs for personal reasons.</p>
<p>Please estimate whether I would have a chance at reading PPE at Merton, Magdalen, New or Christ Church colleges, with the knowledge that I could:</p>
<ol>
<li>Re-evaluate chances at getting into these colleges and focus on "less competitive" targets.</li>
<li>Re-evaluate chances at getting into Oxford all-together.</li>
</ol>
<p>You’ll qualify for the Aptitude Test and Interview stage.</p>
<p>They will judge your application based on how well you fared in the test and interview. The interview is academic by the way, so make sure you know your stuff.</p>
<p>IF your TSA score is good and you have a credible PS and recommendation you should qualify for an interview. After that, all bets are off. </p>
<p>As for your colleges, yes they are amongst Oxfords high profile colleges, but it barely matters: the pooling system at Oxford works extremely well. Different subjects handle it differently, but basically each college gets to pick over its direct applicants first, and then there is a process of cross allocation. For example, Merton typically takes about 8 PPEists/ year. As they interview about 3x as many people as they have places, they will offer interviews to about 24 people p.a. So, they will look at their applicants for PPE, pull out their favorite 24, reject outright candidates that they don’t think are suitable and put the rest into a pool. The objective is to make sure that Oxford as university doesn’t miss out on a good candidate who applies to a college that is oversubscribed. As a result, every year 20-30% of applicants are re-allocated to another college. Happily, everybody seems to like where they end up. So, apply to your favorite.</p>
<p>btw, as sfsy12 mentioned, the interview is more like an oral exam than a ‘let’s get to know you’- it is designed to see how you handle unfamiliar material and the tutorial format. For example in Math, you would be given problems to solve that are more advanced than what you have encountered so far, to see how you approach it. I know of a politics interview in which the candidate had mentioned the Arab Spring in their PS, and they were asked to describe what from of government they thought the Egyptians should adopt. There was then a very intense discussion in which the candidate had to defend that view while taking onboard the critiques of the tutor. Again, the idea is to see what it would be like to teach you in a tutorial format.</p>
<p>Thank you for the replies, they were all helpful. I’ve read/heard of/researched colleges that offer PPE, and so far those four were highest on my list.
I’ve also heard Balliol is the “birthplace” of PPE, but I’ve taken it off my list for now because I’m guessing the admissions there would be especially competitive. But hearing about the pool scheme, I’m wondering what step to take next. I wouldn’t want to apply to Balliol, get thrown in the pool, and then sent to a college that I don’t find appealing.
If I want to pursue a career in corporate management or finance, would reading PPE at Oxford still make sense? Over Economics & Management? If E&M were to be the better choice, would my listed AP’s be enough for admission?
Do conditional offers ask for 5’s on senior year AP courses, typically?
Would I be able to expect interview offers held in the United States?</p>
<p>1) Balliol is no more ‘competitive’ than any of the other colleges you mentioned. Some colleges have reputations - Merton, for example, is seen as a very studious college (for example, your place in the room draw is determined by your rank in your class) and as the college “where fun goes to die” (a stereotype they dispute). But as you can see in this years Norrington table ([Undergraduate</a> Degree Classifications 2012/13 - University of Oxford](<a href=“http://www.ox.ac.uk/about_the_university/facts_and_figures/norringtontable.html]Undergraduate”>http://www.ox.ac.uk/about_the_university/facts_and_figures/norringtontable.html)) they barely finished ahead of the much more laid back Trinity. Have you read the alternative prospectuses, or the guide to Oxford colleges on the student room website?</p>
<p>Hand on heart, I don’t know anybody that doesn’t end up loving the college that they end up in, and you are as likely to be pooled applying to college X or Y. The only thing you <em>might</em> consider (since you don’t seem as if you are likely to stop trying to find a way to introduce some certainty into an uncertain process!) is to consider which of the 3 parts of PPE you feel strongest about, and then look at the tutors of that subject in your favorite colleges. So if it is Econ that you think you want to focus on, look at the areas of interest of the Econ tutors. But be aware that you may well be taught that subject at another college- you don’t necessarily have all your tutorials in your own college, much less lectures. </p>
<p>2) Yes, but do yourself a favor: read the subject descriptions carefully. Both of them- and a number of others will serve you just fine for management or finance. Choose based on what you are actually going to have to study. Seriously, there is nothing that will take the joy out of Oxford faster than choosing a subject that you don’t genuinely love. Also nothing that will undercut your application more.</p>
<p>3) Oh yes indeedy they do and it is no fun at all, when all your pals have their college placements set and all they need AP scores for is to get out of first year classes. Obviously, an unconditional offer would be much happier. </p>
<p>4) Interviews are at Oxford or by Skype. Although there are Skype horror stories, I know plenty of people at Oxford who were interviewed by Skype. However, if you can manage it at all, I highly recommend making the effort / expense to get there. You get a sense of the place, you are available for extra interviews, you get to meet some of your peers, and it is a lot of fun (yes, really, even with the stress).</p>
<p>Wow. Thank you for generously writing out such a well thought-out, genuine response. I’m starting to admire users here more and more. I’m really sorry, but I have just one more question (I think). I’d rate myself as much better read in Politics and Economics. Those two subject matters have been my favorite for several years. I’m aware that PPE admissions look for students well-rounded in all three Philosophy, Politics and Economics. How would you recommend I prepare for interview grillings on Philosophy, specifically? Any books you would recommend I read before I fly over to the UK?</p>
<p>You are very welcome- just let us know how it all works out for you :-)</p>
<p>Suggest you prowl around the PPE thread on the student room- there is always a lot of angst about just that question- most people don’t love all 3 equally!</p>
<p>Sorry for replying so late, but I still feel an obligation to get back to you. I ended up interviewing at Oxford, but was rejected after the interview. Was accepted to colleges in the states but decided to go on a gap year travelling & volunteering abroad. I’m going to reapply to Oxford, since after visiting it became my #1 dream school, my senior AP exams ended up being 4’s and now I have a grand total of 5555544444 for my APs. I’m deeming those 4’s to be problematic.</p>
<p>I think you’re right, especially as they include the economics subjects as per your other thread. Do have a decent fallback plan. I would be concerned that your stats look poorer now than they did last year as a result of the 4s you scored on this year’s courses, and they’ve already seen you at interview, so unless you were only a marginal cut I wonder if you might not get an interview this time. How did you feel the interview went specifically? Poss worth applying to different colleges this time?</p>
<p>Dude look, we appreciate you updating the thread, Oxford is really tough, I just got through assisting my DS14 apply, we took the TSA but did not get an interview, he like you was a really good candidate and a UK citizen. Sometimes though you have to staop and say, maybe not this time, I hate to tell you but I don’t think a gap year and a new app will change the result, it is even more comp this year and your stats haven’t really changed. PPE is one of the toughest to get into and if you did an open app last year like my DS did, you likely explored all the options</p>
<p>As i said to my DS who was really OK about not getting in, he was admitted and just matriculated at an EC elite private LAC, Oxford was not to be, but consider a summer of study abroad at Oxbridge he is</p>
<p>My reasons for taking a gap year are completely unrelated to Oxford. I simply need a break.</p>
<p>As for the interview, I know exactly what went wrong. I’d feel confident going in, but I think that, as Conformist1688 has mentioned, my application looks weaker than last year when i had all 5’s and predicted 5’s. </p>
<p>Regarding colleges, I’m applying to a different one. I was never pooled, so they’ve never seen my application before.</p>