Oxford PPE Math

I’m from the US and I want to apply to oxford PPE next year. I haven’t taken calculus yet, is this a requirement?

It will be difficult to go far in the process if you’re not taking AP Calc BC next year. An A level in Math or Further Math is expected for UK PPE applicants. How much research have you done on Oxford requirements?

I’ve done a good amount of research. I will be taking subject tests of course, and I’ll take Math 1 so will that be a good substitute? If not do you recommend I take calc over the summer instead? I’ll be taking ap stats next year if that helps at all.

That won’t be sufficient (ie you will be rejected if you don’t list Calc BC as taken or in progress). Calc BC is a minimum requirement (and is less math than most U.K. applicants will have). Doing it “over the summer” won’t be much help either, you need to take the test and get a 5, that will be part of a conditional offer (if you were to get one).

The economics part of the interview is pretty challenging too. AP Micro and Macro are a big help. AP Stats is not needed. The Math 1 subject test is trivially easy and will look bad, you should be getting an 800 on the Math 2 subject test. What APs and scores do you have already?

As a point of reference my S (790 SAT Math/800 Math 2 subject test/5 Calc BC) couldn’t solve the economics question at interview and didn’t get an offer as a result.

I don’t have any 5’s yet but I expect to get one in ap macro, micro, us gov, and maybe Ap comp. For subject tests I am planning on taking Math II (now that I know Math I isn’t good enough), literature, and US History. Should I take different subject tests? Also I plan on taking AP Psych, computer science, and stats next year. Should I switch one out for ap calc with all that in mind?

Also my school doesn’t offer calc bc (I go to a very small school in a very rural area) so that’s why I’m trying to find a way around that. The best I could do is take calc ab, so when I say ap calc I’m referring to calc ab.

You should take Calc 1 and Calc 2 at community college (and get As) if you can’t do Calc BC at high school. You may still need to take the Calc BC AP test. Don’t focus as much on subject tests, they aren’t considered as helpful and are could harm your application if you get a lowish score, since all test scores must be declared. Can you take an AP History class? The key APs would be 5s in English Language, History (US or Euro) and Calc BC, with Economics being a helpful addition.

I took ap world history last year although I got a 3 and I know that won’t help. Will I have to submit that like the sat tests?

Yes you have to submit all test results. If you have a number of low AP scores then that may negatively affect your application, so you will need to excel even more on the TSA in order to get an interview.

I assume you also realize you should go to Oxford in person for the interview if you get invited (COVID-19 permitting).

There are other universities in the UK offering PPE which may have lower entry requirements. You would need to investigate.

Other posters will reiterate: this is not just getting in, this is about being able to cope with the level of work once you get there.

Also - NO financial aid is available for international students except the $5.5k fed loan so ensure your family can pay before you start this process.

Or find colleges in the US which offer PPE or have a curriculum which allows you to study that combination of subjects (there is a lot of choice depending on what you want and are suited to)

Yep, many PPE options in the UK and US and double/triple major options in the US, though the UK unis would generally expect you to hit the ground running, so to speak.

In the US, you could beef up your math skills before getting in to the heart of your major (being a 4-year degree).

Also, you shouldn’t let what your school offers limit you (rather, if you do, you’re not cut out for Oxford, or most top UK unis, which expect their students to do a lot of self-study). In other words, you’d be expected to self-study and get a 5 on the AP BC Calc test. Take a look at what are covered in A-Levels Maths and Further Maths (they’re online). That’s the material you would be expected to know and understand well before you start at (a top) uni in the UK.

I know, the money won’t be an issue for me, and assuming the the travel bans are I will have no issue traveling there too. So are you saying that if I don’t take calc bc I won’t even get an interview or are you saying that assuming I do really well at my interview, I would get a conditional offer? Also, even if I do well on my sat math and sat math subject tests I’ll likely have to take ap calc bc?

If you don’t list Calc BC as one of your planned exams then I would expect you to be rejected without an interview. The SAT/SAT2 scores won’t be considered an adequate substitute.

Even if you do list it, and do well enough in the TSA to get an interview and do well enough in the interview to get an offer, then it is very likely that the offer would be conditional on getting a 5 in Calc BC and perhaps 1 or 2 others of the AP exams you list as planned for 2021 (once they decide to make an offer conditional they can impose whatever conditions they like, remember that APs are deemed easy and most applicants should be able to rack up a large number of 5s, also all offers to UK students are conditional on A levels, so no slacking off in senior year is allowed there).

It seems like other schools are a better fit for you. Oxford PPE expects very strong quantitative skills.

What is required to get an interview? I thought I just had to meet the minimum academic requirements to get one.

Yes it’s starting to look like that since getting a 5 on calc bc without actually taking the class would be very difficult for me. I was also looking at LSE so if you know stuff about there I’ll be making a post about that.

I believe about 1 in 3 applicants receive interviews, and those applicants from the US usually present with AP scores of 5 in BC calculus and 2 other subjects and score very highly on the TSA entrance exam, which is quite quantitative. Of those interviewed, 1 in 3 get offers.

Alright thank you for all the help. I’ll have to decide if I want to apply then because to apply obviously I have to take the tsa (the nearest test site for me is in another state), and I was okay with that but if I don’t really have a real chance of getting in it’s not worth that right? I mean the only other option for that would be to get my school to proctor it but I don’t want waste their time if I don’t end up applying.

You have to take the TSA test and get a high score, that is weighed with the rest of your application and your reference (including predicted scores, which had better be all 5s). The majority of PPE applicants are rejected at that stage (the % rejected varies by subject dependent on the ratio of applicants to places but PPE has a very large number of applicants), and each college then interviews 3 times as many applicants as they have places. So only ~1/3 of interviewees will then get an offer. All the stats are online.

LSE gives even fewer offers and demands even more APs, maybe one American a year gets in for PPE, so your chances there may be worse not better.

I read that 10% of LSE students are North American students though, and assumably at least half come from the US. And they say they only want one A level Math so that could be AP stats correct? Just because they don’t specify.