Things to Know before Hand

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey guyss. I am a current high school sophomore who plans to apply to Oxford's Balliol college for PPE. I was wondering if you could help me with some chancing stuff because I really have no idea what to do to increase my chances. Currently I have a:</p>

<p>GPA (3.97) unweighted (4.78) weighted (my sophomore classes haven't been factored into my transcript yet so it's just freshman classes)</p>

<p>PSAT: this year 72 reading 70 math 63 critical writing</p>

<p>EC's:</p>

<p>State & County Jazz Band (guitar 1 year)</p>

<p>Orchestra Pit (guitar, electric bass, banjo, occasional piano)</p>

<p>President Improv. Music Club (I founded it so only 1 year)</p>

<p>Honors Society (1 year)</p>

<p>Physics Club (1 year)</p>

<p>Math Team (was on for a while but I quit)</p>

<pre><code> Aside from improving my SAT scores, what other kinds of EC's do Oxford admissions look for? I read a lot of book on politcs and economics, I subscribe to the Economist and Political Science quarterly, and my teachers all know that I have a lot of genuine interest in PPE. The only problem is that I can't find very many EC's and summer programs that can show my interests on my transcript. I know about TASP, but are there any other summer programs for rising seniors (even rising juniors) about political science, economics, or philosophy? I know about the national econ challenge, and I plan to compete in it, but are there any other types of political science related challenges/opportunities that I could pursue through my school? Right now I feel like the only way I can show my interest is to take AP courses at school, which is why I decided to take Stat, Econ, Lang, and Comp Gov next year (in addition to BC, Physics C, and World). Are there any international students on this forum who got accepted to Oxford?
</code></pre>

<p>Tanks in advance.</p>

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<p>hey!! i took a look at oxford’s PPE as well…it seems that foreign students have to take a placement exam…I’ve also heard that it’s rather difficult for Americans to get in…and i believe that they are not very keen on extracurricular activities…i’ll go look right now…i’ll tell you later ;)</p>

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<p>Hey apu, I applied this year to St. Hugh’s for straight up history (a relatively easy to get into subject). Needless to say, I qualified as an interview finalist but was rejected on Christmas Eve. </p>

<p>Oxford gives a rats’ ass only about one thing as far as ECs are concerned: things that are pertinent to the subject you are applying. You may as well ditch physics club, orchestra, band, etc. Try to start a company, take part in a local election campaign, maybe submit an article to a intellectual journal. </p>

<p>Don’t get me wrong, my Oxford experience was great, but I’ll tell you right now it’s a long shot. PPE is the single most competitive field that Oxford offers (beyond picking your own major which a friend who I met successfully got an offer for - History and Politics). Now, the reason why I consider the experience great (even though getting rejected) is because I know I gave it my best shot. I thought my two interviews went as best as they possibly could: Given that I had to discuss Lenin’s Grain Requisition of 1921, Regional Conflicts within 16th century Spain, the doctrine of Adam Smith, Britain’s Policy of Free Trade in the mid 19th century, King Leopold’s Congo, and the state of the Spanish bureaucracy in the 16th century. See that’s where the problem arises. Not to be pretentious, but I thought, given the chance for an interview, that I would be accepted to Oxford. My reasoning was that I’m quite charismatic, obviously confident in my abilities, and I’ve never met anyone who I’ve considered to have a greater propensity towards history than myself. (Even after meeting the other candidates, this illusion of myself still holds true xD) But, even having fortuitously remembered some of those super obscure subjects that the tutors prompted me to discuss - I was rejected. I actually did know every single one of those subjects that they prompted, but the depth of my knowledge was limited because of my American Curriculum. You see, British students, your competitors, will have started specializing in the equivalent of the American sophomore year. Intended History majors could very well not have taken a math or science class in two years, and taken only history oriented subjects that furthermore are extremely specialized. While I was taking US History, World History, and European History, they were taking Margaret Thatcher, The Russian Revolution of 1917, or other specialized subjects like The British Raj. From this I realized, that I never, ever had a chance. Oxford tutors just aren’t keen on teaching products of the American education system. </p>

<p>However, don’t be discouraged from applying. Like I said it was a great experience. You’ll get to make some really cool facebook friends and have some fun nights out at pubs. (Granted you qualify as a finalist.) You will have to do the UCAS application system which is a pain. You will have to write a Personal Statement which is weird for us Americans used to writing with our “voice.” And, you will have to take a entrance exam of some sort. It’s a rigorous process but as I found out the worst thing they could say is “no.” And after hearing it, life is still good for me. </p>

<p>Sorry for the novel, I’m quite interested in the subject still :)</p>

<p>Let me know if you have further questions and if you want to compare here are my stats:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/801251-chance-anglo-saxon-hero-ivies-tier-1-schools.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/801251-chance-anglo-saxon-hero-ivies-tier-1-schools.html&lt;/a&gt;
Only update is that I was ranked 16 in my class not 20.</p>

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<p>Wow Beowolf, i can’t thank enough for that information. I checked out your stats by the way IMPRESSIVE! I think you will get in to a lot of the colleges on your list. I do have a few questions though.</p>

<p>For starters, I checked up on ‘straight-up’ history at Oxford and the website recomends that student take A-level history courses. But on the PPE page it openly says that students may apply having done any combination of subjects in school and that it is not necessary to have studied any of the 3 subjects. I know that some of this is ********, but it seems that PPE allows students, even american students, to indicate their interests during junior and senior year through their course selection (my school offers philosophy at a college campus for seniors). I do have a few cousins who live in the UK, but I’m not exactly sure that their course selection allows for very detailed and specialized study for economics or politics. </p>

<p>Again thanks for the head’s up about the EC’s, the only thing is that I want to show the Oxford tutors that I’ve read, and understand, a vast majority of articles and works by Plato, Rousseau, and Diderot; I’m just not sure how to show that. How do British students manage to display their understanding of these and other necessary philosophical texts? Econ seems easy enough, but I really don’t see how they manage to pull of philosophy.</p>

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<p>The Philosophy option you can take as a senior seems like a great idea. My best advice would be to get in touch with that professor before hand and see if he can help you find an outlet to publish an article or something of the like. </p>

<p>However, your philosophy dilemma is actually easily remedied. You will simply show your competence during one of your various interviews. These “interviews” are hardly interviews in the American collegiate sense of the term. They are much more like oral exams, and if you know your stuff you’ll do well. </p>

<p>I’m not quite sure to be honest how British students show their understanding of philosophy. As I said earlier, I applied for just History. I imagine that there are certain A levels that Oxford tutors look for when reviewing philosophy applicants. </p>

<p>Sorry I couldn’t be more help</p>

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<p>PS. Balliol is like Hogwarts.</p>

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<p>Lol is that a good thing? I mean does the college that you apply to actually matter in terms of whether you get accepted or not? And what does that ‘percent of undergraduates students accepted actually mean’?</p>

<p>Soory Beowulf I just have a lot of questions</p>

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<p>I suppose the best advice I could give you, apu99992, in terms of expectations, is to watch The History Boys. :smiley:
In all seriousness, however, preparation for Oxbridge exams is no joke – people began to study from a young age. As Beowulf said, they ‘specialise’ in whatever it is that they would like to study very early on (starting with GCSE – General Certificate of Secondary Education – courses sometime around the American equivalent of middle school). Later, in the high school equivalent, they take A-Levels, so 3-4 subjects that they could potentially study at uni. PPE is a very broad field, so that is why there isn’t a specific pre-requisite. </p>

<p>American college interviews and the English interviews are NOT one and the same. Granted, no one in Oxford (or even Kent or Hertfordshire, haha) will ask you ‘what colour do you feel represents your personality’? It’s an oral exam to see how you can cope under pressure. Questions can be about anything, from the Suez Canal to the price of a vacuum cleaner. I concur once more with Beowulf – extracurricular are NOT as big of a deal in the UK as here in the US. What are you MOST interested in? Languages, arts, etc? Elaborate on your strengths. And if you are a trumpet player, for instance, how does the Knitting Club tie into your trumpet playing?</p>

<p>As to your philosophy inquiry, apu99992, you could compare and contrast. ‘Event X clearly demonstrates philosopher Y’s view/prediction concerning ___ due to…’ or something along the lines of. I don’t recall if this was Oxford or Cambridge, but you do NOT need to apply to a specific college. You can have a college assigned to you.</p>

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<p>Lol mashaishere thanks for the tips I’ll watch The History Boys sometime soon. Again I can’t thank you guys enough for your help. I just recently talked to my econ teacher, and he said that as early as next year he might be able to get something of mine published in the the ‘High School Journal’, so thanks for that tip.</p>

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<p>Haha, it all depends on what you’re looking for. And actually, Balliol isn’t that Hogwartsy. Probably Christchurch is the most. But I would say yes, the school that you apply to does effect admission chances somewhat for a couple reasons. First, different schools have different prestige levels. Refer to this [Norrington</a> Table - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norrington_Table]Norrington”>Norrington Table - Wikipedia) for a general idea. Second, different schools have different interviewing processes. Although, there is no way to tell how they’ll do it. For instance for history, some schools just gave the interviewees an extract and asked them to discuss it. (Which I would have preferred as it levels the playing field.) But my school, St. Hugh’s, just chose to discuss various narrow topics with interviewees. Although, the prestige level of the different colleges isn’t as significant as you may think. Because the top schools always pool their candidates to the lower schools. Like at St. Hugh’s (a relatively low school) there were initially 24 finalists but then an additional 20 (from more prestigious colleges) were pooled there. Although I will say this, getting to the interview round is probably significantly helped by whether or not you choose a highly prestigious or lesser college. But, final admissions is not.</p>

<p>As for the ‘percent of undergraduate students accepted’ statistic that Oxford provides, I’ll tell you right now that it’s ********. </p>

<p>The statistic for history is 30% acceptance of all applicants. Which, when compared to American Unis is amazing. However, after being invited as a finalist which is the top 70% of applicants. I figured I would have a high chance of admittance. I don’t feel like doing the math but when 30% are accepted and 30% have already been culled. It’s a pretty darn good shot. But, like I said there were 24 applicants for 10 spots when I arrived. An additional 20 applicants were pooled there by the week’s end. So essentially, 44 applicants for 10 spots after the fact that 30% had been culled. Anyways, the figures that Oxford provides are highly misleading. </p>

<p>Note that PPE is much more competitive than history.</p>

<p>I hope I answered your question.</p>

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<p>ITA with the other posters above.</p>

<p>ECs will be ignored unless they are directly related to your course of study. DON’T write your personal statement about ECs!!! You should write something along the lines of “I would like to study PPE because…” and keep it factual and to the point (no “personal journeys”!!!)</p>

<p>However, do not give up your ECs. You want to get into some US schools, right?</p>

<p>I cannot comment in detail on the interview process for PPE. Certainly not in as much detail as above. There are definitely videos of interviews out there. I know there are some on the Cambridge website (which will be similar to Oxford), and there might be some Oxford ones on YouTube. Have a search around. This will help you get an idea of what the process is like. If they ask you why you want to study at Oxford DON’T say because it looks like Hogwarts (of course it does. The movies were made there). Makes you sound like an 11 year old.</p>

<p>Oxford like APs so my recommendation is look and see the recommended A-level subjects for PPE applicants, then take APs in those subjects if you can.</p>

<p>I would advise reading the Oxford website in detail. You need to know things like the early application date (usually 15th October). If you are the only person in your school applying, you haven’t got anyone to help you unfortunately.</p>

<p>NB: EVERYONE takes GCSEs at school in the UK. They are not preparation for Oxbridge. More like the equivalent of a high school diploma. Basically they’re easy. You have to get at least 5 subjects at grade C to continue to do A-levels (if you don’t you have to do a vocational course, apprenticeship or leave school). Again, about 2/3 of people do A-levels. Nothing special in that.</p>

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<p>I also recommend that you re-post your question in the study abroad forum with “Applying to Oxford UK” in the title. I only found this because I searched for posts with the word “Oxford” in them. Probably most of the people who post about Oxford will miss it.</p>