How to Get into Oxbridge

Oxford and Cambridge are amongst the most prestigious universities in the world and competition to gain a place is intense. With applicant numbers rising year after year it has never been more important to know everything there is to know about the admissions process and how to successfully apply to the University of your choice. How to Get Into Oxbridgecovers every step of the application, from deciding which college is best through to excelling in the interview. With examples of successful Oxbridge personal statements, a subject breakdown of frequently asked questions and advice on entrance exams, this is the only resource the student will need to boost their confidence and gain the ultimate university admission.

Dr Christopher See is a graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge University. He currently works as an academic senior house officer in University Hospital Aintree and is a lecturer at Liverpool University. He is an experienced university applications tutor, helping students in all areas of their Oxbridge application in a range of diverse subjects. He is also the author of How to Get into Medical School, Succeed in Your Medical School Interview and How to Master Your Medical School Finals (all published by Kogan Page).

Acknowledgements	p. vii
Introduction	p. 1
Why Oxbridge?	p. 3
The Oxbridge difference	p. 4
Advantages	p. 4
Disadvantages	p. 9
'Is Oxbridge for me?'	p. 10
Oxford or Cambridge?	p. 10
Oxbridge selection criteria	p. 11
Summary	p. 12
Principles of preparation	p. 13
Positive decision making	p. 13
Academic considerations	p. 16
A levels or other school examinations	p. 18
Deferred entry	p. 20
Summary	p. 21
College selection	p. 23
College criteria	p. 23
College selection algorithms	p. 27
Cambridge college selector	p. 28
Oxford college selector	p. 31
The importance of college admissions tutors	p. 34
Summary	p. 38
Organic development and independent thinking	p. 39
Independent thinking	p. 40
Positive choice making	p. 40
Quantitative relationship	p. 41
Extrapolation and speculation	p. 43
Organic development	p. 44
Summary	p. 46
Extracurricular activities map	p. 47
Academic extracurricular activities	p. 48
Non-academic extracurricular activities	p. 51
How to develop your interests: the extracurricular activities map	p. 53
Summary	p. 58
Oxbridge strategy	p. 59
Internal competition	p. 59
Peer management	p. 60
Family management	p. 62
Summary	p. 64
Optimizing your UCAS form for Oxbridge	p. 65
Characteristics sought by admissions tutors	p. 66
Genuine interest in the subject	p. 66
Unsatisfied intellectual curiosity	p. 67
Commitment	p. 67
Potential	p. 68
Initiative	p. 69
Academic ability	p. 69
How to put these together: creating your personal statement	p. 69
Sample personal statements and their structures	p. 70
Summary	p. 78
How to get a teacher reference	p. 80
The importance of the teacher reference	p. 80
Research	p. 81
Building your reference	p. 81
Approaching your referring teacher	p. 84
What teachers say	p. 86
Summary	p. 86
Sample written work submission and aptitude test essays	p. 87
Why is this so vital?	p. 88
Handwriting and written communication skills	p. 90
Writing a good essay	p. 90
Worked example	p. 96
Summary	p. 102
Special examinations	p. 103
Why are aptitude tests so important?	p. 103
How to prepare	p. 105
Universities, subjects and tests	p. 108
Summary	p. 110
What to expect from your Oxbridge interview	p. 112
Unpicking the mythical nature of Oxbridge interviews	p. 112
The interviewer's perspective: how do they construct questions and assess the answers?	p. 113
Interview technique	p. 114
Logistics: planning your journey, what to wear, what to bring	p. 129
Summary	p. 134
Sample questions and answers	p. 135
General question advice	p. 135
The Specificity rule	p. 136
Sample general interview questions and answers	p. 138
Subject-specific advice	p. 143
Example questions and answers for Social and Physical Sciences	p. 150
Example questions and answers for Arts and Humanities	p. 164
Summary	p. 170
Speech, language and vocabulary	p. 171
Speaking the same language as your admissions tutors	p. 171
Vocabulary development activities	p. 174
The unimportance of accent	p. 175
The importance of grammar	p. 175
Summary	p. 175
Fees, funding and bursaries	p. 176
General considerations	p. 176
Oxbridge-specific bursaries and opportunities	p. 178
College-dependent funding	p. 181
Summary	p. 183
International students	p. 184
Alumni and fellow country networks	p. 184
Demonstrating independence	p. 186
Additional personal statement advice	p. 188
Summary	p. 189
Appendix Oxbridge timeline: Oxbridge application one-year plan	p. 190
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How to Get into Oxbridge

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

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