Oxford PPE Student Success Story
It’s important to celebrate the achievements of our students after months of hard work and dedication.
Today we are celebrating Alex’s story of achieving an Oxford PPE offer. Alex kindly sat down with Rob, our Content Team Leader, to talk through her application journey from using our Oxford PPE Programme:
Let’s start the journey from when we first spoke to Alex about her Oxford plans during one of our free consultations.
“UniAdmissions made my application process much less daunting and easier to understand, and made me feel overall less stressed and worried about my future. It felt like I had a bigger chance of succeeding.”
– Alex
1. Initial Contact And Meeting Your Tutor
I know it was a while ago Alex, but can you remember why you first contacted UniAdmissions?
I was looking for some support with the entirety of my application, which my school didn’t really provide, and needed help both with my Personal Statement (I was feeling totally lost!) and with the application process in general, like which universities to apply to and which college to choose.
I chose UniAdmissions over other companies because you looked much more professional and had lots of material to help me expand my knowledge on the subject in general, not just with the focus of being accepted into Oxford, which I felt would help me later in life as well.
What was your initial session with your tutor like?
My tutor (Sam) introduced himself and explained to me what his own application process was like, then answered some of my questions about Oxford and the course and outlined what we would be doing to support my application.
As the first to go to university from my family, things like the Personal Statement were alien to me. My tutor helped me improve my confidence with my Oxbridge application and he shared his own experience of Oxford such as how to choose a college and what to take out of my Personal Statement. I liked his advice on not spending hours thinking of an opener for my Personal Statement and instead, let it come to me and it did and it saved me lots of time from writing and re-writing an introduction.
Do you feel you were matched up well with your Tutor?
Yes, Sam was great and matched well with me. I felt we had different interests as he was more economics focussed and I preferred philosophy but this was helpful to get me to focus more time on economics as PPE isn’t just about philosophy. He also pushed me and was not afraid to challenge or provide feedback.
2. Oxford PPE Application Support
Starting with the Personal Statement, how did you find our support?
The Personal Statement marking system was amazing! It was great to have unbiased feedback from a source that wasn’t my friends and family, and it gave me insights into how to make my writing better that I couldn’t have gotten from anywhere else.
What was your favourite part of our TSA support?
The best part of the TSA support was the courses since the tutors went methodically through every type of question and explained to us how to approach it, and working with other prospective applicants was fun and helpful as well. It got me thinking more logically with my approaches to questions.
My score definitely increased from your support but more due to helping me feel more relaxed and confident on exam day as I was really stressed which I thought would be negative to my performance.
How did you benefit from our Interview support?
The most helpful parts of the Interview Support were the mock Interviews. We were divided into small groups and each had a few mock Interviews with a tutor. I both got to practice my Interview skills and see others being Interviewed, which gave me an outsider’s perspective and made it easier to fix my own mistakes. l liked learning by example and it meant I got to see mistakes and good approaches to answering questions.
I also really liked the sense of community on the courses and I am still in contact with fellow students who I hope to see at Oxford!
3. Our Impact And Looking Towards The Future
How has your confidence with your application improved since using our support Alex?
My confidence with my application improved hugely thanks to UniAdmissions’ support. I was much calmer in sending my application, before the Admissions Test and especially before my Interviews since I knew I had done everything I could to prepare myself.
My tutor was very calming and helped talk me through any stressful period I was going through. I also found a lot of sympathy and support in the group chat and all the students comforted and helped each other during exam and Interview season. UniAdmissions made my application process much less daunting and easier to understand, and made me feel overall less stressed and worried about my future. It felt like I had a bigger chance of succeeding.
Looking forwards to university, what can you take away from our support to help you in further education?
I got to know fellow students who will also be attending Oxford or other elite universities, for my subject, which not only led to some great friendships but will also help me during university and later in life. Furthermore, the style of essay writing I learned from my tutor and the courses is radically different from anything I learned in school and will be extremely useful as I start my first year at Oxford. I feel I am a lot better at understanding what essay questions are asking too.
I also developed skills in dividing arguments into sections and structuring my thoughts, something we never do at school but is essential for Oxford. During my time at Oxford, I want to become a tutor with UniAdmissions so I can support the next applicants!
Last question Alex, then I’ll let you enjoy the rest of your half term. Would you recommend us to your friends and why?
I would definitely recommend UniAdmissions to someone who is worried about the application process and wants some extra support and a boost to get from a “diamond in the rough” to the strong and successful applicant they can become!
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Read through our other Student Success Stories:
Cambridge Economics
“I never let myself expect to get an offer, but I can confidently say that I would have struggled in preparing for the process without UniAdmissions’ support.”
Oxford E&M
“My confidence improved massively since using the support of UniAdmissions as I knew I had people I could rely on to help, and that there was expertise at all times.”
Cambridge Engineering
“Consistently practising with UniAdmissions helped me gain a lot of confidence and the Cambridge Interview ended up going well.”
Oxford Medicine
“Working with UniAdmissions really boosted my confidence around the Interviews and Personal Statement due to feeling more aware of the process.”
Cambridge Medicine
“My confidence has definitely improved as a result of UniAdmission’s support. I feel much more assured in my science knowledge and communication skills.”
Oxford PPE
“UniAdmissions made my application process much less daunting and easier to understand. It felt like I had a bigger chance of succeeding.”
To comply with the requests of our students, the photos and names used are not those of our students.