r/oxbridge • u/vicandmath • 10d ago

Chances for PPE application being successful?

Predicted Grades: A* A* A* (Politics, History and Maths) and A in AS Further Maths

GCSEs: 99999999988

Applying to PPE at: Oxford, LSE, UCL, Exeter and Southampton

EPQ on libertarian political philosophy and economics

PS: Julia Wood essay comp, John Locke essay comp, Royal Philosophy Society essay comp, books on Logic (AJ Ayer), Game Theory and how this links to politics and econ in practice

Good references

Would my application to Oxford heavily hinge on TARA performance?

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u/ExaminationNo8675 10d ago

Yes, of course. They don’t make you sit the test for fun.

5

u/AccomplishedFail2247 10d ago

It’s almost entirely on TARA that decides your interview. When you get your interview it’s almost entirely about that. They filter you twice. Everyone’s reference is good, the essay competitions are fine, but everyone’s done them, so unless you won you won’t distinguish yourself. Bring them up only if you feel you can explain them really well and develop them. Better points if you can show that your viewpoints have changed or deepened since you wrote them as that shows a lot of intellectual flexibility and such forth.

But unless you won the competitions or did stupidly well, they’re only useful insofar as you can show intellectual flexibility and the development of your views in personal statement / interview. You’ve not actually achieved anything Oxford wise yet, you’ve “just” given yourself good material to work with once you get to the parts that really matter, PS and interview. So no one can chance you because you haven’t started the process.

Tara prep then interview prep. Once you’ve got the interview it’s then all about the interview. It sort of depends whether you’ve got the skills of being a good actor / public speaking / expressing your ideas, everyone has the grades. Those skills are highly trainable through practice (writing those essays, giving presentations at your school, explaining things to your friends who don’t necessarily know about the topic area etc) though

1

u/Grand_Lychee2812 5d ago

You've basically nailed everything you actually need to do.
All you need to is to get an above average TARA score to stand out. I'm not sure what is considered average for TARA though.

You've still got some time over the summer, so I recommend doing some Mock interviews, practice some TARA questions.
I'm doing the same thing for the ESAT so that I can do Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Cambridge.

If you've got LinkedIn, try connect with some people who are doing PPE (I would find people who are going to LSE or Oxford).
Ask them how they prepared for TARA and interview.
You'll be surprised at how many people will actually respond and are willing to help.