How can I make my Oxbridge application stand out?

With on average only one in five applicants being offered a space at Oxford or Cambridge, it’s important to make sure that your initial application stands out sufficiently to get you to the interview stage and let you show the professors just what you’re made of!

How do I make my Oxbridge application stand out? 

With on average only one in five applicants being offered a space at Oxford or Cambridge, it’s important to make sure that your initial application stands out sufficiently to get you to the interview stage and let you show the professors just what you’re made of! A competitive applicant demonstrates a good understanding of their subject beyond what they’ve learned at school, have a hunger to learn more, and are capable of approaching challenging problems in an analytical and logical way. These skills can be difficult to prove in just a short written application, so in this article we’re going to outline useful activities to consider which will help you develop your understanding of your subject and, when it comes time to write your personal statement, give you plenty of things to back up your application.

Reading

One of the easiest, cheapest, and quickest ways of building up your subject knowledge and general interest is through reading. As an undergraduate at Oxford or Cambridge, regardless of your degree, reading will be a huge part of the way that you study, so it’s always good to show your prospective tutors that you are already widely read and can take information from books on your topic. Reading will also give you access to areas of your subject, concepts, and ideas that may not have occurred to you before, sparking further interests to explore and plenty to talk about in your personal statement and interview.

Essay Competitions

Departments and colleges at both Oxford and Cambridge run various essay competitions which are open to students still at school and college of various ages. Preparing an entry for one of these competitions is a very valuable experience for students thinking of applying for Oxbridge, giving you a taste of Oxbridge-style essay writing as well as showing off your skills at the university of your choice. These competitions often ask students to write about something which they have not studied directly in their classes, giving you a great push to look into other areas which may interest and inspire you! Oxford have a dedicated website which collates all the competitions with upcoming deadlines here, whilst any competitions at Cambridge can be found on the individual college websites

Work Experience

This is a great way to boost your application if you’re applying to a more vocational course, such as Law, Medicine, or Engineering, which you may well already be considering. Places for work experience can be very competitive and tricky to organise, so make sure that you get planning as soon as possible if this is something you’re interested in doing! Some alternative options to direct work experience could be:

• Attending local magistrates court trials
  If you’re applying for law, sitting in the gallery for local trials is a great way of gaining an insight into the legal process in practice. Make sure to pay close attention and take lots of notes so that you can talk about what you saw confidently in your personal statement and interviews. Beyond just observing, try to analyse and think critically about what you’re witnessing, and how it may have changed the way you think about the law.

• Shadowing a doctor at a hospital
  This is a fantastic way of getting work experience before applying to study medicine. This gives you the chance to learn first hand about how hospitals work day to day, giving you plenty to discuss in your application. The best way to go about organising this is to get in contact with your GP and get a referral from them, and think about working in a laboratory, hospice, or care home rather than just on the wards to give you some varied experiences.
  

• Nuffield Research Placements
  This prestigious award gives students in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and maths the chance to work with a team at a local university, conducting research and contributing to a project. Click here for more information.