Filling out your UCAS form/Personal Statement: How to optimize for Oxbridge success:
Personal statement – think, ‘what do I want to talk about in an interview’.
Show you have read around your subject. It is often good to name some books/authors – but be prepared to talk about them in the interview!
Be REALLY careful about grammar and spelling mistakes!
This may be stating the obvious but just to conclude, what you are trying to say is
a) why you want to study that subject and
b) why you think they would enjoy tutoring you.

How to choose your college – which would suit you best?
Research your subject tutors at each college and see who most appeals/has the most similar interests to you. They will be interviewing you and ultimately they want someone they will be interested by as well
Research the locations of the colleges and think about whether you would want to be central (like being able to get out and about easily) or don’t mind a bit of walk/bicycle into the centre of town. Alternatively, do you like sport and want to be near the main sports area (Iffley in Oxford)?
Talk to as many recent/current students as possible.
Remember the colleges are always changing so there is no hard or fast way to know which is most right for you.
Remember that the saying ‘what you put in is what you get out’ holds very true at uni and that it is unlikely any college will actually be ‘wrong’ for you. Therefore don’t worry too much about your college, you could even do an ‘open’ application if you like and be prepared to be pooled and don’t mind if you are!
Having said that, it does pay off to do some research into which college to apply to.

How to choose your course – what are you most suited to study?
Talk to your teachers, talk to past/current students of subjects you are interested in, read around the subject, and research the course on the subject website.
Go with your gut instinct.

What to expect at interview, and how to wow the interviewers:
Be prepared to be put under pressure. Do not take it personally or get flustered if it feels like they are ‘attacking’ you!
It’s easier said than done, but try to relax – don’t let nerves take over – utilise the adrenaline to think quicker!

Typical academic life at Oxford, (tutorial system, libraries, academic tips for success)
Typical academic life varies greatly subject to subject –
Arts/Humanities: fairly unstructured workload. i.e. Maybe 5 hours of lectures per week and 2 essays per week. Therefore how much and when you work is largely up to you. You could write your essays in a few hours but they will then get torn apart in front of you in your tutorial so it’s just not worth it. Realistically they take a long time – reading lists are often lengthy and although you are not expected to read all the books on the list you are normally expected to have read chunks of 4-6.
Sciences: much more structured workload ie. Labs for most of the day. Therefore you may have to start work at 9am every morning whether you want to or not!

Oxford/Cambridge are hard work compared to many other universities and there’s no getting away from that. But, having everyone around you in the same boat (ie. working hard but also wanting to enjoy themselves) definitely makes it easier.

Tips:
The libraries at Oxford are brilliant places to work as well as gorgeous – don’t just work in your room! Libraries are both more enjoyable and more productive places to work. Try out different ones to find which suits you the best.
If you’re getting stressed about work, talk to someone. Tutors are always more understanding than you think!
Consistent steady work ensures the best results (and your sanity).

Typical social life at Oxford (societies, the world-famous Oxford Union, sports, Varsity verses Cambridge, night life)
The Oxford Union gets some brilliant speakers and has some very high quality debates. I found it hard to go to it as often as I might have like though because the debates are pretty long and there are a lot of other pressures on your time, and the big speakers are often very popular and so it can be hard to get a seat unless you get there nice and early.
You may consider getting involved in the running of the Oxford Union but if so be prepared to dedicate huge amounts of time to it.

Getting a Blue (ie. playing a sport for Oxford at university level) may be a dream and is a fantastic achievement but it does take up massive amounts of your time. You have to be really dedicated to your sport and keen for most of your friends to be fellow team mates.
If you can’t handle the commitment, inter-college sports is really great fun and provides an opportunity for less time-consuming team sports.

There are lots of societies at Oxford, many of which have long traditions and can seem quite bizarre but embrace them – they are part of the university’s unique character! They often organise black tie events which can be intimidating but are also great fun and you soon get used to dressing up at Oxford!

With 8 week terms, lots of people go for the work hard, play hard balance and the night life at Oxford can be brilliant as a result. As mentioned above, a lot of the time what you put in is what you get out. If you throw yourself into things you will soon meet lots of people you get on well with and have lots of great nights out.

By Sara P, 3rd Year from Oxford University