Personal Statements: Engineering

In this week's episode, Nikita (at Oriel), Grace (at Merton), and Georgia (at St. Catherine's or Catz) talk all things colleges, and give some advice on how to choose a college when applying to Oxford. Timestamps: 0:09 - Introductions 1:18 - Why did you apply to your college? 4:50 - Location of colleges 6:44 - 'Touristy' colleges 7:50 - Accommodation facilities 13:01 - Moving out between terms and storage facilities 15:59 - One advantage/drawback about the colleges 20:45 - Wrapping up

In today's episode, Siam talks to Nikita about her experiences on her year abroad. Timestamps: 0.09 - Introductions 0.40 - What is a year abroad and what does it involve? 3.36 - How much support do you get from the university? 6.28 - Is there a minimum length requirement for placements? 8.02 - Do students do academic work on their year abroad? 10.19 - What was your year abroad like day-to-day? 12.07 - What does being a language assistant involve? 13.22 - What else does a year abroad give you? 15.44 - Final thoughts and advice to current language students 16.56 - Wrapping up

In the first episode of the term, Grace talks to freshers Luke and Ashley about how they found their first term at Oxford. Timestamps: 0:09 - Introductions 0:41 - Freshers' Week 3:02 - Balance between college and university events 4:00 - Diversity and Inclusion at Oxford 6:40 - Getting to know other students and college marriages (a way to build a buddy system within your year) 9:18 - Fifth Week Blues 11:13 - Feeling a sense of belonging at Oxford 13:40 - Non-drinking events 15:13 - The vacation and collections (mocks at the beginning of term) 17:35 - Does Hilary feel different? 18:28 - Wrapping up

In today's episode, Nikita talks to Arron O'Connor, the Outreach Officer at Oriel College, about his role, the application process, and how students can get involved in Outreach. Timestamps: 0:09 - Introductions 0:47 - What role does Outreach play at Oxford? 3:14 - What should prospective applicants be thinking about? 5:56 - What support is available online to help people make the choice about university courses? 9:53 - Choosing a college 14:43 - What is pooling? 20:26 - How can current students get involved in Outreach? 23:53 - Goodbyes Arron's recommendations: Official University websites Get in touch with Outreach or Admissions Officers InsideUni Oxford Outreach Calendar What Uni? UNIQ (Oxford) or HE+ (Cambridge)

In today's episode, Georgia speaks to Declan and Lottie to hear about their experiences of submitting an open application to Oxford. Timestamps: 0:09 - Introductions 0:50 - What is an open application? 1:43 - Why did you decide to make an open application? 3:44 - Would you recommend making an open application? 4:37 - Any regrets? 6:12 - Myth about academics at different colleges 6:34 - What advice would you give prospective students about choosing a college vs. making an open application? 8:08 - Oxford isn't that big! 8:45 - Wrapping up

In today's episode, Georgia speaks to Dr Stephen Goddard, a tutor in French at St. Catherine's College, about how to best prepare for interviews. Timestamps: 0:09 - Introductions 0:58 - What the interview process entails 3:14 - Types of interview questions 4:53 - Do you need to learn your personal statement? 7:25 - How should you answer interview questions? 12:25 - Balancing supercurriculars and extracurriculars on the personal statement 14:20 - Wrapping up

In this episode, Nikita (she/her) interviews Hannah (she/her) about writing a personal statement for an application to study Music. Hannah adds: "Don’t name or venue-drop more than once or twice! Likewise, don't just list skills/experiences. Whenever you do this, think about how the experiences you have had have changed, challenged, or affirmed your perspective on music. You can then back up your point with some reading!" Timestamps: 0:00 - Introductions 1:06 - The writing process 5:40 - One way to split up and structure a personal statement 9:45 - The placement of extracurriculars in a music personal statement, especially for Oxbridge 12:43 - Hannah's supercurricular recommendations: Music: A Very Short Introduction (Nicholas Cook) Guardian Music BBC Music Magazine and online articles The Oxford Research Centre for the Humanities (TORCH) YouTube Channel Adam Neely BBC Radio 3 16:24 - Being asked about your personal statement at interview 18:50 - Wrapping up

In this episode, Lucianna interviews Elena about writing a personal statement for a joint degree of History and English. Timestamps: 0:00 - introductions 0:35 - what is a joint (honours) degree? 0:52 - what should prospective students consider when thinking about applying for History and English as a joint degree? 3:16 - what can be gained from studying History and English alongside each other? (Interdisciplinary work and connections) 5:18 - the link to personal statements! Making sure History and English thread together 6:20 - personal statement juggling! Balancing writing about the joint (Oxford) History and English course, with single honour courses at other universitites in a personal statement 10:02 - suggestions of topics or approaches that thread History and English well 11:52 - wrapping up

In this episode, Hannah interviews Sophie about writing a personal statement for Engineering. Insight into University (Headstart) website: https://www.etrust.org.uk/insight-into-university The hard-to-say book Sophie used for super-curricular reading: Professor Povey's Perplexing Problems Timestamps: 0:00 - introductions 0:55 - advice for prospective students 1:45 - extra-curricular activities/hobbies in a personal statement? 3:40 - finding an interest in engineering (and addressing that there isn't a specific A-Level in engineering, even though some A-Level subjects use similar knowledge and skills) 5:00 - Headstart/Insight into University 6:33 - some recommended/interesting super-curricular resources 9:13 - navigating and understanding differences between the (general) Oxford course, and courses at other universities which might focus on a specific aspect of engineering 15:22 - things Sophie had in her personal statement (structure and breakdown) 17:08 - wrapping up

In our first podcast with the new OFTI team, Hannah interviews Sofia, one of the founders of The Oxford Period, a society aimed at tackling period poverty and raising awareness of period-related issues.Timestamps:0:10 - introductions0:48 - what is the Oxford Period?1:25 - what made you want to start the Oxford Period?3:06 - overcoming challenges5:44 - expanding the team?7:07 - response across the university10:39 collaborations with other societies13:10 - future plans for the society We've defined some of the terminology/abbreviations mentioned in the episode: JCR - Junior Common Room. The organisation which represents all undergraduates in a College. It is also a physical space, where activities are organised. In the video, JCR is only used in the former context. SU - Student Union. The organisation which represents students at the university. There are different branches from the SU, which run campaigns for different groups of students. WOM*CAM (OR WOMEN*S CAMPAIGN) - this is a branch of the Student Union, which works interjectionally towards feminist justice, and represents women and non-binary students across the university. VP - Vice-president Turl Street Homeless Action - an Oxford society which distributes food, drink, and supplies to people living on the streets in Oxford