Naked Science Forum
General Discussion & Feedback => Just Chat! => Topic started by: Dege on 14/12/2009 00:22:27
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hey guys. i am just starting out in highschool and i want to go to oxford.can anyone tell me some tips or anything that might help .
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You study hard and cut out all the computer games, playstations whatever (including hanging around aimlessly on internet forums)
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Study.
Study hard.
If you really want to go to Oxford you have one goal for the next four years and nothing else.
When you get home from school you study, on the weekends you study, holidays--yep, study.
Contact them now and ask about qualifications and follow that regime like your life depended on it.
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The individual colleges at Oxford can have quite different treatments of a subject. Before you apply (you have a while yet) ensure you research which college you wish to go to. An aspect of Oxford and, to a lesser extent, Cambridge, is the actual lack of "teaching". It is importent to develop a high degree of self motivation and the confidence to research subjects without much guidance; the emphasis being more on tutorials. The standards are very high, and if the style of education suits you, it can be very rewarding.
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Do you wish to go Oxford university? [???]
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All the stuff about doing nothing but studying? I studied at Cambridge, my sister at Oxford, and I'd disagree strongly. We both spent most of our evenings, all the way through school to the end, going out to play sport, learn to dance, do stuff with the girl guides etc etc. If you can only get into Oxford by studying all the time there are no words for how miserable you will be when you get there and find that you have to work even harder than you did at school just come close to keeping up.
Having as your objective "going to Oxford" is in any case misguided. It depends what you want to study, and if you're just starting out in high school, you almost certainly don't know that yet (even if you think you do). Infact, you should go to the university that offers the best match to your skills and interests... for example people come to Cambridge to study modern foreign langauges and some of them find that their conversational abilities go backwards because the course is so strongly focused on studying literature (can't think of any examples for science courses, but I'm fairly sure there are some).
And if you're not absolutely sure that there is nothing you'd rather do than immerse yourself in your subject, don't bother. The courses are tough. The colleges are really committed to getting everyone through, the support, provided you make use of it, is generally pretty good, but it requires determination on the part of the student.
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Oh, on the other hand... if by high school you mean you're just starting out at an American high school, you probably aren't actually being taught in enough depth to make it into Oxford on the strength of your school studies, so you probably will need to do quite a lot of work on your own, probably at least enough to bring you up to speed on the material covered by the british A-level syllabuses that are required/suggested for whichever course it is you're interested in studying.
And.. if you want to study physics at Oxford you should be looking at being on top of both the A-Level maths and ideally at least the "pure maths" section of the british A-level syllabuses, as well as physics. For chemistry definitely at least the chemistry syllabus, maths and at least one of biology and physics. Biological subjects you should aim for biology, maths and ideally chemistry.
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Getting to Oxford is easy, go to Banbury and take the A34 Southbound.
Seriously, Rosie is right- it's no a place to be if you don't already love the subject.
Also, learn to use capital letters, even the English department there thinks it's important.
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Oh, on the other hand... if by high school you mean you're just starting out at an American high school, you probably aren't actually being taught in enough depth to make it into Oxford on the strength of your school studies, so you probably will need to do quite a lot of work on your own, probably at least enough to bring you up to speed on the material covered by the british A-level syllabuses that are required/suggested for whichever course it is you're interested in studying.
And.. if you want to study physics at Oxford you should be looking at being on top of both the A-Level maths and ideally at least the "pure maths" section of the british A-level syllabuses, as well as physics. For chemistry definitely at least the chemistry syllabus, maths and at least one of biology and physics. Biological subjects you should aim for biology, maths and ideally chemistry.
It was my take that the OP is American.
Chemistry has been removed from the curriculum from the local high school in my town (terrorism concerns). Foreign language is limited to on half a year total, music and art have been removed completely. Math stops at basic algebra and due to the zero tolerance policy on weapons dissections are done with plastic models.
The sports teams are good though.
American schools are little more than day care facilities these days.
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I've heard IBs (International Baccalaureate) are a pretty good alternative to A-levels.
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the french bac is the same as the English A-level, its also 10 subjects where the puples are expexted to be in school from 8 till 5 sometimes 6 and are absolutely discouraged from being themselves the serious one have no life at all. in uni life is no different 40 hour weeks and in uni on saturdays. theory is good though intill you put it into practice
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Oxford...?! What do you want to go there for?
Cambridge is much better. Everyone knows that (except maybe the people at Oxford...)
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Just a belated thought: spelling oxford with a capital 'O' in the thread title and your subsequent posts wouldn't have done you any harm.
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I'm sure he knows how to use correct grammar, LeeE. I doubt him using lowercase on an Internet forum will affect his chances of being successful [;)]
edit: ironically, a typo [:)]
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Best way into Oxford is via the M40, for Cambridge you need the M11.
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Best way into Oxford is via the M40, for Cambridge you need the M11.
Good one [:D] [:D] [:D]
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Best way into Oxford is via the M40, for Cambridge you need the M11.
Geography isn'tmy strongest subject but I think those directions are only true if you have the misfortune to start from London.