When applying to study at Oxbridge universities (the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge), there are certain dos and don'ts to keep in mind to increase your chances of success. We spoke to our Oxbridge consultant to pass on his top tips for your Oxbridge application ahead of the upcoming intake.
Top Tips for Oxbridge Applicants
Remember the application deadline is much earlier in the year
Apply by the 15th of October on UCAS for courses beginning the subsequent October and remember you cannot apply to both Oxford and Cambridge in the same UCAS cycle.
You don't have to choose a college to apply to
You do not have to choose a college to apply to, and there is the option of an open application where the university computer system randomly assigns you a college, but in the view of yours truly, it is better to find a college you like and apply to it; then you can be a square peg in a square hole and enjoy yourself more.
Perfect your personal statement
As many of the applicants will have grades that meet or exceed the entry requirements and are as good as yours, if not better, a lot depends on other criteria such as the personal statement, which is your sales pitch to convince the college. Remember that the college, not the university, accepts or rejects you. Take time to write, and rewrite your personal statement into a masterpiece of persuasive prose proffering an appealing portrait of scholarly promise and overflowing potential. Go into deep detail about the finer points and interesting issues of the subject for which you are applying, assuming safely that the reader is an expert in the field and will appreciate the subtleties and nuances of your points.
Mention the books you have read that show you have taken the initiative to go far beyond the call of curricular duty and spent your free time discovering your subject. Showcase your academic ideas and theories but without sounding opinionated. The key is to seem teachable, an original thinker, and someone suited to tutorial dialogue. If applying for Philosophy, Politics and Economics, do not regurgitate conformist talking points as they want something far cleverer; it is much better to frighten the horses with unorthodoxy than to play it safe, for no one can expect to sail in on the strength of their grades and therefore regard the personal statement as a mere holding operation.
Revise extensively for your aptitude tests
To get into Oxford or Cambridge now at the undergraduate level involves taking tests of your aptitude for the subject in question, for example, the Maths Admissions Test (MAT) for mathematics at Oxford or the Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) for PPE. The surest preparation for these is to practise past papers that you can find on the websites of these tests.
Interviews are not straightforward, with black and white answers
If you are invited to interview, bear in mind that the interviewers are asking tricky questions to tease out the best in you and not to see you crash and burn for their own amusement. Your answers, even if they feel incomplete and unsatisfactory, may have impressed the dons by revealing your lateral thought processes and originality of imagination.
By the same token, you may come away feeling satisfied after imparting some immaculate responses to what seemed like simple questions, although, in fact, they were pat answers that bespoke good education rather than real nous. This means you may be accepted or rejected quite unexpectedly. Do not just tell the interviewers what you think you want to hear: they are not interviewing you as a shoo-in; just be sure that you do not have two heads but as just one contender among many and with everything still to play for.
Finally, Cambridge is more likely to interview you than Oxford but might have higher A-level entry criteria.
Keep your options open if applying to study medicine
If applying for medicine, be sure to study chemistry and biology A-level to keep your options as full as possible. You will need straight As in serious subjects (not critical thinking or citizenship studies), preferably with at least one of those As having a star next to it.
Don't become complacent if offered a place
Lastly, if you do get in, do not forget that you can still lose your place if you fluff your A-levels, which has happened before and will happen again because people with offers get complacent. If you do not get in, there are many other excellent universities, and you may have had a lucky escape, unlike the many who do get in but to their detriment, as varsity life has been the ruin of those who mis-digest its heady atmosphere.
My consultant was very helpful and motivating. She helped me every step of the way, even when the deadline was so close. I feel I could not have done it without her. I'd highly recommend this service to any and all of my many friends interested. 
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