History & Politics - My Application Experience (Expert Oxford Application Advice)
Having read History & Politics at Oxford, I cannot imagine myself having studied a different degree at a different university.
The opportunity to combine two subjects I love and study them simultaneously, with such an interesting bunch of people and taught by an amazingly talented pool of academics, was unprecedented but also humbling. Below I share a few of my experiences and reflections from my application process which I hope will help shine a light for those of you considering applying.
Joint Honours Degrees such as History & Politics tend to be slightly more competitive in terms of their acceptance rate than their *straight* degree equivalents. The main reason for this is that in order to make it through the process you have to meet the criteria for both subjects.
In other words, you are competing for your History place with *straight* History applicants, and for your Politics spot against PPE-ists.
Similarly, the interview process makes it very clear that the two subjects are treated and taught separately. For instance, you are very likely to have separate interviews for History and Politics, each interview conducted by tutors from the respective subject. Your skill set and knowledge-base also have to be wider than that of Single Honours History students.
You are expected to be able to debate any historical matter in the interview to a level that matches theirs, but you might then be called to an interview in which you’re asked to discuss Political Philosophy, International Relations or interpret graphs and statistics.
In general, it also means that the preparation process for the application is more laborious since you’re essentially prepping for two separate applications, with all the prerequisite reading attached to both subjects.
Let us know if you have any questions about this article or anything related to History and Politics at Oxford at all.
This article was written by Wojciech (Oxford - History & Politics).
If you find this content useful, please visit Wojciech's profile for further information on applying to Oxbridge. Alternatively, book support now with Wojciech, using the form below.
Author: Wojciech - Oxford
BA History & Politics
Since graduating I have acquired extensive experience in Mentoring for Oxbridge admissions. I have worked in person with students in London, Hong Kong and Budapest and taught A-level History and Politics at Akademeia High School in Warsaw.
