So You Want to Go to Oxbridge? Tell Me About a Banana: The Expertise & Exuberance of Thousands Who Have Been Through the Process

How might you argue that what everyone says is a banana is not a banana? Which chemicals would you guess are present in a banana? What objections do you think some people might have to the banana trade? How many atoms would you guess are in a banana? How would you design a computer program to tell the difference between a banana and an apple? Why did the most recent set of banana wars come to an end? Tell me about a banana…

When all applicants are outstanding on paper, what marks out those who succeed from those who fail? And what exactly are admissions tutors looking for when they ask questions about fruit?! Founded by a group of Oxbridge graduates with just these questions in mind, Oxbridge Applications has now helped over 15,000 students apply to Oxbridge and has a success rate of twice the average.

Here, for the first time, the company publishes what it has learnt: Why students consider Oxbridge in the first place, How to excel at each hurdle in the selection process – from writing to a winning personal statement to planning and incorporating outside reading, What Oxbridge interviews are really like – with real past subject questions, Detailed advice on tackling the psychological and communicational aspects of the interview with numerous tips from successful applicants, The politics of Oxbridge entry, How these two exceptional academic institutions continue to offer the most esteemed higher education in the world.

Written in an engaging and humorous style, applicants, parents, teachers, graduates and undergraduates will find this compelling reading. If you want to find out what really goes on in the Oxbridge selection process from the people who have helped thousands to get where they want to go, this book is for you.