GOT YOUR A-GRADES? BRILLIANT, BUT WHAT NOW?

Got the AS grades you were hoping for? Well done!!! For students planning to apply to Oxbridge, this usually means AAAA, or at least AAAB. With those grades under your belt, you are a realistic applicant for most of its courses. Time to reward yourself with a family-size ice cream tub and a great weekend with your mates.

By next week, though, you want to get back to some serious Oxbridge prep. After all, the new term is only two or three weeks away, and you will be inundated with A-level work from day one. So, your last chance to read intensively around your degree subject is probably now. Those students who stand out at the admissions stage have rarely left it any later.

Start by making sure you have a valid library card, as a book you need may not be in print anymore.  If you plan to buy something from your subject-linked reading list but are not sure what, consider leaving your screen for a good terrestial bookshop. Britain’s most academic one, Blackwell’s, has branches in a large number of towns and cities, as does Waterstones. In London, Foyles, Hatchards and The London Review Bookshop stock a wide range of university-level titles. Staff can also recommend useful new books.

While a shop-purchased academic book will cost slightly more than one bought online, you'll find that looking through an expert selection can be hugely inspiring. Sales staff tend to be well informed and will direct you towards yet more appropriate books. Buying from terrestrial shops may even pay off financially: you’ll know just what you get and won’t waste money on something disappointing. 

This can matter especially if you are a student applying for a very broad course such as Economics or PPE. You'll find more advice on preparing for these two courses in the 2012 edition of OXBRIDGE ENTRANCE: THE REAL RULES.