PREPARING FOR OXBRIDGE WHILE ON THE GO

Emmanuel College, Cambridge 



Enjoying your Oxbridge-geared holiday reading? Does it make you look forward to spending three years exploring aspects of your course? Great, if so, keep adding to the pile by your bed through regular visits to the nearest library, book store or Oxfam shop, or check for summer offers from online stores. 

 

Oxbridge summer prep, though, can also take you out into the wider world.  For a student on holiday abroad, this can mean noting the economic, political, health or ecological problems of the country whose beach you are sitting on.  Do check out a few relevant news stories. Alternatively, talk to local people your age. Which issues matter to them? What are their views on women’s football,  foreign aid  or migration? One of the skills that mark out a good Oxbridge candidate is the ability to see an topic from more than one familiar angle.

 

A student doing their Oxbridge prep at home but eager to get out more will find that there are intellectually stimulating summer events all over the country, most of them cost-free. So, do consider dropping into one of those before or after meeting your friends. Here are some options:

 

London

THE FESTIVAL OF KNOWLEDGE:  events including free science workshops, language lessons, talks and poetry

http://tinyurl.com/o727zcr

 

Leeds

RECOVERY:  FROM FLANDERS TO AFGHANISTAN:  a look at the medical advances prompted by soldiers’ injuries in historic and modern day conflicts

www.​thackraymedicalmuseum.​co.​uk

 

Manchester

WELLCOME IMAGE AWARDS 2015: how clinical photography aids research and reveals biomedical wonders

http://www.mosi.org.uk/whats-on/wellcome-image-awards.aspx

 

Brighton

OCEAN BLUES: an exhibition documenting the threats to the world’s seas from pollution and climate change

http://brightonmuseums.org.uk/brighton/what-to-see/exhibitions-and-displays/ocean-blues/

 

Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes

SUMMER BYTES FESTIVAL: family events, tours and exhibitions for computer buffs

http://www.tnmoc.org/about-us/contact-national-museum-computing

 

Hereforeshire

SUMMER OF ARCHAEOLOGY:  help archaeologists explore Anglo-Saxon life before the Normans.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/brockhampton-estate/visitor-information/article-1355903541125/

 

London

BONAPARTE AND THE BRITISH: how satirists shaped British views of Napoleon, his intentions, victories and defeats

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/bonaparte_and_the_british.aspx 

Nottingham

CHARGING AGAINST NAPOLEON- WELLINGTON'S CAMPAIGNS IN THE PENINSULAR WARS AND AT WATERLOO:  the nature and impact of the war and its consequences

http://www.lakesidearts.org.uk/Exhibitions/ViewEvent.html?e=2860&c=5&d=3257

 

Keighley, West Yorkshire

THE BRONTES, WAR AND WATERLOO: the influence of the Napoleonic era on the literary family

www.bronte.org.uk

 

Manchester

SPIRIT OF ’45: FROM WARFARE TO WELFARE: the post-war transformation of Britain.

http://www.wcml.org.uk/whats-on/events/exhibition-spirit-of-45-from-warfare-to-welfare/

 

Leeds

VOICES OF ASIA:  an exhibition exploring the contribution, traditions and modern culture of the many Asian communities  living in the city

http://www.leeds.gov.uk/museumsandgalleries/Pages/leedscitymuseum/Voices-Of-Asia.aspx

 

Edinburgh

 M.C. ESCHER: A MATHEMATICIAN’S EYE VIEW: a talk about the influence of maths on art (27/8) http://www.edinburghartfestival.com/events/category/artist_talks

Does any of these events,  however broadly, relate to your future course?  If so, make your way here. Once back home, jot down a few notes summing up insights or impressions. What did the event, talk or exhibition made you reflect on? Did it introduce you to an unfamiliar aspect of your future field or change any of your ideas? It is this kind of open-mindedness which the readers of your UCAS statement like to see.

 

 

 

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