You've handed in your personal statement and it feels like one huge step is out of the way but now what?
Well, sadly, your personal statement alone isn't going to get you into Oxford, so let me give you some simple tips (applicable to all subjects) on what you can do in the coming months:
* Up until this point, in order to write your personal statement, you've no doubt immersed yourself in your subject - don't stop now! Between October and December (when interviews are held) you can very easily forget what you've learnt so far, keep your personal statement content fresh in your mind.
* Keep reading - My advice would be quality over quantity. There's no point in reading about three generations of history if you remember none of it. Select your reading wisely and really analyse the texts.
* 'How do I select my reading?' I hear you say. Well, at this point your personal statement is a good place to start. Take texts/ideas you've mentioned in your personal statement and build on them. Either read critiques/articles on them or look in the bibliography and find other texts/theories which shaped their works.
* Stay up-to-date - whilst ideas from the past are useful, it's important to be up-to-date with current breakthroughs on your subjects, be it a new take on a historical novel, a controversial take on a political situation, a new development in medical research, it would be useful to be aware.
* Every subject requires critical thinking - it might be useful to download some critical thinking papers online, to help shape your own analysis skills, particularly for subjects such as Law.
The second half of this post will be up on Thursday!