After my rejected Oxford application in 2020, this personal statement mindset change helped me get accepted to Oxford in 2021.
I always heard the personal statement advice 'write about what you are interested in' but I always felt this was a bit vague and not very practical. Then I came across this idea of how to approach a personal statement which really changed the game for me.
This change in perspective in what a personal statement really is helped me develop a clear, systematic way of choosing (and then researching) topics.
There are Oxford Classics and Oxford English examples in this video, but this will work just as well for any Oxford or Cambridge (Oxbridge) course, particularly humanities.
0:00 - Intro
0:36 - The problem with normal PS mindset
1:45 - A better PS mindset
3:30 - Oxford Classics example
5:59 - Oxford English example
7:27 - More benefits to this method
