Hi I’m Tasha and I study Biology at St Catherine’s College, Oxford. At school, Biology was always my favourite subject, and I found myself wanting to learn more about the subject than could be found within the school curriculum. I spent evenings reading books and watching documentaries related to the subject, and because of this, I knew that Biology was the right course for me.
If you’re considering applying to Oxford to study Biology, make sure you showcase your passion for the subject in your personal statement. Explore your favourite parts of biology, for example by reading books, listening to podcasts, watching documentaries or completing online courses. Then relay these extra-curricular things that you’ve done in your personal statement, analysing the content and showing your passion for the subject. The key to having a good personal statement in my opinion is to showcase your enthusiasm for biology via actions rather than through words alone.
My interview experience consisted of three interviews, two at St Catherine’s college and one at Brasenose college (Biology applicants are interviewed at two colleges instead of just one like most subjects). Although I was terrified for my interviews, they ended up being an experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. The interviews are meant to mimic the tutorial system that you will be a part of, and learn from, throughout your time in Oxford. Hence the tutors are looking for applicants who can thrive in this sort of scenario. You will be asked questions you may not know the answers to, and are expected to use knowledge you already have, as well as logical thinking and deduction, to come up with an answer (which often doesn’t have to be correct!).
My main tip for the interviews is to speak out loud – talk through your thought process. Even if halfway through your thought process you realise you are wrong, this is totally okay! Say out loud why you think you are wrong and then explore another train of thought. As well as this, if you have questions that you think would help you to discover the correct answer, ask them! Most importantly, be yourself and show your enthusiasm for the subject! The tutors are looking for curious and passionate individuals rather than people who already know everything about the subject.
The Biology course in the first year focuses on three different strands: ‘Building a Phenotype’, ‘Diversity of Life’ and ‘Ecology and Evolution’. And each week you will have eight lectures in total, which altogether will cover these three themes. You will also have one or two laboratory practicals a week which last around three hours each, a computing session, and a synthesis session. On top of this, you will often have one tutorial, or perhaps more, a week. These often require essays, or sometimes presentations, and the content covered in these tutorials will vary between colleges, but all will be based off the lectures given in first year. For example, the tutors at St Catherine’s college choose to focus almost all of the tutorials in first year on content within the ‘Building a Phenotype’ strand, as this is often what students struggle with the most. My essays for these tutorials often took around 8-12 hours a week from start to finish, with about 6 hours spent on reading and 4 hours writing the essay and synthesising the information gathered. Although the workload seems intense, you will have a 4-week introductory period in which you are eased into the course, allowing you to socialise and make friends at the start of your time in Oxford. I found this incredibly beneficial, and it made the transition from school to university a lot more seamless.
Overall, studying Biology at Oxford has been an incredible experience for me. If you are curious about the biology of the world around you, and think you would enjoy learning through the tutorial system, then definitely apply. Good luck!