When you specialize in a field it's inevitable that you will have to learn up some of the material, but on the whole I don't think it's a very memory-heavy subject. It's a very challenging subject haha

Don't know anything about it, but sounds like it would be!

About the same really; I'm tempted to say PPE grads have more diverse prospects but that's not necessarily true, law grads don't have to practice law, lots of them tend to go into business and other fields.

I'm not a GIC scholar so might not be best placed to answer this, but during the interview process the impression I got was that you get rotated through different divisions for the first year and then you settle down where you choose.

I prefer Iron Man's equipment but Batman's characterization!

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My dad actually didn't want me to take up the scholarship, he wanted to pay for my university education so that I could avoid the bond. One of my own motivations was precisely to reduce the financial burden for my parents, and to have a bit more financial independence of my own as well.

That said, if you're not sure that you want to be bonded to a particular organisation (which I really didn't have any problem with), then I wouldn't think that it would be a good idea. Depending on your perspective on the bond, it's either a secure job opportunity for at least 6 years, or a shackle to an organization during the first (and arguably most critical) years of your career-building. Think very carefully before you commit just so someone else will pay for your education.

I don't actually know anyone doing Econs at UCL (I think? I know an Economics+Geography though) so it's difficult for me to comment! Economics at LSE is probably better known for economics, and the impression I get is that LSE students get more in terms of networking and career opportunities (or at least they are more focused on that stuff). In terms of social stuff the London schools seem pretty similar to me although that might just be my outsider's perspective.

Tough choice! I suppose if I had to do just one of them, I would choose economics - it's more crucial to understanding the world and the concepts are more generally applicable. Philosophy is great as a training of the mind, but philosophical arguments tend to be pretty light on real-world implications. Both have been very rewarding for me, philosophy is probably more conceptually heavy, though economics is no conceptual lightweight either.

Not very well, apparently! You do know I got a C right?

If that's not enough to put you off, then: practice! I don't know if they've changed the exam structure in my day, but it's not difficult to find passages to work on to critically evaluate arguments and work through philosophical material. Ask your tutor for some, or just look some up online. Working in a group of friends is also great, different people see different things and you can also peer evaluate.

The scholarship is very selective, so it's not easy. I would think that they are looking for people with more to show than just academics, so not having a great CCA record would be a disadvantage. However a lot of the GIC selection process is about communication and presentation, so it's possible to impress based on that.

In a nutshell, read widely and think deeply. Reading the Economist is a great way to pick up knowledge about current affairs, politics and economics. Read stuff on philosophy in general and talk about it with friends that are similarly interested.

I don't know anything about this unfortunately! Not sure how the whole "getting called to the bar" thing works

I don't think any of the Ivies require 3 SAT Subjects, but it's worth checking that out just to make sure. I think it's way difficult to prep for an unfamiliar subject from scratch so I wouldn't recommend it, getting 2 scores is better than getting 3 but with one sub-par score.

Dissertations/theses are not required for PPE students, although there is an option to do one in any of the three disciplines. I'm not doing one myself.

Descartes is a remarkably clear and accessible writer, as is Hume. Actually, basically anyone that is pre-Kantian is quite accessible. It's probably Kant who first came in and made life difficult for philosophy students ever since, and he inspired an entire generation of post-Kantian philosophers talking about obscure metaphysical theories that no one really understands. More recent writers tend to be very jargonistic and hence never achieve the same level of ease of writing as the earlier philosophers. Oh and anyone who talks about metaphysics tends to sound pretty weedy as well, I've never understood metaphysics but hopefully I will soon enough since I'm doing an option in it this term!

Personally I think law is boring as hell and truth be told lots of the lawyers in my year wouldn't disagree :)

It seems to me like people tend to do Law because it's a safe option - you've got a clearly defined career path if you want it (although lots of legally trained individuals don't necessarily go on to practice law), it's well-respected, and in terms of material the difficulty (based on my discussions with a certain Jamie Pang) is not so much conceptual depth but material quantity. Practically speaking I don't think you can go far wrong pursuing a law degree at Oxford, but as far as I've seen it's quite rare for someone to actually enjoy doing it. My theory is that this is partly due to the fact that the Oxford law degree is quite inflexible in terms of options - everyone has to do pretty much exactly the same options, save 2 which are up to your own choice, so people end up doing topics like Administrative Law which is apparently dry as bone and about as easy to swallow, and which probably very few would do out of interest. The other part of my theory, though, is that the Oxford law degree - which is technically a BA Jurisprudence (legal philosophy), not a BA Law - actually requires quite a philosophical streak in order to really enjoy, which is incidentally the exact same bent that is required for a PPE degree (at least if you're interested in pursuing the philosophy bit of it, but it helps in general). I say this on the basis of my observation that the two most outstanding law students of the Oxford Singaporeans are, in my opinion, unique in their considerably greater interest in philosophical issues. If you're of the opinion that you are possessed of this sort of mindset, then either course would probably be suited to your abilities, and your choice should, in my view, be made on the basis of your relative interest in either subject.

I will say that PPE is an extremely flexible degree programme with lots of room to tailor your own degree, at least compared to the Oxford Law degree (not so much when compared to the US schools, of course). If you're planning on pursuing the economics branch, you'll have to be pretty confident of your mathematical abilities - an A in 'A' level Maths is pretty much always a prerequisite for making an Oxford PPE offer, whereas an A in Economics sometimes isn't required. But what's nice about the degree is that you have the flexibility to drop one of the three academic disciplines if you so desire. For instance, I'm currently an Economics and Philosophy student, having dropped my weakest suit, Politics. I'll also say that, unlike quite a lot of the Oxford lawyers I know of, I'm absolutely loving my degree :)

It was a very difficult decision to make, but eventually I went with Oxford because:

(1) The tutorial system at Oxford (and Cambridge) is something quite unrivaled anywhere else, in terms of the personal attention and feedback you get from tutors. Having just finished a tutorial right before replying this, I've just gotten a very good reminder of how awesome it is to have the opportunity to have professors giving your thoughts and difficulties personal attention, week in, week out.
(2) I felt like I already knew what I wanted to do for my degree and didn't feel like I would really take full advantage of the flexibility that would be afforded by a US liberal arts system. Whether or not this was an accurate assessment is I suppose questionable, but I'm very happy with my learning experience here in Oxford.
(3) Probably most decisive for me was that Oxford PPE had been the goal for me for a really long time and I was very reluctant, and eventually refused, to give that up.

I was most worried about politics so I read up one of their recommended readings for political theory! I was pretty much depending on my existing economics/philosophy knowledge to get me through haha

Solid inference skills!