We were delighted to welcome back to school Old Bedfordian Max Sogan (12-21) to share his top tips on the Oxbridge application process. His talk was specifically geared towards boys wishing to read physics.
Max, who is about to start his third year reading physics at Oxford, was invited into school by Head of Physics Dr Palmer, to help inspire the boys. Max lives locally when not at university and as his new term has not yet started, the timing was ideal for him.
Dr Palmer explained, “We have lots of students interested in physics or engineering university applications and we know he is an inspiring speaker about his own experiences. He was very happy to come back and support the next generation of Bedford School physicists and show his appreciation for his teachers (especially Mr Green!)”.
Max delivered his presentation to a packed room of over 30 Lower Sixth boys studying both A-Levels or the IB and some Remove and Fifth Form boys, who turned up eager to glean as much information about the famously challenging application process.
Max began by stating that, in order to do well, you have to “really want it and have a real hunger to study there.” Secondly, you need to decide whether Oxford or Cambridge is the better fit for you as they both offer very different physics courses. Max advised to attend as many college open days in each city before deciding. He went on to say, “It costs just £2 for a return ticket on the bus from Bedford, so get yourself out and about and use this time to visit as many as you can.”
Max also went on to say that if you don’t get accepted, it’s not a reflection on you, and to try not to let it get you down.
Max explained that, during his interview process, he was asked questions that fell within three main categories: dimensional analysis, graph plotting and Fermi approximations. An example of an easy Fermi question could be: how many pots of paint would it take to paint all the classrooms in the school? Max rhetorically asked, “How do we break that down?”. The key takeaway from this, is to talk through your thought process out-loud with your interviewer – that’s what they’re looking for, rather than the answer itself.
For the next part of Max’s presentation, boys were required to form groups to discuss and work out the answer to this Fermi question:
If a 10 km2 solar farm has a peak power generation of 3×108 W, what is the change in mass of sun from fusion?
Boys set about working on the problem, explaining their thought process to one another as they tried to work out the answer. When the teams had exhausted the question, Max went through the method on the board. Some of the groups managed to get the correct answer with tips and nudges from Max.