Customer Reviews
A good read for those who will never progress beyond Oxford Reading Tree - By: Terry J. Hardy, 28 Aug 2008 
This is a book in which you will find the author to be more prejudiced than the public schools. Its target-audience (another factor on which the idiot writer seems unable to decide!) appears to be the state sector who are then treated as some sort of imbecilic contingent far beneath public school pupil status. If you need this book, I would suggest you would do very poorly at Oxbridge - or indeed at any university if you honestly lack any degree of common sense! Delightful bedtime reading for those who have no brain.
If in doubt check it out... - By: ED, 30 Apr 2008 If the whole application process for Oxford & Cambridge is an unknown quantity then you can't go wrong reading as much about the topic as possible. There are some useful tips regarding A-levels & the run up to interviews in this book. It is at least worth pulling out of your local library.
If, however, you are a fairly mature & independant adult with a little knowledge of what to expect then I would not recommend this book. The author is not only regularly factuallly incorrect about many different issues pertaining to both Oxford & Cambridge (some statements are outdated, sometimes she is ill informed, & sometimes she lies unashamedly) but she is patronising, judgemental & has an inferiority complex. It therefore makes what would be an average & often uninformed book, a very frustrating read. If you want help getting yourself or your child into Oxbridge, reading this book may encourage prejudices which will actuallly inhibit your entrance. Make sure you read around the subject & take everything in this book with a large pinch of salt.
Good, useful tips but some advice may be outdated - By: Freddie Firework, 12 Mar 2008 
This book confirmed a lot of what I have read about Oxbridge entrance but provides a useful guide to what a student must do to prepare properly (and there is lots of preparation). It also discusses many of the inequalities of the current selection process (which will make your blood boil, depending on where your child is being educated). Apparently, if you're in the state sector, it helps immeasurably if the student's parent is a teacher (so bad luck if you're not part of a teaching dynasty). And there's no doubt that if your child is in a middle-ranking comp, he/she faces an uphill struggle. Two things that put me off this book slightly are that its findings & research were undertaken in 2001/2, so it didn't feel completely current (more recent updates are pretty thin on the ground). Also, I found the number of typographical mistakes rather annoying (and inappropriate).
But it's worth reading, especiallly if you're coming to the subject with little or no prior knowledge.
It was a book but... - By: artemisblack_2, 06 Feb 2008 although I did enjoy reading this book, & although I do think it would be useful for those it is aimed at(thus my 4 stars). I would not say that I am absolutely pleased with it. One of my main reasons for this is because of the authors patronising attitudes to public school students & also her over-emphasis on getting into whatever subject rather than giving an insightful approach into getting into the subject you want. Although there is a good separate section for medical applicants- it was not anything that we did not already know- & not only this but not much else has been said about how to get into any of the other courses at Oxbridge- suggesting that they are easier to get into- which compared to law & medicine- yes they probably are- but they are still not as easy as the author makes it out. All in my mixed feelings about the book, make me give it a 3.5- which I can't so I'll just give it a 4, because I do feel that it is an inspirational book for those students that think that Oxbridge is far higher up there than it is.
The true story - By: Sarah Gold, 31 Jan 2008 
This is the only Oxbridge guide which tells you the truth. Families are helped to understand the far-from-perfect admissions process, so a bright student can get the right kind of support. The advice given to sixth formers on academic preparation is excellent & designed to bridge the yawning gap between A-level work & the level of knowledge Oxbridge seeks. Students to whom I recommended this book handled their interviews well & very often got in.
