The Open Secret Podcast: How People Really Get Into Oxford, Cambridge, and the UK's Top Universities for Postgraduate Study

Эпизоды

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  The Personal Statement That Got Me Rejected 11 Times vs The One That Got Me Into Cambridge | Masters and PhD 25.08.2026 33мин

  In today's episode, I read out my rejected personal statement - the one from the round where I applied 11 times and got 11 rejections - and then I read the application that got me in to a Cambridge PhD with full funding. I go through the rejected one paragraph by paragraph and point out what I'd flag if I were the person assessing it. There's quite a lot to flag. It's not the writing quality, which surprises most people! Then I read the Cambridge boxes (which are a bit different than a tradit...
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  Your Grades Are Not Why Oxbridge Rejected You | Master's and PhD 04.08.2026 18мин

  In today's episode, I explain why your grades are almost certainly not the reason Oxford or Cambridge rejected you, we go through the four things that actually decide a postgraduate outcome, and I debunk the idea that you need insider connections or a famous undergraduate degree to be competitive. I use my own record as the proof: 11 applications and 11 rejections without a single interview the first time around, then three Oxbridge offers and two fully funded scholarships the second, with th...
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  How I Got Into Oxford and Cambridge, Both Fully Funded, After 19 Rejections 24.07.2026 21мин

  In my first application cycle I sent off 11 applications and got 11 rejections, without a single interview, and I thought that was my answer. Then in the very next round, the same cycle where I collected eight more nos, Oxford and Cambridge both said yes, and both fully funded. This is the first ever episode of The Open Secret, and I wanted to open the show with the story I usually only tell in pieces. Not the tidy version where it all worked out, but the whole thing: the rejections stackin...