Jasper V.

• Cambridge, theology and religion
• London

Firstly - I'll do any humanities based Oxbridge interview with you, whatever your intended subject! I'm also happy to look over any essays or draft personal statements you'd like to send me.      In terms of my own background, I went to boarding school at Winchester College, a strong contender for being the most academically competitive school in the UK. I’ve therefore been performing successfully in intellectually orientated interviews and intelligence tests from the age of 11!     I was a straight A* student throughout my time at my school. In my final Cambridge Pre-U exams I achieved some of the highest grades in the UK for my subjects (Russian, French and Philosophy & Theology).      After taking a gap year and travelling around Italy, Malta, Russia, Pakistan and the Middle East, I did my interviews and gained admission to the beautiful and prestigious St John's College Cambridge to study Theology, Religion and Philosophy of Religion.      In the course itself I focused on philosophy (ethics and metaphysics), history and literature papers. Throughout university I greatly enjoyed and flourished in the supervision approach to learning (one-on-one sessions with a world-leading academic). I mostly wrote 1st class essays, and I was awarded distinctions in several of my exam based papers, and all of my coursework based papers - I ultimately graduated with a 2:1 (upper second class honours).      Since graduating from Cambridge I've been working at one of the most prestigious law firms in London as both a corporate strategy associate and as a legal trainee. I've been juggling my work with part-time legal study and have now completed my academic law conversion (GDL exams), and am now beginning my LPC with a view to qualifying as a lawyer in roughly a year.      I am something of a generalist and an auto-didact. I find educating both myself and others as deeply as I can extremely rewarding. I enjoy reading modern history, classical history, philosophy, theology, politics and psychology, as well as keeping updated on international current affairs and technology development. I am therefore delighted to assist Oxbridge applicants in preparing for any humanities subject interview (Theology, English, History, Philosophy, PPE etctetera).      Regarding exam preparation, I also have various of my own notes and materials for Russian, French, and Philosophy & Theology Pre-U, as well as proven advice for mnemonic and revision techniques to help students excel in those exams. I hate exams myself, trust me!     I'm nice, easygoing, good-humoured, and I truly care about you doing well.

            ~ Interviews ~     Just a reminder: I'll do any humanities based Oxbridge interview preparation with you, whatever your intended subject.      I believe in stimulating creativity and building intellectual confidence in dialogue.       The worst way to answer an Oxbridge interview question is simply to answer the question. I understand that it can be difficult to assimilate this idea and to adapt towards it, because it really does defy a lot of your cognitive conditioning from school, but you can actually be the best at your subject in school and still perform disastrously in an Oxbridge interview. The thing to remember is that interviews are not like exams. There are actually no right or wrong answers. Actually, there are only interesting answers - and the capacity to persuade, to ask further questions, and to follow a chain of thought with grace.      Creativity, articulacy, rational consistency, and the perfect balance of intellectual enthusiasm with humility - these are the qualities that are needed, not a massive memory or mountains of cramming. This is actually great news! You don't need to do enormous quantities of work necessarily; what you need is a certain state of mind.      The best way to develop these intellectual qualities is through exposure and practice, in the context of an intellectual relationship (that combines encouragement with challenge) with someone who knows what interviewers are really looking for. I've had years living with and talking to the same academics who interview Oxbridge applicants every year.      So - my approach is pretty simple. I'll take real historic Oxbridge interview questions, I'll give them to you in advance of our session to think about as freely and creatively as you can, and then I'll see what you come out with in our session. After your preliminary answer I'll invite you to consider different ways in which your logic might be contradicted or stretched, or your terms and premises changed. I'll also indicate different ways of looking at the question itself, and therefore all the different possible answers, and their implications. I'll also give tips on style and presentation and techniques of thinking. I'll offer some of my own additional answers to help you see that there are always many, many potential perspectives to be had and arguments to be made. Finally, I love reading, and I can tailor book/article/podcast suggestions to your interests. I hope I can give you dozens of recommendations that might help gratify your growing curiosity, as well as widen your bank of ideas.       The aim will be to amplify something small and basic (a simple interview question) into something that can actually be understood as much bigger, much more interesting, a question that can be answered ten different ways. I hope to make you see that this is the opposite of scary, rather, it can actually be a freeing experience, because it means that the way the interview goes is entirely your choice.      The worst thing for interview performance is anxiety, and the worst thing for anxiety is a mistaken belief that there is some specific right answer you might miss, or a wrong answer you must avoid. Trust me, it's not like that! The best way to triumph in an Oxbridge interview is to start finding it genuinely enjoyable, so I hope above all to instil enthusiasm, curiosity and enjoyability into our sessions.      Exams are hard - interviews should be fun. I look forward to talking with you!     ~ Exams ~     I hate exams, yet I've always done well. In my final school exams I got some of the highest grades in the country for Cambridge Pre-U (D1, D1, D2 - which translates in A-Level terms to A**, A**, A*). If you're studying Theology & Philosophy, Russian or French at Pre-U or even A Level, I'd be delighted to help you with my own notes, with materials and exercises I recommend, with techniques for exam performance etctera. We can have an introductory session and see what your needs are, I'm very easygoing and will work around you.

            - Informally tutored gifted sixth former family members and friends of the family for Oxbridge interviews  - Assisted several students in younger years at my old school in preparing for their Cambridge Pre-U exams (several used my notes and were ultimately awarded distinction grades) as well as for their Oxbridge interviews (several got in, to both Oxford and Cambridge)

            I enjoy:   - Going to the theatre  - Travelling  - Reading classic English and Russian literature; reading basically anything  - Exercising  - Playing tennis  - Meditating  - Watching standup and sketch comedy