Oxford Rose: A Future Physicist

Oxford Rose: A Future Physicist

Rose Di is a remarkable student that personifies the Dulwich values of academic success, focus and self-discipline and is a fluent and confident English speaker. Research shows conclusively that the level of a student’s English competence correlates directly with their level of examination success. As we will see, Rose firmly believes that one of the key advantages she gained from studying at Dulwich was a vigorous education in an English environment with English speaking teachers. During the interview, she was full of praise for her physics teacher, Doctor Feeney and his ability to explain complex physics in a clear, simple and lucid manner.

Inspirational Reading

In many respects, it is very fitting that Rose Di is going to study Physics at Oxford University. She regards Stephen Hawking as one of her great inspirations and cites his famous book “The Brief History of Time” as a key factor that attracted her to the study of physics in the first place. Stephen Hawking is one of Oxford University’s most famous alumni. However, Rose regards Richard Feynman as her favorite Physicist.

Rose, very modestly did not think that she would receive an offer from Oxford, as she had also applied to a small number of other Russel Group Universities in the UK, including Manchester. It came as something of a surprise to her when she was invited to fly to Oxford University in the UK for a round of three interviews. It was almost as though Oxford University chose her. As she states, in softly spoken flawless English:

"I wasn't thinking about applying at all, I applied to Manchester and Durham as they are easier to get into than Oxford. My Counsellors persuaded me to try for Oxford, so I changed my mind! Doctor Feeney helped me with my interview preparation. We had four or five meetings that lasted one hour. He explains things very simply.“

A Solid Focus on Physics

When asked about the questions she was asked during the interviews at Oxford, Rose was very clear on the fact that they focused very solidly on physics:

"They talked very casually about what I did in my spare time for just two minutes. It was more like a warm up. They asked me to solve physics problems and explain why I chose the answer and how I analyzed it. If I got anything wrong, they corrected me and gave me some hints. It was also about how I interacted with the teachers. I made a lot of mistakes!”

Rose regards her impressive English skills as the single greatest asset that Dulwich provided her. She believes that being taught at an exclusively English speaking school with English speaking teachers helped develop her language skills enormously. However, she also believes that reading is the key to her success

"The most obvious thing is the English. It's very helpful to have teachers teaching classes in English. My English in middle school was not very good and I think it would have been a big problem if I did not practice it here. Also there is not too much homework at Dulwich so I have time to read books and relax."

The striking thing about Rose’s academic success is how focused she is on her subject matter. When asked about what co curricula activities she enjoys Rose had this to say:

"I attended fitness club. I could not find a skills CCA that really interested me, but I love reading. This year I found lots of nice books in the school Library.”

She believes that having a good work life balance, with enough free time to read a lot and get enough sleep is the secret to her academic success. She has the following advice for younger students that would like to follow her example:

"I think first you have to learn to manage your time well. You have to have enough time to sleep every day. Keep your body and brain active! It's really important to get enough sleep!”