Anna Higgins - Law (with German Law)
About Me
Hi! I’m Anna Higgins, a first year Law with German Law student at Oxford University. I have lived in County Roscommon all my life and attended state schools for both primary and secondary level. I sat my Leaving Certificate in 2024 and began my studies in Oxford last October. Whilst I was in the process of writing my application, I could only find Oxbridge (the term for Oxford and Cambridge) success stories from those who had attended schools in Dublin, so I am very happy to be one example of the fact that those from rural Ireland (even those from counties which are alleged not to exist, such as Roscommon) can also be successful in their applications!
I chose to study law because I am a stickler for the rules. I am very interested in the standards and guidelines that govern our daily activities and dictate our interactions with the world around us. I also have a healthy interest in current affairs and the ways in which justice is delivered or not delivered to those around the world. As for German, it was always my best subject at school and I knew I wanted to keep it up at university level. More than that, Germany has a different legal system to England and Wales – something which allows for variety in my studies.
I chose Oxford over Cambridge for the simple reason that Oxford offers law with a language and Cambridge only offers straight law. I also knew Anna Crowley (an Oxford student who has also written a success story) who was in Oxford at the time and was able to provide me with invaluable information on how she found the city. I had never visited Oxford or Cambridge before the offer holder day in March of 6th year so I wouldn’t stress if you can’t get over for an open day. Both universities have extraordinarily useful websites with more information than you could ever consume!
The Application Process
The application process is certainly intense. But it is also manageable, if you stay on top of things. My biggest piece of advice would be to get as much done as possible in the summer of fifth year. The start of 6th year will be stressful – teachers love to give class tests and pile on the homework at the start of the year I find. So, if you can get the personal statement and any application test preparation essentially out of the way over the summer this will help you enormously. Something that motivated me to keep going with it all was the fact that once offers come out in January, you can somewhat sit back a little in comparison to your classmates. I only needed 528 points to meet my offer - in contrast to the 601 I would have needed to do my first-choice course in Ireland, this was a nice bit of weight taken off my shoulders when facing into mocks.
The LNAT
The important thing to remember about the LNAT is what the letter A stands for – Aptitude. Just as an example, one of my friends in college got 36 in the LNAT multiple choice section with no study whatsoever. Now, while I would not recommend this approach (as it is important to feel prepared and confident facing into the exam) it does put it all into perspective a bit. I did the entirety of the Amazon book which everyone and their mother uses (The Ultimate LNAT Collection) and I got 5 less than my friend who did no study. I personally did not use Arbitio as it is notorious for being more difficult than the exam itself and I did not want my confidence to be hindered by low scores before the exam. However, it is totally down to personal preference – if you think you would benefit from the latter approach then go for it – there is no right or wrong way to approach this test. I do think, however, that the essay section should receive at least equal if not more attention than the multiple-choice section. There is much more room for improvement in the essay as you can practice following a specific structure and utilising the language of debate. Furthermore, it is the only opportunity to show the universities what standard of writing you can achieve under extreme time pressure, and hence its importance should not be underestimated. I think I did around 15 timed essays in the couple of weeks before the exam which really helped my confidence facing into the exam. Also I had to go to Dublin to sit it, so just be aware of that if you’re also from the countryside!
The Personal Statement
Unfortunately, this issue with providing advice on applying to Oxbridge is that none of us actually know what part of our applications were particularly good and which parts were weaker. Obviously, any application that is successful is generally excellent in a holistic sense. However, there will naturally be weaker parts of it, whether that be the personal statement, the LNAT section A or B, the interviews etc. All this to say do not take people’s advice as gospel when it comes to this stuff. However, the cliches on personal statements generally ring true – they should be a passion project on some specific area of interest to you. Don’t say ‘I have known from the age of 5 that I wanted to be a X’ and do not make any claims which you would not be able to back up in an interview (such as saying you read a book or did a course you didn’t do). It can be really tempting to include a paragraph on extracurricular successes (I had back-to-back All-Ireland Golf wins and a lead role in the musical for example), but you really should keep this to a line or two. I wrote primarily about human rights and declarations of incompatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights. I only read a couple of books about the topic but I also attended a law event in UCD, did an online course on Coursea (would highly recommend!) and read some blog posts. The UK Constitutional Law Blog ( https://ukconstitutionallaw.org/ ) is superb for short articles which are easy to digest and discuss. Try your best with this but also do not get too bogged down in it – it is certainly not the be all and end all.
The Interviews
The secret to doing a good interview is composure and confidence. It genuinely comes down to who can stay calm and collected when facing a stressful situation. For me, I had convinced myself that I loved my first-choice course on my CAO form so much that I didn’t even care how the interview went – it’s whatever works! Do not be afraid to get creative and take risks if you see an opportunity in the interview. I can’t say what I was asked about specifically, but if you can see an alternative approach to answering a question don’t be afraid to take it, so long as you can justify why you did or why you are asking a certain question. As a side note, every single person I’ve talked to in Oxford thought they weren’t getting in after their interview. You always think it went worse than it actually did. Keep the fact that the people interviewing you will be your tutors for the duration of your degree in the back of your mind whilst in the interview also. Whilst it’s not a personality test, it is likely they won’t want to teach someone who seems unengaged and uninterested. Having said this, there is no need to ask a question at the end – I had four interviews in total and did not ask a question in any one of them. The tutors likely have a tutorial, class or seminar to teach right after your interview and so the less time your slot takes up the better!
Oxford
There seems to be more success stories from Cambridge than Oxford on the I2O site at the minute, so I’d like to provide a bit more insight on life in Oxford as an Irish person. I’m studying at The Queen’s College which I absolutely love. I chose it for a few reasons: 1. Location – it’s right on the Highstreet, in the centre of Oxford.
2. The people – it has a reputation for being a friendly college which is definitely true; the people are lovely.
3. Cost – Queen's is a very rich college which means everything is very well subsidised. The accommodation is quite affordable in comparison to some other colleges and you are guaranteed accommodation for all 3 or 4 years of your degree. There is 3 meals a day in hall and they genereally cost you around three pound.
Whilst I am the only person from the Republic of Ireland in Queen’s at the moment (to the best of my knowledge), I had absolutely no issue with finding friends and like-minded people. In fact, the accent is a great conversation starter and the fact that I’m from a different country probably made all the fresher’s week small talk a lot easier. There is an Irish society which is also great craic and a nice way to curb any homesickness; although truth be told you won’t have time to be homesick! As is the way with most universities nowadays there is a club for everything – except for GAA unfortunately (something which I would like to change at some stage!). Oxford is also so easy to travel to from Ireland which is great – there is a bus from Heathrow Airport to right outside the door of Queens. It is such a lovely city to live in, probably a bit smaller than Galway in size and so pretty easy to navigate.
As I’m sure you’ve been told already, if you’re thinking of applying, just do it. Especially if you’re in TY or early fifth year, there is absolutely no reason not to apply. Even if I hadn’t got in, I still learned so much about law whilst researching for my personal statement which made me confident when filling out my CAO that I was chosing the right course for me. However, if you are going to apply, be sure to get in touch with current students (my contact details are below). Many English students receive intensive guidance on Oxbridge applications – from personal statement help to mock interviews, they are often coached on every single step. This means that you need all the help you can get! I genuinely believe if it wasn’t for the help of Paddy Hickey and Conor Hall, I would not be studying in Oxford today. I strongly recommend you get in touch!
Email – annah180605@gmail.com
Instagram – annahiggins_05
You can also message me on Linkedin.
Best of luck with your applications!
