this guy, off the oxford profiles page, really charmed and cracked me up:

Nikolai
-- doing PPE at Merton

How did you decide between Oxford and Cambridge?
Oxford offers PPE, which is far superior to the more statistical SPS. Coming from a big city, London, i wanted to go to another city, not a town :p Oh yeah and it has Oxford Brookes which is amazing for art (lots of girls :P)

Why did you choose that college?
An Oxford Rowing Blues man reccomended it to me for sport. Some very intelligent people recommended it. The fattest man i know (a rather corpulent chap) said it has the best food in Oxford (it does).

For what reasons did you apply to Oxbridge?
A head start in life and because it was the only place that i knew offered the course i wanted to do. (actually loads of others do as well)

Did your school/college give you any extra tuition or help prior to your interview or application?
They read through my UCAS form and sent it off, with errors in. I was given one short mock interview with someone whose field was totally different and had no idea about it. To be fair, my teachers would have helped if i asked, but i was extremely busy the week before my interview. ( i had resits and lots of sports fixtures)

Do you have any tips on filling in Oxbridge application forms?
Dont put garbage in it, in my philosophy interview they picked up on "as such I am aware of alternate value systems" and they pushed on this. I am, but for the life of me could not think of alternate value systems.

If you had to submit any written work prior to the interview, what did you submit and why?
A really rambling off topic essay on "the clash between Liberty and Democracy in the current debate on fox-hunting". Which was the only essay i loved writing but dragged in far too much that i did not know about. If they had asked me on Kant's theories, which i mentioned, i would have been stuffed. The other was chosen the day before the deadline by my head of history (it got about 18/20) and was on Kennedy (i think). I was in a bit of trouble though as i never actually do my essays or if i do they are 17/18 out of 20 and barely legible as i wrote them at break.

What happened at your interview(s)?
Politics: they let me talk about any subject i wanted to (what has been in the news recently), but really pushed me on it. I started off badly as i said that there were lots of things such as but that the most important was fox-hunting. They then went back to one of the other things i said. Economics: i turnedup hungover, had a pre-release material which i couldnt read and was mildly challenging. Then i felt so sick when the bloke came out that i asked if there was a tap (cos my throat was so sore). I got some water and did ok in the interview. They really pushed me, they would lead you to a wrong answer even when my first one had been correct. Philosophy: they said i hadnt done any what did i want to talk about. i said i had done some via my classics and some via my politics. They asked me whether i wanted to talk about classical philosophy or political philosophy. I said i did not mind and then they went off tangent into talking about what i would do (what value system :P) if i was made a dictator.

What questions were you asked during your interview(s)?
The worst one was in politics where they kept pressing on my family background. Is there anything you wish to add to your personal statement, something that you feel we should know about your background. It made me feel really awkward so i just rambled (something im good at) on how much i loved the three subjects and together they were wonderful. I told them that i loved them so much that i frequently dragged my other lessons off course into talking about them (which is true). The last two classics lessons i had, all we talked about was philosophy.

What did you wear to your interview and why?
A suit as it made me comfortable. I was glad i did as both the politics tutors wore one, but the male looked quite dishevelled, so i was happy as i felt i looked a lot smarter. Suits give me confidence. Remember you can always dress down - taking off a jacket or so, but its a lot harder to neaten up in an interview.

What is your advice for a candidate wanting to prepare for an interview in this subject?
Be interested in the subject and read the papers. When you get to the college, speak to the students, it relaxes you and you learn about the tutors, which can be useful.

What was your general impression of the college that you applied to/any others you visited?
Wicked, a real cool place.

Describe the college accommodation:
The first years had reasonable rooms (better than Exeter and i think York). But the female PPE applicants were put into 3rd yr rooms which are on suite and had studies. They were huge and really wicked. The only trouble was that my male house did not have a shower in it, you had to go up to the roof and down two floors in the next house to find a shower. There were baths though.

How was college food?
Excellent
There is the 'Merton effect', if you go there you put on a couple of pounds as you eat so much as it is so good. You also only pay for what you eat.

What were the college students like?
Devious and Subversive, i got them to drink with me and they talked me into playing poker, which i promptly beat them at (despite it being my first time). They sent me to bed though on the first night at three which offended me, although they were right as i felt bad during the exam. The official helpers were really nice as well, invited me back to their office to drink and chat. The funniest incident was on the last night when the Stewards wanted to go, so told us to switch off the JCR lights as they would let us stay longer. They gave me instructions on sending people to bed and stuff, when there were Merton students present. I got put in charge, which amused me.

Please describe what happened when you received the letter telling you whether you had a place or not.
I came home and refused to open it (just to aggravate my parents), then opened it and scanned the second half and it said AAA. So i knew i had got an offer. I still dont think iv read the letter. I then rang a girl and told her, then my rents. Everyone was well pleased for me (my politics teacher even rang me up the next day to congratulate me - she found out through the grapevine. Havnt been back to school yet, so i dont know what they will say. Its worth it though, so many hugs and kisses and drinks and so many girls that have made me promise to let them come and visit me there.

If you were to re-live that year of your life, would you still apply to Oxbridge and why?
Yep, because i had fun on my interview application day and the only stressful thing was that my application form had to be in earlier than everyone elses. (which is good as it means it goes to other universities earlier)

What advice do you have for potential applicants, based on your experiences?
Have fun, at your interview just have fun. You might as well enjoy yourself. Don't listen to me too much as im writing this on New Year's day real hungover at 3 in the morning. BUT DONT WORRY. My friends who worried about it and panicked led a very stressful life. I just had fun.

*

and then chit and i had a discussion about his russian name and maybe they asked about his family background because they thought he might be commie, or maybe he's the son of some corrupt russian tycoon or maybe he's got a famous last name like abramovich and they hate chelsea or something. but sadly, his last name's hartley. disappointing and boring. HM there's a blond girl at UWC called nicole hartley and her boyfriend's really cute and also blond and plays the guitar real nice. anyway, i am Charmed by this n.ikolai hartley (don't want him googling himself and finding my blog, hahaha) and he totally reminds me of logan from GG!

oh and there're lots of people in india (particularly bengal) called things like pushkin, tolstoy, lenin and stalin you know? the chief minister of tamilnadu state has a son called stalin. and chit's relative is a member of the communist party, which happens to rule bengal. and they all call each other 'comrade'. chit's not a communist, though.