From China to Advanced Level Foundation at Kings Oxford

06 Mar 2019

Boyun Jiang (Tommy) is completing the Advanced Level Foundation at Kings Oxford in preparation for studying at a UK university. He explains why he chose to come to Kings, and how it has helped him so far.

Hi Tommy. What subjects are you doing as part of your course?

I’m doing Maths, Further Maths, Business and Economics, also Data and CSS.

Do you know yet what you’d like to do at university, and which university you’d like to go to?

Pure Maths I think, and maybe St Andrews or Durham.

Are you working on your UCAS application at the moment?

Yes, I’m working on my personal statement and am trying to make my third choice.

How have you found writing the personal statement?

It’s quite strange actually, I haven’t done one before so it’s a new challenge for me.

Have you been doing any enrichment activities?

Yes, I do guitar class and I like to play basketball once a week. I’m kind of like a half-professional player of basketball!

Why did you decide to come to the UK to prepare for university?

Well the preparation is complicated. You have to do the personal statement and work on the studies — I have never been taught in another language beside my mother tongue. It was quite hard getting used to learning things in a different language! I have never written an essay or assignment before, but now I have basic knowledge on how to do this and that will help me at university.

And why did you decide to your university study in the UK?

Well I really like the culture and another factor is that my sister has been studying here for 5 or 6 years. She was at St Andrews for her undergraduate and now she’s at Imperial for the postgraduate.

What made you decide to come to Kings?

They told me that it was a good way to get into university, and to meet international friends. Also the IELTS requirements are quite high so I think it’s a good place to come.

What made you choose Oxford?

It’s a really famous and ancient city, and of course there is the university.

Where are you staying here?

I’m staying with a host family, it’s kind of good. It makes me reach another culture and helps me.

Is this the first time you’ve studied with people from other countries?

Yes! I like to talk to different people, they have a different culture and background and they can teach me a lot. It’s really interesting to be with them.

Have you found the environment here supportive?

Yes, the teachers are really good. They have taught me everything I want and if I’m ever in trouble they always help me.