John Locke Institute Reviews 118

The JLI Summer School was an amazing international experience and I recommend it to anyone who is considering it. The lively, intellectual debates paired with the thought-provoking questions made me enjoy every second of the experience and make some great friends along the way.

A great place to learn, think, and discuss. Would recommend to any students willing to debate and be educated about policy.

I had a great experience at the 2021 John Locke summer institute. I was impressed by the wide selection of topics covered, many of which I had previously not explored, including jurisprudence and game theory. All of the professors were highly intelligible and engaging. In addition to lectures and precept groups (small groups), there were countless of other opportunities to approach them individually.
All the students were eager to learn, bringing something different to the table. Some of my favorite memories from the camp are the debates I had with my friends, most of whom I am still in contact with. Further, there were many other activities students partook in, such as football, swimming, and punting. The facilities were excellent as well as the food. I would highly recommend it for international students considering the prospect of applying to Oxford.

The John Locke Institute is a one of a kind organisation that provides unique educational experiences. I personally had an unforgettable time on their “Washington DC in the Spring” gap year course, where we met with think tank fellows, political advisors and members of the US House of Representatives - as the programme had promised. The accommodation was a very high standard - a period detached house in Northwest DC - and the staff succeeded in creating a friendly and convivial atmosphere. I would certainly recommend any of the John Locke Institute’s courses to both gap year and high school students looking to push the boundaries of their intellectuality and think outside of the traditional curriculum. I would especially recommend it to students with interests in Politics, Economics, Philosophy, Law and International Relations.

In July 2021, I attended the John Locke Institute's summer course at Balliol. I was overwhelmed by the quality of discussion, debate, and critical analysis. After every lecture we attended, we'd gather in a room and discuss what the speaker had said.
I'm sure every who'd signed up to the course had had an interest in politics, philosophy, and economics to begin with. But without a doubt, the experience massively increased that interest afterwards.

I attended the John Locke Institute Summer School at Oxford's Balliol college in 2021 and utterly enjoyed it. At this summer school, we were we able to listen to lectures on intriguing issues such as open borders, the weaknesses of democracy, the ethics of the free market etc. What made these lectures especially interesting was that they were all conducted by figures who held prominent positions in the fields of politics and economics and who had thoroughly researched the issues that they were discussing in their lectures. In addition, following the lectures, we were also able to discuss with the lecturers, our views on the issues mentioned in their lecture, and even pose potential challenges to the lecturers' stances if we slightly disagreed with them. I recommend the John Locke Institute programme to anyone who enjoys debating and learning about issues concerning politics and ethics, has strong and passionate views about these issues and is committed to making the world a better place.

The John Locke institute gap year program in Washington DC was absolutely fantastic. There was never a dull moment as you head from speaker to speaker. The people we were introduced to and learnt from were all high respected in their fields and more than happy to answer even the most basic of questions. They were also somehow able to engage with every student effectively in a way that led to each of us walking away as if we had had a one on one session.
The other brilliant side of the course were the students. All highly motivated and intelligent. I had some of the most interesting and thought-provoking conversations of the course at the dinner table with other students.
Program Director Martin Cox provided constant support. He helped prepare us to meet speakers and also learn and love the city. We were taken to two sporting events and multiple tourist sites. Really generating an attachment to the city, by the end we could have easily done another month in DC.
I would highly recommend the course.

The John Locke Institute's gap year programme in Washington D.C. has given me an unparalleled opportunity to gain valuable insight into the realm of U.S. politics. My peers and I were privileged to interact with distinguished professors with an evident passion for their research, Congressmen and political staffers who shared their rich experiences with us, as well as entrepreneurs/innovators/investors with inspiring careers offering helpful advice. All of the speakers gave thoughtful responses to our questions and genuinely engaged with our contributions. We had meetings at three of the capital's most influential think tanks and lectures at two prestigious universities. We visited the House of Congress, received a tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield, and took a trip to Alexandria. To complement the academics, we were exposed to a variety of cultural experiences; we attended two sports games, went shooting at a gun range, and enjoyed one too many American barbeques. We were given plenty of freedom to explore the city's museums, galleries, and memorials. We stayed in a centrally located, impressive townhouse where we often cooked together and hung out as a group. This programme has been an intellectually stimulating and personally rewarding experience. It has enabled me to form lasting connections and will remain a memorable month of my gap year. I recommend it to anyone seeking to expand their knowledge and enrich their understanding of U.S. politics, be exposed to diverse political viewpoints, and have their opinions challenged, with confidence.

I attended the Gap-Year course/internship in Washington DC, it was everything I expected and more. The environment is a stimulating and enriching one which encourages debate and critical thinking. The people you meet on the course are some of the most impressive and important people in American political and philosophical thinking at the moment. You get the chance to meet people working in various think tanks, universities, party organizations, and people working within Congress and the US government. I would highly recommend this course to anyone who wants to expand their thinking or improve their resume and/or personal statements.

I attended in 2021, when it was hosted in Balliol College and I greatly enjoyed my experience. It was a very enjoyable experience to be able to receive lectures and take part in debates about important issues, and the lecturers assisted us by helping us see different points of view. These academic activities combined with other great experiences such as punting and visiting famous sites in Oxford, made this experience incredibly enlightening and something that I would definitely like to do again.

Attended last year's PPE summer school course and had such a great experience! The lectures and course content were extremely interesting and I learned a lot and met so many great people! Would recommend to anyone interested in fields of politics, economics, or philiosophy!!

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at the John Locke institute which I did in my GCSE summer. I enjoyed its depth and the variety of speakers, presenting both libertarian and social-democratic views of public and economic policy. The room and board were enjoyable, and along with the students there who were ambitious and motivated. Well respected speakers like Brian Davies and Martin Gladly provided great insight to political theory and history of great men that I found to be very engaging. I highly recommend the experience to others.

I have learnt so much in the way of how to think. The summer school opened up so many possibilities and ways to approach questions, as well as allowing me to voice my own ideas. It’s been a confidence booster as well as an intellectual ride!

All the faculty had amazing stories to tell, were approachable and knowledgable. The conversations with them were interesting and memorable and had me think in new ways as well as debate back and forth.

I am pretty sure getting the venue amidst a pandemic was a struggle, but thank you for not cancelling on us, as this has been an amazing trip. I have never been more encouraged to apply for Oxford, and this summer school has been really motivating.

Anyway, thank you for all your hard work and the work all the faculty have put in, it is really appreciated.

I would just like to thank you again for the amazing ten days at John Locke. I really enjoyed the experience and hearing everything everyone had to say with all the amazing discussions we had over the 10 days. It was definitely the highlight of my summer!

The summer school greatly changed my outlook on a variety of matters from economic opinion to political outlook - providing not the opinions themselves but the tools to develop those opinions independently. The people I met during my time at the summer school provided conversations and perspectives I had never even considered. Genuinely engaging with like-minded people is an opportunity far rarer than one may expect.

I just wanted to write to formally say thank you, for offering this opportunity to me in the first place, and delivering it so well under such circumstances. It is true what they say: I feel like the experience will guide my future for the better. I couldn't be more grateful for this. Between the full time professors and the guest speakers, the expertise that you brought to Cirencester was very impressive.

The John Locke 2020 summer course was the experience of my life. This summer school proved to me that I am worthy of applying to Oxford, it has proved to me that I don’t need to listen to the people that have told me not to apply, because I have proved to myself that I am good enough, and that I am so deserving of a place, and I should never doubt myself. It fuelled my passion for wanting to continue to study history and politics.

This course has taught me the importance of not necessarily accepting opposing views but understanding the reasonings behind these views and the importance of doing so. It has also allowed me to meet so many different people from a variety of different backgrounds, and so many new friendships have blossomed as a result.

The lectures, precepts, tutorials and classes were all very intellectually stimulating and has allowed me to learn topics I wouldn’t necessarily cover at my state school. It allowed me to have a taster of university life before I applied (I am now a History and Politics undergraduate with the University of York).

This course has completely changed my life forever, and I cannot thank you all enough for this. Everyone was so welcoming and I loved every moment of it. Since completing the course, I have helped out with the institute as a Financial Aid Assessor to ensure that bright and talented students who wish to attend the courses on offer but their socioeconomic background creates a barrier, don’t have to worry about financial issues.

I signed up for the John Locke Institute Gap Year courses in Oxford and Princeton following my pre-interview rejection for PPE at Exeter College in 2015. I already was curious about the possibility of taking a gap year, though my rejection from Oxford cemented the decision. My GCSEs were poor (by Oxbridge standards) at just 2A*s, and I felt that if I smashed my A Levels I would make myself a contender. I spent a day in Oxford with Martin, the Institute’s Director, and he convinced me that a Gap Year would not just give me an opportunity to reapply, but would be much more rewarding besides that. The course, I thought, would make my Gap Year extraordinary, and perhaps give me the tools to become a better candidate for Oxford. This was the case, and despite going in with high expectations, these expectations were nonetheless exceeded. My Dad called it “the best investment I ever made”.

In Princeton I took precepts in moral philosophy, maths for economics and political science. These precepts were small groups of 3-4 students engaging with the tutor, often discussing pre-reading or a problem sheet that had been handed out a few days before. We also visited New York and Washington DC, meeting with business leaders, think tanks, politicians, and more university lecturers at NYU and George Mason University. We traveled along the East Coast to attend lectures at Yale, and meet with admissions counsellors at Harvard. The course was a lot of fun and gave a real flavour of a variety of subjects, and an insight into life at top-tier American Universities.

We then went on to Oxford where we spent most of Michaelmas term. The teaching on this courses centred around having two to three tutorials a week (more than a typical undergraduate would get) which we would prepare essays for, and defend them in front of the tutor and one to two of your peers. I took tutorials in Game Theory, Political Theory, Logic, Plato’s Dialogues, and Philosophy of Language. The workload was heavy and the tutorials intense, but it was an incredibly rewarding experience. To be rigorously academically tested in such an intimate environment was unlike anything I had experience at school, and gave me a flavour of what teaching might be like at Oxford. We also attended University lectures in the Examination Schools on the History of Philosophy, History of Political Thought, and Epistemology.

Why should I go on a John Locke Institute Course

The Institute didn’t pack me with knowledge or ‘train’ me to get into Oxford. What they did instead was far more valuable - they taught me how to think in new ways. I was introduced to concepts and ideas I hadn’t encountered before, and was encouraged to wrestle with them. If you’re intellectually curious, and want more than just following an A Level or GCSE syllabus, then a John Locke Institute course offers you a challenge - a challenge to test your intellectual humility, critical thinking skills, and your ability to think outside the box.

Everyone who comes on a John Locke Institute course is talented, and meeting other bright young people is an asset of the Institute’s programmes that can’t be overstated. I met many life long friends on the course, and even the ones I disagreed with I gained a lot of respect for as the method of teaching at the Institute brings out the best in everyone.

Ultimately the Institute opens you up to a level of academic rigour unchallenged even by some of the best universities in the world. It is an experience like no other, and I can’t recommend it enough.