Benjamin McEvoy

Essays on writing, reading, and life

How to Survive the Hell of Finals

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Oxford University wanted me to take a year off before finals. “If I take a year off,” I said. “I won’t come back.” All of my friends rusticated. Mental health problems forced them to take a year off to compose themselves. Oxford University is extremely stressful. Friends killed themselves.  I knew I had to find […]

7 Ways to Reform the Broken Educational System

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The educational system is broken. There’s a vacuum that needs to be filled. It will either be filled with a quality paradigm shift, or filled with people opting out, dropping out, and more of the same.  I’ve thought a lot about education over the last decade. I’ve been a teacher and lecturer for years now. […]

How to Get an Oxford English Education for Free (Video)

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Would you like an Oxford University English Language and Literature education without the crippling debt, intellectual insecurity, and three years of your life wasted? Then watch this Oxford alumnus run you through how you can get an Oxford-style English education for free. This video may also be interesting for anyone looking to enrol at Oxford, […]

Do You Have Any Questions About Personal Statement Writing?

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What would you like to ask me about writing the perfect personal statement? My latest video on personal statement writing resulted in quite a few emails and booking for consultation. And yesterday was a fantastic day because I got a ton of students I’ve worked with saying thank you for helping them and that they […]

How to Write the Perfect Personal Statement

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I’ve spent the last few weeks looking over hundreds of personal statements during the recording of my new personal statement video course, which is available here. I have to share some of the dos and don’ts of personal statement writing now. Here are the secrets of writing a personal statement that will get you an […]

How to Improve Your Intelligence

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You can train all your life, but you’ll never be able to boost your IQ outside of a few points (though IQ does steadily drop across your lifetime). IQ is relatively fixed, but luckily IQ isn’t the only, best, or most comprehensive measure of intelligence. You can improve your fluid and crystallised intelligence. You can […]

Should Schools Eliminate English Literature? (3 Reasons Why They Should)

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English Literature should be eliminated in schools and universities across the Western world. And here’s three reasons why from an Oxford Educated English Literature student. Reason #1: Colleges professors don’t know how to teach English Literature anymore anyway. They just seek to brainwash. Today’s English Literature degree in many colleges across the Western world is […]

How To Retain Your Reading (Video)

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What’s the point of reading all these great books if you don’t retain anything? This is a problem I struggled with for years. I read and read and read, but never remembered what I was reading. But the last couple of years, I’ve become a powerhouse of retention. And here’s how you can too. How […]

How to Read Deeply (Podcast)

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We’re talking about book reading challenges, how to choose your books, making time for reading, rereading, reading synoptically connecting it to everything else you’ve read), and more. Show Timestamps: 3:55 – quantity shouldn’t be the measure of success 5:40 – on reading diversely 7:00 – against the gatekeepers of the literary world 12:00 – are […]