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Original poster

Oxbridge advice please

55 replies

faustina · 05/04/2009 06:36

could do with some help - ds currently in year 12 and wants to go to Oxbridge. there's a small group of friends who plan same but to date the only support they've been given was in year 11 when a girl who'd received an offer gave them a little talk one lunchtime. Absolutely nothing else. Help was promised in september, then after Christmas, then after easter - now changed to "in September". Is this normal?
I've read about oxbridge entrance courses that you can do privately - has anyone gone down this route? I haven't heard many good things about them - eg they aren't that useful
ds applied for the eton summer school but received total non-reference from head of 6th form. He said "what do you want me to put" and of course ds has no idea how to write a ref so said" well could you put that I can't study these subjects at school (ppe) and so I would really like to do them"". And that's exactly what he did put - nothing else. It wouldn't have occurred to ds that something about his abilities and personal qualities is what's needed in a ref.. No idea how they choose people for summer school but sure this can't have helped.

Academically ds more than capable, but no-one receiving any real encouragement from school. am not pushing oxbridge but feel if he does want to go he will need to extra help and time seems to be running out for this. any ideas? He has already worked his way through the reading list the girl gave them. There's almost nothing extra curricular offered at his school academically - he did debating society and loved it but that ended in january when they went out of the mace competition, and he's done a shakespeare production and loved that too.
he's doing history, maths, chemistry and religious philosphy and ethics as levels and predicted as, he got 10 a* 1 a and 1 b for gcses
he is at a state school but we are not in a category that can apply for any of the schemes for would-be students who are disadvantaged in any way - eg, sutton, aim higher etc etc

OP posts:
BoeuffinMum · 05/04/2009 07:54

I should add to that that there is a fairly standard marking scheme for the interviews, a bit like fair selection for job applicants, so at the end of the day a lot of it comes down to that. People do come in and say they like taking part in musical activities, are good rowers and so on, but that isn't really going to get you in. It's the hard edged academic debate that does, and that's what impresses the recruiters.

HolidaysQueen · 05/04/2009 07:23

Some great advice here, far better than any I can give I have no experience from running admissions, but I did go to Cambridge.

The thing I found that helped at interview, aside from the academic stuff, was having something to say that was a little unusual - making myself stand out in the tutor's mind, not necessarily just academic brilliance (everyone applying has that!) but something about me more personally.

So things like - why I wanted to be there ("because of the academic reputation" is why everyone wants to be there, so coming up with something different helps you stand apart) or unusual extra-curricular activities (being heavily involved in cricket was considered quite 'different' for a girl so again gave me something to talk about with admissions tutor!)

Like your DS, I also did a slightly unusual mix of A levels (maths and humanities in my case) and being able to explain why I'd done that and what I got out of them and why I loved that mix all helped I think. Particularly useful for a course like PPE which is multi-disciplinary.

Obviously I'm basing this just on my interviews, but I do remember that it was those things which we ended up talking about the most in my interviews, so I can't help but think that this is what helped the tutors remember me. I think a couple of things like that which you can be passionate about, but which aren't things they hear from every applicant can probably help you stand out in their minds, and are much more valuable than being able to fill in pages and pages of impressive but blander, more standard academic achievements.

BoeuffinMum · 05/04/2009 07:03

Good point ScienceTeacher - a lot of people get confused about the deadline thing. By early December we are frantically interviewing.

scienceteacher · 05/04/2009 06:59

I don't know how necessary it is to plan ahead for Oxford or Cambridge, but there are certainly quite a few conferences going on about now to give Year 12 student the heads-up.

On a practical note, the UCAS deadline for Oxbridge is in October - a couple of months earlier than for everyone else. This means that they need to get off the ground running on returning to school in September.

The main thing at this stage is for your DS to pick the course that he wants to study and then work towards making his UCAS statement as compelling as possible, showing that he is passionate about the subject. He needs to show interest in the subject by reading about it, going on a taster course in the summer, and, if possible, getting some work experience related to it.

BoeuffinMum · 05/04/2009 06:55

I help with Oxbridge admissions some years.

  1. School clearly has no idea what to do, but you might help by going in to see them and demanding they write glowing things on the reference for university, if they hold your son in high regard. Fiddle faddling about cutting corners on references will not do at all. We would need to see that your son is one of the brightest students they have had for a while, and exactly why they think this.
  1. DS needs to mix with as many bright sixth formers as possible from now on, and learn to really hold his own in an argument academically. If the Eton summer school doesn't come off, contact the AimHigher and Widening Participation people at Oxford and Cambridge and get advice about Open Days and other related events that might help achieve this. Get him to lead a study group of all the other interested young people in his sixth form as well.
  1. "Why do you want to study PPE?" will probably be the first question asked and your DS should have a detailed understanding of the course from the prospectus etc and also explain why the different parts link up - in other words, why does he think they created a course like that in the first place? How does it differ from SPS at Cambridge? How might he explain a recent current affairs event in terms of the P and the P and the E? That kind of thing.
  1. Don't waste your money on crammer type courses for Oxbridge entrance because they don't work, despite what the institutions will tell you to get your money off you.
  1. The personal statement should be honest and beautifully crafted. It counts for a lot.
  1. Apply as early as possible, and do not wait until the last minute or he will end up pooled at best.

Hope that helps.