Oxford uni (and just unis in general)

[law4569]

Hi all!

Just wanted some advice. My daughter is applying for spanish + beginners German and wants to do a law conversion after. She's decided she wants to apply to Oxford, Edinburgh, ucl, durham and bristol or warwick. I wanted to know people's experiences with these unis as durham and Edinburgh are very far from where we live + warwick we're unsure if it's good for her degree. For anyone whose children went to Oxford, did they do well at gcse? She got 999888777 but she's worried because of the context of her skl (she did okay) then she'll be disadvantaged. if anyone has any sort of experience on any of this id appreciate it :)

Oxbridge grad here. Everyone will have good grades when applying. The trick is , how will she personally represent herself and her ambitions in a way which stands out

and above all the interview - she will need to show how she responds to new ideas presented and how to problem solve “live”, not just discussing her current achievements.

if all of that sound right, then once she gets there it can be one of the most exhilarating and rewarding times of your life etc

Why doesnt your DD go & visit the unis herself ?

Get a National Express coach or train

Get a feel for the unis in real life

That is what I did before the days of the internet. I visited multiple unis

There's a resource which used to be called Unistats that lets you compare various data on courses e.g. National Student Survey results on satisfaction, outcomes, etc. Might be worth a look re the other unis.

www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-providers/student-protection-and-choice/discover-uni-and-the-discover-uni-dataset/

Ask to move your post to higher education section on here.

Take the nss with a pinch of salt. The courses that really challenge students to think are often at risk of lower scores because students want what is easy.

I agree with visiting. It helps them decide what they do like - and what they don’t.

My daughter really liked Manchester and Bristol on paper, but she didn’t like either when she went to visit.

In contrast, she was adamant that she didn’t want to go to Oxford. I almost forced her to go to an open day and she fell in love with it, applied, and got in.

I imagine your daughter’s GCSE grades will be good enough and the good news is that she has a much better chance of getting in to study languages than if she was applying for most other subjects (including law)!

She needs to visit them.

I did my undergraduate degree at Durham and loved it. Not sure if it is still the case, but some of the colleges had a high percentage of private school kids and there was always a lot of Oxbridge rejects!

I also looked round Manchester and wasn't keen, but really liked the look of Warwick.

I did my post-grad at Oxford. Also really liked it but accommodation costs were eyewatering!

EVERYONE applying to top universities have good grades. It's the other things that make a candidate stand out. Volunteering. D of E. Employment. Sports/Extra curricular achievements. Musical talent. Leadership.

She should apply assuming everyone has good grades, so what is it about her that makes her stand out above the rest? Why would she be an asset to a university?

would you say her gcse grades are fine then? she worries it'll disadvantage her compared to the other people for mml

Thank you! she's actually the opposite! she's worrying her gcse grades are quite low

Thank you so much! Do you reckon her gcse grades are fine? I keep trying to reassure her but she's worried because her 7s are in English / history which is quite important for a literature degree (since languages is literature at Oxford). I don't know if this is a problem or not - she still takes English and is getting a/a*

I would definitely recommend having a look at the universities, especially if you are spending 3+ years there. For example my son has looked at 2 so far and Manchester is mucher higher up then Lancaster for his chosen course but he loved Lancaster more. So we are going to try another campus university to see if thats the reason he loves it more or the vibe. They always say you have to like your surroundings or you won't feel at home and study as well.

I have no experience of universities, so this is all of an eye opener. My daughter wants to do Law and Oxford and pretty much has the same list as yours. Would be great to know if you do visit, your opinions.

Ahh do you have twins? We visited bristol but we got a bit of a strange vibe - it seems quite unsafe + expensive for students. Plus every single person has said the accommodation is disgusting and I do agree - the nice ones are too expensive. Warwick we visited as well and it was lovely! She's not sure if her degree is good there but law is excellent at that uni. We're planning on visiting UCL (durham + Edinburgh are a bit too far in our view)

YABU to post this in AIBU

DS had a great experience at Edinburgh. When you say too far, too far for what?

The 4 year course gives the opportunity for a year studying at a uni in another country which would surely be fantastic for languages? He had a year in Australia ( which also cut out the ubiquitous gap year).

Your DD needs to visit them all and then decide.

Did she go to a state school? The history/Englisg gcse grades may present a problem for Oxford. They do look at Gcse grades.

No not twins, one is year 12 and daughter is year 9 but she's thinking ahead. Warwick is meant to be good in the top 10 according to complete univery guide. I was pushing Warwick as its a campus, so thank you for your views, will definitely have a look at that one. Durham is number 5 on the rankings. My friend's daughter goes and loved it but she was finance and not law.

We are looking to travel up to 5 hours away (Son wants to look at St.Andrews). How far away is durham/Scotland for you? I know virtual open days aren't quite the same but could help in your decision and hopefully some helpful Mumsnetters can be more help.

Is she at a state school? Her GCSE grades seem fine.

Universities will often look at what school they went to and offer higher acceptance grades to private school pupils (or vice versa).

I was offered my place at Durham with CCC, even though the typical course entry was ABB. My GCSEs were straight As but I also did a lot of extra curricular stuff at my state school.

She just needs to be prepared for an interview. Another advantage private schools have when applying to Oxbridge as they have the resources to coach them.

no she didn't. Oh is it a big problem then to have 7s in those? she got 9s in the 3 languages

no she went private skl. she swapped to grammar school for sixth form. a few people are saying on this sub tho that 7s in history/English aren't good enough for oxford

Bristol uni accommodation varies, but generally super £££. Its a safe city tho, and around 40% of graduates never leave....

Sorry if it's obvious, but what is skl?

think those GCSE results will be lower than the average Oxbridge candidate to be honest, but best to speak to her school about it

I found Bristol uni unsympathetic to ND. This was 4 years ago so perhaps they've upped their game?

Yes. I was going to suggest this as a possible problem for Oxbridge

school