Oxbridge info/ support thread 2014

[lismore]

Does anyone else with a DC applying for Oxbridge this year feel like having someone to share the highs/ lows/ questions- if so, please join in!
I have a DS who has just applied to Cambridge- our family has no Oxbridge background and he's at a state school which gives absolutely no advice so definitely feel at a bit of a loss how to support him.
I think he's incredibly brave even trying, especially as 80% get rejected unfortunately.

[HoratiaDrelincourt]

Both Oxford and Cambridge have a "second chance" system. In Oxford you are interviewed by your college and one or two spares that they're sort of in a team with. If your first choice doesn't want you, one of the others still might.

At Cambridge, you interview in one college. There are three possible outcomes: acceptance, rejection, or pool. If you are pooled, it means your first choice college thinks you are a good enough fit for the course, but not for the college. A few days after the first interview round, all the pool candidates' applications are picked over by staff from other colleges, who pick out a few more to interview to fill their quotas. Those interviews are in January IIRC.

Essentially it's the same process but administered differently.

I went to a non-famous college that was therefore undersubscribed many years. Lots of us got in from the pool, and all of us would now acknowledge that we were a better fit for where we went and when we applied!

Details about Cambridge winter pool with subject dates for your diary just in case.

[HoratiaDrelincourt]

... for where we went than where we applied!

[PurplePotato]

Horatio, thank you so much - that's really useful.

[PurplePotato]

...have made a note of the relevant dates too and will keep them free just in case.

[HoratiaDrelincourt]

My pleasure! People tend not to know about it until/unless they're in the pool system but it is important.

It's really really hard to know which college would suit you unless you have friends or relatives or other contacts as current (and I do mean current) students.

I was pooled from a rich, prestigious, central, famous very stuck up college to a new, nonfamous college which was mostly known for having lots of Northerners. I would have sunk at the "naice" one where the resources and competition were high; at the other I was able to row in the first eight and captain the netball team and hold a choral scholarship... and place highly in finals. All right, my rooms might not have been as pretty and I was further from the supermarket, but there's a lot to be said for central heating and double glazing and being off the tourist trail when you're revising!!

[VegasIsBest]

Hi everyone. Another mum here trying to quietly support my son who's applied to Oxford.

FUNNYPERSON
" is worth it ringing up the faculty admissions co ordinator with the name of a small,poor,but pleasant college for a third interview should they be considering such a thing."

I was interested by this comment. Please can you explain a bit more about what you mean? Are you suggesting the applicant could ring or the parents?

[recentoxgrad]

FUNNYPERSON
" is worth it ringing up the faculty admissions co ordinator with the name of a small,poor,but pleasant college for a third interview should they be considering such a thing."

I don't often post - but this is such a large piece of misinformation I feel obliged too.

I can only speak for Oxford but I honestly think this is such an outdated piece of advice.

Oxford admissions are, in some sense, quite centralised now in terms of candidates having further interviews at other colleges.

Some people will be reinterviewed because the original college had a lot of good applicants, and feel that this person meets the grade but they don't have the space so offer them to another college who perhaps had a lower standard of applicants.

Some will be reinterviewed to even up applicants across all colleges - sometimes there are years when a course at one college can be oversubscribed and undersubscribed at another, so applicants are moved or reinterviewed at the second college.

It's not an exact science - but tutors know what they are doing.

Colleges work together to try and ensure across all colleges that applicants are comparable, so that the best get places. The aim, and what they try and say, is that it doesn't matter what college you apply to. If you are good enough, you will get a place somewhere. Obviously this isn't flawless, and people do slip through, but in my experience Oxford is committed to getting the best.

I don't see how ringing a college and requesting an interview will fit into this practice. Oxford try VERY hard to ensure the best get a place, which is why people are reallocated. In 2012 25% of successful applicants received an offer from a different college to the one they applied to.

College Choice

This link shows some of the statistics about college choice. There's a wealth of data on the Oxford website that quashes a lot of myths.

As I said, I cannot speak for Cambridge. Their pooling works differently, as there's a delay (until after Xmas I believe) for interviews at 2nd colleges.

If you're reinterviewed at Oxford, it will be when you are there for your first interview.

[BeckAndCall]

Dates on the winter pool are very helpful, thanks horatia

In our house we've gone from 'what if I don't get an interview'' to ' of course I won't get a place'! DD seems to allow me to have all the positivity while she has all the doubts!

DDs interview is at 10am and we are 3 hours ( at rush hour) away so have booked a hotel - the email seemed to suggest that accommodation was not usually available. Suits me. My role is be the alarm clock and the finder of breakfast........

[twoteens]

Hi Have been reading up here, DD1 has just got her interview date for Cambridge, at 10am we are in London so she will go by train. bad day for me I cant get that day off so dd will go alone. but knowing dd that's probably how she would want it, nice and calm, I panic.
its difficult finding the balance on how much to encourage.

[HoratiaDrelincourt]

twoteens the station is famously and comically a long way from all the colleges except Homerton so make sure she allows plenty of time, has taxi/bus money and a Plan, or a combination of the above!

[twoteens]

Thanks Horatio, she will plan to get a taxi from the station, she is so laid back sometimes, I will tell her to make sure she is organized and gives herself plenty of time. and gently guide her. not allowed to get excited.

[twoteens]

thats me not allowed,

[HoratiaDrelincourt]

Of course not. What on earth does it have to do with you?!

[Lancelottie]

Ook. He got an interview.

Bizarrely, DS has been offered overnight accommodation, though we're all of half an hour's drive away.

Hmm. Is this a test of how grabby we are? Will he be better off chomping soothingly familiar branflakes at home, or getting to grips with a college buttery, a strange bed and an overnight stay? Am I overthinking this?

[HoratiaDrelincourt]

Is it Oxford? if so, it's just standard. A chance to get a real look at the college. Stay off the sherry.

[Lancelottie]

Nope, Cambridge. He doesn't drink at all (well, he avoids most food as well, actually -- he's really fairly odd) so that's either one less worry or one more, depending on viewpoint.

[Lancelottie]

A meltdown about the wrong sort of breakfast cereal would of course be a memorable introduction to Lanceboy, but maybe not the impression he wants to make?

[VegasIsBest]

recentoxgrad - thanks for that explaination. Very helpful.

[Shootingatpigeons]

This might interest parents of Cambridge applicants if you haven't seen it already. www.theguardian.com/education/2012/jan/10/how-cambridge-admissions-really-work

And my advice is to relax, certainly at Cambridge they are interviewed by the people who will teach them, if it is right for both sides it will work, if not it is for the best. There are other good courses and universities. My DD was pooled for Natural Sciences but not picked up but she has genuinely not looked back. She sort of had a back up plan to apply for postgrad but with the experience she has had, the opportunities she has had for internships etc., the contacts she has built up, she is staying firmly put.

[Lancelottie]

DS has already been for one interview elsewhere, Thecat, and he wore a rather battered old jacket he's fond of, with chinos. He looked smart until he added a bodywarmer and a sort of Rupert-bear style scarf because it was a cold day I hope he took them off for the actual interview but fear he might not--.

He said several of the other boys were in suits but looked very 'shiny' and uncomfortable in them, whereas none of the girls were and seemed more at ease.

That doesn't really help, does it?

Oh, and I'm with your DS on the awkwardness of staying overnight amongst other interviewees. Lurking in your room wondering if you can remember the way down to the dining hall and why everyone else seems to know what they're doing -- urrghh! Remind him that everyone suffers from Impostor Syndrome?

[Lancelottie]

Nope, please tell him there will be at least one (state-educated) boy there who is fretting about the flavour of the cornflakes, missing the cat, and never thought he'd get an interview!

[HoratiaDrelincourt]

Have you seen what Cambridge academics wear...? They really aren't sartorial experts so as long as the candidates look like they've made an effort (clean and smart) they'll be just fine.

And everybody that is remotely likely to get in is feeling hysterically anxious and out of place, particularly those who appear very confident and are loud and confident-looking. It's all an act.

[funnyperson]

Dear all, ringing up a college is what I think I should have asked the school to do for my DS and not even remotely what I actually did. I actually did nothing.
I dropped off one of them the night before, took a photo, and then did a runner. The previous year the other one got dropped off by his dad who did a runner with the mobile phone and computer cable .
I do recommend them staying the night in college if they can as it is lovely and there isn't any worry about being on time if there turns out to be freak snow.