Getting into Oxbridge

[PinkPeppers]

Can someone explained to me what is needed to get into Oxford/Cambridge?
Dc1 is decided this is what he wants to aim for (good for him to aim high - I wont stop him from doing that). He is only in Y8 so plenty of time to change his mind too.

However, Im not british and I havent gone through the system so have little idea on how things are actually working.
In particular, im not sure about what is needed. Obviously very good A levels in your subjects (maths/science for dc1). But do you also need a very good GCSE and/or a high number of GCSE with a level 8/9 (A/A*)?
Does doing more GCSE than you have to making any difference?

I know that you need to be able to talk about your subject and be hapy to deal with questions where you didn't know the answer etc...
But what else can be playing in your favour? Ive read for example very conflicting advise of having the right sort of experience/voluntary work etc... (some saying its essential, some not).

Im well aware that he might never get there and might change his mind. But atm, this is the one thing that is helping him focus on his studies and the one thing that makes him want to do well (as well as he can do rather than coasting if that).
So any advice on what would help him and what would make a difference is welcome! and if he changes his mind, he will at least have learnt the power of focusing your mind on something you real;l'y care about

It sounds like it! :)

Doesn't sound too bad then Kitten. Good luck to her!

thanks!

Know exactly what you mean. I've had "when you're at Cambridge" from parents, teachers and friends for the last three months. In vain do I remind people that I don't have my results yet

It's hard, isn't it?

People get so proud and excited, but the worry for the actual student doesn't go away. But I do think that pride and excitement people are sharing when they say 'DD has got in!' is very real.

I got my offer from Cambridge a few days before my beloved grandfather died. It was the last thing I was able to tell him, and it was so hugely important to him. I'm sure he believed getting an offer meant getting in. And then, of course, I never got to share with him what I did after that, and I never got to tell him that I think about him every time I read the books he introduced me to.

But, at least he knew I got that offer. And it is an achievement, isn't it? There are far more people who 'get the grades' needed for Oxbridge, than who get offers. Even if you don't get in because you dropped a grade, you are still in the smaller pool of people who got an offer.

My college got very excited when both my friend and I got offers (I think someone from my college last went to Oxford or Cambridge a decade or two ago, but that's it - the staff didn't even know basic things like applications usually having to be in October; I did all the research myself and convinced my friend to give it a go since she had a spare slot on UCAS) and did a massive article with photo (which I hadn't realised was going to be on the front page of the website, and which still appears on the recruiting page about Access courses) titled "Getting into Cambridge"

Oh, I get how you feel - but I get why they're proud, too?

My college is lovely but the nearby 6th form college snaps up all the academic high achievers so the leavers' statistics show that 1% of students go on to RG universities. So yes, they're overly excited.

(Tech college; purely theoretical/academic courses aren't the aim for most - anyway I've derailed too much, apologies.)

LRD the very real pleasure in success is completely and utterly different from relatives making assumptions a family member will get in and then having to have their disappointment 'managed' afterwards!

When I wrote about managing disappointment, I don't give a stuff how others feel, as long as they don't express any disappointment to dd. Or to me. Because they can get knotted.

Quite Kitten, but that's the danger. Anyhow, your approach is the key one not theirs, and sounds exceptionally grounded!

Holy Ghost, yours is exactly the sort of experience that makes me so proud of those institutions that can see past what's on paper (even if yours was outstanding). (And proud of the individual with the courage to apply...even though I don't know you. ) Why I think separate papers and interviews are or can be brilliant.

If one is in a tutorial system the person has got to be able to cope, hence an interview is a reasonable test of whether someone is responsive and teachable, but also it's got the potential to see what the potential is. Some kids don't have the support, the hinterland, maybe don't get on with the syllabus, have crap or inexperienced teachers, like DS have a learning disability, and all the dons I have ever known have aimed off for that. That's true for my generation as much as now. And was true of our college in my mother's and mother in law's time as well.

Addley, not derailing. Your experience important. I hope your example inspires many more to consider and apply for RG HEIs.

We had huge grand parental expectations around DSis' family which was a shame. I had none about DS but he was conscious that both his parents and his other aunt's family were all Oxbridge as well as all grandparents etc so he put himself under pressure. But when it came to it, he was v excited about another university as well where he has friends who are having a great time. So that was ok. And we went around saying " it's a long shot" , as indeed it was.