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

Of course money is going to be helpful when in University LRD. Since when did it not? What century are you living in?

I would say that Oxford and Cambridge are two of the more doable universities on a tight budget.

The accommodation is cheaper than many other universities and much of college life is subsidised.

That said, for those applicants whose maintainance loan is the basic amount, they will need financial support from parents, or well paid holiday work to boost it.

what, sorry if I upset you. I wasn't intending to. It's just frustrating, because no, you really don't need to show you're interested in non-academics, and it does matter, because every year people are put off applying because they think they needed to do this.

And it is something that's strongly linked to family and financial background, because an awful lot of hobbies require either money, or cultural capital.

This isn't to say that someone who chooses to spend their free time listening to Radio 4 or doing competitive sport or whatever isn't admirable. They are. But that doesn't mean students need or ought to feel they have to demonstrate these extra-curricular interests.

elen - I think you must have misunderstood me.

Some good stuff mentioned here OP by other posters, I hope you're finding it useful.

If we're talking Oxbridge, then LRDtheFeministDragon has it spot on - when I was at Oxford 15 years ago one of my tutors burst out laughing at the thought that anyone in admissions would care about extra-curricular activities. They honestly don't.

That said, the beauty of Oxbridge is the interview system, where you get a chance to show what you're about. I can't speak with much authority, but for other universities they have only your grades so far, expected grades, and a personal statement to go on, which is not much to differentiate you from 1000s of other applicants, and therefore having the extra-curriculars does flesh you out a bit. Not sure if it figures much in getting an offer...

My advice on extra-curriculars to you, and your son, would be to do something for two reasons, and probably for not much else:

Because it's fun.
Because time spent doing your extra-curricular is a welcome distraction from revision at exam time.

I also broadly agree with MarytheCanary, although at the risk of gainsaying her, I would dispute that you need to be extremely knowledgeable. In the 4 interviews I had, I was presented with material I had never seen before, and was asked to talk about it (in what was hopefully a thoughtful manner.) Having a nimble mind, and, as Mary says, a demonstrable passion for your subject, are going to be the important elements. If you also know lots about your subject, so much the better, but if you don't, hey, you're there to learn! It'd be pretty boring if you had encountered it all before. That said, Mary makes a good point about having some knowledge outside of exam set texts/syllabus though.

I was not asked 'why this college' in any interview, which was a blessing, as my reasons were feeble.

To address your question about GCSE's (sorry, this answer has become longer than intended), it is always going to be better doing very well in a few exams, especially if they relate to your ALevels/intended university course, than to do OK at a lot of them.

hingle they also have entrance tests.
These are extremely important in the process.

errol during this cycle my DD applied to RADA.

The odds of being offered a place make Oxbridge look a dead cert!

GetAHaircutCarl Good point well made.

I'm spiky as fuck and got an offer for Cambridge. Even though I came across as a total weirdo in my interview. I'd go into detail about just how badly I screwed up at answering the questions, but I was required to sign a pledge of secrecy by moonlight, in my own blood, with a phoenix-feather quill.

I have shit GCSEs (really shit), am doing an Access course, which many people look down on because they think it's not very rigorous and that it won't get you into good universities, and I'm doing it part time rather than full time even though I'm not working and don't have kids. I had very little recent exam experience (only one 2h exam) so probably did really badly on the pre-interview assessment. I accidentally let slip in the interview that I have a serious mental health problem. I wore a hoodie and jeans because I can't think if I'm wearing uncomfortable clothes. I have no interesting hobbies. I don't do sport or play an instrument or speak several languages. I complained about the number of ladybirds in the college. I sang in my first interview. And cried in the second one.

I did none of these things on purpose to make myself look special and different, and berated myself for weeks afterwards.

In other words I dramatically fucked it up and anyone would be forgiven for describing me as the worst possible candidate. If your kid is weird and single-minded, don't despair. God only knows what they're looking for but apparently none of these things disqualify you

I just really hope I get my grades 😣

hingle they also have entrance tests.

and references from school (or equivalent).

senua you're right. Refs!!! Missed those.

Good luck with your grades, Addley!

And I hope they do something about the ladybirds if you do.

Don't worry LRD I wasn't upset, and 'well-rounded' was a bad choice of words. I should have said that it's good to show you have something about you. As Addley's post shows, that 'something' doesn't mean ticking a list of ec activities off.

Oh, I'm with you then, whats.

I think, too, that 'something about you' could be as simple as responding thoughtfully to a question you'd never considered or being willing to respond to prompts to get through a really thorny bit of proof. It needn't be something external to the interview itself (if that makes sense).

It really is thethe sorts of extracurricular (or 'supra curricula ' ) acrivities which really matter don't have to be expensive. Some should be doable in school - e.g. for STEm, do the Crest and Go4Set type awards. If you might want to do engineering, do a tech gcse subject, and make something which you can use when applying for an Arkwright award, if you get one of those than it can fund you doing your own projects when you're in the 6th form, and the dosh the school gets might help fund the robotics club you help run. If a kid can do those sorts of relevant things, I doubt extraneous extracurriculars are of any importance.

Thank you Countess!

Seriously, though. The ladybirds. The windows were encrusted with them.

addley I wish I'd been a ladybird on that wall in your interviews!

I bet you were fab, though. Don't we all remember the cringe-worthy stuff?

I swooned dramatically into the arms of my interviewer in mine. My friend was told (in a history interview IIRC) about a scholar called 'Figgis'. She found this unaccountably funny (it may have had something to do with the fact we spent most of our sixth form finding implausible genital innuendos in everything boring we had to read - we were very mature), and went into fits of giggles.

And then tried to explain.

In detail.

With hand gestures.

She didn't get a place but she does have a great way of telling the story, which is better.

My posting screen in the app was being weird, I couldn't see the first line and have mangled it.

senua and carl But apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health... I got everything else, no?

YY Im talkig about open days for KS3 students to enter 6th form. Not open day at Uni for A level students :)

Very interesting discussion. I didnt think I would get that many answers!!

Ladybirds! Reminds me of the summer of 1976 Hopefully it's a once-in-a-blue-moon infestation.

How come you were being interviewed at ladybird time?

hingle

March - mature student.

I didn't think I would get that many answers!!

Ha! You're new to MN, aren't you? There's nothing like an Oxbridge thread to get an -ahem- interesting debate going.

Ladybirds these days are very different beasties to what you knew in the seventies. They're larger, more aggressive, and hibernate in huge numbers around window frames, who makes the whole room smell awful.

Harlequin ladybirds :( You rarely see a proper ladybird any more.

Btw, thank you so much about all of those who have mentioned things like the Sutton Trust, Crest and Go4Set etc...
I had no idea what they even existed!