Oxbridge Applicants 2019

[evenstrangerthings]

The 2018 Oxbridge Applicants Thread was started at the end of August last year, but with many students now sitting internal school exams rather than public AS exams, many will have Year 12 results in hand and some will be starting to prepare for applications to Oxford or Cambridge University.

Let's support each other in supporting our kids through this process, which may involve extra exams, multi-day interviews and extra application statements.

Do feel free to join the thread, even if your DC is on the fence about making an Oxbridge application. It would also be great to hear from those who have been through the Oxbridge process before!

Are there two separate issues here?
So first, dd's concern about whether she would be better off putting a 'top RG' choice that she will probably get an offer from, rather than taking a punt on Oxford and potentially 'wasting' a choice? What about the current RG offer - is that well recognised in Magic Circle lawland? (I think someone has posted a list of top universities for law firm recruiting on some of these threads - it may even be on this one or on the general applications thread - which may be helpful info ). But if that's the issue, then wouldn't swapping a non RG choice be an option (though i don't know the mechanics - can you swap once the univ has made you an offer?)

And the second, is concern that she wouldn't enjoy Oxford due to work pressure/course style? I think it is true that not every student capable of getting in to Oxbridge wants to go there! (but obviously the ones who don't will not be on this thread.) Reasons can be the course content, 8 week terms, perceived workload (whether this is actually greater I don't know, though shorter terms may make it more compressed, I suppose). Anyway, my point being that just because you are capable of getting in that does not automatically mean you have to apply - there can be very coherent reasons not to!

Could your dd's school put her in touch with anyone already there to discuss the 'work pressure' issue and what it's really like? My own impression is that university workload is heavier now than when dparents were at university, so current views are important - but that is just an impression!

Also op, - is there a very short deadline for 'substituting choices' on UCAS? I have a feeling there may be, in which case the die may already be cast? Sorry if I am 'bringer of bad news'.

I do think it can be very early in life for students to make these decisions - so well worth bearing in mind that if things don't work out (or even if they do!) dd can review the position once the A level results are out and take a gap year if necessary.

Firstly, Oxford certainly isn't all work no play. The balance is whatever you make it.

So is her worry that the LNAT went badly and she won't get offers from Bristol and Oxford? So will be 'stuck' with her existing offers? Is she happy with them? She's basically thinking Warwick is more likely than Bristol or Oxford - but if she has offers she likes already, is this an issue?

I think you have two weeks to change anything on the UCAS form - does she actually have time?

If your daughter wasn't as keen on the course and methods of assessment compared to the other choices she has made, then maybe this is something to focus on and not be influenced just by the fact it's Oxford?

Both Dd and DS have discounted courses after open days due to the course not being right, it's just an easier choice to make perhaps if it's not Oxbridge. Maybe it shouldn't be though.

Hello! Joining the thread a little late! DD has applied to Oxford, Durham, Edinburgh, Kings & SOAS. She’s had an offer from Kings and been asked to submit work for Oxford - she’s applied for Theology and Religion (no entrance exam for T&R). After the heartache of deciding on course, university choices and then personal statement I just want the process done with now tbh! 😳 But now will come the difficult decision of which pieces of work to submit!! I wonder if the admissions tutors have any idea...

I agree that oxford is definitely not all work no play. Oxford makes it so easy to work hard. Every college has its own library. Most students live in. There's no making your own breakfast, getting a bus from digs into uni, looking for a spot in a noisy, crowded library. You just roll out of bed, get fed and climb a few steps to work.
That leaves loads of time for play. There's parties, punting, balls, loads of theatre shows and concerts put on by students and professionals, sports teams, cheap gyms, wild swimming, amazing pubs and parks. All within a few minutes walk. It's very compact. Oxford undergraduate life is very very intense, but it's not all work.

Good luck @Lumpy76 's daughter! What college has she applied to?

"Oxford undergraduate life is very very intense, but it's not all work."

Yes that sounds a good way of putting it. Some dstudents do decide that's not for them, which is fair enough. For some the intensity of the non academic life also sounds too much - though obviously you can always opt out of that, it just may not the environment you want to be in.
College life can seem claustrophobic to some - others absolutely love it!

However I have a feeling that for questioner's dd the first point will be to check whether there's even still time to change - if not, the question's hypothetical.

www.ucas.com/undergraduate/after-you-apply/making-changes-your-ucas-undergraduate-application

University or college

You can swap a choice for a different one within 14 days of the date on your welcome email. You can only swap eachchoice once.

Within 14days of the date on your welcome email you can swap the choice in Track.However, you can't swap a choice after 30 June.If you swap after therelevant deadlinefor your new course choice, it will be considered late. Contact your chosen uni or college first to check they'd consider your application.In the very rare case of your university/college discontinuing the course you've applied for, please contact us to discuss your options.

I would also wonder, 'Why not put Warwick on the list in the first place?', though, given four non Oxford spaces available to fill.

"I would also wonder, 'Why not put Warwick on the list in the first place?', though, given four non Oxford spaces available to fill."

It is tricky to choose though - and if you're one of the 15 October deadliners, the internal school deadline may be (understandablyl) much earlier. Also I imagine your focus is mainly on doing an Oxford-targeted personal statement and unless you've been one of the ultra well organised people you may just not have had time to focus really closely on which other four to choose!

(PS I know you can leave choices blank and add them later, but for some dc they just want to get it over with by that point - UCAS can really eat into A level study if you're not careful)

questioner123 two of my daughters read Law at Oxford with one going into a Magic Circle firm (the other is a barrister). I also have a son who read History at Oxford and who currently has an offer from a different Magic Circle firm.

Several points: a) no point dooming (thank you for the word Rahul) about the LNAT. She simply won't be able to tell accurately how she's done.
b) Oxford and Cambridge make a good deal of difference in terms of recruitment to the top firms, however open minded the firms say they or or indeed are. The fact is that those two unis tend to produce high quality students, so why would the top firms looking for sharp intellects not recruit more heavily from them than elsewhere?
c) I'd keep an open mind about Magic Circle law and not get too hung on framing a uni choice around that. But it still makes sense to go for the best one you can, if you're after a career in law.

If I were her I'd definitely stick with the chance of Oxford.

Hi all,

Thank you for your replies, they are very helpful!

Oxford is the only one that she can substitute, and only has until Friday to do so.(!!)

Her other offers are Southampton, Reading and Royal Holloway (insurance).

Your advice is very interesting to read :)

Good luck to your DC’s applying!

Just thought I’d ask, DD has 2 B’s at GCSE, so is worried about this also effecting her chances. She is predicted AAA though.

The LNAT will be far more critical to the chances of interview than the Bs. Also, it's not black and white: what were her other grades? And what type of school did she go to? (not me asking the question but Oxford will!). She may well surprise herself with her LNAT score, it's a brute to predict :)

My DD is at Cambridge - her GCSE grades were 6A*, 3A and 3B. The Bs were in the subjects least relevant to her degree subject (eng lit and Lang, German).

Dd got a B in Business Communication, which all Year 10s were forced take at his school. He went to bed for the day when he got the result, convinced it signified the end of his future. I told him to contact the horse's mouth. The horse replied that a B or even a U in Business Communication was a badge of honour!

On the GCSE front it isn't always useful to compare Oxford and Cambridge Errol, even as little as two cycles ago.

Another thing to think about - how would dd feel if she swapped choices tomorrow, then turns out to have done incredibly well in LNAT (or won't she know - are you told your mark or do you just surmise it from whether you get an interview at Oxford/offer from Bristol)? That could be infuriating.

Unless of course she genuinely does not want to go there (I think there is a particular category of student that doesn't, but feels s/he should, and therefore applies)! And if she has done really well, she would presumably (famous last words) get an offer from Bristol, which she does want?

Of course it works the other way round I suppose - how would dd feel if she does not swap, and has accurately predicted she didn't do well, but has foregone the chance of Warwick unless she does a gap year? It isn't easy for the dteens....they have to make a number of gaming decisions at a young age!

By which I mean Cambridge is now having to look at GCSEs more carefully with the demise of ASs; Oxford has always set more store by GCSEs, A in particular. But the type of school and its performance is also critical - though the number of GCSEs taken less so (ie (9A and 2 Bs less good than 9A* etc).

You find out your LNAT score in January - Pearson sends an e-mail. It would be really annoying to find out a score was good having ditched Oxford!

Yes, and I wonder if you have to retake LNAT if you decide to take a gap year and reapply? (though wouldn't that give you a bit of an advantage over yr 13s? oh well.)

Yes you would need to retake. A good score is lost with the cycle.

@Lumpy76 I am not an admissions tutor , but the advice DS had about submitting work is submit the piece you are most happy to talk about in an interview rather than necessarily the one you got the highest mark in. ( Obviously with the caveat don't send in anything which was rubbish ) - that is just advice DS had and one of his friends in a higher year sent in his "best" - i.e. highest marked - essay , and subsequently wished he hadn't. But do take advice from better qualified people - this is anecdote.

Hi Everyone... I, too, am late to this thread, so I really hope you don't mind me butting in to ask a question or two...
My youngest ds has applied to Cambridge for Natural sciences / Physics this year...
He has also applied to St Andrews, Durham, Birmingham and York... and that is his order of preference..
So far he's had an offer from Birmingham for Theoretical Physics and a interview for York...He would be totally happy to go to Birmingham, so should we worry about going to the interview at York? It's not easy, we're at the other end of the country for starters, but we put it down as lowest entrance requirement. I think we need to respond by tomorrow... thanks

Ingles - I would say it depends on what the spread of entry requirements is versus his predicted grades and confidence of achieving them. The b'ham offer grades aren't much lower than Cambridge, are they? (and I'm guessing Durham and St. Andrews similar) - if he's sure he can make those grades fine, but if he wants an insurance choice which works even if he's under par during a levels for some reason then it might be wise to do the York interview.

I'm not sure if she was right, but DD reckoned it was worth going to all interviews and getting offers from the lower tariff ones in case things went belly up and she was looking for clearing places at them.