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!

Goodbye apologies I got it wrong 😒 DD said they emailed her first then put it on track, letter through post.

Ah thanks riverbank. So there is potential for the thing to go up in smoke :)

"Who whittles down the candidates for interview, the colleges or central admissions?"

Variable. Medicine - entirely department - the colleges don't even know which one the student put as their choice, they just interview whoever's sent there. Other subjects are the opposite extreme I think, very little faculty input - I'd guess from ones that don't have admissions tests? If there's a test, then some combination I'd assume - e.g. my DD did the CLAT for classics and had a faculty language-based interview as well as college interviews.

DD is going to be the death of me. Planning to get the work stamped etc tomorrow and electronically submitted. She has chosen a (not very good) essay from lower sixth as one of the two pieces because she hasn't written any essays so far this year (?!) and hasn't had time to write one from scratch. To be fair she has just done grade 8 in one of her instruments which has tied her up a lot but still...

@Coleoptera DD2 found Durham was the last place to acknowledge her application. That's all she has heard from them although everywhere else has sent her something (offer, SAQ or interview). DD has definitely not yet heard about an interview from Cambridge yet and nobody at school has mentioned anything. It's only just over a week since the tests, so I would be surprised if it was this soon.

On a positive note, she passed her driving test yesterday (thank God) The insurance on the car has gone up enormously - she needs to remember she's a very raw driver and not Lewis Hamilton...

Clocking in on progress on offers and whatnot. Son (maths) has offers from UCL, Warwick & Bristol. Nothing from Durham. Waiting for an interview date at Cambridge.

I put this on the other Uni thread too....

Ds went for interview at York yesterday (for Maths) and their offer came through today as ABB (dropped as a a result of the interview from their standard AAA). He got a personalised email from them saying they had recommended a dropped offer and commenting on how much the interviewer had enjoyed their discussion on Morris Dancing!

So he has 3 offers now (all Maths) - waiting to hear from Imperial (took the MAT last week for that) and Cambridge (they send out offers for interview next week I think). So he should know on all 5 by the end of this month.

Panttwizzler I feel your pain. DS wrote one of his essays on Tuesday. He took the day off school today to write the second one, spent all day getting in a state and then gave up on it and decided to send the one he wrote back in May (that I suggested weeks ago.....). He'll be spending tomorrow morning putting together the paperwork and sending it off from school. Thank God it's just the interviews to go now...

Well done to all with passed driving tests (DD has her second test on the 20th) & extra offers. DD still sitting on 1 offer from Kings. Really hoping she gets another soon! Her others are Durham, Edinburgh & SOAS. Although I think that in the situation of an offer from Oxford her reserve would be Kings anyway. Durham being first choice (if they offer) in the case of no offer from Oxford.

DS has offers from his other 3 choices (didn't pick a 4th)
Bristol Classics AAA
UCL Classics with year abroad AAB - his top choice after Oxford due to close proximity to the Finders Keepers British Museum, centre of the universe for him.
KCL Classics AAB

I’m hoping that those who took pre interview assessments will start to hear from the end of next week. I hear that some colleges, eg St Catherine’s, Cambridge, are starting to give out interviews for subjects that don’t.

Interesting re your son’s offers couch. My DD didn’t apply to any London universities but is waiting on Warwick which appeals because of the year abroad option.

From what I remember of DDs reports on her pals, it's not uncommon for the good unis/courses of the 'first choice if the applicant doesn't get an Oxbridge' type to offer late but they may be very variable even within the same subject.

Lumpy is that for History? Or something else? (sorry if you've already said). Durham for that History has always been after Christmas for my DC (with one before and one after Christmas for Law and another one well before Christmas for a science subject - the latter is common).

that

@googbyestranger - for Theology & Religion

Ah - I'm no use then!

Coleoptera all six of mine who applied to Durham - admittedly not for English, but to three separate departments - got acknowledgements within a few days. I do find it odd that there's been no acknowledgement and I'd say it might be worth your DT1 giving the central Durham admissions number a ring to see they have actually received the form, given that it must be nearly a month since it went in. Things can go wrong electronically and there's no harm at all in asking, because it does seem really quite odd. Better to do it before they start dishing out offers and a month is long enough to wait without being regarded as a pest.

DT1 could send an e-mail to [email protected] - that'll take longer to get a response but will at least put something in train.

Well I suggested a ring because that e-mail address gets massively clogged at this time of year - only because, as you say, it can be hard to get a corner to phone from during the school day.