Oxbridge 2020

[GinWorksForMe]

Is it too early for an Oxbridge 2020 thread? I'm feeling in need of some hand holding through this process...

DS1 is going to apply to Cambridge for Maths. Doesn't know yet whether to name a college or put in an open application, so any tips gratefully received. We have visited two (very different) colleges and been to a Maths Open Day. It's unlikely we're going to have the opportunity to visit many more colleges as their open days seem to be on Saturdays and DS1 has a paid job Saturdays and Sundays.

Anyone else applying for Oxbridge for 2020 entry and want to share the journey?

sandybayley DS1 kept History on too along with Chemistry, Biology and Physics (for Medicine) and the difference between his essay writing for tutorials and those of a lot of his peers who'd done all sciences was striking - according to his tutors.

@goodbyestranger - that's good to hear.

I think in any career strong written and communication skills (not something that are well developed by just science A Levels) will stand you in good stead. I see a lot of graduates who on paper look very qualified but, to be totally honest, let themselves down as soon as they start writing.

At the York Open Day the Chemistry Professor doing the introductory talk said that for many years the scientific community has failed to communicate effectively and that this needs to be overcome. I think that's very true - politicians and the general public don't understand science and that leads to all sorts of problems in flawed policy making and poor decisions.

sandybayley at interview one tutor said what subjects have you done then ah History couldn't care less about that and then at the other college DS1 was asked a history question!

As were all the interviewees apparently. So - you never quite know what's coming up. That said, none of my humanities DC have ever been asked a science question so it seems to be a one way thing (fortunately for my humanities DC).

STEM degrees absolutely need to incorporate domain-appropriate writing and communication skills - the better ones do this.

Effective communication with the general public is definitely an issue - but I'd contend that the problem lies more with the scientific illiteracy of the latter (even graduates) than the illiteracy of scientists (only a subset of whom need to communicate outside of their field). Some of it is at the level of people who are supposedly skilled in evidence and analysis who apparently can't discern what constitutes a credible source of scientific information and what doesn't.

Errol, you should try having an economics background then. Even good journalists often seem not to understand basic statistics, nor the rudiments of supply and demand. Whilst an army of graduates seem to be leaving Universities with a scary level of financial illiteracy. My own view is that if you cannot read the Times from cover to cover grasping the main point of each article, you are in trouble. Yet whilst learning a language for professional reasons it became absolutely clear that fellow students were struggling with translating some mainstream articles because they did not understand the economics, rather than because they did not have sufficient language.

Just though I would throw in my personal rant

I'm sure you're right....Economics is at least in part on the STEM spectrum or at least shares some commonalities at the maths end.

DS has just come back from a Headstart engineering course and his eyes have been somewhat opened. “The facilities at Oxford and (less so) Cambridge are terrible compared to other universities!” Interesting... Looks like he’ll be applying for Cambridge rather than Oxford now so I need to have a shift of mental gears.

@PantTwizzler - how funny. DS1 has just come back from a Headstart course at Manchester. I thought he'd like the course (he did) but not like the city. In fact he quite liked both the University and Manchester and says he'll put it down as an option (no 4 or 5). Labs were good (on a par with Bristol and Durham).

He's still wowed by the Oxford labs though. I'm surprised the engineering facilities aren't impressive?

More people applied to love island this year that Oxford and Cambridge combined- fact 😂 how nuts is that

I thought the engineering labs in Oxford were ok but what would I know?! (I’m not a scientist.) DS did the course at Heriot-Watt and he thought their labs were much better. I get the impression that engineering is a Cinderella subject at Oxford perhaps. DH did his DPhil in Oxford (in science but not engineering) and he’d certainly argue that there was no problem in his field.

That’s crazy anon.

The engineering at Oxford is described as 'engineering science', and I think is a much smaller cohort than Cambridge. I gather its emphasis is perhaps rather different - not sure about this but maybe it's more apt for people who want to do research rather than become engineers per se?

Yes that might be it Errol.

It’s interesting that my open day-averse DS has had such a change of heart just from contact with one other university (that he didn’t actively choose). Food for thought...

DS2 is including in his personal statement the skill of communicating scientific concepts in an accessible way, using the examples of presenting a year-long research project at STEM fairs and volunteering with learning support in KS3 science lessons.

A friend's DS is singing the praise of Herriot-Watt as well. He should be starting chem eng there in September, depending on his higher results. He only applied to Scottish universities though, as he's been boarding in Scotland since he was 10 and, at 17, he won't be the only one not officially allowed to drink in freshers week.

Thanks all for the illuminating posts. DS is applying for Economics at Cambridge. I've got myself in a state about it, even though I'd be happy for him to go to other universities too. On the one hand, his academic performance and temperament makes him a strong applicant. But then I hear about other Economics applicants with 5 A*s etc who end up with no offers at all! How can I help ensure he doesn't end up in that boat?

👏 to anyone coming over from the Oxbridge Philosophy thread.....and we have promised to play nice
And
👏 to anyone who has been on this thread

Was that a clap or a wave?

Should have been a wave hahahaha

Is that a wave 👋 or a clap 👏? Which is more appropriate, hi there or well done? 😂

Oops, cross post!

👋

...here I am.

New rules.

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