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?

Fredscheesethins but I don't expect your DC was at a school with 2000 in his or her cohort for GCSE, and that's where the benchmarking is required, not at sixth form. The question is: where were your DC's GCSEs in relation to everyone else in their particular school year?

Obviously quite well or they wouldn't be entertaining dreams of Oxbridge, but when less than 50% get less than 5 GCSEs it's easy to look good.

Interesting to see someone is set on classics. Have they had the chance to do much at school?DS is pouring over admissions date to try to work out which colleges and course combinations are interesting. Anglo-saxon, Norse, Ancient History and Classics all seem fascinating if you are that way inclined, but presumably have few state school applicants. We met someone at the masterclass who was self-teaching himself Latin as his grammar didn't offer it at A level. We're not in a grammar area and only 10% of D's year group took an MFL to GCSE, so dead languages certainly weren't offered.

The admissions person at the Cambridge masterclass DS went to last term certainly didn't mention anything about ranking people within a year group from particular schools. That wouldn't work where I live, as there are no sixth forms attached to schools, so the college would have no idea of relative performance.

I suppose they can't distinguish between a grade 8 and a grade 9 for the 2020 intake, as they are used to previous year groups having homogenous A stars with the odd grade A thrown in and there will still be iGCSE grades under the old system. They won't know whether the iGCSE A star is equivalent to an 8 or 9.

My DDs GCSEs were not a heck of a lot above average at her school (a grammar) - but the stars were all on the STEM side and the Bs on the englishes and MFL ... Cambridge seems to understand that some people are asymmetrically talented. So I'd hope any 'benchmarking' is only re the 'relevant' subjects?

I think Oxford and Cambridge probably assumes everyone is doing quite well but what they want to know is where the applicant is placed within his cohort at his school.

Always lots of maths applicants on these threads too - not sure why.

At the Oxbridge talk for parents at DS1 school last week they said they would write on the school reference where the pupil sat within the cohort - so for a history applicant they would say top pupil in the school for the subject / top 5% / top 10%. It's very academic school so any of those positions would be credible for Oxbridge I think as they got 40+ offers last year.

Hi @AChickenCalledKorma - a fellow graduate of the GCSES 2018 thread!

I bow down to your experience obviously, but how on earth would a college know? If a college has 2000 in a year group, they may recognise the name of the feeder school, but would have no idea if that school had 10 pupils with straight grade 9s or whether 5 x grade 8 was exceptional for the year group. The references are written by their tutors, who may barely recognise the student and have even less knowledge of their feeder schools.

Stillusingafilofax great name I still don't have a smart phone :)

No, DD4's school doesn't teach any Classics whatsoever. She's teaching herself Latin but only to GCSE. She just really likes language but only has a single MFL and also really likes history, literature, art so Classics seems a good way to go.

X post with Sandy.

Still - Cambridge (I'd guess oxford too but don't know for sure) seem very amenable to their students swapping course either early in the first term, or starting again on a different one after the first year if they decide they've picked the wrong subject, provided they have appropriate A levels. And other universities seem very ready to pick up Oxbridge students who've decided they'd rather do something else or go somewhere else. So trying an 'unknown' subject does have something of a safety net.

Yes sandybayley that's what the Ho6 said he'd say on DD4's UCAS reference too - her position at GCSE in relation to the cohort.

No Errol with Oxford it's always been the case in recent years that they like a lot of A*s across the board at GCSE, preferably.

@goodbyestranger - I think they were referring to position for the A level subject relative to the cohort rather than GCSE performance. TBH mist if the boys have very similar GCSE profiles do not much to separate them apart from those who have done a couple of extra GCSES.

No Errol with Oxford it's always been the case in recent years that they like a lot of A*s across the board at GCSE, preferably.

Yes, I'd always got that impression. I hope that the demise of AS doesn't send Cambridge in that direction too.

I saw after I posted and a second read that that was what you meant sandy but no, at our school they put their GCSE ranking in the reference. That's what Oxford is looking for, rather curiously. Obviously they do also tend to say the position in relation to A level subjects too, if it's positive.

I actually learnt Latin & Cornish at school, so the ASN&C course appeals to me. However, the moment I refer to our Celtic heritage, DS's eyes glaze over, so it's probably the easiest way to discourage him. I could simply dig out my copy of First 1000 Words in Cornish and persuade him to start studying. It would be more use than Latin for him, as even our public transport is pushing the language and Kelly's Ice Cream has a bilingual ad on prime time TV.

Errol - you may know this already - but Oxford Medicine has a mathematical formula involving the applicant's percentage of A at GCSE in relation to the number of GCSEs taken, as contextualised by the particular school - so it's not even the humanities only which like a lot of A! Maths at Oxford may be an honourable exception, not sure, just hazarding a guess.

Hi. Signing in. Much to our surprise DD has decided to apply to Cambridge to do natural sciences.

We're both graduates but I'm foreign and DH got his uni place on clearing. We're both a bit nonplused at our seriously geeky daughter and don't really know how to support her. She goes to an inner city London state school who are the ones pushing her to apply.

She's decided on Newham College partly because she's gay and fancies a female environment and party because on a visit she discovered they have a college cat. I suspect it was the cat that sold it to her.

Haha well we're of Scottish heritage and go to Scotland a lot where helpfully the local supermarket and the ferry company sub title everything Gaelic in English to help refuseniks.

That was to Stillusingafilofax.

Hi slug - if applying to Cambridge for Natsci your DD will have to do the NSAA (see www.admissionstesting.org/for-test-takers/cambridge-pre-interview-assessments/ )

The foundation assignments on maths.org/step will help her develop the maths side of things .

Hi slug
My DS2 also wants to apply to do Nat Sci.
Is your DD more interested in Physical or Biological sciences?

Pallando
Do you have any links to resources for (preferably free or low cost) specific NSAA practice?
DS2 can only find one specimen paper and two past papers.
Thank you.

Hi @sandybayley. Here we are again!

DD1 had a good day at the Cambridge Maths Open Day today and had a nice surprise when she got there because she knew the student that was showing her group around. Considering she goes to a very ordinary state comprehensive, that sends 1 student per year to Oxbridge at best, this was about a one in million chance.

She was also impressed by the difficulty of the maths and the quality of the free lunch ... but not necessarily in that order.

Looks like she's very much up for the challenge so it's going to be an interesting few months.

Hi to all
@goodbyestranger; Maths is well represented you're right but am sure other disciplines will come online ( or maybe they have other threads. One never seems to see Geographers much). Are there any Dads though ?! I hope so.
@TheFirstOHN rude cranial nerve mnemonics and ritual humiliation on ward rounds are just about the only stuff I remember from undergrad days. You'd be up before a committee before getting back to your office these days.
How do you all get each others' names to flag up like that??

I can see from the range of comments why benchmarking might be unpopular...DCs are heading into this process from such diverse starting points arent they? Am marvelling that people have schools getting 40+ offers; I cant think of anywhere in our region that achieves that.