Oxbridge Aspirants: Sep 2021

[funkysatsuma]

Not sure if it's too early to start this thread in Nov 2019 :)

DS would like Cambridge Economics as the first choice. Would like to know where can we get some help to prepare for the ECAA test - appreciate any pointers/links. Thanks in advance

Most colleges have a ballot system, so you may not have any say anyway even if you do get your preferred college. Some have different price bands for different tiers of room. Others charge the same, but if you have a poor room in year 1, you are guaranteed a good room in year 2 etc.

Not sure who said St. Paul’s has full time Oxbridge admissions help, they don’t, but the girls school does have full time USA admissions staff.

@Evitosop very strange comment that elite schools such as Westminster etc consider Oxbridge second rate! No they don’t at all, increasingly it has becomes more difficult for students from these schools to get places and those holding any form of US citizenship are looking to the US. It has been reported that many large finance and banking sectors as well as IT and engineering are recruiting from US universities due to their broader curriculum which could be a driver. Lots of parents in these schools can’t afford the astronomical cost of the USA so your comment is well off the mark.

Arewedone It was an article in the Times which they have now corrected.

Hi @Cotonshaded and @claraszoo! Parent of Cambridge finalist here.

In general, Cambridge colleges guarantee 3 years in college accommodation, some of which may be on their second site or third site around town or in a college owned house. There is huge variety in the cost, quality and size of the rooms and in the bathroom and kitchen provision. Some old 'sets' of rooms which are now split in to singles and may have slightly restricted privacy: one student may have to walk through another's room to access their own room.

The only way, I am afraid, is to do the leg work - college web sites, college 'Alternative' Students' Union web sites, site visits, emails to college Accommodation Officers - and build yourselves a good Excel Sheet, college by college, building by building and site by site.Two tips: the newest buildings are the best and so, overall, the newer colleges have the most consistently best rooms and facilities. Richest colleges subsidise rent and food (Hall, Buttery,cafe) and laundry the most.

But remember that nearly everyone is happy, overall, whichever college they end up at. And they have only warm memories of the friends they made wherever they stayed.

What would I do? I would actually focus only on preparation : the quality of my Application Pack and work on the Admissions Assessments. I would make an Open Application and take pot luck on Accommodation. Part of Uni life ought to be adapting, being resourceful and handling change positively. .. Just my view.

All colleges are very caring and generous where a new student has particular physical, medical or other needs. One girl actually transferred from from my daughter's college to another college after one term; she uses a crutch and desperately needed to be closer to her Department. So two colleges cooperated to make the switch happen.

Please feel free to Private Message me about rooms or anything else about Cambridge Admissions or Cambridge life.

I would tend to disagree re making an open application. I encouraged DS to apply to a "dream college" -- one he really wanted to go to. He was very lucky to be offered a place. He still needs to get his grades, but I'm so pleased for him that he got his first choice.

Agree PantTwizzler. I can't see any merit in an open application. It merely cedes any vestige of choice or control to a computer. My DC have all plumped for a college they really like the look of, which ticks their individual criteria, in the knowledge that they might be moved on. That said, no particular leg work was done and certainly no e-mails or spreadsheets. Just basically looking around town and going hey this one looks good/ does it do my subject (always a help) and has a sibling gone there (they wanted a college of their own). It's not a major faff but an open application seems a waste when you can have a degree of input at least.

Also, very obviously, choosing a college and doing the prep for the application are not mutually exclusive.

Actually DC#1 didn't have the sibling criterion but chose on the basis that a particular college had a strong reputation for her subject and was founded by a lady who lived round the corner from us. Nothing to do with bathrooms or kitchens or anything in particular - just any old reason really. Still better than an open application.

I also tend to think that applications need to be put in "lightly" in the knowledge that one might be pooled. DD applied to a college she was absolutely in love with, was reallocated to another college which offered her a place and spent the months after her offer feeling a bit deflated. DS hadn't even looked round the college he applied to (open day was just so busy and overwhelming) but it had several attributes which attracted him.

I think @PantTwizzler has it right. Apply for a college you like the look of but don't over think it and don't over invest.

There's no advantage to applying to a previously under subscribed college as the university will reallocate students to ensure that strong candidates are evenly distributed between colleges. DS1 applied for a big name but got reallocated to a smaller one - which he is very pleased with. He looked around but I think he used an online tool which you input your likes and dislikes and it generates suggested colleges!

Hi my son is planning to apply to do Physics at Oxford, wondered if anyone has any advice or experience of this and the test they have to do. He is studying A level Physics, Maths, Further Maths and Music. Any suggestions of things he could do to help his application. He is doing independent reading and practising questions on Issac Physics. We are completely new to this whole process so any advice or information will be welcome.

Hi HopeGrace, my son is also planning to apply for Physics at Oxford.
He is doing Physics, Maths, Fmaths and Chem.
Currently his chem is proving challenging so he has some ground to make up.

Hi olliepolly, it seems a bit daunting when I read the conversations about tests and different colleges. There seems to be so much to think about. Have you had any experience of applying to Oxbridge? We are going to sit down this week and really look at the Oxford website to get to grips with what he needs to do.

Take a look at what they expect a personal statement to cover & start collecting snippets for it now. They don't want grade 3 cello, NCSvor Duke of Edinburgh or even high flying sporting skills. These get crammed in as a final sentence to satisfy Durham.

Thanks Hoghgyni, will look at that.

Hogs advice is good. Start keeping a log of stuff for PS now. Chances are your DC will be doing lots of stuff like going to lectures, entering competitions, reading around subject anyway if they are a credible candidate. Hopefully they end up with too much stuff to fit in their PS but that's better than the alternative.

Looking back on DS1's application I think the trick was to not cyclically do stuff for the sake of his PS but encourage him to do things he was interested in naturally. The two things which came up in his interviews at Oxford, Imperial and Manchester were his extended essay and some relevant work experience in the summer of Year 12.

But the Oxford interviews were 95% subject based. DS1 says you should think of them as a verbal exam rather than an interview.

Thanks Sandybayley, I will discuss this with my son, it gives him an idea about what to think about.

Hi, this may be a bit of a premature question, however... if applying for geography at Cambridge, are there any particular colleges that have a particularly strong department for this subject, or that tend to take a preponderance of this type of student? Does it make any difference where you apply? I know the college Peterhouse is the only one to not offer geography and also, there is a more modern college a bit further out of town which is 70% science. But do all the others strive to take a balance across all subjects? Thanks!

I've taken a look at the Cambridge website which clearly says not to worry about the subjects within each college. As there are only 93 place for geography anyway, it's all a bit academic when split between that many colleges. Here's what the website says:

Are some Colleges better for certain subjects?

Regardless of their College, all students on the same course, attend the same lectures, seminars and practicals, and sit the same exams. The key functions that the University (through the faculties and departments) and Colleges are responsible for are outlined inCambridge Explained.

Thanks Hoghgyni. I missed that part of the website. I was just wondering if certain colleges had reputations for certain subjects, but it seems not. Hard to know where to start really! Probably the older, more beautiful colleges get more applications?

Not necessarily. DD initially looked at both Oxford & Cambridge colleges with the help of a family member who has been to both. A college we thought would have the wow factor was ruled out on an open day because she may have been living in very close quarters with another student, effectively in shared rooms. She also looked at the make up of each college. There was little point in her applying to a college frequented by the Jacob Rees-Moggs & Borises of this world, so several other big names were ruled out.

But how would you know which colleges are frequented by the JRM types? Surely they don’t bundle all the Etonians etc into one college?

Easy peasy. It's behind the Torygraph paywall.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/12/revealed-schools-send-highest-number-pupils-every-oxbridge-college/

Here's an extract: At Magdalen College, Oxford, one in every 12 offers over the past three years were made to pupils from either Eton College or Westminster School. Meanwhile, Cambridge's Trinity College has offered 19 places to students from Westminster School over the same period, including eight in 2018 alone.