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

The oxford open day is disappointing. Just q&a online. I thought there might be videos college tours etc.

I hadn’t thought of the videoing interview aspect. Someone asked on the q&a where interviews would take place, but surprise surprise that question went unanswered...

Dd is really down about it all.

Ugh, video interviews?! - That is just awful. That's DD out then. She doesn't even switch on her video for class zoom lessons. She is 1000% better face to face, she needs that personal interaction.

I can only give DD1's experience of the doing the graduate jobs interview cycles, which were all on-line questionnaires, tests, and interviews. She didn't get through any. The first face to face she had, she got the job. Unfortunately, some people are good on-line, others not. Being totally sexist, I would suggest this really plays to boys strengths rather than girls?

I don’t think so. Ds would have been terrible online. He’s bad enough on family zoom calls! I think girls are generally much better at social media-y type things, being used to chatting with friends and making themselves look presentable.

@ElephantAndButterfly, your DD might find hope and solace in some of the you-tube vloggers at Cambridge like Paige Y and another one called Astrid who are anything but over confident and bombastic, one is a scientist and the other does English. They’re easy to find and I’m rubbish at linking, sorry.

If I were an interviewer I would be concerned that if online interviews could be covertly recorded by the candidate that I could be accused of all manner of things. Let’s face it, I’m sure some interviewers are jolly tired at the end of a long day and perhaps are less patient with an unimpressive candidate than they might be. Some candidates could feasibly or perceivedly get an easier ride.

When it’s all behind closed doors you just don’t know. If interviews can be recorded then it will possibly make them very bland. Hey, why not just give everyone the questions beforehand ?

Thank you @hobbema I will check those out!

Maybe the reason Oxford have taken this decision (and not Cambridge as yet) is because for Oxford, the interview process often involves overnight stays for candidates. If they are of a good standard, but there’s no space in the first choice college, they can be asked to go to a second or even third college for further interviews. On the other hand, Cambridge just interview in the one college and if they think you are if standard but there’s no place there, you get pooled and other colleges can pick you up (but no further interviews). Maybe this is why - Oxford don’t want candidates staying overnight or two nights as often the case may be?

Yes, I’m sure that’s the case. Shame though. Ds was full of having been served turbot and spotted dick for dinner at his college when he arrived for interview. On the plus side, perhaps it won’t be so scary if you are perched on the end of your bed being interviewed as opposed to being trapped on a low squashy sofa.

DS stayed three nights in Oxford (and still got rejected, reapplying successfully for Fenland Poly the next year) so I think the move is a sensible one, given that there'll be little face to face teaching for existing students anyway.
I also think this may benefit some students for whom the trip to Oxford's hallowed halls can be a little daunting. Once there as students they find their feet. But goi g from concrete jungle comp to New College for interview can be a little gulp-making.

Hi all Oxbridge Aspirant families! I work with schools and my daughter has just 'graduated' from a Cambridge college. (Covid-19 permitting, she will be starting her MPhil at Cambridge in October.)

Most candidates feel they did really badly at most interviews, and these are the ones who got in! ... Cambridge colleges interview on average 80% of applicants, so the acceptance rate thereafter is lower than for Oxford which interviews a much smaller proportion (e.g. 33% interviewed for PPE for Oct 2020 entry, with 36% of Interviewees receiving Offers). The past Cambridge experience is that, for example with interviewees in far flung places, Online Interviews have been useful and do not affect offer rates just for being online.
I would focus on the Entrance Exams - strong scores are a powerful part of the overall mix.

I agree with IrmaFayLear about the Oxford virtual Open Day today, DS took one look at the very basic Q&A session and decided he could easily find out all the information he needed elsewhere.

Perhaps they will get candidates to do it at school and ask their teachers to take all devices off them before they enter the room.

That seems practical.

And home schooled students will do the interview at the same place they did the admisssions test with the workers there taking their devices off them beforehand.

I hope they do the admission tests in school/college. It will be horrendously unfair if you’re sitting at home doing the LNAT with eg Rumpole of the Bailey sitting next to you (insert appropriate specialist for each subject).

Doesn't everyone do the admissions test in school?

Every school I know of have their students sit the BMAT etc in school, and that's what is happening afaik this year for Dd.

The UCAT no though (although not for oxbridge), as students are advised to do it outside of term, but all oxbridge ones are in school.

@IrmaFayLear i am sure they’ll still do it in schools.

@IrmaFayLear There were lots of videos of the colleges and departments on the open day. You can still access everything without a login. On the virtual open day page scroll down to the bottom and there are icons for college open days and department open days. I nearly missed it because I was focused on the timetable which was just online Q & A. Some colleges have more information than others. St Peters was very good with demonstration interviews.

Just de-lurking to say that Cambridge used an online system for their STEP exam this year, as exam centres weren't open. The rules were tight and you would not have got away with having textbooks etc to hand. Webcams had to be switched on, random requests for 360 degree views of working space etc.
I really hope that admissions tests this autumn are sat in exam centres as usual. But be prepared for the unexpected!

DD asked quite a few questions on the Oxford Open Days, and got answers . We also both watched tours of the grounds and buildings of some of the colleges we hadn't visited before.

Tours?

Dd and I obviously were going wrong somewhere: we could only see 360 degree estate agent-type views which didn’t really give a flavour of the college.

My DD joined in the Oxford open day. Up until now, she has been on the fence about applying to Oxbridge at all, and now with BMAT only being done in November, is also thinking of Oxford as well as Cambridge.
Her dilemma is that she won’t get to see either in real life and her school has very few students who consider either, so can’t help much with the application process. We know nobody who is a student there.
As a total unknown, she can’t figure out how to make the best strategic choice of college to get past step 1 and get an interview. Any personal experiences anyone has would be great.... and is an open choice a good idea? Btw, she plans to study medicine.

As a total unknown, she can’t figure out how to make the best strategic choice of college to get past step 1 and get an interview.

The answer to the question, Does my choice of college affect my chances of being offered a place? in the FAQs suggests that trying to apply 'strategically' shouldn't be necessary?

All colleges have signed up to a Common Framework on Admissions which means the same application process for your course at every college. The colleges work together during the admissions process to ensure that the best applicants are successful, regardless of the college that initially considers their application
uni-of-oxford.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/490/kw/Which%20college

Marchingfrogs - that’s good to know, thank you. I know a lot of people are very au fait with how things really work, but with very little background knowledge (and I’m sure there are lots of potential applicants in the same boat) DD feels she might as well pull a name out of a hat.

TSR has a whole forum devoted to Oxford (as indeed it does for every university).
www.thestudentroom.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=14
This 'college suggester' from the Altwrnative Prospectus was linked to in one thread:
apply.oxfordsu.org/colleges/suggester/

Millylovespuddles I have a DS who read Medicine at Oxford. Rather than pulling a college name out of a hat - and given that, as MarchingFrogs says, your chances of an offer for Medicine aren't affected by which college you choose - I would strongly advise your DD to select a college she likes the look of, having browsed the websites of each, rather than leaving it to pure chance through an Open Application. For Medicine, if called to interview at Oxford, you're interviewed by your first choice college plus another, selected by computer, so it makes sense to retain a degree of control. Cambridge is different, so my advice is only Oxford related.

Looking at the average intake at a college isn't a bad starting point. Not because the larger the intake the more likely you are to get an offer, simply because having a reasonable number of medics in your intake is a good thing socially, if you go up knowing no-one else.