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

I think I'll steer clear of TSR thanks OxfordRadcliffe, not merely because I think the forum should really be left to students but because I think the Oxford website and college admissions tutors are the proper resource. Also, despite my DC having a pretty good hit rate in terms of Oxford, I think in hindsight this may well be down (aside from their own ability) to my lack of intervention throughout their schooling (to be fair our nearest school is a very good one, so I could afford the luxury of not getting involved at an individual level). So'm not at all sure I could add anything of use anyway, in terms of applications!

@chopc

Here is a chapter about the Oxford history course by an offer holder

www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?p=85140140&highlight=Oxford%20demystified

Cambridge

www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6467768

OxfordRadcliffe maths is no longer my strong point but if your DS has just finished Y3 and your book took you three years to write, what level of experience did you base the substance on. Also, curious to know who published it - or did you pay for that yourself? Genuine questions, not snarky.

@HopeGrace

Here's an Oxford offer holders take on it

www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?p=88279630&highlight=Oxford%20Demystified%20-%20Physics

Don't be worried about what other people do. Your DS just has to do his best. It doesn't matter which school you go to or college you pick.

Yes @Ironoaks Isaac Physics is a common feature in Oxford/Cambridge offer holder resources.

@OxfordRadcliffe - I think you've got me mixed up with someone else. DS1 is an offer holder for Chemistry. Your E&M info is probably needed by someone else!

Some of DD1's mates had very spiky GCSE profiles, but did excel in their chosen subjects. They were all private or grammar as well, so no contextual offers in evidence.

@Baaaahhhhh Oxbridge do not give contextual offers. It is a myth I have only heard told by parents whose children are indie or grammar educated. It does not happen

@OxfordRadcliffe another genuine question. Do you get commission from TSR based on the number of hits on your blog? I've often wondered if there's anything in it beyond badges for the prolific bloggers on such sites.

Oh I see, a blog rather than a book.

Exactly as TheoneandObi says, here is Oxford's position on that old chestnut:

Applicants from the most disadvantaged backgrounds will be strongly recommended to be shortlisted for interview, provided that they are predicted to achieve the standardconditional offerfor the course, and that they perform to an appropriate standard in any required pre-interview admissions test. In this way, we aim to give students from the most challenging backgrounds the opportunity to showcase their potential through the interview and admissions testing.

I wrote it when my kids got in, not after they had finished their degrees. All the students want to do is get in. They don't want to know about the end of M's degree, they want to know about the offer holder bit. Then as I was writing it I was taking on board expert and troll comments to alter my chapters before posting. Plus I had experience helping others get in for Oxford Law, Cambridge economics etc. No, I did not pay for it to be published. And it isn't published. It is an online book for state school students, who do not have access to Oxbridge coaches etc and do not know how to go about applying. It costs nothing to read. I want to give those state students the same level of knowledge that someone from, say, Eton has. The book should feature no surprises for an experienced person such as yourself. It features newspaper articles, a host of state school schemes, and quotes from Oxford tutors and successful applicants. Plus the subject chapters are written by those really in the know - the Oxford offer holders. No point in me advising someone about law, is there?

@Hoghgyni I get no commission and no monetary reward from my advice on the open threads, my book or the PMs that I have that nobody else can see. As a TSR hero of mine once said, I get "paid in smiles". The greatest reward I can ever get is when one of the students or parents message me to say they have got in. I can recall someone who wanted to get in for my elder son's subject at my younger son's college. We happened to be all together in Oxford and we all actually met up (with his parents). The student was very impressive anyway. When he told me he had got in I was walking to work in Sheffield. I could actually be seen dancing on the pavement.

I think you will find @OxfordRadcliffe a different clientele to what you expected on Mumsnet. We are not 17 year old students who need handholding and those who do ask for assistance do not need to be spoken to as though they are.

Can we just get it clear on this thread that there are no contextual offers for any students at Oxford or Cambridge. I’m very tired of this myth being constantly repeated.

@Baaaahhhhh

@TheoneandObi
www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=9c4wytdRDCs

There are not students on here but there are people asking for help and I have simply posted the chapters with the info they may find useful.

It looks like people are fine without my help on here anyway and frankly don't want it.

I will leave you to argue amongst yourselves.

Whilst there are no contextual offers there are assisted routes to obtaining an offer but the student still has to be of Oxbridge calibre.

@OxfordRadcliffe that's a very nice outlook.

@OxfordRadcliffe if you had actually watched the video you would see she didn’t get a contextual offer, she was on the foundation year.

I think you will find @OxfordRadcliffe a different clientele to what you expected on Mumsnet. We are not 17 year old students who need handholding and those who do ask for assistance do not need to be spoken to as though they are.

I think you're correct ShalomJackie, that the student applicant audience is far easier to work. There's another new MN poster who claims to be prolific on TSR and popped up recently on the med school thread very definitely making out that she was the fount of tremendous wisdom. When you drilled down into what she knew it was merely bean counting all the stats from med school applications - no particular insight at all. But apparently a BNO the TSR C.

I don't want to offend you OxfordRadcliffe because you do seem genuinely to want to help - but amateurs getting over involved on TSR etc where the audience is young and impressionable can do far, far more harm than good. The official resources are the best and the very idea of 'de-mystifying' carries with it problems all of its own. Much better to point young people in the direction of the websites and tutors and back off completely before inadvertently giving misleading advice. Students in those heady days of getting an offer may send a PM in their excitement to thank you - but they won't have got an offer because of anything an OxfordMum said; they'll have got in on their own merit.

Bolding fail.

GoodbyeStranger I fear she won't be back and will miss your good advice. She is back on TSR explaining about the witches in the school playground on Mumsnet as I just had a peek!

I don't think she will read your response after sharing her brief MN experience on TSR this evening, so best not to worry about the bold. Apparently we don't give enough supportive virtual hugs.