Anyone with experience of applying to Oxbridge for Geography?

[Zefi]

Hi, my son is interested in studying Geography at degree level and possibly applying to Oxford or Cambridge.

We have two questions to anyone who may have gone through this process please.... Firstly, are there any distinctive differences between the courses? It’s hard to tell from the websites as there are obviously so many modules / options for each programme and Open Days aren’t until the summer.

Secondly, on the Oxford website it states that, on average for Geography, 72% of applicants are interviewed and 21% are successful. Cambridge do not indicate how many they interview, but the website does state, “ 3 applications per place.”

I’m surprised there would only be 3 applications per place at Cambridge, when LSE or UCL seem to have about 15 applicants per place. Also, does this mean that Cambridge is less competitive than Oxford for geography?

Many thanks in advance if anyone could offer any advice at this stage!

Zefi if you compare numbers between Cambridge and Oxford there are fewer applicants per place pretty much across the board. No idea about anything geog related though, sorry.

On numbers applying to other top ranked unis for a subject, you'll find that Oxford and Cambridge applicants all tend to apply to those too, so naturally the numbers will be higher because it contains both pools.

Thankyou goodbyestranger,

I think LSE and UCL get the highest number of overseas applicants maybe?

Also, LSE and UCL offer four-year programmes with a year abroad or more opportunities for joint honours programmes.

They’re all asking for A*AA though. Can’t understand why, on the face if it, Cambridge would have fewer applicants?

University of Cambridge:
2018 Entry
Applications per place: 3
Number accepted: 95

LSE:
Applications/offers/intake 2018: 262/154/29

Assuming that the number of places is more or less fixed at each university (and not that Cambridge adjusts the number of places available each year to maintain a ratio of '3 applicants per place' whether they get 12 applicants or 1200), the answer to the 'competitiveness' question is that LSE's department is somewhat smaller?

Not that fewer than 300 applicants in a given round sounds like a massively popular choice in the first place. I think someone posted in another thread that 'Geography' as a separate degree course is not something that attracts many applicants from outside the UK, which why the course appears a bit of an anomaly at institutions otherwise attracting a lot of in-home applicants.

If you or your DS are concerned about him applying for a degree course that is insufficiently difficult to get into (shades of Groucho Marx?), perhaps Geography isn't the best choice of subject? One might assume that quite a few of the Cambridge applicants also applied to LSE, so that is 124 of probably not the total of twice the LSE applicant pool accounted for and most of the others will probably have got in somewhere else. Hopefully, that isn't your / his slant on the issue, though?

Parent of DC reading Geography at Cambridge here...this is pretty much a repeat of of a previous response I gave to a similar question, here goes....

Can't compare the Ox & Cam courses (I think they're pretty similar but will be corrected - DC simply didn't warm as much to Ox as Cam as a place, which I think skewed it).

Cam offers related courses (Land Economy, HSPS, even Earth Sciences within Nat Sci for example), which draw potential Geographers wishing to specialise in those fields. Probably explains the lower application rate than Oxford? The Cam Geo course is wonderfully broad, DC has been working on traditional areas such as coasts, volcanos, atmosphere - and also learning coding skills (satellite mapping), completing essays on culture & geopolitics and acquiring data analytics skills in spades through field work analysis work. She absolutely loves this breadth - someone wanting to specialise in Human Geog from day 1 probably wouldn't be so keen and hot foot it to LSE, York etc.

Application numbers are indeed around 3:1 (dip in 2018, no idea why) - same as History (where applicants also have option of considering HSPS).

A long winded way of saying essentially in the end it's the dedicated Geographers who are clear they want a balance of Human and Physical Geography, that apply. And as with any course, we've seen some very strong candidates disappointed not to receive a place.

Hope that helps OP.

Thankyou jaguar - that’s very helpful feedback. Yes that makes sense that some would be applying for Earth Sciences, etc. Would you say there are less options for Human Geographers at Cambridge? I would think it’s usefully to have balance in the first year between human and physical, but could a student potentially veer more to human geography options later, do you think?

MarchingFrogs - No were certainly not seeking a course that’s difficult to get onto. Quite the opposite, it’s more like we’re wondering if he has a chance at getting an interview at any of these institutions at this stage!

At LSE, I think the reason why numbers are so low for people taking single-honours Geography is that many will be combining with a language or taking geography as a joint honours. Also, I can’t remember if it was UCL or LSE, but you can take Geography as either a BSc or BA, or as a 3 year or 4 year programme (with a year abroad for the latter).

Hi Zefi - glad to be of help and absolutely loads of opportunities for Human Geographers - 1st year it's 50/50 split - further specialisation in Yr 2 (my DC reckons it'll be 75% HG) and 3rd year 100%. So unless your DS has absolute aversion to the Physical side, there's no problem at all.

And indeed the incredibly transferable skills DC is picking up on the coding/ data analytics side have all come via the Physical modules - and that's worth thinking about from a future employment point of view.

Good luck to your DS - just as a thought Exeter also has the option of placement if that's of interest and I understand Manchester's course is also outstanding, as is Durham.

Thanks again jaguar. Sounds great and we’ve just been looking at courses this morning in fact (he’s home with a chest infection today) He’s veering towards the Cambridge course, I think, though it remains to be seen if he’ll get the A* in his predictions after Easter.

Thanks for the info about specialisms and yes, I see the point about so many transferable skills in the data / analytics side coming from the physical geography side. Also human geography obviously impacts the physical and vice versa so, as a geographer, you really have to study both to some extent.

LSE do a geography course asking for “only” AAA, but the great thing about this is you can add in a language specialism which appeals. UCL do an international geography programme with a year placement / study somewhere and that also asks for AAA. So that’s three courses he’d be more than happy with if he could get the offers. Will definitely look at Exeter too and see if I can persuade him to consider looking North!

Could I ask what your DD had as her insurance offer? Also, was the Cambridge interview traumatic?

Thanks again.

A number of unis offer Geography with a placement year (fantastic for the CV) or a year of study abroad. I would second the comment earlier that Manchester's course is excellent (and offered with study abroad or a placement, in addition to the 3 year programme) and would also encourage your DS to look at Bristol (a BSc and has compulsory quantitative modules, so it's not for everyone, but allows for both physical and human to be studied). Offered with study abroad and also with their really interesting Innovation degree as a MSci. Exeter have recently started offering study abroad and placement options and generally require a grade higher for those options. Very flexible degree with lots of optional modules. Birmingham has some interesting courses too with work placements abroad, study abroad and optional work placement modules. All of these unis have a lot of optional module choice - look at the research groups at each university and that will give you an idea of their areas of specialism (ie. rivers, urban planning, climate change, climate change adaptation, economic geography etc). Many unis offer a combination of physical and human such that you can keep studying both throughout via optional modules (but have to decide whether to do physical or human fieldtrips/disserations). Look at fieldwork information too - destinations, topics, how many etc

Also look at Warwick Uni Global Sustainable Development course - very interesting and can be combined as a joint honours with many other subjects (politics, business, psychology, history etc).

Just some ideas for the other spots of your DS's UCAS form! Good luck.

Wow banana - you should charge, you’re like a higher ed consultant

We were just looking at Bristol in fact and also the Manchester course does look really interesting. As does Exeter. It’s great to hear that we’re looking in the right places from someone who is clearly across this!

Thankyou so much for your time.

Haha! Very kind, but I can't actually help you with your question as DS decided not to apply to Oxbridge ! However, there are 4 other slots on the UCAS form to consider, hence my post. Best of luck with it all.