Oxbridge Aspirants 2021 - New Thread (2)

[Baaaahhhhh]

Sorry posted last message on the last thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3757768-Oxbridge-Aspirants-Sep-2021

Here is the new one......

@quest1on I don’t think they specified that they had to be teacher marked. But DS did in the end send 1 x timed essay written for online mock (which was marked) and 1 x marked homework essay. He was very happy with one and a bit meh about the other but felt he had very few to chose from.

They must allocate before they ask for essays I presume too.

Oh yes sorry, They allocate you to a college very quickly, don’t they. Still, it could be a bit of a mad scramble for students, if you’re suddenly told you need to provide two essays when you weren’t really expecting it (because the majority of colleges don’t require this).

I also wonder how they fully standardise the pooling process when (for DS’ subject at least), some will be “in the pool” with essays / evidence of super-curricular work, while others won’t have been asked to provide this. Plus the format for interviews varies so much between colleges - eg. some give you a text to respond to; some don’t.

Obviously there’s nothing anyone can do about any of this anyway, but just wondering really....

I, maybe simplistically, thought that the essay requirement was a subject-specific one, rather than up to the college. My daughter hasn't heard from a college yet, but knows through her application that she needs to provide three essays (two teacher-marked ones and a specific one that they have provided a title for). Is it different in other subjects?

So funny - I just went to fact-check this before I posted it. As I opened my daughter's door she said, 'Mum, I've just had confirmation from Keble that they've received my application'!

Oxford is subject not college specific Summer15coming.

On the wavering over a subject thing, the three DC of mine who read History never had any doubts about that being their subject but DD4 did waver, initially between MFL, History and English, then opted for Classics. Clearly plenty of applicants are genuine polymaths but I would tend to say that if in doubt about a subject for Oxbridge, follow that doubt. Changing subject once there is not always straightforward - joint honours to single yes, up to a point (unless the request to change is evidence of not coping generally), but eg Physics to History less so.

(A friend of one of my DSs asked to change from Physics to History and had an A* at A level in History - an incredibly clever young person, always top of the school - but was told no, he would need to re-apply doing the HAT, interviews etc. It seemed harsh but the college already had its full complement of historians, so fair enough I suppose).

I think that's fair. It's to discourage people from getting in for less competitive subjects with the intention of switching to a more popular one. It would be grossly unfair to get in for, say, German which has very high acceptance rates and then be allowed to hop over to Law after five minutes. Mind you, if this were common practice and also common knowledge then the applications for niche subjects would soar!

I think the tutors felt that the student's aptitude for History hadn't been tested in the same way as the History applicants. Clearly for joint honours both subjects will have been assessed, hence the difference. But the Oxford policy is very different from other unis, so worth being sure about subject, or as sure as you can be.

@Summer15coming. I didn’t know that any subjects required an essay to be written especially for the application process - fascinating how it varies

DD received an acknowledgement from Worcester, with all the details for submitting the marked essay, and the cover letter, which has to be filled out and signed by teacher, and sent off as PDF's. It's going to be quite tight to get that all done next week, what with the HAT and everything else going on. Will be glad when it is all done and dusted tbh. Each and every milestone is another tick, and move on. Once all that is in, then we just wait for an interview, or not, and DD can back to the day to day stuff, which at the moment seems to be consumed by coursework.

Thankfully she even managed to get through her LAMDA gold exam just before half term. It had been postponed from March, and she was a bit rusty, but at least it happened . Another tick.

Yes these ticks seem important don't they @Baaaahhhhh? Even more so for us in a tier 3 area where the rest of life seems to have ground to a halt.

We are at the waiting for an interview or not stage now. DS is also buried under a mountain of school work.

If you've applied to Cambridge, have you been asked to submit written work yet?

Unformidable - yes the deadline is Thursday 5th for DS, but not sure if it’s the same for all subjects. I think the details were sent with the acknowledgment of the SAQ. They don’t need a teacher signature on the cover letter anymore. so they can do it and submit if all themselves.

quest1on Thank you. Nothing here yet, have checked the SAQ acknowledgement and spam folder. The college hasn't published its interview schedule yet either.

Has anyone had a response from Warwick yet? Getting anxious for ds, but hiding it well from him. He wants to go there more than Cambridge.

Hi @Unformidable. DS’s choice of college sent the request for written work out before acknowledgement of SAQ. It also had information about the SAQ and a link to a questionnaire about Covid/confidentiality declaration. Nothing about interview schedules but said applicants should begin hearing second week of November through till 23rd. Deadline for written work is also 5th November.

I’d consider encouraging your DC to get in touch with the college. There might be particular specifications eg DS’s college had a max word count.

gindinner DD had an acknowledgement from Warwick almost immediately, no offer yet though.

gin yes Ds just had a thank you for your application. It also says for competitive courses

"we often have to wait until after the UCAS equal consideration deadline of 15th January before we can start confirming the majority of our final decisions. Depending on the applicant pool in any given year, some individual applicants may hear from us before this point, but you should not be worried if your decision takes a little longer. If you apply by 15th January we will endeavour to make a decision by 31st March, or by 6th May at the latest."

@Unformidable anything at all from the college? Ds was emailed by the college to confirm his application. Do you want to say which college it is?

Tenpastseven I think a phone call is certainly needed!

OnTheBenchOfDoom He received an acknowledgment when he applied, and also for the SAQ. It's John's.

@Unformidable, details from Johns here

www.joh.cam.ac.uk/applying-year

Under correspondence and supporting information.....
Documents to upload
1 written work
Deadline is 5th November, all the necessary details of how and what are in there. HTH.

OnTheBenchOfDoom yes, that;s very helpful, thank you! Unless I've misread it, ds should've been emailed a link to the "Applicant Additional Documentation Form where written work needs to be uploaded". He did submit his SAQ on the last possible day though, and received an autoreply!

We've had acknowledgement of applications from all 5 Uni choices but nothing further as yet.

Tbh I'm just grateful phase one of the personal statement is over .

No offer from Warwick yet. Confirmation from all 5 but only offer so far is from York.

Ds got an offer from Warwick, big sighs of relief at Ginhouse today.AAA for maths.