Oxbridge-Aspirants-2021-New-Thread-3

[Baaaahhhhh]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/4016760-Oxbridge-Aspirants-2021-New-Thread-2

New Thread !

Hi @SATSMADNESS - no you do not generally hear back re score. A good NSAA/BMAT is an important part of getting an interview. If this is not as good as other applicants they could reject around 10 per cent pre-interview I imagine. Almost all applicants are going to have good GCES's, PS, reference and predicted grades etc

Is BMAT Medicine @SATSmadness?

Yes

Oh fab news @quest1on. Congrats.

SATSmadness I peeked over on TSR after reading your post - to put some context, neither Oxford or Cambridge like Maths students to have had any gap in their education so that may have been a factor in not being invited to interview. One of the applicants had taken STEP in 2018 and had likely had a gap year of sorts.
When ds was looking at applying he was firmly told not even to take Maths A levels early.

[quote SATSmadness]**@Newgirls

I'm imagining a MN'ers dc at the organ for "Carols from Kings" which I usually have on in the background while wrapping presents each year.[/quote]
I'm not his mother but I do happen to know the lad who has played the organ at Carols from Kings in the last few years and have also met his mum and dad! I doubt she's on Mumsnet though!

If you're interested in an organ scholar's musical background, this makes interesting reading. This shows Donal's palmares at the point of leaving school. He is exceptionally gifted and has worked incredibly hard to get where he is. He graduated from Cambridge this year, and is now at New College Oxford.

www.newrymusicalfeis.com/donal-mccann-career-update

Ooh yes Sats I hope so - with a cheeky knowing flourish I hope 😂

Not many female schools have chapels and organs so it’s a real disadvantage

No chapel at DD's modern indie, but the PTA did buy an organ a couple of years ago, as one of the teachers is also an ex-Organ scholar, so was interested in getting something up and running. The one girl who got into it seriously, got an organ scholarship to Oxbridge last year. I don't think anyone is doing it this year.

Exactly baaa and organist girls are so rare I bet they were delighted that she applied.

@Lovescatsanddogs

DD thought she would get to know her BMAT score. Some applicants are sitting BMAT for non Oxbridge Unis too so she just presumed she'd be notified somehow.

Other tests solely specific to Oxbridge entry I can understand not knowing.

DD knew she needed to get above a certain level but ran out of time in one section so has kept a lid on her hopes accordingly. I guess it all depends how the whole cohort perform in the test too as there's no getting away from the fact that they all are competing for places. The competition seems to be particularly fierce this year due to resolution of the CAG debacle problem being partially booted into this year to the detriment of our Y13 dc.

@Newgirls

Yes she did meet Anna Lapwood! A fantastic role model for musical kids/girls etc of course

My point about being religious and playing organ is that - why would a musical talent spend their time doing 3-4 years religious choral music if they didn’t love it/mean it?

My dd is very theatrical and loves playing the organ but is being an organ scholar the best use of her time? Probably not. But she would be a huge supporter of friends and colleges who do.

Not many female schools have chapels and organs so it’s a real disadvantage. If you have one in your local church and had a high grade pianist daughter go for it! It would be a wonderful experience playing those Cambridge organs!

It's interesting. I found my time attending the London church absolutely magic and transcendental, despite having no religious belief. I was practically in tears every Sunday. The light coming through the stained glass, the exquisite music, the beautiful setting. I believe the music goes beyond the (strictly) religious connotations and can be appreciate by anyone. Yes, as you say, it's a huge time commitment. I would be interested in a) how many of the composers had a genuine belief and b) how many current Church organists have a genuine belief. I always find CofE a bit, umm, 'vague' about belief anyway, ie 'be good to others', but light on doctrine and literal belief. But that is just my personal opinion, of course, and I'll shut up about it on this very important CAMBRIDGE APPLICANTS thread. Sorry for intrusion :-) and again, good luck to all!!!

@SATSmadness - I think my DS when he did BMAT was able to login and get his score on a certain date( this was 2 years ago) if it has not changed. With the NSAA for Vet Med my DD did not know the score pre interview but the Cambridge college gave feedback to school after she got her offer and told her what decile she was in.

@SATSmadness
Apparently, BMAT score is released on the 27.11 so not much longer to find out.

@SATSmadness I wish DD hadn't wanted to try for Oxbridge now, with competition for places everywhere so high and high flyers not even getting interviews

Everyone applying for Oxbridge will have high predicted grades, those applying will also be applying to all other universities listed as the top performing ones who will also have a high entry intake. Ds has an offer from Warwick which is A A A! The same as Cambridge.

Sadly statistically far more people apply than there are places. I think most students feel better about the whole Oxbridge thing if they have offers from other unis. As it is only November a lot of unis do wait until after the January deadline before offering. Not everyone applying for Durham etc are applying for Oxbridge, some students haven't even got their applications in yet as there was very little help from sixth forms over lockdown.

BMAT scores are released at 9am on 27th November. The student just logs into the Metritest website.

@quest1on huge congratulations to your Ds! What an amazing start to the week for you.

Let us hope this is the start of many for others on here.

So my DS has been told by his state school that they don't do practise interviews as there is little point . I work in a private school that sends a fair few kids to oxbridge and they certainly have a lot of practise interviews....

I though BMAT would be made available.

DD only needs it for Cambridge and has 2 interviews lined up elsewhere so there's a reasonable chance she'll get an offer somewhere.

So, rejections/invites sometime after 27th Nov for the Medicine applicants. At least then she'll know one way or another what to focus on.

It is heartening to hear of interviews being secured at Oxbridge by MN'ers DC as I know no-one in RL who is on this nerve-jangling ride at the moment.

@quest1on, well done and congratulations to your DS.

I have good news of my own, DS just got an interview invitation to Cambridge. He just walked up to me with his laptop and showed my the email, with a straight face.

[quote WarmAndco3y]@quest1on, well done and congratulations to your DS.

I have good news of my own, DS just got an interview invitation to Cambridge. He just walked up to me with his laptop and showed my the email, with a straight face. [/quote]
Congratulations to your DS! Very impressed with the his poker face - I'm guessing you were rather more excited?

derek mock interviews are only useful if they follow the Oxbridge format. A mock interview which asks 'So why History?' or 'Why Oxford?' is almost entirely redundant. It's also preferable if a person not familiar with the student interviews them. DD4 was the first of my DC to have a mock interview thorugh school which resembled the real thing: her new English teacher arranged for a Classics teacher in a private London school with an interest in outreach to do it (through skype). He'd read Classics at Oxford and kindly went to the trouble of giving her a text half an hour before the interview etc. That sort of interview helps, the other sort doesn't.

Interview offer for Cambridge here too 😊.

Congrats @WarmAndco3y. Good luck all, they seem to be sending lots of decisions out today.

@WarmAndco3y and @Tenpastseven

Many congratulations 🥳

Looks like they are starting to come through now for Cambridge - let's hope we keep hearing good news!!!

Congratulations @Tenpastseven!

Lovely news @Tenpastseven Good to hear of all these interviews!

Huge congratulations @Tenpastseven and @WarmAndco3y. Your DC must be so pleased. 👍

Ds has just had an offer through from Durham. Still waiting nervously for possible Cambridge interview 🤞