DS pondering oxbridge in afew years- top tips?

[fuschia2000]

DS coming up to GCSEs so I appreciate this is premature, he's passionate about mathematics and computer sciences - wondering your thoughts/ advice / guidance/ pointers on the process overall / on things we should consider / any great websites or forums etc etc

Thanks so much

If you can find a sixth form that, for Further Mathematicians, runs single maths in year 12 and then Further maths in year 13 then that is probably the best way to do it (this will probably be a large sixth form, or independent school). It is possible to do Maths and Further Maths in parallel, and do very well, but doing one after the other is slightly preferable (and is slightly less work so you can concentrate on doing even more super-curricular activities!).

Do a summer school at the one you fancy!

Thanks so much for your amazing comments and suggestions 🙏

great thoughts re looking for maths extra curricular rather than general stuff! He is part of an outreach maths programme at the moment and loving their online lectures, etc.

Summer schools sound good - do they happen in yr 11?12? Any links anyone?

Thankyou pallando for the links, we will take a look at these 🙏🙏

The Cambridge shadowing scheme has gone online because of covid this year - he should still take a look at it and perhaps register interest for next year www.applytocambridge.com/shadowing/apply/

He could also look at the Student Room website maths discussions.

Warwick also has an excellent reputation for maths.

I'm a bit out of touch (it's a few years since mine were UCAS age) so somebody please correct me if I'm wrong on the following:
Oxford and Cambridge Maths admissions are very different.
Oxford have the MAT test early in Y13. Get through that and the interviews are you are pretty much in.
Cambridge have interviews early in Y13 and make offers. They over-offer. There are then the STEP papers in the summer, same time as the A Levels. You only know that you are in when the STEP results are out. A lot of people miss their STEP target. Your DS must understand statistics - get him to look at ratios of applications / offers / acceptances / STEP results / entrance. It's not pretty reading. You are left looking for your Insurance place or clearing (because if you have flunked STEP you've probably lost your Warwick offer, too) and trying to sort accommodation there very late in the day.

people who fail their Cambridge STEP offer frequently make the Warwick STEP offer. The reason Warwick have a good rep is partly that they pick up a lot of people who didnt get their Cambridge offer but are still very able.

It is a brutal application process so they should only apply if very able - but Cambridge also produces a lot of leading mathematicians and the competitive still want to apply.

Maths maths and more maths. Then some more. Don't worry about extra curriculars
I'd suggest maths, further maths and physics as definites, and possibly chemistry. Compci not necessary unless your DC really wants to take it at A level.
If not at a well organised private school is also suggest looking at getting some MAT or STEP private tuition. DD didn't and I think that affected her application. Her school wasn't interested in helping her.
She did however manage to get some nice maths work exp which looked nice in UCAS form - with an epidemiologist working at a local hospital. Good stats insight.

It's not totally true to say that extra curricular doesn't count; advice we had at Oxbridge open days was 'no more than 10% of the form', and use it to show why you will be a strong candidate - ie 'Achieving my gold DofE helped build resilience and team-work which has supported my time-planning and organisation'. Or something a bit more meaningful than that. Golden rule is that everything has to relate to your chosen course and why it shows you to be a strong candidate.

For summer schools look at headstart or Sutton trust.
Unis often run summer day taster sessions.
Also gchq for coding type stuff.

Thanks guys - so much to consider! Summer schools and Step/ mat tuition sound good idea , as does targeting extra curricular learnings in the application 🙏🙏🙏

@SeasonFinale

Extracurricular will be irrelevant for an Oxbridge application unless applying as an organ or choral scholar. It's all about the supra, scores on MAT or STEP and gcses within their context of the school at which they are taken. I am afraid to say 9 x A* and 2 x A gave DS a minus score for his Gcses.

Agreed re extra-curricular, but as far as grades are concerned, my DS got 1 x 9, 5 x A*, A, B for GCSE/IGCSE and has just finished his first term at Cambridge. Not Maths but Engineering... but still, his GCSEs didn't stop him getting in.

Top tip - Be sure that it's him that really really wants to go and that it's not purely about prestige, pressure or expectation. Also make sure that he fully understands the volume of work.
DD was one of those affected this year. Missed offer. Pooled. Rejected. Revised CAGs that met the offer. During this (horrific) period she decided that it really wasn't for her and that she didn't want the pressure. She is now happy at another prestigious Uni, and having a blast. Assuming she gets a decent degree classification it will in no way be career limiting.

Other than that, write a good PS which demonstrates your interest, nail the assessment, be able to think fast during the interview and be able to substantiate any opinions expressed whilst still being flexible in his thinking and polite.

So true about work load! DS did English at Cambridge and churned our two essays a week every week plus reading. Contrast Exeter where they did a handful a term. Also he read Middle English in the original; at Exeter it was in translation. Basically for Oxbridge you have to buckle yourself in!