Oxbridge Aspirants 2022

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Hi not too sure if there is another thread started as could not see one. May be waaaaaay too early but wondered if any other parents out there who have a child applying for next year?

Dd would like to apply to Cambridge to study History and Politics in 2022. She is at a state A-level college doing History, Politics and English Literature. I have never had to push her towards studying she is a very motivated child and wants to give Cambridge a shot (a very long shot as we know!). Her GCSE results were good but not top notch (9s in History, English Language and literature and the rest 7s and 6s) so not sure how much this will affect her. So far her A-level essays are coming out at As and A* and those are her predicted grades so if she continues on track that should meet the criteria.

She reads a lot of extra curricular stuff and has a genuine passion for politics, has joined the local Labour party youth group. She has applied for the summer programme at Cambridge & is part of an Oxbridge group that the college puts together.

It feels like a such a long shot and the stats of actually getting in are very low only 18% of applicants successful in 2019 so I am trying to tell her not to get her hopes up whilst actually supporting her!

She is my first born so I have never been through this before. Anybody else out there? Would be lovely to hear from you.

Yes... it really doesn't matter that much in reality. It's useful to know vaguely there is a pooling process, and that it's run equitably (same applies at Oxford though with different details) - so that means you really don't have to worry too much if your primary aim is to do a particular course at that university.

Another Johns aspiring applicant here Gene, with SS and Caius as 2nd/3rd choices. School will do a final check to minimise any student clashes with colleges.

Tbh I don’t see it as exclusive, just different to others. But then maybe it’s easier that DH and I didn’t go onto to HE, so we don’t see any institution as out of reach as such if you are an academic match, just challenged by supply and demand. Same goes for courses, within each one, so we’ve helped DD spread the risk across a number of places so she doesn’t get overly disappointed (or attached) if an offer isn’t forthcoming from Cambridge. She’d be happy with at least 4 places that offer her course, including Ireland and Canada. I’d prefer her to be in the UK for UG, especially since covid but so much can still change in 12 months.

DS applied successfully to his first choice college without DS, DH or I having a clue about "tiers" or much of a grasp about how pooling at Cambridge works.
I agree wholeheartedly with your approach ealing, encouraging your DC to invest as much effort in their other options. My DC would have been very happy with their insurances choices if Oxbridge hadn't worked out.

The other thing with Cambridge is that the interview format differs widely between colleges. So, some colleges will do two interviews for a given subject (meaning that the candidate is assessed by 4 tutors and interview score is an average of that); while others will offer just the one interview. There is no standardisation of topics or questions whatsoever. Some colleges may require an essay; some two essays; some nothing. In some subjects, certain colleges may have dropped the admissions test while others still use it! Interviews are likely to be online again, which means that some colleges may require a student to do pre-reading beforehand. Others may give something to respond to within the interview. It can feel like a bit of a lottery, to be honest, as there’s no standardisation at all.

I think Oxford is slightly more consistent in that if you are considered worthy of a place but they don’t have space for you at that college, they will send you for another interview at a college that may have space. Cambridge will just put you “in the pool.” Only 1 in 5 get pulled out of the pool in a “normal” year (which last year was most certainly not and who knows how this next year will pan out). It’s very tricky to be pulled out of the pool if you are applying from an independent school because of widening participation criteria etc. Not saying that’s wrong, but colleges obviously have an eye on their stats and are looking to improve every year.

Very shyly poking my head around the door. DS has 4 A stars predicted and has been really taken by the department website for Maths and Computing at Oxford. DH and I both graduates but neither at Oxbridge and we know very little about it.

I've read the whole thread, v interesting to read that Maths interviews are nearly all Maths and very little on the personal statement. I think trying to get him a mentor who's a current student would be beneficial - bit of practice bring asked to talk about complex topics. He loves his subjects and chats away about them at great length to us (I am an Eng Lit graduate so it's a foreign language to me ) but he's quite shy so practice would definitely help.

Any other useful advice on what we might have missed would be really helpful. School have been pretty hands-off - I think they've really struggled with Covid, all extra-curricular stuff has been cancelled, so anything DS has done in that area has been off his own bat.

Oxbridge colleges and departments do lots of outreach work. Certainly Cambridge (but I'm sure Oxford also does similar) has a college affiliated to each different part of the country. I'm in Devon - Downing College Cambridge is the one for this area. Then there are lots of aspire courses run by departments or subjects.

My DD has been involved in mentoring students, mostly from schools which have no track record in getting students to apply to Oxbridge. She was allocated a young chap from Glasgow and he discussed his personal statement with her. She helped him to think about how he would handle the interview. He did get an interview and an offer, so she was thrilled. She has also did some work online with year 10 or 11 students to encourage them over Easter.

@VikingNorthUtsire, you or your DS should do some looking at websites to see what is on offer. Would your DS be applying next term, or are they about to go into year 12? I'm not an expert on Maths/Computing but there are people here whose DC are current students if you look on the current Oxbridge thread.

Thanks Malbec. He'll be applying next term. Sorry to be dim, what are aspire courses? I've tried googling but it's throwing up various things none of which look like they fit into your post.

Hi @VikingNorthUtsire - you might want to look into the Oxford Zero Gravity mentoring programme. I found out about it too late for DS to apply, but it looks great:

www.zerogravity.co.uk/students

Also, if you haven’t already, subscribe to the Choosing Oxford updates:

newsletter.admin.ox.ac.uk/k/Ouc/undergraduate_admissions_and_outreach_news

I found, buried at the end of one of their updates last year, information about very useful interview workshops that were open to all state school students.

Lastly, DS really valued the online open day last year, as it gave him insight into students’ experiences.

@VikingNorthUtsire DS has just finished his first year studying maths at Oxford. Please feel free to ask any questions. You can pm if you prefer

Thank you @LaundryFairy for those links, really useful. I do wonder whether he's left it too late to jump through the right admissions hoops - he really does love his subject but is that enough? No harm having a punt, I guess 😊

@Pepermintea, thanks so much for that offer. I will DM you. How has your boy found it?

@VikingNorthUtsire please don’t think it’s too late! DS only really committed to applying in late August last year and ended up with an offer (fingers crossed for results day on Tuesday):

@VikingNorthUtsire: we are in a very similar boat: ds is contemplating computing (& tries to talk to me about it - also eng lit grad): but we feel like we may have left it too late/haven't done the 3 years of prep that everyone has been doing: ds also 'only' did maths as further maths wasn't an option in timetabling with his other choices: I suspect this may mean it would be a real, really long shot...

It's a long shot for every applicant. The only thing you can know for sure is that if he doesn't apply, he has no chance. Don't worry about the hoops others have jumped through. It's about what your DS is capable of at the end of the day.
Here endeth the litany of clichés. All true.

@whiteroseredrose Thanks for the Launchpad link.

@Hoghgyni I have a dc considering Oxford PPE. Do you know of any forums for prospective applicants to chat with past or present students? I’m sure I’ve seen one in the past. Any advice on colleges?

I've sent you a PM.

Hi everyone

Didn’t know this thread existed but super excited to find some help. My son wants to apply to Cambridge, to study Maths. He got 9x9’s in GCSE (and 2 8’s) and is predicted 3 A*’s. I think where he needs most help is selling himself at interview. He applied to an Oxbridge programme to help with preparing to apply but didn’t get through. I think he’s like a typical teen who often mumbles! He is great at maths, so has chosen maths but I think that’s because he doesn’t know what career he wants. He is quite creative and has a Tiktok channel with a couple of hundred thousand followers which he really enjoys, so not a typical ‘maths nerd’. Also very sporty. He is so driven and spends all his time studying, so I really hope he can achieve his dream. Also looking at Warwick, Imperial, St Andrews (but that’s 10hrs drive). Looking forward to getting to know you all more over the next year’s journey for our teens

@Darbs76 The biggest stumbling block to getting into Maths at Cambridge is usually the STEP exams. Does his school offer any help preparing for those?

I think Durham also has a very well regarded Maths department

@Decorhate - yeah his school don’t offer any help as far as I know with that. Is there any external help I could get him? Are the questions things covered in maths / further maths A level or will it be completely new topics. He might have been preparing, he’s always working. I’ll have a chat with him about that

Hi @Darbs76. My son's also applying and has started working through the free online resources:

maths.org/step/

We also went to a parents presentation at a Cambridge maths virtual open day a couple of months back. They said that maths interviews aren't like interviews for other subjects and are basically "Hi, let's do some maths" and working through a difficult maths problem together.

@ladygrinningsoul thank you, had a chat with DS and would be good if we could find a tutor to help him, not sure how to locate one but will do some research tonight

There are loads of resources to help with their personal statements and how to prepare for interview if they're lucky enough to get one, on the Oxford & Cambridge websites. The system is designed to be tutor proof, regardless of subject, as they want to see your thought process. DD hadn't studied any of the subjects she applied for before and the tutors at interview were aware of this. Her interview topics were random to say the least (time travel between parallel universes, utilisation of car parks & parking charges, the Kardashians v Boris Johnson, optimum tax rates etc). They expect you to be able to talk about your line of thinking, whether that's for maths, economics or history, rather than have the right answers off pat.

Similar mix of randomness for DD, Hoghgyni. She had four interviews which touched on Caribbean women's drama, the problems of exact versus lyrical translation, medieval French literature and analysis of two unseen extracts, amongst rather a lot else.

The college for which she had the 'worst interview in the world' was the one that gave her a place, incidentally. Possibly they like to see how far a candidate can be pushed.

@VikingNorthUtsire I know this is a bit late and doesn't include Maths, but your DS could go to the Chem Eng one: www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/events/masterclasses

Keep your eyes on the website as they do lots of outreach stuff (DD was continually asked to join in).

Hi, can I join you? DS1 looking to apply to Oxford for PPE.

He's at a fairly average state secondary, but managed 7 grade 9s last year and his predicteds are A* x 4. He's absolutely obsessed with political theory and philosophy.

His 6th form seem to be on top of guiding him, and he certainly knows a lot more than I did when I failed the interview 30 years ago!

@Hoghgyni - the tutor is meant for the preparation for the STEP not interview etc, for the maths work he hasn’t done as yet