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.

@Genegenieee happy to talk about female mathmos with you via pm if you like. dd is just going into fourth year.

There is a difference between those who are applying for immediate entry and those wanting deferred entry as the latter aren't reallocated. My son applied for deferred entry and is going this October and my daughter is applying this autumn for 2023. My understanding (and what the website said for ) is that those applying for deferred entry will not be reallocated to be interviewed at another college. They either want you or they don't and you have to be in the top 25% of successful applicants to encourage them to give away a place a year early.

Oh I am new to this - DD1 dropped Economics A level in year 12 - got A's for Politics and History and is returning for year 14 to finish English Lit (A* predicted) and EPQ plus 1/2 BTEC (don;t ask)

She has always been a very academic kid in a none academic world - thus a little shit at times, bored, big mouthed and stroppy - she refused most of year 11 and then got all 9's - she's been a tricky kid.

Shes finally finding her stride - she's amazed at her A level results (refused to attend for 3 months and almost got kicked out ) then went in every day until end of term and caught up!

Anyway she's turned into a much nicer young adult - still challenging but also bright, engaging and keen

so she has decided to look at Oxbridge - Politics and History or Theology (for now)

She visited in year 11 as part of a 'lets take the poor kids from a crap school to uni' type program and loved Oxford - her best mate is also applying for next year (gained 4 A* this year and aiming for 2 more next year - madness!) so he is helping her look into things. She is also looking at Manchester and others.

She has no idea about how to pick a college etc - it's all a bit alien to me as well - I AM a careers adviser but have spent years working with young offenders, school refusers and now care experienced young people I've not had much call to look into it all myself! (although one of my looked after children is applying to Oxford at the moment but is being supported by his college) so I am hoping to pick up tips and ideas.

sorry for the essay and hello!

Ghost I think the first thing your DD needs to do is establish if A levels taken in different years meet the admissions criteria. I thought it has to be 3 A levels in one sitting?

Can I ask a question re GCSEs - dd will start year 12 in September and wants to try for Oxford for Biology.

At GCSE she got 3 x 9, 6 x 8 and a 7 in French. She is at a state school. I think her GCSEs are amazing and am very proud of her but you read so many threads where everyone applying to Oxford have a complete string of 9’s.

So my question is are her GCSE grades good enough to at least keep her in the running for Oxford?

@KittyMcKitty - probably. Are her 9s in the subject she's thinking about. It's not unusual to have a spiky profile but the lower grades would need to be in unrelated subjects. So if applying for French a lower grade in Biology wouldn't matter.

But it varies by subjects if applying for medicine at Oxford(as DD is) the stats suggest you do need a string of 9s generally.

@SandyBayley so 3 x 9’s, 6 x 8’s and a 7 in French is a spikey profile 😱 - in old money that was 9 x A* and an A!! Blimey I think she should give up if that’s the way her GCSEs are viewed 😞.

The 9’s are in the sciences - she wants to do Biology.

Yes they are Kitty

Sorry to butt in but just wanted to say to @KittyMcKitty that unless things have changed since the 2020/2021 application cycle, Oxford doesn't distinguish between 9s and 8s. Happy to be corrected but I definitely read that last year. I wouldn't describe that as a spiky grade profile either.

The Oxford website still states that they consider grades A star, 8 and 9 to be equivalent to each other so her achieved grades will be fine.

@KittyMcKitty your DD's GCSE results are better than my DD's. She's currently studying PPE at Oxford. Please encourage her to look at the UNIQ programme for year 12s. I think applications have to be in early in the new year.

@Hoghgyni thank you - I’ve not heard of the UNIQ program will give it a Google.

And thank you Abetes and Loon that’s really good to know about A’s, 8’s and 9’s being equal. She’s also got 2 x HPQ’s both at A but not sure if they are considered?

UNIQ is designed to encourage state school students to apply. DD had a week at Hertford in the summer between year 12 & 13, but they also run some programmes over the Easter holidays.
They show what studying at Oxford is like, including the social life. They were given some "A very short introduction to..." books, had tutorials on them, planned essays, had workshops about the application process, received lots of resources and had a lot of myth busting. The real students working on the UNIQ programme must have a state school background & have preferably attended UNIQ themselves. DD is still friends with several others who are now studying elsewhere, so it doesn't guarantee you an offer or even an interview, but it's a great experience.

Thank you I’ve had a read of it and looks great - even if a student doesn’t get an interview/ offer it would be an amazing experience!

Dd is very motivated and really likes the look of Oxford - she’s been and looked around over the summer and has the bug so I would like to encourage her without it being a disaster if she doesn’t get an interview! Ds has just finished A levels and is off to Manchester which was a much simpler process 😃

@Darbs76 does it have to be Cambridge Maths rather than Oxford?

We know of several highly academic DC (all A*s and 9s with lots of Maths Challenge stuff) who have not got in due to Step. Most recently DD's BFF. It is brutal. However she may have dodged a bullet.

DS's friend did get into Cambridge Maths (self taught extra A Level Maths modules and more) didn't get through to the 4th year Masters level. He will be doing a Masters elsewhere.

With Oxford you take MAT pre interview (plus they don't seem to over offer to the same extent) so your offer then depends on your A Levels.

Ah sorry I didn't read the actual grades (am on holiday do not concentrating). No I don't think that's particularly spikey, I thought you might be describing someone with a couple of outlier grades.

That said, there are a lot more 9s floating around for those going into Year 12 than in the previous cohorts. I think it's something like 3,000 plus with 7 or more 9s. That might change things a bit but the universities might not place much weight on 2021 GCSE grades.

The only thing which is definitely true is that you have to apply to get in.

Hi @KittyMcKitty, my DD is a current (going into 4th year) Oxford Biology student. She applied in 2018 when the senior tutor for her college set a minimum requirement of eight As for state school applicants or ten A's for independent school applicants. (The college stats showed that this correlated with strong degree results in finals.)
As SandyBayley says, the numbers getting all 9s has increased this year so perhaps less weight will be given to GCSE profile. Your DD might want to check this with a couple of admissions tutors. DD contacted an admissions tutor before applying and found them very helpful and encouraging.

Off for an extended wander around Cambridge today, taking in the main colleges of interest. Should be interesting as one is Homerton and one is Fitzwilliam. Blisters await...

Does anyone know if porters will ever let you in for a nose around if you say you are an applicant? I read it somewhere on here once. Am guessing in Covid times it is less likely.

We got let in a few years ago to one college (had a lovely impromptu tour) but not another. Didn’t go to Homerton though that sounds a lovely college and modern for English. Take it slowly - you’ll be exhausted driving back.

I have instructed DH to walk slowly. One of our walks is 40 minutes.

Back from our very long walk! A really lovely day so I was overdressed! The college grounds all looked beautiful in the sunshine.

We're stopping off in Oxford overnight next week en route to visiting friends. Has anyone got any tips on the most useful way to do this, or what the "must sees" are from a prospective student POV? DS has no feel at all yet on which college he wants to apply to.

Get the park & ride into the city centre. Pick a few colleges & ask the porters nicely if you can come in. Several are now open to visitors. Hertford is offering afternoon teas along with Exeter.

Ooh thank you @hoghgyni. I do love a tea.

We visited Oxford on Tuesday. As recommended by a mumsnetter we did one of the hop on off red bus tours. This was really good at getting an overview of the city and colleges. The ticket £16.50 included a walking tour of the very centre. Its worth knowing which colleges to look at. Baillol in centre was open £4 entry but beautiful gardens and a good place for a picnic lunch. We were allowed to walk freely around the grounds of St Anne's. But lots of colleges were closed.