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.

In case anyone is trying to do the same at Cambridge, all the more outlying colleges were either just walk in (Homerton) or had very welcoming porter (welcome pack at Fitzwilliam!). Once you got into the centre it was either pay a lot at Corpus (£5) but we didn't ask to try and go in for free, or completely closed.

Quick feedback from our Oxford visit:

• Parking in the town centre is £££ - use the park and ride!
• Even colleges that are theoretically open may be closed because of events (they host weddings and parties) so phone ahead if there are specific ones you want to see
• In the colleges that we did visit, the porters were super friendly, the students doing meet and greet were lovely, and they let us all in for free when we explained that DS is hoping to apply. That seems to be pretty standard except maybe Christ Church, who were extremely busy with tourists
• we don't know Oxford at all, and found the prospective student audio tour to be a good introduction: www.ox.ac.uk/students/new/knowyouroxford

DS loved it 😊 I hope he can find a couple of other choices that excite him as much so he doesn't get his hopes up too high.

This week we went for a tour of Cambridge. We stayed at one of the colleges universityrooms.com which was a good way of seeing what university life could be like. Most colleges were closed to visitors. You could walk freely at Emmanuel. We went on a punt tour which was ££ but a lot of fun and a good way to see the backs of the colleges.

@VikingNorthUtsire, thanks for linking to the Oxford uni walking tour. I haven't seen it before but agree it is an excellent introduction for prospective students. DD is about to start her fourth year and I have pretty much got an handle on the layout of the city now (and all those pesky one way routes and parking restrictions!). Good luck to your DS with his application to Oxford.

Thank you @ofteninaspin

Hello, I'm late to this thread and have read it avidly on behalf of DN who is interested in doing Russian and French. Not yet even decided on whether to apply to Oxford or Cambridge (appreciate it's getting late in the day to not yet have made even that decision!). Any tips specific to MFL applications would be very much appreciated. We have lots of knowledge (although out-of-date) about Cambridge University (we have graduates within the family) but Oxford is an unknown quantity TBQH – we could only name about eight colleges 'off the top of our heads' when we were debating options a few days ago (and they're all the really well-known ones which presumably will be the most popular for applicants). Any pointers gratefully received if you don't think me cheeky for asking. Many thanks.

There was a really good MFL thread a while back on HE . People were applying to Oxbridge and other places too. Lots of good advice :might be possible to track it down.

Oh, That didn't take long!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/4048824-Languages-Applicants-for-2021-and-2022-entry

Thanks very much @Piggywaspushed. You're a star!

Hope both your DS are doing well?

Not too bad ! Well.. DS1 is always what he is! DS2 may be applying to Cambridge, hence I linger on this thread...

Good luck to your DS2 with his application to Cambridge if he decides to go ahead @Piggywaspushed.

Can't believe our eldest ones are coming up to their final year already?!

I know. Nor can I! I feel off our other thread... DS1 continues to break everything, you won't be surprised to hear. He is in London at some gig thing and has broken his phone. Sigh. Adulting seems a long way off for him!

Fell!

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 My dd1 is starting Beginners‘ Russian and German at Oxford this year. Not all colleges offer all subjects, so your dn could check this link for which colleges offer her subjects: www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/course-finder
Will Russian be beginners or post.A level for her? She‘ll also need to register for the admissions test, which is taken in November: www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/guide/admissions-tests
DD sat the MLAT and the LAT and there are past practice papers on the link above which are well worth looking at

@NiamCinnOir thanks so much for your help. It's nephew rather than niece ...

Sorry to hear that about your DS1 and his phone @Piggywaspushed. DS at this end isn't entirely dissimilar! Hope he's enjoyed the gig though?

I assume so! He had covid at the beginning of the hols (kindly passing it on to DS2 and me) so at least he can't bring that present back again...

Apologies for the assumption, @NewModelArmyMayhem18!

First time poster in this section so please be kind.

Our DS starting yr13 wants to apply to Cambridge to study the Natural Sciences.

He was extremely disappointed with his GCSE results which his school (in the north seen to have moderated his grades down by applying their own school algorithm). He has a 9 in maths, 8 in physics, history and further maths, 7 in biology, french, RE and a 6 in DT.

He is studying 4 A levels including further maths and hasn’t yet received his predicted grades. But he is expecting several A stars.

Is it worth him applying to Cambridge with these GCSE result? His GS is extremely supportive of his application and have told him not to worry about his GCSE’s as they expect him to do extremely well in his A levels and also in the entrance test?

Also will an A* in further maths count equally with his other subjects which include maths and physics and another subject (which would be outing as it is quite an unusual subject combination with Physics, Maths and Further Maths).

Also we have absolutely no idea about which Colleges to apply for?

Thanks

His GCSE results are better than my DS's. I am not convinced they matter that much, especially from an ordinary school. My DS had algorithm issues too .

The A* in Further Maths would count as a full A level.

Sorry I missed he also has an 8 in chemistry. and either a 7 or an 8 in English.

Thanks @Piggywaspushed. Some kids re sat some subjects last November and ended up doing very well. However, we naively wrote a letter of appeal to the school which they sent a blanket reply to and we discouraged him from taking any resits as he was doing four A levels plus an EPQ and we didn’t want him overly stressed in term 1.

Yes, it's worth applying. Nothing ventured, nothing gained - and Cambridge STEM admissions don't seem to demand a full set of top GCSEs, so long as the relevant subjects are solid.
The fm definitely counts - I'm not sure about NatSci but offers may specify eg A* in fm and physics, A in one or two others.

Thanks his strongest subjects and most likely A*’s are maths, fm and physics and he is also expecting an A in his other subject.

@HazyDaisy123456

1. I don't think those GCSE results would be detrimental to his application. Doing well in the NSAA (and interview if invited) are more important.

2. FM counts as a full A-level and is beneficial for a physical natural sciences application. DS's offer was A A A, they specified an A in Further Maths and A A (in either order) in Physics and Chemistry. His Maths A-level wasn't included in the offer, even though he took it at the end of Y13 with the others.

3. Not having Chemistry or Biology A-levels is not a problem for admission but will give him very little choice in which courses he takes.

@HazyDaisy123456

How to start thinking about which college to apply for:

1. Location: Lectures (once they return to face to face) will be in different departments, mostly near the centre. Labs for Physics and Materials Science are in West Cambridge. As he'd be travelling to get between these anyway, any of the central colleges (plus Churchill which is near labs) are equally convenient.

2. Size: A large college will have more NatSci students taking the same courses as you, to study with or talk over a challenging set of problems. A small college will make it easier to get to know everyone more quickly.

3. Other: Architecture / aesthetic; specialised facilities for a particular sport; opportunities to sing in chapel choir etc.

4. Once he has made his choice, it's best not to get too fixated on that particular college, in case he is pooled and ends up somewhere different.