Oxbridge Aspirants 2022

[TangoWhiskyAlphaTango]

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, school ethos can play a massive part in how young people study and their attitude to learning.

DS went to a very high-performing grammar school. They were always encouraged to read around subjects and 'expand' their knowledge and thinking processes. They did a short EPQ just for fun (although not submitted for external marking) at the end of Year 12, after they'd done their exams. They also did a self-study Pre-U during Year 12. Lots of trips related to their study subjects and just to grow them as people all through secondary school. A very enriching experience, even for those like DS who were not super motivated academically (comparative to his schoolmates). You could see why they would easily average 12 - 20 into Oxbridge every year (and equivalent numbers to do medicine from not a very large).

Contrast that with DD who goes to a comprehensive. No such enrichment at all to date and she's doing GCSEs now (not so much as a trip to the theatre). A totally different (and actually quite disillusioning from the perspective of being a parent) approach. The top set girls (from a much larger school cohort with) are easily local super-selective standard but Oxbridge successes per annum? Possibly one in a good year.

While I completely get that some successful Oxbridge applicants might know what they want to apply for years in advance my DD certainly didn't. I watched her grow in maturity through lower sixth as she got into her A level subjects and tbh she only made the decision after Easter. She then did a LOT of reading and cogitating over the summer between L6 and U6, but it was almost more a maturity thing with her rather than an academic issue: knowing herself well enough to appreciate what would really interest her. She then really did focus. Watched DS go through same process but he has chosen entirely differently. I am just so glad he's found his subject; he's now all revved up about it, which makes me really happy for him regardless of how his application to C goes.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18

Yes, school ethos can play a massive part in how young people study and their attitude to learning.

DS went to a very high-performing grammar school. They were always encouraged to read around subjects and 'expand' their knowledge and thinking processes. They did a short EPQ just for fun (although not submitted for external marking) at the end of Year 12, after they'd done their exams. They also did a self-study Pre-U during Year 12. Lots of trips related to their study subjects and just to grow them as people all through secondary school. A very enriching experience, even for those like DS who were not super motivated academically (comparative to his schoolmates). You could see why they would easily average 12 - 20 into Oxbridge every year (and equivalent numbers to do medicine from not a very large).

Contrast that with DD who goes to a comprehensive. No such enrichment at all to date and she's doing GCSEs now (not so much as a trip to the theatre). A totally different (and actually quite disillusioning from the perspective of being a parent) approach. The top set girls (from a much larger school cohort with) are easily local super-selective standard but Oxbridge successes per annum? Possibly one in a good year.

Yes, it's frustrating. Our comprehensive doesn't set or stream at all though. Parents can make a difference, but then you don't have the advantages of peer pressure.

DS and I have just trawled through the (v useful if possibly a bit out of date) info on Oxford colleges, and the one he likes the look of is Worcester. Anyone got any experience positive or negative?

Yes, Viking, I know someone who went there fairly recently and it was a really positive experience for him. He's quite a quiet studious type, and made friends easily.

@VikingNorthUtshire, when I did some preliminary research for DN who is applying to Oxford, Worcester was listed as one of the super popular colleges that it's really hard to get into because the number of applicants per place is so high! Just saying...

DD has just decided that she does want to apply to Cambridge after saying she didn't for the last year. We have never even visited the town, and I have no idea how to help her choose a college. School have said they will help, but that feels slightly uncomfortable - it's not a large 6th form and they've only had one go to Oxbridge so far.

Where on earth do we start?

Goodness! Well, all power to her elbow! Some of the colleges have good websites with helpful videos: Selwyn, Homerton and Catz spring to mind. What subject?

@VikingNorthUtsire In the dark ages I was involved in a building project at Worcester & it had a reputation then for being popular with wealthy old-money families. But I believe it has done a lot of work to diversify its intake & widen participation so is much changed now.

From what I've read, it's actually easier for an English student to get into St Andrew's and Edinburgh than a Scottish student, because an English student pays far far more than the Scottish Government pays for a Scottish student, so the universities would rather have an English student, once they've filled their agreed quota of Scottish students.

DD was rejected by Edinburgh on her 18th birthday, after receiving offers from Oxford, Durham, York & Warwick. She had 5 hours of lessons per subject at her English state 6th form.

There are definitely a few Scottish students in her college. Your DD has nothing to lose by trying.

@ACloseMatch

DD has just decided that she does want to apply to Cambridge after saying she didn't for the last year. We have never even visited the town, and I have no idea how to help her choose a college. School have said they will help, but that feels slightly uncomfortable - it's not a large 6th form and they've only had one go to Oxbridge so far.

Where on earth do we start?

I would say start by reading the whole thread as actually it's quite helpful. Other years have felt a bit more "project Oxbridge" when I've read back and this year people seem maybe more relaxed. My dd (a year ahead of yours) "chose" her college in September last year though she had been intermittently looking on their websites since June but last year we kept thinking that in-person open days might restart so it was quite a late decision process. Some colleges have much better videos and websites than others but try and get her just to get a feel for whether she fancies central/outer, modern/old, big/small etc. Then tell her not to get fixated on it because there's a very high chance of getting pooled! Our school said that personal statements for O or C should really be focused entirely on the subject and not the person (whereas others should do about 2/3 on the subject and 1/3 about themselves) - I don't know how accurate this advice is but DD did this. Dd didn't really do much interview prep (had one mock interview at school with her favourite teachers which felt useless in retrospect as she was so comfortable with them) and talked to/at us about her subject but none of it really helped - she's great at talking about stuff and fine with random people but the interview actually completely threw her. I honestly don't know what she could have done to prepare better. (She's always read arrived her subject and listened to lectures and podcasts etc anyway). I suppose my main advice would be to try and help her to hold it lightly - DD was super lucky to get an offer but the upset and devastation for some of those who didn't get offers (on this site and real life friends) was very significant. In all honesty we wouldn't have been able to help DD do that - she wanted it too much - but if your DD can manage it, so much the better. And good luck....

@ACloseMatch

DD has just decided that she does want to apply to Cambridge after saying she didn't for the last year. We have never even visited the town, and I have no idea how to help her choose a college. School have said they will help, but that feels slightly uncomfortable - it's not a large 6th form and they've only had one go to Oxbridge so far.

Where on earth do we start?

Well done to your DD, I hope the school do support her.

Dses school has had one pupil get to Oxford for the last few years, none before that, this year it was DS1. Despite being a bog standard distinctly average comprehensive they did give him 1:1 support prior to exam and interview. His Maths teacher was an Oxford grad so that helped but they were really keen to support and I hope they do the same for DS2.

I grew up near Cambridge, it’s a beautiful city. Can’t help with colleges though!

I hope your DD’s school steps up and supports in the same way.

Aclosematch welcome. Chilldonaldchill?has given you great advice; I guess if you could nail which course she’s interested in as a priority, as her sixth form will need to register her if there’s any pre-assessments to sit. Apologies, I know no more as my DD has only at interview tests for her course choice.

We haven’t visited any colleges (though she familiar with the city of Cambridge). She did go through some process of college elimination but ended up not too fussed, though tried to avoid clashes with any other students applying to same from her school.

I’ve been brutally honest with DD on odds, not on her ability/suitability etc, but more on the spaces available. So if a college has 100 UG spaces, circa 80+ will go to state educated students, 20 odd to independent sector, then split that proportionately across 30 odd courses. She’s independent educated, and going for a minority course, so she’s comfortable with those facts and has her eyes open to how competitive each place will be. Not to add potential deferrals/re-applicants from 2021, it really is not in their interests to get overly invested and to keep their other options open too.

Proportionately being by course, intake is clearly differs by course!

Just reading the above post re admission stats. If DC attends a GS in the north (sat 11 plus to get in) would it still be classed as a state school in terms of numbers as we don’t pay fees please?

@ACloseMatch

DD has just decided that she does want to apply to Cambridge after saying she didn't for the last year. We have never even visited the town, and I have no idea how to help her choose a college. School have said they will help, but that feels slightly uncomfortable - it's not a large 6th form and they've only had one go to Oxbridge so far.

Where on earth do we start?

I’m in the same boat with Dd and we’ve just had a couple of days at Cambridge. She was hoping to be able to look round a few colleges even just the quads, etc. However only Pembroke let her in for a nose round. Trinity, Caius and somewhere else said no because of covid. We tried the porters on the gates and for Trinity even emailed their admission email address.

However just wondering about the town gave us a good feel for the different colleges, where they are in the town, what the buildings look like from the limited amount you can see from outside. I’m sure there must be YouTube video tours as well. We also stayed in student rooms in St Catherine’s overnight which was a nice experience. One thing we realised from there and Pembroke that some of the rooms are in nice, old buildings but they also seem to have more modern accommodation blocks as well….guess this may be true for a lot of them.

Anyway Pembroke we’re helpful in the choosing a college dilemma. They said think about location for a start. Think about size of the college. Then start thinking about what facilities they offer, so some have gyms, some might not. Pembroke are well known for their drama society. Dd is big into extra curricular drama so that excited her.

A state grammar is a state school. What I'm not sure of in terms of statistics is where overseas applicants sit. DD has an Oxford place on a course where a relatively high number of students are from outside the UK. I presume most of those do not come from the local equivalent of bog standard comps. But I don't know.

The stats I have seen for the colleges say number of state school/independents and the admission rates (various links upthread to these stats and on Unifrog). These don't add up to 100 so I am guessing the rest are overseas (although some may be HE colleges, I guess). It varied a fair amount.

When we visited Cambridge , the more out of town colleges happily let us in, the in town ones were more intimidating! Trinity and Kings were letting tourists in (not free!) but probably aren't now students are back.

Just my opinion but I think the most 'down to earth' colleges are Fitzwilliam, Churchill and definitely Homerton. Catz and Pembroke do lots of outreach work to state schools and Selwyn is known for being friendly. Perhaps find out which college is attached to your LEA. We did target these and Magdalen and , tis true, Magdalen have been least inviting. Kings has a high state school ratio, comparatively.

The ST Good University guide actually shows admission stats by state comp/state grammar and private but not by individual colleges.

This is a good start point for the latecomers if you want to see the top line entrance stats for at least 2020 and before.

www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/ug_admissions_statistics_2020_cycle.pdf

Thanks @Piggywaspushed. I am boggle eyed with reading umpteen different guides to the colleges (some a few years old, some more recent) as we haven’t even visited Cambridge yet as its a v long drive away. Personally, I would prefer Durham as I will so miss DS as he is fairly good company. I know this is likely a waste of time as the chances of getting in C are v slim let alone getting your choice of college.

I was going to try and research and narrow it down to maybe three or four Colleges (where we have checked the cost of rooms as DS will get minimum ML and the ones that seem to match more with DS’s interest and personality) to make it easier for DS to choose. As he seems v busy and too bogged down with school work, personal statement adjustments, driving lessons and upcoming test etc to concentrate on anything else.

So far Catz in my view seems to be a good all rounder for DS after recommendations on here. DS is fairly down to earth, chilled (but competitive academically), fairly sociable and says he will be ok wherever. He likes football, basketball and would try most sports for a laugh and he likes good food and appreciates nice architecture. I looked at Sidney I think and it said they have to completely clear their rooms at the end of each term is that the same for all the Cambridge Colleges does anyone know? I wish they would put all the info for every college all in one place.

Ds had a big pirate-type trunk in his room which could be locked in which he could leave things in the holidays.

Asking ds, he honestly says every college is good (he enjoyed doing brunch tours!) and the only ones which might not appeal are the far out (man!) ones, although Churchill has an excellent reputation and is good for sporty types as it is near all the sports facilities.

I know this is likely a waste of time as the chances of getting in C are v slim let alone getting your choice of college. Don't be negative. Some people have got to get the places and your DC stands as good a chance as any!

FWIW DS went to a fairly mixed intake primary school. Of his top table, two of the six are at Cambridge out of a class of 23. So there is every reason to be hopeful!

@Gizmo98765. I have PM’d you

Hi, aim not a contributor to this thread, but just wanted to draw attention to a current running thread in AIBU in which someone who claims to be an admissions tutor is blatantly admitting they don’t bother reading the personal statements or references of any applicants from the independent sector.

Who knows if it’s genuine, but there it is.

I thought most admissions tutors say they don't read the PS or reference of anyone really? They know they're all going to be good.
Only 4 medical schools I think say they pay any attention to the PS at all and nine say the reference is of any use (except in cases of extenuating circumstances).