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.

@cantkeepawayforever I wonder if you're local to me. That's exactly what's been noticed in local comprehensives here too.

Welcome @Geamhradh - there are a few of us now. We should probably do a bit of a roll call.

My DD is applying for Medicine at Oxford 😊

@sandybayley a bit of a roll call would help me !

Languages DD here

Oops, forgot the Cambridge aspiring applicant!

My dd is currently planning on applying for medicine at Cambridge. Not until 2023 entry though.

My DD is applying for Classics I at Oxford

They'll be some maths people along soon. Always a lot of Maths people I think!

[quote Chilldonaldchill]@cantkeepawayforever I wonder if you're local to me. That's exactly what's been noticed in local comprehensives here too.[/quote]
Possibly - South West. However, the trend is so marked that I suspect that it is unlikely to be unique to the schools in my area.

DD is a successful applicant, who moved for 6th form from a 'normally low Oxbridge intake' to a 'usually high Oxbridge intake' school but retains many friends from her old school, which gives her a view from both sides of the fence.

Nowhere near me but that's really interesting as our local comps have experienced an identical phenomenon but I hadn't come across anyone else discussing it being such a significant thing this year. I also think it's due to remote interviewing - I wonder what they'll do in future years. I can see why they might want to interview face to face but maybe they would consider a slightly more neutral venue within the city for the actual interviews. Just a thought.

@cantkeepawayforever

Something which - anecdotally - seems to have happened this year with online interviews is that being interviewed from one's school / living room has slightly altered the balance of who has got in.

Those from backgrounds and schools who might have found both the physical unusualness of Oxbridge (not many people live amongst QUITE that much ancient or Gothic architecture on a day to day basis, after all), and the presence of perhaps more confident / louder fellow interviewees, quite intimidating have, at least locally, performed much better than usual (4x as many successful applicants from local comp), while those from the more 'traditionally Oxbridge focused' private or selective schools have fared less well.

That's definitely anecdotal though re the success rates. Our indie has had its second best year offers wise ever, outperforming some of the famous ones reported as being well down on offers.

May I join? DS is applying to read economics. We are an international family and only moved to the UK last September, so it's all very new to us. Please forgive me if I say something stupid. We do not have experience of British education.

He is in an indie, did IGCSE's ( not GCSE's) and achieved 8 A and one A, predicted AA*A at A levels in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Economics. He did an internship via Springpod and is reading widely. What else should he be doing, if anyone knows?

Welcome @Frequentflier - that all sounds good. I'd say keep reading as widely as possible, it's definitely an interesting time for economists.

Does your DS have an opportunity to do an extended piece of work or project? DS1 did four A Levels and produced an extended essay in Lower Sixth which he referred to in his Personal Statement and discussed at his Oxford interview. It wasn't an EPQ but along those lines with proper referencing etc. Could be a summer project?

Having been through the application process a couple of times I still find the Uni application process tricky to understand. So for example a child predicted AAA might apply for a subject at Nottingham, get AAB but still be let in. The grades are a top level guide there. Yet a child predicted A star A star A for a science subject at Cambridge, whilst meeting the published offer, will usually vastly exceed those grades. Of course there are exceptions, but most successful Oxbridge applicants are exceeding those grades. Oxbridge does not want to put kids off by setting high thresholds, I suppose, but it doesn’t help with managing expectations. I think Imperial etc are also like this for the science subjects..

I agree. I see posts on the student room in which someone says they have indifferent GCSEs but are predicted 3As for A Level, ie the standard offer, and should they apply to Oxbridge. “Go for it!” cry the cheerleaders, with no caveat that actual offer holders have far in excess of these grades, even those with extenuating circumstances. And then people are disgruntled when they are rejected pre-interview.

It’s like the old days (very old days) of the 2E offer. There was no suggestion that those who were only capable of 2Es should get their hopes up.

Thanks @sandybayley. I will suggest this. I think it is a good idea over summer.

I agree that it is not a good idea to pin hopes on Oxbridge. Incredibly brilliant people I know have not got in. DS is taking a punt; he would be happy with other unis. I think LSE or Warwick may even suit him better. We also plan to apply to UCL and Nottingham.

@Frequentflier The Bank of England also runs an essay competition for budding economists which is a useful supra curricular activity

DD also going to give it a go and apply to Cambridge for 2022. She wants to read History of Art. She’s very self motivated and loves art. Has a great interest in classical civilisation and mythology (self taught). Is currently reading off the suggested reading list and has started a portfolio of her thoughts on various artists, architects etc. and done some sketches, lots of Ted talks too. She’s applying to Cambridge primarily because they and St. Andrew’s are considered the best courses. St. Andrew’s is her 2nd choice (we are in Scotland but I think she is really keen on the idea of moving to a completely different environment).
We’ve been through the Oxbridge turmoil before with DS several years ago. He got to interview but didn’t get a place (feedback was he wasn’t passionate enough about Economics and was applying for PPE at Oxford). He was gutted as he had GENUINELY wanted to do PPE since he was 12 and had watched a documentary on TV about Oxford but he has gone on to read History and Politics at Warwick and has loved every minute. He is on track for a First and has been accepted for his Masters at Warwick. So, this time around we are a lot more circumspect and accept that you can have the best grades and think you are very passionate, have done all the extra/super curricular etc. and still not get a place.

Can I join? My DS is in Y11 so would be applying for 2023 so kinda bookmarking this thread. But personal statements and such need to be in a little over a year, which doesn’t seem a long way off. He wants to study Maths. Thankfully he doesn’t seem to be over invested in Oxbridge ( prefers Oxford) and says he is also happy to study in London and is thinking about Imperial and UCL.
He is going to be taking Maths, FM, Physics and Chemistry for A levels. His school is one of those that teach A level maths in one year and take the A level at the end of Y12, before moving to FM in Y13. He knows he has to take the MAT and STEP.
Other than UKMT, being in his school competitive Maths team and watching maths videos on YouTube, he doesn’t have any other supracurriculars.
Happy to receive any pointers on what they are looking for from Maths applicants.

@LondonMischief

Page 29 for suggested Maths supracurricular

www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/super-curricular_suggestions.pdf

More newbies! Welcome @Eightytwenty @LondonMischief and @motherstongue - you are all most welcome!

@motherstongue would your DD consider the Courtauld Institute? A friend's DD was unsuccessful in her Cambridge application and went on to the Courtauld. I guess it has the benefit of being in close proximity to some fantastic collections but London isn't for everyone. DD is pretty clear she doesn't want to study on London but that's mainly because it's where we live.

@sandybayley, thank you for the welcome 😁. My DD has looked at Courtauld, however, as much as she loves art she feels she wants to be in an environment with lots of students studying diverse subjects for undergraduate.

@motherstongue - I totally get that. DD is thinking along similar lines, hence the desire to do Medicine at Oxford to get the experience of being around other students (3 years pre-clinical) before immersing herself in medicine later (3 years clinical).

Sticking head in with a possible for Maths. Suspect there is chance school are going to suggest it as both Maths teachers are keen to get him to puzzle club which I have a feeling is preparation for MAT and STEP.

Am really not up for him trying for Cambridge if he does decide to have a shot with the whole structure of admissions . I guess Oxford wouldn’t be too bad as that’s done and dusted by January.

Obviously I will not be saying this to DS. If he does decide to give it a shot will be emphasising it is a lottery and will be making sure he is also concentrating on his other choices