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.

Nice to have you with us @FoolsAssassin !

There are lots of maths experts around who will help I'm sure. The Cambridge application process for maths does look really stressful with the top grades required for both step and A Levels, Oxford seems just a bit less stressful.

Thanks Sandy! Will be interesting to see what happens with Cambridge. I think (could be very wrong!) that traditionally they send out approximately double the offers to spaces as about half don’t get the score needed on STEP. Will be interesting to see what they do from now on. The MAT score needed this year was apparently up .

Very tricky for Universities to handle admissions this year I guess against the current situation . Someone I know has been accepted by Oxford but rejected from Imperial, Bath and Bristol so I’m going to try and make sure DS researches each choice carefully and is ok about ending up at any of the 5.

Yes it seems for Maths, with Cambridge the offer to applicant ratio is significantly better than Oxford. Ofcourse one then needs to pass the STEP, but at least then the student is in control of his/her destiny.
I get the feeling with Oxford with so many good applicants and limited offers, getting an interview and then an offer is more of a lottery.

@LondonMischief - I really don't think it's a lottery as that would imply you simply throw your application in and it's entirely random.

There is an element of luck / fair wind but I think that there are candidates who are exceptional who get offers and candidates who apply who were never going to get an offer. There's a big middle ground of candidates who could get an offer (DS1 fell into this group I think).

Given that most candidates fall into the 'could' group I think we as a thread have to accept things could go either way for our DC. It may not feel 'fair' but that's the way it is and I hope we'll all be sanguine about it come next January.

I'm expecting DD won't get an offer as I reckon she has a 1 in 6 chance. She falls into the 'could' group. But I am encouraging her as she could be successful.

@Familyfallout

Thanks for the thread and advice so far. My DD wants to apply to Oxford for engineering for 2022 so any tips would be appreciated as I have no clue how to help her. She hasn't entered any competitions and hasn't done a summer school just works hard at her school and enjoys her hobby which is ballet and tap dancing. I think there is a specific general engineering course she would like to do which is also in Durham but nowhere else. Thanks for any information and good luck to everyone else applying.

I've just noticed this thread... I've got a DD who's in her final year of the Cambridge MEng. That's General Engineering too- there are quite a few very good unis who offer a gen eng course nowadays (e.g Bristol, Sheffield). I believe Oxford describes itself as 'engineering science' and has a somewhat different emphasis perhaps. If she's not already done so, I'd recommend your DD looks closely at the course curriculum details on the various uni websites to figure out her 5 choices.

@20newnames

DS hopes to go to Cambridge in 2022 to study engineering. He stands a chance but is not straight 9s/As (got 3x9,3x8,2x7 and 2x6 at GCSE, currently predicted AA*AA at A level).

Very interesting to read the posts above. DH and I both went to uni and did well but neither of us applied to Oxbridge so this is new to us. We have looked into super-curricular activities and DS has managed to get on an outreach admissions support scheme although nothing has yet happened with that. We are encouraging him to look at different universities too.

I must admit to being rather alarmed at CJB's post. All great ideas but wow, the mission of it all is something else . Maybe DS/we are just not cut out for this

DDs GCSEs were a game of two halves - pre reform letter grades, A* in 6 stem subjects, 3As and 3Bs (engishes and German). Cambridge stem disciplines are perhaps well aware that some students may be asymmetrically talented rather than necessarily all being all-rounders.

For engineers, there's quite a lot of scope for 'supracurricular' activities - coding, robot building etc if that's what floats their boat.

[quote Eightytwenty]**@TangoWhiskyAlphaTango* @Geamhradh* another one with an interest in History / Politics at Oxbridge. Also interested in Politics & International Relations at St Andrews (which would be free for us as a Scottish student) or tbc at Durham.[/quote]
Oh lovely! DD did a webinar thingy with St Andrews for the International Relations. I'd be happy for her to go there. Tbh, I like all of the places she's interested in!

Hi all. Can I join? My DD2 has decided she’d like to apply for Music (and a choral scholarship) at Oxford for 2022. She has great GCSEs (including several “real” ones as she took them early) and great predictions but I’m aware that there’s a lot of luck involved. DD1 is at Oxford (Classics) and DS1 at Cambridge (engineering) but that might make it harder rather than easier for her in some ways... Wishing us all lots of luck on this rollercoaster...

@PantTwizzler - welcome and nice to have a 're-tread' with us. I worry about DD trying to follow DS1 to Oxford but it must be even worse if you're no 3. I'm fairly sure DS2 won't want to try for Oxbridge so at least I'm spared that 😬

Thanks @sandybayley!

@20newnames DS (fresher at C) originally planned to apply for engineering at O but having visited both departments, much preferred C. He has “only” 8 GCSEs, including 1 B and 1 A but got all A* at A-level. I’m sorry to say that he is really struggling, possibly related to being dyslexic and having everything online which makes things harder for him to follow. If he had his time again I’m not sure he’d apply to C. He does, sadly, do nothing but work, and he’s always behind. But his experience is undoubtedly not typical.

Thanks Errol.
PantTwizzler - sorry to hear your DS is struggling despite his A*s at A levels, do you think that is because it is all remote and he would actually do better if he was there or to put it bluntly do you think it is because he is not clever enough? If the latter, I find it quite worrying that even with those grades he is struggling, poor thing. I really hope it gets better for him with more face to face time whenever that happens for him.

Good question @20newnames... I’m sure he’d be doing better if everything were in person. The step-up in workload has been a huge shock that’s for sure. He found GCSEs and A-levels pretty easy. Now the work is a challenge and he judges himself “thick” compared to his peers. I’m sure this is worsened by everything being remote and not having the usual interactions with his peer group.

Mind you, both my older DC are... lacking in diligence not to say outright lazy, unlike the other DC mentioned on this thread. I would certainly disagree that applicants need to be devoted to their subject, working every day on their application, needing a parental “manager”, etc.

Thanks PantTwizzler. Interesting about the step up in workload. DS is doing 4 A levels and gets loads of work from school, the idea of stepping up from that doesn’t sound fun. He works hard but does what he needs to rather than extra. Mind you he also has a pt job and plays football so he is shattered.

We are getting him to look at alternatives but they all seem to want A*/A combos so there isn’t loads of leeway.

Lots of new (and old) faces to the thread - brilliant.

A question for those who know: DD is creating a shortlist of colleges for C, based on food, sports, location to faculty etc, but most importantly, those included in the joint Orchestra on the Hill. Whilst other colleges may have orchestral ensembles, is OOTH perceived to be C’s symphony equivalent? And any particular college good for big band/jazz?

Thanks for any insight...

Hi all, I'd love to join this chat. My DD is looking to apply for HSPS at Cambridge. She's passionate about her subject, does extra reading, has entered two essay competitions so far and is helping our local candidate in the May elections for work experience. Just started looking at colleges. Absolutely know it's a very long shot but someone's got to get in! I am very grateful for the advice shared in this thread so far

@heinztomatosoup - welcome! HSPS is such a fascinating course, I applied for it myself (and got rejected!) many years ago.

Have you had a visit to Cambridge or are you planning one this summer?

Sorry to hear it’s such hard work for him PantTwizzler. That’s my concern about the short terms. DS isn’t great socially and I am concerned that in the unlikely event he applied and got in that he would spend his entire time working whereas somewhere with longer terms he would have a bit more time and gradually start to socialise.

I've found the 'short terms' to be a bit of a myth. While formal teaching is confined to the 8 week 'full terms', DD has had some supos (supervisions - Cambridge-speak for tutorials) and mock exams outside of this time in 'whole term'. 'Full term' is 3/4 of 'whole term'. Her first year room contract was 30 weeks, afaik that's normal, and she stayed there pretty much all the time. In yrs 2&3 she opted for 39 week contracts and this year for a private rental with friends. So not really so very different from other unis, and seems not dissimilar in workload to what DH and I had for chemistry degrees at a redbrick in the 80s.

She does work hard, including in Xmas and Easter vacations, and has got pretty good at time management including sleep - but she has a good work-life balance. It's like a full time job, I suppose - but why would anyone want uni not to be? that would be such a waste of time, money and unique opportunity.

This year has been abnormal, it must have been bloody awful for freshers in particular. Let's hope things start getting back to something more like normal from now on.

Thanks for welcome. We're planning a visit in the summer holidays. As far as I am aware all open events are online this academic year? I guess that means there may be some things come September but it's a bit late then...

Hi Everyone
I'm not sure if I'll be joining you or not DD, year 12, was considering PPE at Oxford but she's been having a crisis of confidence since Christmas. Didn't cope very well with lockdown 3.0 and mental health is all a bit to pot. Not getting work handed in etc. She's not actually behind and online parents evening went really well but she thinks she is. Going back to school and seeing friends again has really helped but the idea of applying to uni is big and scary at the moment - we do not speak of it!
So I'll read along with you and we'll see what happens. Still plenty of time

Hello, I’d like to join the chat. DD is y12 and thinking about applying to Cambridge for Geography. I think it’s worth her taking a shot, but she’s certainly not a dead cert.

@heinztomatosoup - I was thinking of just day trips in the summer to have a nose around.

[quote sandybayley]@heinztomatosoup - I was thinking of just day trips in the summer to have a nose around. [/quote]
We shall definitely also be doing that. We'll have to have a MN secret sign

ACMEInc DD is a fresher studying PPE. I suggest making a small investment in 3 A Short Introduction to....books on philosophy, economics & politics. Oxford used these during the UNIQ summer school to spark the interest of year 12s from state schools and encourage them to apply. DD doesn't have a perfect academic record & didn't have a great first term for personal reasons, but she is loving every minute. Feel free to ask me anything.

heinz , I have a SPS type too. Probably not Cambridge ( thanks CAG rank ordering!), according at least to some MN posters, but was wondering where else was on your radar?