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.

@Momsincharge

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.

No one is a dead cert, one way or the other. The only certainty is that if they don't have a shot at it they won't get a place.

My DN did geography there a few years ago. I think it's not quite as oversubscribed as some subjects, perhaps because at the physical extreme students may prefer the 'earth scientist' type of track in NatSci, and on the other hand theres HPSP which I guess may have some overlap on the human side.

Mine is interested in the politics/intl relations side so we're looking at Durham and Warwick. Other possibles are LSE and UCL but she's not keen on London, similarly St Andrews but bit far for us southerners! Any other campus/small city unis recommended for politics?

@heinztomatosoup

Mine is interested in the politics/intl relations side so we're looking at Durham and Warwick. Other possibles are LSE and UCL but she's not keen on London, similarly St Andrews but bit far for us southerners! Any other campus/small city unis recommended for politics?

DD has looked at all those you mention, plus Edinburgh.

York is v good for politics so that ticks your boxes and it does SPS. My DS1 does Pol/IR but not at the best uni..

DS2 most interested in the social sciences side - ie sociology and social policy : but the SPS degree at York, for example, looks better than the social policy or sociology degree . It also has higher entrance requirements so I guess must attract an Oxbridge type applicant. Durham's combined social sciences looks a similar concept.

I was interested that various Bristol applicant this year seemed to be having Pol/IR applications redirected to Social Policy. This worried me a bit. I don't want DS to end up on a course with people who are vaguely resentful and didn't want to do it. I may be overthinking that, though!

Also Bath v good for social sciences : small city/campus!

That’s really useful to know about the terms Errol thank you.

Thanks so much for all suggestions, will take a look.

@Hoghgyni

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.

Could you link to the books please? I've looked on Amazon and there seems to be a few with similar titles. I'll treat DD

@heinztomatosoup my DS is reading History and Politics at Warwick. He has loved it but prefers the history side now which I find astonishing as he has been politic mad since he was 12. He’s staying to do his masters at Warwick as he’s loved it so much.

We live about 40 minutes away from St. Andrew’s. It’s a fab place but it is a small town with rubbish connectivity to Edinburgh and Glasgow so it is a bit of a bubble. It’s our DDs 2nd choice but only because of the course, she would rather be further away from us 😂

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.

I was very much of this thinking (DD applied for one of the courses with one of the very highest applicant:place ratios, so much worse than 1 in 6). I expected that if she got an interview, that would be as far as she got. She got an offer.... (though the MH implications of a really high offer and uncertainty about how grades are to be awarded this year are making this post-offer period extremely difficult for us all)

blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Philosophy-by-Edward-Craig-author/9780198861775

blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Economics-by-Partha-Dasgupta/9780192853455

blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/British-Politics-by-Anthony-Wright-author/9780198827320

These are Oxford Uni Press books. DD went to a PPE interview workshop with a lecturer who had written one of the books in the series.

Any of the books in the politics or philosophy or economics series are very accessible. They are unlikely to be discussed at interview as the questions are much more open, but they give you a flavour of the subjects if (like DD) you haven't taken any of them for A level.

@cantkeepawayforever - I feel for your DD. DS1 had the stress of a 2 A star A Oxford offer to 'achieve' last year and he hated the uncertainty and lack of control. I know some of the Cambridge offers are higher though. What does your DD need to get?

Thank you @Hoghgyni, will order her the politics one. She has a subscription to the New Statesman and the Economist but we are in Italy (though British) so studies very little of that ilk at school.

@motherstongue, thanks too for the insight on St Andrews. I'm passing all these snippets over to her. I think she has already more or less discounted St. A because of the size.

@Geamhradh - I can recommend Edinburgh for politics. Great course and high numbers of my classmates went on to work in and around politics - including me 😉

DD loved the course at Edinburgh, but they turned her down on her 18th birthday! Warwick had a really good course, but wanted A*AA. She also liked York & Durham.

For those considering PPE, the students decide at the end of the first year if they wish to continue with all 3 or drop one. Then they can head in which ever direction they want with the modules they take.

[quote sandybayley]@Geamhradh - I can recommend Edinburgh for politics. Great course and high numbers of my classmates went on to work in and around politics - including me 😉[/quote]
DD has dismissed Scotland as we are in Shropshire she feels it is just too far away. I think she would like to look at Kings and LSE. I am confused though about Uni choices though. She wants Politics (whether by itself with history or international relations), should you look at which Unis are ranked best for this subject or go with A Uni you like? She is very keen on Liverpool which has a good reputation but not necessarily in Politics........Its soooooo confusing!

We’ve dismissed Scotland as on the south coast and feel it's just too far with things as they are now and Durham too.

We’ve had DD locked in Wales and look at things very differently now to a year ago as does DS. He doesn’t want to do London either so that’s Imperial off the list plus St Andrews, Edinburgh and Durham off on distance. Think the Midlands will be DS’s cut off point so anything under that and not London is the way it’s going at the moment.

@TangoWhiskyAlphaTango - I grew up in Worcestershire so not far from you. Edinburgh is a trek but I used to get the train up from Birmingham and it was fine if you booked in advance. Direct train into Waverley with an amazing view of the castle at you pulled in.

Edinburgh and the other Scottish universities have the benefit of the four year MA with the flexibility to take 'outside' subjects in the first two years. I took 'sensible' things like social policy and sociology but DH (geography) took Swedish and Canadian studies 😉

Don't dismiss Liverpool for politics. It's a good Department and I recently commissioned some research from the team there. Nottingham and Hull also (IMO) have good politics offerings.

LSE is great but my personal view is that the cost of living in London as a student is prohibitively high. DS1 had an offer at Imperial which I'd glad he didn't take up. It's possible I'm biased though as we live in London. I suspect my DC will come back to London after university but living in London as students wouldn't appeal to them.

@sandybayley Thank you so much that's such helpful information! She has a boyfriend going to Manchester this year so I think that will sway the Scotland choice 😳

Another question for you is do certain Unis have better job prospects afterwards? Are certain ones looked at more favourably by employers? Again I've just no clue how it works afterwards 😩 She is dead set on politics which is fab I fully support it but it has to lead into a job after and this concerns me slightly

When I was at Edinburgh I took a course in 3rd Year which looked at policy making and incorporated a placement with a local MP, others worked for NGOs and in the media. That's what got me started on my career. I bump into Edinburgh politics graduates in Westminster a lot so they are clearly employable.

A degree in politics from anywhere won't get a job though. You have to hustle for your opportunities. I got my placement by walking up to the said MP after a meeting of the Labour club and asking him. I got my first job in Westminster by phoning up after being rejected at interview and asking 'why?'. They offered me another job on the spot.

Birmingham has a really interesting PPE degree which is Policy, Politics and Economics. They also do social policy and politics and sociology and politics combined degrees. V good reputation for social policy and apparently top stomping ground for employment recruiters.

www.cbi.org.uk/media/3841/12546_tess_2019.pdf

p.53

Exhibit 4.4 Most important factor in graduate recruitment (%)

Attitudes and aptitudes for work (67%)

Degree subject (11%)
Relevant work experience/industrial placement (8%)
Degree result (2:1, 2:2 etc) (7%)
Other (6%)
Foreign language capability (1%)
University they attended (0%)

(Obviously the CBI managed to find a very skewed sample, though, if statements on MN are to be believed).

DS looked closely at PPE at Oxford and Durham and Politics/Economics courses elsewhere when applying. Note that PPE at Durham is not as flexible as the Oxford course. He also applied to St Andrew’s (Economics and IR - got rejected very late in the cycle), Bristol and Bath (both Econ & Politics). Took A levels in Economics, Politics and Maths and read a great many Short Introduction books (as did DD Oxford, Biology). DS decided at the last minute to apply to Cambridge rather than Oxford as he realised he wanted more bias towards Economics and policy. He explained this in the SAQ because his personal statement was rather PPE oriented!