Oxbridge admission

[Sejal22]

I am looking for a good tutor who will help with the preparation for Oxbridge admission for my daughter. I am planning to use Oxbridge Admissions consultant firm to prepare her for entrance test, personal statement and with interview however they are really expensive. Does anyone use this firm? All reviews will be helpful to get a decision.

It's been quite instructive, selling my house well away from the SE. A striking number of people viewing recently have unburdened themselves about their concerns for their DC (latest two were a DD in an all girls' grammar in Kent with OCD and and DD at a top London day school who is in Y9 working until midnight every day: the Dad was desperate to get her away from the pressure. I felt particularly sorry for this Dad. He wanted the absolute best for his DD but the whole family seem trapped by the London bubble).

Blimey, £150 per hour minimum for UCAS help!

Dd got into Cambridge last year and she wrote her personal statement herself! with interference/input from me

Are you moving @goodbyestranger?

I do agree with you that it has to be the DC who puts in the work. I had nothing whatsoever to do with either DD's personal statement. They must have done a reasonable job with them as they both secured interviews at Cambridge.

DD asked me to read through her personal statement for any glaring errors. I haven't seen DS's personal statement. Both managed offers without additional tutoring. School were supportive in a low key, other-good-unis-are-available way and provided a mock interview with a relevant subject teacher. Main sources of guidance were the universities websites and open days. DD has friends at Oxford that did have additional coaching/tutoring either paid for or through various mentoring schemes.

Should add that DS practiced past papers in preparation for the admissions test. DD's subject doesn't have a test.

Yes Malbecfan. Not without regrets. I love where we live.

So penny worth - my son went to a generally well thought of independent school ( not London) & they specifically recommended not using a commercial oxbridge entrance advice company , as per goodbye's post . I am a bit out of date now but for those subjects which have an aptitude test ( I speak of Oxford here ) there are past Aptitude test papers on their website - hope that is still true - I think those are definitely worth looking at as others have said for familiarisation / practice. - Cambridge / Maths etc I know nothing about .

@Sejal22 & @goodbyestranger

There is so much good info online now that it’s pointless paying for advice. I helped my dcs by haunting The Student Room. It is vital to see what a successful personal statement looks like for your subject so you get a feel for what they are looking for: not the exact words, of course, but eg how many books to mention or what weighting to give to different parts. And also not to go for the most famous college (unless you are a shoe-in) and not the least popular either.

Of course it’s up to the dc to have the enthusiasm and the work ethic, but a bit of a guiding hand - not a forceful one - can make a difference.

@BasiliskStare - dd has been granted an offer-holder’s pass into the hallowed grounds tomorrow - she is so excited!

@IrmaFayLear What lovely news ( insert celebratory emoticon of your choice here )
All best to her - Basilisk

Hello I'm new here but I had the same question a while ago and someone pointed me to the online sessions from Cambridge. My DS (interested in Natural Sciences) found webinars at Christ's College and they went through everything in detail with him. He just went on their website and signed up.

Some of the responses to this OP are among the most patronising I have read on Mumsnet.

I didn't grow up here but DH is English and did. When I first met his sister 30 years ago she was about to go off to uni. Soaring marks, her school told her "she wouldn't fit in socially at Oxford." What do you think would have happened if her parents had pressed it? Hard to say, but DHs mum left school at 14, she wouldn't have had a clue what to do. DSiL is not remotely in a minority either. Another friend of mine of a similar vintage to me was also told he "wouldnt fit in socially at Oxford" and got steered to Exeter where at the time he said it felt like he was the only person whose parents didn't live within 30 min of Guilford. So if the teacher's goal of finding a more socially inclusive environment for Northerners that also failed.

Maybe "you won't fit in socially" was a euphemism for "we doubt you'll get in"? Who knows. Very mysterious.

Based on this thread, though, it seems the "if you have to ask, you really have no business doing so" mindset with respect to Oxbridge admission is going strong in certain circles. I think there have also been a lot of assumptions made about the OP by some posters.

OP if you feel you need some external support, get it. I am not sure if I will do so but will decide if/when it is clear we can visit schools. (DDs school seems to send students to a limited range of universities and not ones she is particularly interested in.) I'd try to see the advice as an opportunity to make sure you haven't overlooked any part of the process you may not be familiar with/need some context around, or to access support for specific tasks. At the end of the day it will be down to the DC. Do they want this outcome?

OVienna you're completely missing the point which is that this company and companies like it are very likely to do more to dent an application than to improve it, and are going to fleece OP into the bargain.

But to be honest, I have limited sympathy for those who think they can buy a place where merit is lacking.

Some of these posts went way beyond the point you are making, is my point.

DD currently at Cambridge from a school that were not able to offer much support.Student room gives a lot of information and insight into the process and helps de myth some preconceptions a lot of people seem to have. The universities themselves have excellent information on line and visiting and talking to department and colleges really helps if you are able to do this.

Applying is daunting because all the kids that apply are at the very top of their game and there is very little between the ones who get in and the ones who don't. I can see the attraction of trying to improve the odds, very big but paying for admissions coaching may not be the best way.

It puts so much pressure on your kid - what happens to them if they don't get in. They see you have paid for extra tuition and they have still failed. Worse they have failed you. That is a lot for the child to take. You know your child better than me, so they may up their game under extreme pressure, but that was not a risk I could of taken with my DD. It would have crushed her.

If your child's school doesn't have much knowledge on how to apply contact the college that does the outreach for your area. We did this for DD. The college didn't offer the subject she wanted to do so put her teachers in contact with one that did. She went for a taster session at the college (overnight open day) before the interview so she wouldn't be overwhelmed on the day. They could not have been more helpful.

For the statement - she wrote it herself with grammar and structure checks by her teachers. She used her teachers to help with her portfolio curation and presentation.

Good luck to your DD.

I wasn’t aware that these sort of services existed before reading this thread as my DS is not quite at this stage. Googling the topic, I found a webpage of a public school which offers far more Oxbridge support than my DS’s school ( eg they have Head of Oxbridge Admissions and subject specific mentors from Y10, weekly meeting etc.)
In addition school support the webpage also lists some of these companies and says these “are companies that we have worked with before with great success and that have a proven track record of enhancing the extensive Oxbridge preparation that we already offer.”

Clearly DC’S get into Oxbridge, Russel Group and elsewhere all the time without any support from school, home or elsewhere. But there must be some benefit for such a school with all its experience in such applications to make a public statement like this?
Is it the cost (I know this is small change for some people and good luck to them, but I for certain can’t afford some of the of the prices I have seen - £24k anyone? - for A&J Education according a BBC interview clip on YouTube) and the idea of ‘buying a place’ that are behind the negative views? If the same service was offered for free by schools would everyone be rushing to sign on?

DD’s state school does have experience to offer and did suggest things the students could do to improve their chances — ‘work hard’ being one of them! — but also start early, go to talks, enter relevant essay competitions, make sure you do actually like the subject, and generally think about it all before the final year of school.

They were very useful in keeping the mind on the deadlines for entry, exams to be booked etc - the whole process needs extra attention.

@OVienna - I might be missing trick here but I don't think any post has referenced not being able to socially fit in. If a school says that to a pupil - that is dreadful in my book , because certainly at Oxford my DS had a circle of friends from many different schools colleges etc.

Asking for help does not = paying for a commercial firm . Admissions tutors at the colleges are great , Depending on subject there are (Ox ) past aptitude papers ) . If a student is utterly without guidance from school or home or having seen all the help online , & having phoned the college to ask for advice then depending on confidence it might be a time to think but @LondonMischief I am aghast at a public school recommending a tutoring service which costs £24k . Don't say it out loud but I would interested to know which school it was you found which said that PM if you would like - but OK if not - that is bonkers in my view

Some recent graduates do tutoring to earn some money before taking up their jobs. So if ( & having exhausted all the on line / college help available ) if for some reason a DC is feeling really lacking in confidence then I am sure a smaller tutoring company could put them in touch with a recent student ( for avoidance of doubt my son isn't doing this so not an advert) but I can see that a half hour chat with someone who has been through it might help. But I would hope that is nothing like £150 & as I say I just don't really believe people are charging £24k for Oxbridge admissions.

There are also many students / recent graduates who are happy to chat to those applying but have some questions , or perhaps need a bit of reassurance depending on how much or indeed little other encouragement they have had from school or home , for absolutely no money at all. And @OVienna - that is not meant to sound patronising it is meant to sound helpful.

I didn't grow up here but DH is English and did. When I first met his sister 30 years ago she was about to go off to uni. Soaring marks, her school told her "she wouldn't fit in socially at Oxford." What do you think would have happened if her parents had pressed it? Hard to say, but DHs mum left school at 14, she wouldn't have had a clue what to do. DSiL is not remotely in a minority either. Another friend of mine of a similar vintage to me was also told he "wouldnt fit in socially at Oxford" and got steered to Exeter where at the time he said it felt like he was the only person whose parents didn't live within 30 min of Guilford.

@OVienna that was 30 years ago. So much has change since then! Oxbridge put a lot of time and effort into dispelling myths of social exclusively. That's why nobody mentioned it - because it is no longer considered to be the issue it once was. However, the other thing that has changed is the commercialisation of many educational services - there are many companies profiting on the back of the Oxbridge name and the hopes, dreams and naivety of students and parents.

@Blastaghast

My DD found through her Oxford application process that one of the best ways to prepare is to attend one of the summer programmes that both offer. Sadly she didn’t qualify because she was at a private school but loads of her current friends used this as a route to entry.

@BasiliskStare I don’t think I expressed that very well. No the school did not recommend that company. They recommend 3 others that did not list any prices on their websites but I was curious to find what this sort of thing costs and came across this this clip about the other company

But did not mean to suggest that this is the typical cost. I don’t see why can’t name the public school as the information is freely available on their webpage. It was Downe House School.

@Dancingdreamer
Yes my DD is in the same boat, he doesn’t qualify for the free summer school programs at Oxford and Cambridge, and his school doesn’t seem to provide the quite same support as others. I see there are private companies that provide Summer schools at Oxbridge colleges employing Oxford graduates/ tutors but again it’s a big sum of money.

@LondonMischief - Thank you for that clip - I think I see the point now - I probably misunderstood that it was £24k for tutoring for Oxbridge specifically whereas it is not the same thing they are offering - Thank you My mistake

I certainly wasn't implying that the OP's DC wouldn't fit into Oxbridge nor was I trying to be patronising. When DD1 expressed an interest in applying, DH and I were keen to support her because like OVienna's DSIL, we were told that we weren't Oxbridge material. In my case, it was probably correct, but DH has a PhD and would have loved the experience.

Things have thankfully changed. My DDs went to a state school. £150 for tutoring is more than we could have afforded when they were in y12/13, let alone £24k. My point, and that made by several others, is that admissions tutors can see through these over-prepared students. They are not looking for the finished article at interview; rather they are looking at potential and someone who can think on their feet and articulate their thought-process. I found that out for free, but if someone wants to spend £24k on it, good luck to them. Do the companies guarantee success? What happens if you spend the £24k then don't make it to interview?