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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Original poster

Reapply to Oxbridge?

61 replies

HandyGirl76 · 06/07/2021 17:27

My DD just got her IB result (44) and is considering reapplying to Oxbridge. She applied to Oxford for a course she now no longer wants to study and although interviewed, got rejected.

She's desperate to go to Oxbridge and as I know nothing about it I don't know what to advise. Is worth reapplying? Do people get in second time around?

She has a place at UCL...

OP posts:

jgw1 · 06/07/2021 17:29

My advice would always be to apply to the course that interests one most at the university that one feels one will be happiest living at for three years.
For most students the answer to that if they are honest with themselves is not Oxbridge, because they have a very limited range of courses and the teaching is a very particular style that suits very few.

fairisledog · 06/07/2021 17:44

I'm not understanding the desperate to go to "Oxbridge" as there is no such place.

I could however understand "desperate to go to Oxford" or "desperate to go to Cambridge", assuming she had fallen in love with one of these lovely cities.

If she no longer wants to study the course she applied to Oxford for, what has changed her mind ?

Piggywaspushed · 06/07/2021 17:49

What is her motivation? If not the subject is it the college system? The prestige?

Because, in all honesty, UCL is a topnotch institution. No one need know in future that that wasn't her first choice!

What si the subject? Does she have a subject of choice at UCL?

RoastChicory · 06/07/2021 18:04

If she is really set on it, I don’t see a problem. My experience is out of date but a surprising number of my Oxbridge friends were rejected first time - I can think of four that I know, and that’s only those who O know well enough for them to admit it.

BuffySummersReportingforSanity · 06/07/2021 18:06

My best friend was rejected from Oxford. She took a gap year, reapplied to Cambridge and got in.

I'm curious to hear the tute system called "a style that suits very few". I'd say the level of top notch individual attention there is great for very many people. On top of the various other advantages of going there.

superram · 06/07/2021 18:09

She has nothing to lose, but they will know she has applied previously. She is also going to be up against all those students who deferred last year and all of those who will receive inflated grades this year.

toffeebutterpopcorn · 06/07/2021 18:10

Can she defer UCL and take a year out and reapply to Oxford next year too?

Basil2021 · 06/07/2021 18:13

I used to work in uni admissions for a big boarding school.
So many students get in second time.
You can’t defer UCL and reapply to Oxbridge - UCAS won’t let you do that.
You can reapply to UCL next time anyway and they won’t hold it against you. Won’t even remember.
Do it! 44 in the IB is excellent.

Basil2021 · 06/07/2021 18:14

The fact she applied previously will have no bearing whatsoever. But maybe apply to a different college to make her feel she has a clean sheet and give her confidence.

irregularegular · 06/07/2021 18:17

If she's really keen and feels there is a reasonable chance that she will do better on any aptitude tests and interviews second time round, but also can deal with the significant probability that she will be rejected again, then why not? It's not a race to finish first. She can hopefully find something else interesting to do this year while she waits.

I'm an admissions tutor and I'm pretty sure that we can't see if someone has applied before (though I know the data is available centrally).

LIZS · 06/07/2021 18:19

Does she still want to do the course she has the UCL offer for? Will her school help prepare her for another round of Oxbridge tests, interviews, reference etc in her new chosen subject? Does she want to take a year out and have relevant plans for it?

jgw1 · 06/07/2021 18:19

@toffeebutterpopcorn

Can she defer UCL and take a year out and reapply to Oxford next year too?

You can't reapply whilst still holding an offer. Before they reapplied they would have to decline UCL.

SeasonFinale · 06/07/2021 18:33

What did her feedback for her original application say. If she is applying for an entirely different course will she have enough supra curricular to back up an Oxbridge application or does she intend to do that during her gap year?

emptyplinth · 06/07/2021 20:27

So she wants to reapply to Oxford or Cambridge for a different course?

If you can say which one, and which course, you might get more useful answers, especially if people know that faculty at UCL
What would she do if she didn't get in 2nd time round?
What was the feedback from her interviews this time round?

Basil2021 · 07/07/2021 09:00

I wouldn’t put any store at all by Oxbridge feedback. It’s always really bland. Interesting to see what her score in the assessment tests was though.

SarahAndQuack · 07/07/2021 14:11

If it's the same course at UCL, and she doesn't want to do it any more, she surely has little to lose by reapplying? It could well be that she didn't get in because the interviewers realised she didn't seem quite the right fit for the course, couldn't it?

I'd apply for a different college though, personally.

Original poster

HandyGirl76 · 07/07/2021 16:54

She applied to do History of Art at Oxford at St John's. She is doing HoA and languages at UCL and is considering reapplying to Oxford, to do languages.

The feedback was very bland and just said there were other stronger candidates. There are only 15 places across the university so it was always going to be tough.

She's always wanted to go to Oxford, it's been her dream. She's very academic (exceptional according to her school) and was heartbroken not to get a place. She loves Art History and languages but has more of a preference for languages now than when she applied.

She likes UCL but the Oxford thing just won't go away and her IB results have made her itchy. I don't know enough about it to advise her. If she had a year out I think she'd head to the continent to study languages and work a bit.

Thanks for all your thoughts.

OP posts:

Chaotica · 07/07/2021 17:00

Languages are (comparatively) easier to get into at Oxford in my experience. If she really wants to go, she should just reapply. A lot of people get in second time around. (The feedback, although generic, is probably true - there just were a lot of good applicants.)

IsItShining · 07/07/2021 18:22

History of Art is very different from MFL! Combining both sounds a much better plan to me. Is there something about the UCL course that’s putting her off?

History of Art with a language (and year abroad?) sounds lovely to me. I hear good things of that course at York — from a very academic young woman — if she doesn’t want UCL.

Original poster

HandyGirl76 · 07/07/2021 20:05

Isit - I think it's just the kudos and status really. It's always been her dream to go to the best university, she's always been very academically capable (all 9s at GCSE) and curious (she taught herself Italian and reads HoA books for fun...) and is used to being at the top. She feels like UCL is failing and it's the first time she's not got where she wanted to be academically.

I agree that a combination of the two would be a good option but I'm worried she'll always wonder if she should have scratched the itch.

OP posts:

chopc · 07/07/2021 23:16

@HandyGirl76 a year in life is such a small amount of time in the grand scheme of things. If she really wants to have another go she should. Especially as she will be competing against people who have never say any public exams

Fifthtimelucky · 08/07/2021 14:46

I know someone who got into Oxford on his 2nd attempt. I also know of someone who got in on his 3rd attempt!

irregularegular · 08/07/2021 15:20

Isit - I think it's just the kudos and status really.

If that's the only reason then I'd try to nudge her away from it if possible. It's really not the right motivation, and at some point she is going to have to get used to not being "at the top."

Oxford would be a very different experience from UCL. She should think about the lifestyle and teaching method she would prefer. Personally I wouldn't want to be an undergraduate in London. Others would hate the Oxford College environment. Those are real reasons to choose one over the other.

Watercoloursky · 08/07/2021 15:31

Would she consider going to UCL, if the course appeals, and then applying to Oxford for postgrad (assuming she wants to do further study! But as you said she's super-academic she might)?

Constantcrayfish · 08/07/2021 16:43

Is she likely to carry on after her first degree? Lots of people end up doing postgraduate study at Oxbridge who did undergrad elsewhere.

She should reapply if she feels so strongly, but she does need to prepare herself for a second rejection, and try to make peace with what the alternative would be.

I was the only person on my course at Oxford that hadn't previously been rejected by Cambridge. So there are lots of people getting in on second shots.

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