Oxbridge Aspirants 2022...Part 2...applications submitted now the tense wait!

[TangoWhiskyAlphaTango]

Thought I would start a new thread as part one is nearly full and found thread one to be of great support.

So its deadline week this week for our applicants then the nervous wait begins to find out of they have made it to interview. DD applying for HSPS at Cambridge. We know it is a long shot but got to be in it to win it and she is very keen to try. Looking at the admissions info it does not look as though she will need to sit a test prior but all the best to those who will have to.

Sorry, thought this was another thread, I have just gatecrashed!

DS reports that he left out half the paper. 😂 Oh well.

DS said his NSAA (Nat Sci test) could have gone a lot better but It wasn’t completely awful. He knows applying is bit of a long shot but he has worked hard and I think he has quite enjoyed the experience so far. I am so proud of him whatever the outcome.

@MareofBeasttown
My daughter reports the same, although she’s still hopeful.
I have a degree in Economics and cannot see the point of most questions. Maybe I don’t remember things very well…

I've never heard DS be so down after a maths "test" but, like I said to him, if most people found it equally hard then it's not all lost. Sadly for him, he doesn't have any friends to discuss it with as he was the only one from his school. I think he said the answers are available tomorrow for them to look at.
Round two tomorrow with the TMUA.

There's some advice somewhere on the Oxford Maths website which basically says "Don't freak out if you find the MAT hard, it's supposed to be!"

@Geamhradh

Today's ODFODWTF moment...DD just rang to say her teacher can't see anywhere on the cover sheet to "declare this is the student's own work". (Wording from Admissions) just a box for her name and email address. I am guessing that by putting her name/email, she's effectively saying it's the student's own work and she's happy to be associated with that. Can anyone confirm that?

Just to say that last year dd's teacher was emailed separately to confirm that it was her own work - he didn't need to write anything on the submission itself.

DS also reckoned it was the hardest MAT paper he's done, and he's done a lot of practice papers.

a@Eightytwenty
@goodbyestranger
@Winestopsthewhine

Thanks all! About to start merging pdfs.

Gosh, the maths sounds hard. Good on all of your kids for going for it and fingers crossed. At least they will know everyone is in the same boat.

@VikingNorthUtsire

There's some advice somewhere on the Oxford Maths website which basically says "Don't freak out if you find the MAT hard, it's supposed to be!"

I like this!

Other MATters, they've all said it was super hard, so definitely all in the same boat. It'll make DS feel better if others missed bits out too. It's in the lap of the Gods now.

DD reports that BMAT was 'ok'. Which probably means 'quite good'. No issues at her school although it seems some test centres did have problems.

From the Oxford website (DD took comfort from this last year):

Don't worry if you find the past or specimen papers very difficult - they're supposed to be! All our tests are designed to stretch you further than you have been stretched before - most candidates will find them really hard.

Sounds like a stressful day for many then! Large G&Ts all round tonight then and toast it being done & dusted. Now the few weeks we will hopefully hear about interviews 🙏🏻

DS was luckily phlegmatic about it all, but he did say the actual paper was far tougher than the sample papers he did ( and he did a fair few).

I believe you can actually hire tutors for the tests but we didn't bother. Should we have? Seemed a colossal waste of money.

Puffalicious 2 years ago they were given 2 week's notice of their interviews. DD was told on Monday 25 Nov that she had to be there on Sunday 8 December for 3 nights for PPE. hat was fairly standard. Obviously yours will be online rather than in person. Someone from Brasenose was very good at posting on TSR which subject interviews were being emailed on which day.

DD reports that the cleverest boy in her school found the NSAA almost impossible today.

DS came out saying he felt good about the MAT. He found it easier than some of the past papers but I guess that’s going to vary depending on their strengths. He didn’t finish it all all either - left a few questions.

I suspect the tests will be relied on more this year to differentiate candidates as this year's cohorts have less impartial GCSE grades and who knows what will happen with A levels.

Thanks hoghgyni

So we think interview emails will be sent by the end of the month, then?

@Puffalicious

So we think interview emails will be sent by the end of the month, then?

DD knows a girl who had an interview invite on 11th November last year maybe it is wishful thinking that they may come in sooner rather than later though. It HAS to be by the end of the month though surely if interviews begin December? At least they can breathe over Xmas......but then theres mocks when they get back. Soooo much pressure!

Thanks Tango we would hope they'd be sooner rather than later.

Thankfully DS already has his Highers so less pressure. Advanced Higher prelims do take place in January, but less pressure since he already has unconditionals in the bag. A level mocks must be tough pressure.

A small number of Oxford interview invites are usually sent out in the middle of November (Biology, Fine Art, Music), then it's towards the end of the third week/ into the fourth week for those subjects interviewing in the first week of the cycle, followed by the subjects interviewing in week two. Medicine always knows which day invites are sent because applicants are notified ahead of that date. That said, things can change, but that's been the form for very many years.

Very few applicants for Oxford Medicine are surprised about invite/ rejection, once BMAT results are released, because there's a formula which allows them to fairly accurately predict whether they will or won't get an invite (GCSE results mashed up with BMAT results). No other subject is in the same position.