Oxford aspirants part 5......the wait is over the results are in!!

[TangoWhiskyAlphaTango]

Thought I would start a new thread as its likely to fill up quick now.

So here we are after many months of applications, assessments and interviews. The wait is finally over for those with DC who have applied to Oxford. Those with Cambridge applicants have another 2 weeks to wait until the 25th Jan (bummer!!)

You have all been a lovely bunch to share this journey with and I wish your dc nothing but the BEST OF LUCK for tomorrow (and the 25th).

I've never heard that, what a strange thing for them to say. Could he possibly have misunderstood? Anyway, if this were me nd ds's school I would email the head of sixth form and UCAS to try and sort this out.

@SuffolkBargeWoman

Hi *@Chilldonaldchill* he was told to only apply to Oxford as that would increase his chances, and apply to the other places afterwards. *@Piggywaspushed* not yet, will that be the problem? Can he only put in other applications if he turns down the Oxford place?

Well that's definitely not true. Oxford would have no idea where anyone else has applied and every other student (I imagine!) would have applied to other universities. Sorry he got given such crazy advice 🤯 Can you look at his UCAS form with him? Maybe he needs to pay before putting the other choices in?

No, I assumed the problem would be he had accepted it. If he had accepted the Oxford offer, he wouldn't be able to use Extra. If he hasn't, then he should be able to add. I wonder if it's a glitch in UCAS.

This is very last minute , mind!

DS only put in three choices by Oct 15th and then added two more in early December. The thing that is bad advice is only putting one uni down as the cost is greater in the long run. Lots of people put three, and then two more at a later stage.

@Piggywaspushed

DS only put in three choices by Oct 15th and then added two more in early December. The thing that is bad advice is only putting one uni down as the cost is greater in the long run. Lots of people put three, and then two more at a later stage.

Yes DD wished she'd done this.

This is all great advice, thank you. The head of VIth form has left suddenly in the last week and another member of staff is trying to sort things out. We haven't seen the UCAS website yet, he's been too upset to sit down and work through it with us. Sounds like he has misunderstood the website tbh. We're looking for evidence of the advice he was given in writing, really angry if he was given incorrect advice.

Applying just for Oxford is not unknown, especially for very competitive subjects like PPE. At least three DD knew, took this approach. All three were very stromg academically, keen debators etc. Their thinking was that if they did not get Oxford first time round, the plan B would be to reapply with achieved grades, this time adding other competitive courses at Durham, UCL etc. They wanted to avoid rejecting a Durham offer following their first application then reapplying the following year.

All three got Oxford on first attempt.

But it requires you to be sure you want to go. Sounds like your DS received bad advice.

It's not incorrect advice ; it's just not the best advice, financially.

What is a bit bonkers is trying to put in more literally days before the deadline. That aside, he should be able to do it.

I also thought they could add on choices (up to 5) until the deadline regardless. Have you checked on the UCAS website because it doesnt sound right at all.

I meant incorrect in the sense that it will not maximise (or make any difference to) the chance of an Oxford offer. Not that no one should ever do it for any other reason iyswim.
But I still think it should be possible to apply at this stage albeit with the additional costs.

There's an X, Y and Z!

x= single entry. Costs more to enter more later
y= 3 entries (possibly 2). Can enter more for free on Extra later
z= standard entry of all your choices and one flat fee.

You need to apply for more than one place even if you are happy with the Oxford offer, in case DC doesn't get the grades? Weird advice from the school.
My DC has only applied to Cambridge, but that's because they're taking a gap year and would rather apply to other universities then, assuming they don't get a Cambridge offer or get one and don't make the grades.

Thank you everyone.
Fortunately grades are not a concern, on track for max IB points.
Hopefully getting other applications in isn't too time consuming once we've worked out the UCAS site.

@SuffolkBargeWoman

From a quick "surf" it looks as though for £4.50 you can change your son's application from a single course entry UCAS application to a multiple course UCAS application - this then should allow him to add extra courses before 26th Jan. After then there is a more complicated process called UCAS Extra where you add them one at a time after 25th Feb.

You should note that many competitive courses won't end up in Extra. Get applications in by 26th and he legally has to get equal treatment with any other applicant.

@Needmoresleep completely agree - they explicitly leave a month between 26th Jan and 25th Feb to allow unis to make offers and it is likely the most competitive courses will be full by then.

The good news is that it does look as though there is a means by which in the next 3-4 days for `@SuffolkBargeWoman son to add some courses but don't delay. UCAS do have a phone number you can ring too.

Hi everyone - wasn't intending to post about this, but firstly just to say that my DS1, too, has not yet added his other 4 choices to his UCAS form and is going to do so this weekend. He did this last year even closer to the deadline 😱😱 and all was fine. He's applying independently and it sounds as if other posters' schools have been giving out weird advice ...
Anyway, what I did intend to post about was that DS1 (rejected after 2 interviews for Oxford engineering) requested feedback on his rejection. We warned him that this might be a double-edged sword and indeed it is. The message said that he was on the offer shortlist until the final selection process and that post-interview he was in the upper bracket of candidates who didn't get offers but they can only accommodate so many students per year bla bla (or some such... in anyone's words, he was a near miss )
His rejection without interview last year was completely understandable (predicted grades not stellar, PAT results just around the threshold) This time the feedback stings, though, and is obviously not helping him to move on and feel enthusiastic about his other choices ... He isn't asking for my advice and I wouldn't know what to offer anyway (does anyone apply a THIRD time, or is that madness??) but it's left us both a bit stunned ..

I think your ds has shown immense gumption applying twice but from observing a friend long ago who didn't get an offer because they didn't think she was interested enough in her subject and who then applied again and who got in, only to hate the course from day 1... I would say time to find somewhere where the love is mutual.

I'd say that it's definitely time to move on. Who knows what the information even means - how many other shortlisted for interview candidates (50% of applicants) were in the upper bracket of those who didn't get offers (around 18% get offers for engineering)? He may have been one of 5 to 10 deemed to be in that bracket. And he would want to apply to a different college, where the outcome would be even more unpredictable. What is reasonably clear after 2 shots at Oxford is that several colleges have seen him as not being a front runner, so that a 3rd attempt would clearly be high risk, unless he does something over the gap year that makes him a much better candidate.

@kitnkaboodle My heart goes out to your DS and yourself as you support him. Near misses are so hard to process. He clearly is very bright - just too many v bright candidates. Unlike other Unis Oxford and Cambridge haven't increased their intake numbers as Uni applications have increased. Durham, Edinburgh, Manchester for instance are now much larger than they were.

I hope he's found some other courses and locations he likes the look of. He could of course if still interested in three years time look at Oxford for post grad? A cousin did this - went to Bristol for Computer Science after missing out on a C offer. After three years at Bristol headed to Cambridge for a Masters and is now just finishing off his PhD at C.

Thanks for your thoughts so far. It is such difficult info to process and I can't help but think that ignorance might have been bliss in this case! As others say, the feedback is rather seductive, but also meaningless without actual numbers to support it. And as my more pragmatic partner said (to me, not to DS!!) 'a near miss is still a miss'