Applying to Oxbridge for 2023 intake

[riverpebbles]

Not sure if there is already a thread on this? My son is hoping to apply to Cambridge for Computer Science for October 2023 start.

Will Olympiad results guarantee a place in Oxford Physics? I heard from Wilsons School that two students (top 12 in the UK Physics Olympiad) will study in Oxford next year (2023 ?)
www.wilsons.school/news/hub/?id=olympiad-results

@User11010866 I doubt it very much. However, if a particular school got 2 students in the top 12, they are obviously very able Physicists, so likely good candidates for Oxford. However, the Olympiad is separate from the Oxford application.

@User11010866 I’m guessing that school did the online Olympiad with two 30 min papers out of a total of 40 marks? My DS’s school did the paper version last week of an hour and 50 marks. I can’t seem to find out why there are two versions and why my DS did the latter. I did put a post out, but haven’t had any replies. He got pretty much double the points of the student who gained 2nd place to him.

www.bpho.org.uk/bpho/as-challenge

@Thedogisdrivingmemad

Thank you Juja! Fantastic and very helpful.

A pleasure - PM me if there is anything specific I can help with.

Also worth looking at colleges and check if they have full time fellows (not just a college lecturer) in the languages your DC is interested in.

MFL do seem to take considerable care to give applicants a chance to be interviewed at a range of colleges. Both my DC and her friend from school were handed on and interviewed a week later with tutors from a further two colleges and both received offers from colleges other the ones they applied to.

@Thedogisdrivingmemad sorry I should addd our experience is only at Oxford - I can't comment on the Cambridge process.

Geography at Oxford is the aim here. My dc has secured a place on a summer school school there.

@Cubangal if you haven't already have a look these resources might be useful. Good luck to your DS, great he's on a summer school.

a) Geography admissions feedback www.mansfield.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/inline-files/Geography%20Admissions%20Feedback%202021-22_0.pdf

b) Stats on which colleges have lots of applicants - geography students it seems only get interviewed at one college - some reshuffling occurs before interview public.tableau.com/views/UniversityofOxford-CollegeSuccessRates2020/CollegeSuccessRates?:embed=y&:display_count=yes&:showTabs=y&:showVizHome=no

c) look at the list of fellows and their research interests - e.g. if you're not interested in glaciers don't choose a college where it is the Tutorial Fellow's passion! www.geog.ox.ac.uk/staff/

Also for PS illustrate reading beyond A Level -- a fellow told my DS they are expecting applicants to have gone beyond Tim Marshall's Prisoners of Geography.

Do PM me if you've any more specific queries my DS is in his first year Geography.

@Cubangal apologies just seen you were gender neutral in your reference - no offence intended - just brain befuddled by covid

Hi Cubangal. DS is also Geog (although Cambridge). Agree with Juja who gives some great advice up there. Don’t mention ‘Prisoners Of Geography’ on the PS as apparently its the most quoted book on the PSs these days

Some ideas for your DS could be -

• Enter the Young Geographer of the Year. They don’t need to win obviously, but it can be a focus for extra research and maybe the PS?

• There is something called ‘Routes Journal’. It’s for A-level and undergraduate geographers and, with a bit of effort and originality, they can get a paper published. They send in a draft; Routes editors let you know if there’s any potential in it and, if so, give them guidance to get something up to ‘publishable’ standard.

• There used to be something called the Dukes Essay Competition (not sure if it still runs)? But, if it does, it invites students to write an essay (in any academic discipline) in response to a choice of about ten one-word titles. There will be a few he can apply geographical perspectives to. This competition is good for anyone applying for anything.

• The John Locke Essay Prize’ is run by the JL Institute at Oxford. I would definitely recommend this to any social sciences / humanities applicant. There is no specific geography category in this (categories are - politics, economics, law, philosophy, psychology, theology) but he could approach a question from a geo- political perspective, for instance. They look for original approaches. They give commendations and high commendations to a good number and, if they win in a category, is a scholarship of £2,000 towards any of their gap year or summer programmes. It should be open now and the closing date is June (or it used to be). Also, there is an awards ceremony in one of the Oxford colleges for all commendations and winners which is a great experience. They can even attend the whole weekend there and there’s a series of seminars and lectures depending on their focus area.

I’m sure there are other essay competitions too.

Is he doing an EPQ? This can be an excellent way of demonstrating research beyond the A-level syllabus (plus it’s worth another half an A-level).

I agree with Juja - Geography is a very broad subject so do check the specialisms of the DoS at any college you apply to!

Good luck and pm me if I might be able to help?

DS’s 6th form has organised an overnight trip to Oxford for its open day in June and will be doing similar for Cambridge once they finalise the details.
There seems to be plenty on offer judging by the previous years info online about what is available when and what is required to be booked in advance. He’s looking forward to it admins over the hols we’re going to work out which colleges he thinks will suit him best to visit before any applications are made.

@OnePlusOneEquals my DC found the Open Day at Oxford really useful. He also went with his school. Lots of the colleges have tutors available to meet on a one to one basis or in small groups. He looked up which colleges had tutors whose research interests that chimed with his academic interests then honed in on those colleges. They had info on site, you had to trawl through individual web site so a bit of a faff. He picked up some useful tips for preparing and wider reading for the PS. As importantly (to him) he also managed to get lots of free lunches by moving quickly between colleges!

Can I join please? DS is hoping to do Classics at Cambridge. Any advice very gratefully received!

juicy0 DD4 is a second year at Oxford reading Classics, but is on Course II (her school didn't offer Latin or Greek or even Ancient History so doing it from scratch, so her experience may be of no help).

Good to hear @Juja I think he’s looking forward to it. I’m currently doing the brunt of the investigations with his requirements/interests/preferences in mind. There will only be so much he can do in a day, so will try and work out a list of colleges in order for him to try and view. You’re right, there is a lot of info out there, but it does take some filtering.
Welcome @juicy0 Classics is fascinating. Is your DS currently doing Latin or Greek, or is he looking to apply and start the course there where he is a beginner?

Happy to find this thread, my DS is hoping to apply to Oxbridge for Maths and / or Physics, we are hoping to come to the UK for him to visit both this summer.
Although we are English, we've lived in the US for a long time so he will also be going through the process of applying to several Ivy League schools at the same time. Both are completely different processes so gearing up for a very stressful few months!

@OnePlusOneEquals - I agree there is a huge amount of investigation and filtering to do and I spent considerable time doing this then nudging DC to explore certain websites and taking them through the stats and options. DC are inevitably busy with A Levels and life. I've been through the process in twice in the last three years and have concluded that schools do what they can but in the end teachers quite understandably do not have the capacity to provide the level of individual support that the process requires. My DC were both in an excellent state school with a track record of successful applications. Where our DCs' school helped enormously was marking practice Oxford entrance papers.

Some people may consider this helicopter parenting, I instead liken it to being a mentor for someone seeking a job. For a new job you don't just rock up to the interview and expect to get the job, you do your research first on whose interviewing, the values and ethos of the organisation. If a DC has independently decided they want to give the process a shot then I was keen to support them in that process.

A key part of the journey for us was spending equal time on other uni options, visiting them and making sure they were equally excited by some of their other choices and realise the odds for Oxford and Cambridge are high - and crazily high in some subjects. So in addition to O or C select another stretch target or two and then one or two places that are likely to offer something eminently achievable for your DC. The key is that at the end of the process all DC feel they are firming a Uni they are positive about and have a good insurance choice they would also be happy at. Overall apply for a range of good positive options rather than second bests.

Sorry I wasn't very clear the odds of rejection are high / odds of success are low - hopefully you knew what I meant - also please excuse the typos

@Juja thanks for that, I get exactly what you mean. Our kids have too much on with school work, exams, life and extra/super curriculars to have time to sift through stuff too.
Like you, I’m not be all and end all Oxbridge, we’ve others lined up that he’s looking at and understands that things are even more difficult now due to the covid fallout and backlog of previous years students on gap years and so forth. It’s not easy! But, they have to have goals and they have to try - because if you don’t give it a shot then you’ll never know! It could be a lucky shot or just a period of time that is a valued learning experience……the process doesn’t go to waste.

@BackToWhereItAllBegan

My DD (Irish/US citizen who has always lived in Ireland) applied to Oxford and US colleges at the same time for 2021 entry.
Both are time consuming but it did mean that there were lots of possibilities that she would have been thrilled with.
A nonbinding early action offer from Georgetown in December meant she wasn’t upset by being rejected by Oxford post interview in the new year.
After Ivy Day she decided on Brown and is very happy there.

Hi @OnePlusOneEquals @goodbyestranger and everyone else!
DS is currently studying Classics, Latin and History at A level and did Ancient Greek GCSE so hopefully that will stand him in good stead.
I agree wholeheartedly that we are able to help with research regarding the application process without it being helicopter parenting, there is only so much schools can do at the research stage I think. I also agree that encouraging them to see other uni options positively is a good thing as the chance of success is limited, although the odds for Classics are lower than for some of the more popular courses.
DS has a virtual event run by Cambridge later this week and an in person subject exploration afternoon at Oxford later this month which he is looking forward to.
Have your DC been advised about ways to increase the likelihood of a successful application?

Thanks @ChimneyPot My DS spent the summer at Brown (pre-covid) and it's definitely on his list, especially as it seems Brown don't require the same amount of general education classes in the first year. He's ready to move on from English and History as soon as possible!
We hope to visit Oxford and Cambridge in the summer, we've just visited the North Eastern Ivys and Stanford so we're certainly racking up the air miles!
He's lucky to have college counselor's who are very experienced in both Countries application processes, but there's a lot of work ahead for him this year

juicy0 is your DS intending to apply to Oxford or Cambridge? I'm assuming that's he's at an independent school?

I may be being dense here but also: what do you mean by Classics, Latin and History at A level?

@goodbyestranger his preference is Cambridge at the moment.
@OnePlusOneEquals asked whether my DS is currently studying Latin or Greek. His 3 A levels are History, Classics and Latin and he did a GCSE in Ancient Greek last year.