Oxbridge applications 2023 mutual support thread

[Riverpebble]

A new, friendly thread.

Thanks for the new thread!
DD sat TSA yesterday and as others she said it was harder than previous ones. She had to do as well Section 2 and she felt very confident that it went well.
Now we'll wait for interview. She knows the ods of getting into Oxford are not good (300 applicants for 33 spaces) but she has 2 others that she'll be happy with.
No offers from other universities yet.. hopefully soon!

Well done all DCs who sat the exams yesterday. Irrespective of the outcome, its amazing to see so many youngsters motivated and pushing themselves to aim high.

Does anyone know when interview offers arrive?

Dd having been initially calm about exam got a bit agitated as the evening went on saying she could have done better. C'est la vie.

@Codfishermen the following link gives some information depending on your subject

www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/guide/interviews/interview-timetable2

One lad I teach told me that the C college he has applied to are doing in-person interviews. He thinks he comes over better that way; I was too tactful to reply (a first for me!)

Thanks v much Physing I was wondering when they hear if they have an interview. Presumably third or last week in November?

The Physics dept are saying those that sat the PAT are unlikely to hear before Mon 28th Nov.
www.physics.ox.ac.uk/study/undergraduates/how-apply/admissions-procedures-physics-courses

Ahh sorry yes - teaches me not to read your message properly. I know for Physics on their site it said not before 28th Nov. I wonder if each of the subject sites state the date

Haha Malbec!

Does anyone know when they find out how the LNAT test for law went? Will it be before any interview, or the only other thing can find is it may not be until Feb which will be after any oxbridge offers

Hello there 'new friendly thread'

Hope you will be 'friendly' to all, We deserve it.

My DD still in recovery from Covid, having some lung issues but still sat the TSA.

Rock on I guess all. Clue is in the user name.

Good luck all.

My two DD's who took the LNAT for Oxford didn't get their results themselves until after offers. They didn't have a clue how they'd done until then, it wasn't discussed at interview.

Interesting GBS.
Thanks for the info!

When D1 applied for 2020 entry, the email inviting her for interview arrived on the evening of 29th November, she had to be in Oxford from 10th - 14th Dec, so 11 days notice.

Oxford has an interview timetable www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/guide/interviews/interview-timetable2
They say that you may only be given a week's notice of being shortlisted.

As others have said, O and C have very different approaches to interviews - Cambridge interview about 85% of applicants, while Oxford aim to interview about 3 people for every place, which is less than half the applicants.

D1 is now in her 3rd year of a History Joint degree at Oxford. Fwiw, she found the HAT interesting but tricky, had no idea how she had done. She could not submit the written work she had wanted to (long and horrifying story, haha), thought one interview had gone quite well and she really enjoyed it, wasn't sure about the other one. (She had one interview for each subject and then had to stay in Oxford for a few days in case she was sent to another college to interview - she wasn't).

I understand that this years interviews are online.

Not my preference or my DD's but how it seems to be.

More inclusive I understand. Especially for those with Covid around, and/or not able to travel, and/or from other countries and continents?

It's not about inclusivity. Oxford went online for the 2021 cohort because of Covid.

Plenty of tutors seem to much prefer doing the interviews in person. There are as many arguments for online being less inclusive as there are for it being more so. I think that the idea about not being freaked by peer pressure pales compared to the fact that interviews do actually replicate a tutorial; the tutors are smart enough to gauge the individual that is before them and adjust accordingly.

I genuinely can't remember any of mine coming back from interview and saying that state school applicants from eg northern comps (that's using northern comps proverbially, no offence intended whatsoever) had shrunk into a corner. People just seemed to get on fraternally and to bond over raised eyes at the inevitable over confident one or two who liked to speak louder than everyone else and air opinions. It was a good few days out of school and just generally a good all round experience. Such a shame. I get the issues with distance from Scotland but in fact DD4, even having to connect via a ferry from the Western Isles, now finds it no less hassle to get back to Oxford than she did when we were in Devon. Two to three trains either way.

Hopefully Oxford will go back to face to face interviews next year.

& of course it cuts costs.

Mutual support (the spelling)

Goodbye - you need to get used to the fact that actually others have other opinions/views and expertise and you can learn from us!

Have and DCs got any offers yet from the Scottish University’s - DS applied to Aberdeen as his back up and I was wandering when he is likely to hear anything.

Thank you - that's really helpful

Nothing yet from St As, Edinburgh or Glasgow for comp sci (Scottish applicant). It's going to be a long wait, I fear.

What subject is that for DeadDonkey? Aberdeen is our nearest uni and city......

It’s for PPE. I’ve never been to Aberdeen but it looks like a beautiful city.

Shows you what I know! I had no idea the interview process could potentially be spread out over a few days. This is one big learning curve for me! Thanks