Oxbridge 2024 Entry

[Lightsabre]

Thought I'd start a thread for parents of dc considering Oxbridge applications for entry in Oct 2024 (I don't think there's a current one)? Past threads have been so informative and supportive and hopefully this thread will offer that too. Please feel free to add to the thread if your dc have recently had experience of the process, good, bad or ugly!

Don’t know about St J prices but make sure comparing like with like in terms of rooms. DD off to Pembroke and she was asked which price band she wanted - I think the most expensive was 50% more than cheapest so big range.

@Hertsessex DD was comparing to the other colleges at Cambridge. Obviously it varies from college to college but she compared:

1. Banding vs Ballot systems for allocation
2. A whole year room vs term-only (which does seem to be a Cambridge thing only, Oxford doesn’t appear to offer that option)

StJ’s was £7500 pa which is up there with Oxford. Her preferred college is significantly cheaper (£141pw) but the open day revealed that the realistic chances of an accepted application from a non-state school is quite low. She’s keeping an open mind about it all.

I just meant comparing the same kind of room - is she comparing the possible cheapest at SJC vs others? Ensuite vs ensuite etc. Must admit we didn't even check but was surprised when got the Pembroke options at the wide range available even to first years. I actually went to SJC Oxford and I seem to remember all first year rooms being very similarly priced - albeit a very long time ago! :)

@Hertsessex i think it is pretty impossible to compare in all honesty, but I would say Cambridge did seem to be more upfront about accommodation costs than Oxford. But then again, Cambridge colleges are more autonomous about selection….😩

@Hertsessex did your DD apply to Pembroke? We really liked it at the open day and I think it has a good reputation for English. The only thing was no en-suite rooms for first years. Do you know how many share?

Yes she applied to Pembroke. Seems to be a great place. Apparently there are some ensuites in first year but not many and of course more expensive. DD seems to think it is 2-4 sharing depending on room so not too bad.

I might have already put this on here but DD found 'Oxbridge Launchpad' really useful.

She was paired with a mentor, a second year Oxford student doing the course she was applying for. Her mentor gave advice on her PS, gave DD a mock interview and was really useful with other tips.

It is free and aimed at state school pupils.

DS's school had an Oxbridge evening, albeit several years ago. The admissions tutor from Oxford said that PS were not as important as the MAT, PAT, HAT etc. They are the first filter. PS is more important if there isn't a test.

the open day revealed that the realistic chances of an accepted application from a non-state school is quite low

The success rate is almost identical between independent and state applications according to the official Cambridge Admissions Statistics: https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/undergrad_admissions_statistics_2022_cycle.pdf

There's a breakdown of typical costs by college on the Oxford University website
https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/colleges/do-I-pay-to-live-in-my-college
My D1 paid £1.4K per term in first year with shared bathrooms, £1.8K this year for an ensuite room, that covered 9 weeks per term, so allowing a few days either side. Extra nights charged at vac res rates of £23 per night.

That's really useful and good of them to put in this format. Please to see my old college SJC as the cheapest :) Wonder if something similar for Cambridge. We didn't let this factor into our thinking but see how on the margin it could matter if money extremely tight.

I don’t understand the Balliol entry. How can the most common rent be £2,575 more than the average cost of accommodation?! No other college has such a big discrepancy, so I don’t believe Balliol have actually answered the same question the other colleges thought they were answering? I know they provide accommodation for all years if wanted, so how cheap is the cheapest accommodation if the “average” and “most common” figures are so completely different? The difference cannot be explained by 2 extra weeks of accommodation costs, as that just takes it to £5,075. So what is the actual difference in meaning between column 1 and column 2? And do the food costs make sense? Why do the costs at some colleges exclude breakfast, or even breakfast and lunch, when they do actually provide catering for those meals if wanted??

I don’t think any colleges at either provide included food when they say catering - it’s more that there is always the option of eating in hall/canteen for these meals (and paying a very subsidized price)…none are catered in the meaning of “your room cost includes 3 meals a day”…

I think the food figures cover very different options! Before D1 started at Oxford, she was sent 'How much it costs' info and she never spent anything near the top of the range figure. At her college, hall was PAYG, with a minimum amount per term included in the battels bill. (This goes on the Bod card) She could then top that up as needed. Food was pretty good and very reasonably priced.

Ds now has his predicted grades - 3 x A star and A for FM. Others in his class were predicted A star for F with the same or less end of year /class work results so he may be borderline. I think they've picked up that maths isn't his favourite subject so there isn't a lot of enthusiasm for it!

He's not sure if the A for FM will hamper his application but will still go for it. He's now wavering between Oxf Chemistry and Cam Nat Sci. Needs to make his mind up quickly. Would be easier on the PS if he were to do Chem I think.

How is everyone else getting on?

No predicteds for DD until next term as she is waiting on AS results. 17 August might be the end of her Oxbridge aspirations if things don't go well 😬
Pros of that scenario - not such a rush to apply, pressure off a bit next term
Cons - finding another suitable course for the UCAS form, plus her next favourite has a higher standard offer 🤦‍♀️

He got his 3 A star prediction a couple of weeks ago now. They haven’t given a predicted grade for his EPQ but he was told the first draft would be around an A standard so hopefully the amendments he makes and his presentation won’t bring it down below that.

He has been set so much work to do over summer. He has to write 5-6 paragraphs (basically all) of his History coursework essay, plus loads of Oxbridge tasks. I can’t see him doing all of them, so will prioritise the source based tasks and just ignore the “learn a completely new history topic by reading at least 2 books and 2 articles and write an essay on it”. Maths has them teaching themselves at least half of the Y12 stats topics from a text book as for some reason they haven’t covered any stats so far. They will be tested on it in their first lesson back and have a pure maths review test the week after. Even Latin - where they know the whole class are going on a 2 week residential Latin Camp - have set tasks.

So it definitely won’t be the relaxing summer he planned and it is a relief he is only likely to be working at his new job 2-3 days a week.

From discussions at various open days, I got the impression that most universities place very little weight on predicted grades. It certainly didn’t feature much in the criteria Oxford have published for decisions on interview for physics. If your DC is applying to Oxford, I think working on getting a good score in the admissions test is far more valuable than worrying too much about an A versus A* predicted grade.

My DC was finally persuaded to try an old PAT test yesterday - maths was apparently fine but physics harder.

@Jaxx that sounds tough on your son. My DC’s school covers the whole Maths A level syllabus in Year 12 for those doing Maths and FM, and then FM in year 13, so DC is in a good position maths wise re Oxbridge entrance tests.

I think DD will get predicted 3 A*s.

Year 12 exam papers still coming back but from what she’s said it sounds that way.

Don't think they’re being set much specific homework over the summer although English and History NEAs need starting at least and then there will be admissions test preparation as she’s applying for History and Spanish at Oxford so will be doing HAT and MLAT (and both on the same day!)

Blimey Miranda that is hardcore!

I know - she’s not too impressed! I think one of her friends also has two admissions tests but not on the same day. As they will both be 18 by then, after DDs day of pain they’re planning to go out for cocktails!

Haha! I like their style 🍸

@InvestedButNotOverinvested
dd has also covered all of a level maths so maths paper for nat sci is relatively straightforward, but time is the key issue. She has maths and chemistry homework for the summer, but no biology.

Warning for Oxford physicists PAT covers all of a level syllabus

@Jaxx and @MirandaWest, that sounds tough for both of your dc. For the early entrants it doesn't look like this will be much of a break.

Ds school run Maths and FM in parallel over both years. If ds was lucky enough to get to interview stage, that might be tricky as there might be stuff he hadn't been taught.

@InvestedButNotOverinvested (love your user name btw) - there isn't an entrance test for Oxf Chemistry so I suspect the predicted grades and teacher ref might be more significant. Who knows.

Hasn't not hadn't