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!

Oh yes Pembroke is on DD's list too. She's meeting with her old sixth from head Tuesday as she wasn't considering academic university when they did all the Oxbridge seminars/prep last year for Y13s and though she did a PS it wasn't relevant to what she wants to do now. I'm hoping the head will be able to steer her in the right direction!
Neither of us are convinced if the intensity of the degree is worth it - though the research she has put in about the merits of each college seems to suggest she's up for it!
Bath open day (Bristol too if we can manage it) this Saturday. Then Cambridge on the following Friday. Then Exeter on Oct 7. U of Herts (for animation as still torn) Oct 14. AUB (animation again) in November. Then I'm done! Already been as far as Falmouth before summer for open days.

Wishing him luck but please make sure he realises that most likely he won’t get in, especially for PPE, as most don’t. Of course try hard and you never know but seen some people obsessed and in the end taking rejection very badly. Grades in GCSE should be fine but hoping for him that maths is one of the higher ones as that seems quite important for PPE these days - much more so than in years gone by.

@Hertsessex Yes, I'm very aware of that. We've talked about it a lot as I have a few friends whose children have been quite scarred by the experience of not getting in.

He gets it, intellectually, but I think once you've had a look around the city and the colleges it's easy to become a bit fixated. I talk a lot about other universities at the moment!

Yes I get that. My DD1 was almost like that and then didn’t even get an interview for PPE. DD2 starting Cambridge HSPS this term. One of her friends didn’t get interview and is still devastated. She and her stupid parents built her whole life plan around Oxbridge. She was even having mock interviews a year before. Sounds like you have the right good supporting attitude.

Dd was probably more upset than she should have been about getting turned down by Edinburgh on her 18th birthday when we were in the College grounds where she has spent the last 3 years. We had taken her there to help her realise that she did have an offer and she did deserve it. We took her to the Turf to commiserate. She had been convinced that Edinburgh would have either been her firm or insurance choice.

Encourage him to go for it @WobblyLondoner . PPE places are competitive but someone gets them like most Oxbridge degrees. Oxford isn't looking for perfection.

Came here to start this thread if it wasn't here already! Have not read the entire thread (sorry).
DD is applying to Oxford to do Classics and French; she's picked a preferred college, one of the smaller ones, but if she gets an offer I don't think she'll care too much where it is.
She's not worried about the work when she gets there and the collegiate lifestyle will really suit her, but she's got a dose of impostor syndrome at the moment. Her grades will be fine, she'll be fine with the admissions tests (she's been working through old ones as practice), but had a wake-up call on a residential placement as to the level of prep work she needed to do, especially for the personal statement.

We did the open day rounds in Y12. She'd be thrilled to get in to Oxford, but really liked a couple of the others we've visited as well. We know she'll have an amazing time wherever she goes, so there's no pressure from us. Autumn's just going to be a bit full-on with the application process, trying to finish coursework ASAP and normal life trundling along. 😅

DS3 drafting his PS at the moment. Has spent the summer doing some Chem Eng work experience and a few Nat Sci past papers. Not sure how valuable the older format ones are but I think he’s done all the recent ones. Anyone else’s DCs doing the NSAA?
I’m panicking a bit about the deadline for registering for the assessments - he’ll need large print papers so registration is 2 weeks earlier. He spoke to his sixth form college who were “Oh yeah - it’s early for everyone this year”??? Trying not to interfere but…
Have a few open days coming up to encourage his interest in some other unis - Nottingham? Imperial? Manchester? He wasn’t keen on Newcastle. He realises his chances of C are slim but he’s struggling to get excited by anywhere else.
Having read last year’s thread I’m slightly apprehensive about the coming months, but hoping I can be supportive without becoming overly invested.

@ladsmum my dd will be taking the NSAA.

Mine too @ladsmum and @ShanghaiDiva. Past paper scores are not looking good at the moment unfortunately. The timing is very tight and there are some topics he hadn't covered. He's poring over the spec this week. Ds thinks he'll also be putting down Imperial, Warwick, Bath and either Southampton/UCL.

Back to school properly today. He has a lot more free periods this year so I'm hoping he'll get his homework/revision started then.

@ladsmum it’s quite scary isn’t it when the sixth form don’t fill you with confidence that they are on top of it all! DD has been told by two separate people now that she has to include all of her university choices on her UCAS application for the October deadline if she is applying to Oxbridge whereas I know that’s not the case and the others can be added later. It concerns me a little that they are giving out incorrect information.

@Rollergirl11 i get the impression a lot of schools push for all 5 to be submitted together - maybe because it’s easier for them from an admin pov? My Dd is likely to just put down the ones she Is sure of initially, especially as she is struggling to come up with more than 3 atm.

I don't think it makes any difference in terms of the school's workload - after the form has been submitted, don't you just log in and add extra unis as and when you like? This year the fee is the same whether you apply to one or five, so there isn't even that bit of admin to do.

Yes I just thought maybe they feel obliged to follow up and remind students to submit their other choices. But maybe not. Regardless, I agree it doesn’t seem widely known that you don’t have submit it all together.

Yes, perhaps they just want to tick people off the list as complete. But really it's none of their business how many unis a student applies to, or when, as long as they meet the school's internal deadline for the submission of the form. DD will add a few of her choices after autumn open days I think, which seems very sensible, so I will be annoyed if she comes under any pressure to choose between unis she hasn't even seen yet, for no good reason apart from ticking off a list!

When DS applied, I had his UCAS login for various reasons, so was able to keep an eye on it, useful as he was hopeless at checking emails. I'm sure I won't have that luxury with DD, and she is just as hopeless, so I will have to sit tight and try not to annoy her by asking daily whether any offers have arrived 🤦‍♀️

Hmm, yes, I was under the impression UCAS required that they all had to be added together - but then, DD is keen to get all the admin done in as few steps as possible, so it makes no difference to her.

On the subject of the PS, is anyone else worried that their DC will be scuppered by teen Attitude? DD is pretty good as a rule, but is adamant she knows what needs to go in, and isn't open to suggestions of possible boosts. Over summer she's been teaching herself the Latin and Greek GCSE courses (no option to do it in school/college near us) but doesn't think it's relevant as she'd still start as a beginner at uni. Whereas to me this clearly shows motivation and aptitude.

Similarly, there's so much available in the way of podcasts, foreign language TV/film, documentaries etc to support MFL that this seems to me to be a bare minimum - particularly in the aspects that most interest her, which aren't the famous texts. But again, DD knows better, and refuses to look for these, on grounds that it's not how she prefers to learn. She does have literature in both subjects she intends to read but they've been queued behind A-level work and other Ox prep.

When I was applying (not Oxbridge), I devoured everything on TV on my subject, went on a placement, did evening classes and relevant voluntary work, and was quite starstruck to meet the lecturers whose books I'd read. I know DD is really into her subjects, but I don't think she's going to be interviewed at this rate.

On the subject of the PS, is anyone else worried that their DC will be scuppered by teen Attitude?

🙋‍♀️

DD has read some books and she's done a MOOC but I'm not sure how that will translate into a relevant and well constructed PS. Hopefully she has a plan but we are going to talk about it on Friday. It's quite difficult as there isn't another course quite like her Oxford one, so she needs to try and cater for some different options.

Teaching yourself GCSE Latin and Greek should definitely go in, surely that shows exactly what they're looking for!

@TenSheds
Maybe explain (if you haven't already) that the PS is not really about learning or preparing for the course, it's about maximising the chance of getting an offer / interview. So tactics are key - what do they want to see and how can she show it to them?

There's plenty of time next summer to learn and prepare for the course if she gets an offer!

As the parent of One Who Forgot to Apply Elsewhere a couple of years ago, can I just say that the schools might have a point here?

As someone with a similarly strong-willed dd, who didn't get into Oxford but v close, last year, I think unfortunately you just have to butt out. Frustrating as it may be, you can't and shouldn't engineer a PS for your child, it shows and it has to come from their heart. TBH I don't think the PS matters so much for Oxbridge, it's just something they might use to spark a convo at interview but it's not a deal-breaker, it will come down to test results and interview and contextual - it's other universities where it's considered much more carefully as they don't interview. Right now I'm trying not to get involved with dd2 about her A level options, starting this week, with her refusing to do the obviously more Oxbridge-friendly options. Her life, her choice.

@singingstones my thoughts exactly. DD has Warwick open day a few days before the UCAS deadline and potentially Leeds the following weekend so she won’t know for certain what her other 4 options will be until then.

@TenSheds regarding the PS, is it relevant to the course she’s applying for? And remember they can’t just list what they have done but what they have learnt/how it is beneficial to their studies. If it is relevant and she has enough room then I would stick it in. DD has quite a lot of supra curricular things in her PS currently. But I don’t think she has enough book references and given she’s applying for English lit this is important. So I think she is sacrificing one of the less relevant supra curricular stuff to cater for this.

As someone with a similarly strong-willed dd, who didn't get into Oxford but v close, last year, I think unfortunately you just have to butt out.

I agree with not engineering a DC's PS and that they must own it. But if you can see it's not quite doing the job I think it's ok to say so. Whether or not they listen is up to them of course, and hopefully they will be well supported at school even if they ignore their mum. But I would not like DD to miss out on an offer because her PS was weak, when I might have helped her improve it if I had only said something.

Talking of personal statements, do you think a 'weaker' statement might be overlooked by unis that are not 'top tier' particularly if the predicted grades exceed the typical offer ie; 3 x A star predicted going for a 3 A course? We got so many mixed messages about the usefulness of PS on the various open days.

Yes, @singingstones this is my thinking too. I'm absolutely not going to interfere beyond that, other than proofreading if she wants. @Rollergirl11 Classics as a joint degree, so yes, quite relevant! @Enriquetta Thank you for your sensible words. I've just been catching up with earlier posts which indicated that the PS has less weight than you might think. We are in an area and school that has quite low Oxbridge admissions, so that may work in her favour too.

Of course, its fine to "advise" on the PS but if dc want to do it their way you have to back off and not loose sleep over it, it's good they have their own approach, though it may not seem that way.

From what I've seen with dd's friends, places like Durham, St Andrew's, Edinburgh, the London universities do look at the PS when making choices between candidates - they have the pick fo the bunch so have to decide somehow. The rest - if you're predicted 3 A stars and are not contextual - not so much, more likely to go on grades alone. But every uni and department within that uni wil claim something different ... very hard to know what the truth is. @Tensheds that location is to your dd's advantage so please don't worry too much!