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!

Also - minor point - my post didn’t advocate to others that their DC should only go to their top choice open day; I merely observed that that was what mine did for entirely valid reasons, and it worked out fine using the excellent websites. Therefore there was no advice which was bad!

Or not useful, or whatever you said.

Im in Bristol at the open day and my daughter has disappeared down a rabbit hole (second hand bookshop). If it was me I'd write off this uni just because of the damn hills! My 60+ bod ain't liking it in this 30degree heat!
Thanks goodness Cambridge is flat and it will be cooler next week.

I don't think DD1 went to any open days. She did a Women into STEM course at Cambridge, so there was little point in going again. We did visit the cities over summer holidays as part of a family trip to get a feel for each place, but to be honest, the price of rail tickets and the logistics of getting from rural East Devon to eg York or Durham by public transport made it unworkable. Both DDs went to offer holder days, and that was more useful. They also found that going to interviews gave them an idea of the vibe of a place, but I appreciate that's not helpful for students trying to narrow down their choices.

The hills definitely helped DD decide against Bristol

Absolutely Malbec. The rail fares would have been extortionate for the other unis my lot were interested in and East Devon really doesn’t have the easiest of connections even when there aren’t slips on the line.

My DD didn’t ‘do’ any open days or offer holder’s days.
She did research the course details of the universities she was interested in applying to- although that was largely driven by the fact she wanted to have a ‘moving away from home’ experience and did not want to be ‘stuck in the middle of nowhere, with nowt to do’ - in her words!
For some folk, my DD’s ‘lived experience’ of applying to Oxbridge may well come across as ‘duff advice’
For others, not so.
Context is everything, though?

My ds did not attend any open days either. He was quite determined he wanted to go to Warwick and as the offer of 38 was below his predicted grade of 43 (IB) he was confident he would get in, and he did.
DD has visited Bath and Cambridge, not on official visits but as part of our summer holiday and is not visiting anywhere else. We also live in East Devon.

I think the usefulness or not of open days depends partly on how clear they are about what they want to study, and on how much room there is for nuance in the course structure. DD has found that a couple were a bit different from the online descriptions. But she is looking at courses which are not straightforward, and we have good public transport links to quite a few unis, so day trips are feasible and fun.

I do think there's a lot of value in visiting. We went to one London university and had a very frank conversation with the head of the department. Plus there was a significant difference between what we thought the course was to what he said it was - so much so I went back to the course description as I though I must have missed something but no mention of it there. It was a very good experience even if it was a no.
Today at Bristol my daughter enjoyed the sample lecture, but found the university too spread out with no central heart. We didn't 'meet' anyone to tell her more about the course. No student ambassadors to answer any questions. Online it looks great, but being there was more informative.

DH had the time and inclination to take DD to loads of open days (I went to a few with them too, they were fun). They were helpful to her - she'd not really been seriously considering Cambridge before she visited, some of the others gave quite a different impression in the flesh than they had 'on paper', in various ways.
And then all 5 of her choices interviewed as well!

...there's no right or wrong way of doing this, just what suits you and your DC.

Yes that’s exactly right Errol.

DD was in a similar situation to your DD when applying for 2022 entry.

In the end she applied for maths at Cambridge, and maths and physics (or theoretical physics) at four other unis - but didn't really pick a 5th insurance type place in the end - chose Warwick, St A, Durham and Manchester. School supported the application in the end but not sure they wd now after the 2023 grade shocks? I have heard good things about Lancaster for maths.

In the end her lowest offer was A star AA (same as her Cambridge offer just without STEP) - expected but a bit alarming nevertheless.

She got offers from all and none were for 4 grades. All specified grades for maths and FM, some specified a grade for physics as the third subject. No specification for chemistry from any.

Hope this helps and sure DD would answer any questions anyone has about Cambridge Maths and STEP. She's just going into her second year now.

Thanks @alexisccd that is really helpful - I think our DDs have very similar interests and had the same A level subjects. DD is at a selective independent, so she is slightly concerned about getting offers higher than the standard offer (that is, whatever the reverse of a contextual offer is) hence the concern about a 4 grade offer. She will be applying for Physics at Oxford (but probably joint Physics and Maths at some others).

Daughter's PS due to be handed in to her old school this week. She was happy that her taster lecture at Bristol yesterday was in an area of Sociology she has as a theme in her PS (implications of inequality of access to healthcare). So she took loads of notes. Now needs to get those two required essay examples sorted.
One thing I've noticed is how niche professor's interests are. Does it matter what the course DoS at each college specialises in ? Like if the DoS is more on the politics side as opposed to Sociology/Anthropology?

One thing I've noticed is how niche professor's interests are. Does it matter what the course DoS at each college specialises in ? Like if the DoS is more on the politics side as opposed to Sociology/Anthropology?

i don’t know who this was originally from but my father often said the educational path in this country is that you gradually learn more and more about less and less so you eventually know everything about nothing.

DD’s DoS specialises in imagery of flowers in Shakespeare’s writings but will also be supporting Chaucer et al. DD has not started yet, so will know more this time next year. I get the impression they just want to see someone passionate about what they are interested in and that is part of the experience and support. If they don’t like something they need to be able to express why and that is part of the learning. Some courses have more flexibility for topics, modules and study off the regular set texts/theorists/practices and topics, others are more rigid.

Also bear in mind that as well as the college level there is also the faculty level of learning.

Joining the thread as DC is applying for Oxford for 2024 and has a choral scholarship audition in a couple of weeks; at least will get some time to see the place in person!

Welcome @Notaclu and best of luck to your dc for the choral scholarship.

I don't know how different departments do it, but for engineering, most of DDs supos weren't with her DoS - she said some of the best were PhD students who'd recently done the degree themselves. And in the last year (maybe 3rd as well) they were more done in the department by a relevant subject specialist.

Thanks @ErrolTheDragon. And @PettsWoodParadise. HSPS is pretty wide and they can pick and choose in their second year which elements to focus on.
By the way Unifrog has great comparative info on the colleges - she had to ask her old head of sixth form to re register her as no longer a student.

dd has suddenly decided she has to go to open days so wants to dash to Manchester and Exeter before submitting her form. I'm not sure it adds much but she seems determined so we're going with it. Did manage to dissuade her from going to Leeds on Saturday as it was just too hot though!

Anyone else having personal statement nightmares? She's applying for joint honours and the 2 different department heads at school have given her conflicting advice - cue an unhappy weekend. Think school's deadline is this Thursday - can't come soon enough!

@Blodwen9 - bit of a nightmare with these school internal deadlines. We've had a difficult weekend of it too.

I can't help with the PS really - is she applying for joint honours for all of her choices or is this just a specific Oxbridge one? If she's applying to Cambridge there is a supplementary form (SAQ?) that can be filled in as an addition to the PS in which you can give more detail. Hopefully someone else can help.

She's applying for the same joint honours at all 5 choices (whatever they end up being...) and it's Cambridge so she's aware the supplementary form is there too.

I think her statement read nicely - but her German teacher wants her to address all aspects of the course - language, culture, history, linguistics, literature and film which seems OTT. DD has reluctantly shoe horned something about literature in but really that's not her passion and is not why she's choosing the course. She specifically chose Cambridge as the course doesn't include many compulsory literature components but the teacher seems unaware of this.....

Anyone else having personal statement nightmares?

Not yet but expecting them. She is planning on starting it tomorrow, college deadline is not until the middle of next week for the first draft but she needs to get it out of the way and start focusing on the entrance test imo.

My DD has her choral scholarship audition date now as well. As we’re more than 100 miles away she gets to have a night in college as well (although what college is so far unknown I think)