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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Oxbridge 2024 Entry Part 2

973 replies

Lightsabre · 12/09/2023 22:43

Continuation thread (when old one is full) for those supporting dc through Oxbridge applications. All welcome as we enter the next phase.

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6
Jaxx · 02/10/2023 21:52

@MirandaWest We had this problem. In the UCAS booklet the school produced it said you could only put music exams down under the school if you had sat then there, but there was no music exam centre option to use instead. School let him put it down, but wanted to check his certificate which seemed fair enough.

Still no sign off - the teacher wasn’t in again today. He missed a couple of days last week too (his kid is ill) so he has quite a back log to get through. Only 3 of 33 early applicants has managed to get his approval so far.

User11010866 · 02/10/2023 22:00

The school did check the certificate with DC for all the exams taken outside of school.

goodbyestranger · 02/10/2023 22:41

LaaDeeDa321 none of my DC have made an open application but with the caveat that this is purely anecdotal, all have had people in their college cohort who've made open applications and so clearly those applicants don't simply get shunted to the less applied to colleges (all of mine attend/ed old central colleges).

LaaDeeDa321 · 03/10/2023 07:13

Thank you @goodbyestranger it was a bit of a last minute decision to be honest, not because DS doesn’t enjoy his subject but more that he didn’t know if Oxford is for him. He had no affiliation with any college, only wandered around the city once and the colleges with links to where we live and where he is a student don’t do his subject. He isn’t fussy about what the place looks like, where it is or what the food is like. We’ll see what happens. You

ShanghaiDiva · 03/10/2023 08:35

Dd has submitted her application: natural sciences, Christ’s college.

lifeturnsonadime · 03/10/2023 08:42

My DS has made an open application.

I think he found the idea of choosing overwhelming. The Oxbridge guru at school said it wouldn't be detrimental to do it that way if he didn't have a preference so that's what he's done. He said about 20% of applicants put open on the form.

Reusername · 03/10/2023 13:57

Is anyone's DC doing the HAT shortly?

lifeturnsonadime · 03/10/2023 13:59

Reusername · 03/10/2023 13:57

Is anyone's DC doing the HAT shortly?

Yes my DS will be doing the HAT.

MirandaWest · 03/10/2023 14:44

DD is also doing the HAT

(feels slightly Harry Potter-like)

Headingto18 · 04/10/2023 18:52

DC submitted at the weekend and got an offer today; def takes the pressure off as its somewhere they would be v happy to go

ShanghaiDiva · 04/10/2023 19:01

Congratulations!

spacechimp79 · 04/10/2023 19:50

Great news @Headingto18

Rollergirl11 · 04/10/2023 20:02

That’s fab news @Headingto18 and very quick!

Original poster
Lightsabre · 04/10/2023 20:03

Great news @Headingto18

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lifeturnsonadime · 04/10/2023 20:05

Well done @Headingto18 definitely does take the pressure off!

MirandaWest · 04/10/2023 21:32

Well done @Headingto18 😊 Where’s the offer from?

Uohoxbridgeapplicationtime · 05/10/2023 04:08

Well done to your DC @Headingto18!

Jaxx · 05/10/2023 13:56

Submitted at last. Tried to only include 2 choices, but his school were having none of it unfortunately - nvm. Also pleased that he can opt out of sharing results of applications with his school so there will be no risk of anyone congratulating or commiserating with him on his birthday before he has looked for himself.

Excellent news @lifeturnsonadime and @Headingto18 about the offers!

FancyFanny · 05/10/2023 22:29

Late to the party, but how much help did your DCs have with their PS? DD's is terrible, but she won't take on board much help or advice. Her college aren't much help either. She says it's 'her' personal statement and she'll ask for help if she needs it! The draught she showed me was terrible in my opinion; full of grammar errors and cliches.

PandaPacer · 06/10/2023 06:04

My DS had a meeting with his tutor at school and also with the subject head at his school for Comp Sci (this is what he is applying for at C). He let me read it - TBH none of it made sense to me - it was all maths talk mostly with some references to coding languages and things like compilers whatever they are. I did suggest he change a couple of paras around to make it flow better, and also made some suggestions to help get the word count down from 4500.

Not sure if he took any on board!! I am trying to stay well out of it TBH as he needs to drive this bus. I am also aware (as is he) that his odds of getting in are minuscule - not only for C but for a few of the other places he is applying - so I don't want to appear overly concerned about anything. Just to take some of the pressure off him.

Hence I find this thread so helpful.

Original poster
Lightsabre · 06/10/2023 08:27

Mmm difficult @FancyFanny if they won't let you help. She'll definitely need to correct the grammatical errors - that won't look good. Maybe suggest you're happy to 'edit' it but not change the content? Does she have a college tutor or other family member that she likes who can cast an eye over it?

I know some schools give lots of help, practically rewriting it for students and others give no help. I think it will be fairer all round when they change the format from next year.

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Original poster
Lightsabre · 06/10/2023 08:29

There are also some very good videos put out by Cam on writing a personal statement @FancyFanny. You could maybe send her a link to one.

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stoneysongs · 06/10/2023 09:04

@FancyFanny DD has had feedback from a tutor at college, plus me and another family member. It's tough for them to do it by themselves with no experience or knowledge of what is appropriate and what isn't, although I know some DC are in this position. Has she seen other PSs? There is a website somewhere with successful examples and admissions tutor feedback on each one. DD found that quite useful. There is also lots of advice online about what not to say, including all the usual cliches.

Does she know there are mistakes in there? If not, I would just tell her in the nicest way possible - this is really good but there are some mistakes, can I help you to make it even better etc. It's not her fault that she's never done this before, but most of her competition will be taking advice from people who have.

DD has finished her form now, so just waiting for college to do their bits and send it off. She only has Oxford on it at the moment though, so there won't be any offers for a while yet.

lifeturnsonadime · 06/10/2023 09:15

@FancyFanny DS had some support from the teacher who deals with Oxbridge at school. He asked me to look at it, which I did, but not for feedback.

What struck me was it had very little information about him in it, mostly just about his passion for his chosen subject. It bore very little resemblance to the one I submitted 30 years ago!

I think Oxford also has a video / guidance on the PS and when I was concerned about DS it met that guidance. Then I was worried it was up to Oxford standards but he would look like he is one dimensional when it comes to other places, but within 2 weeks of submitting he now has 2 offers so all is well.

So I'd suggest you get DC to look on the Oxford and Cambridge websites for guidance and obviously correcting the grammar and spelling is pretty important.

Rollergirl11 · 06/10/2023 09:39

@FancyFanny DD looked at TSR website at lots of example PS for her to get a feel for what’s expected. I’ve posted these links before but I’ll post again. I think you might have to have a TSR log-in to view though.

You can look at them for your chosen subject..

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/university/personal-statements/

And Cambridge specific…

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/university/personal-statements/cambridge/

Personal statements | The Student Room

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/university/personal-statements/