Oxbridge 2024 Entry Part 2

[Lightsabre]

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

I might have mentioned this before but in DD finalising her latest PS draft she realised that even though she was under the character count she was over 47 lines, and UCAS says 4000 characters or 47 lines whichever is first. Her 47 line PS (on the UCAS form) is 3850 characters. Also £ will be changed to GBP!

@mondaytosunday i didn’t know that! Does it tell you if you are over within the UCAS application when you paste it in? DD’s PS is bang on 4000 characters so I bet it’s over 47 lines.

The line and character limit is a pain - particularly with paragraph breaks!

When you copy and paste it does tell you lines and characters. My son’s current (and hopefully final) draft is 3992 characters and 46 lines WITHOUT empty lines between paragraphs +UCAS automatically removes all formatting. He would have to loose 3 lines to put them back in and I just don’t think it is going to happen. Luckily you can see the paragraph breaks without the proper spaces but it is still far from ideal.

Im confused, how does the lines thing work in terms of font size? Is there a standard?

Font size 11-12

I checked her PS in word and it was 51 lines with line spaces between paragraphs. She removed them and it brought it down to 47 but may well be more within UCAS. I’m assuming UCAS converts all font size to whatever is used within their software.

No choice of font size or line spacing unfortunately. It is worth copying it into UCAS just to check their line count and how blocky it looks without line breaks.

DD has submitted her UCAS form and Cambridge have come straight back with details of their own PS form.

All feels rather exhausting as she had really said everything in the main PS.

I guess now she has to look at specific elements of the Cambridge course that appeal to her and explain why. 2000 characters for this one.

Was she told she must fill in the Cambridge one? My DD did last year and there was some debate whether to do or not. She decided not to and a friend the previous year also didn't do. Her PS didn't mention anything about the Cambridge specifics either.

@Hertsessex thank you for that - yes have just read and it seems to be mainly a way to submit grades and predictions? not sure why they can't just get that directly from the UCAS form.....

DD has been quite stressed with all of this - every teacher has a different opinion - so hopefully the school will accept a nil entry on there. The UCAS PS does say it all really......

Yes DD felt she had nothing else to say and was fed up with it at that point. She could have written something but didn’t feel it would add much. If DD is stressed then let it be. The school can’t really make her. Tell them you know people who got in without it.

@Hertsessex did your DD get an offer for Cambridge?

Yes and her friend the previous year who didn’t write anything else. Saying that I don’t remember it being that long so perhaps different. I can’t remember the official name. I must admit my initial feeling was to write something but school advised her not to.

@Hertsessex can I ask which subject? I would think that subjects like Nat Sci, HSPS which don’t really map directly to other unis might need an additional PS more than maths/English?

Yes I would think the same but this was for HSPS in both cases. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer - guess some will have more to say but just wanted to say that no need to feel like you have to for the sake of it.

The extra Cambridge process sounds pretty stressful; glad from that perspective that DD is applying to Oxford.

UCAS completed and everything submitted today, phew. Now DD can concentrate on admissions test prep. Only 3 weeks left - but I’m glad it’s before half term; it’ll be good for her to have some time off.

There are UCAS PS length checkers online, although, as I have three open right now, I can attest that they don't all agree. I remember from DS1 doing this a few years ago that the lines tend to be the last problem - I made a mental note then that structure that only involves 3 paras would be the way to go, but the task doesn't really lend itself to that. Having forgotten this, I rashly told DS2 that I'd have a quick look at making sure it was the right length. Regretting it now 😀

I think DS2 will also have to lose the paragraph breaks, and present a hideous block of text to the powers that be. Eheu

My daughter pasted her PS into the UCAS form to confirm length. She kept para breaks in as otherwise it looked too much like a wall of text and it wasn't clear where one paragraph ended. Certainly an exercise in conciseness!
The Cambridge Supplementary Application Questionnaire (SAQ) is just to go in more detail, useful for modular A levels, and saying what the candidate has studied so far (presumably so they don't ask about something not yet covered). Also extenuating circumstances, if there's a reason you couldn't take the A levels you wanted (weren't offered, schedule clashes etc).
The extra PS I understand is an opportunity to explain why Cambridge in particular - for example that you want the supervision method of teaching, if you're a med student that they are the only school that does whole body dissections, for Natsci or HSPS that you can take complimentary subjects blah blah. They are at pains to say it doesn't penalise you not to add one, as @Hertsessex says!

Ds saw his teachers reference yesterday. He's a bit worried about the maths reference which was a bit average (top 40% of cohort). Despite being predicted an A star in Maths and an A in FM this is pretty average for his cohort which includes maths Olympiad and other international competition winners. He's wandering how important this will be although he's not applying for maths. Shame he didnt want to continue Biology as his AS teacher gave him a great review and he was top for that!

This is the downside of seeing references as he is now worried about something over which he has no control. Hopefully they understand his cohort is strong. If it was me I would rather not look at references for this reason. Best he try to forget it and focus on the things he can control.

C knows quite well that your school is very strong in maths if there is a student representing the UK in IMO.

I wouldn't worry @Lightsabre
I'm sure the reference is relatively insignificant compared to grades, test scores and interview performance. They wouldn't discount a good candidate based on one teacher's opinion.

What's he applying for, if not maths is it something maths heavy like economics / physics / comp sci etc?

Agree @Hertsessex - he's thrown his hat into the ring and he just has to see what will become of it (sorry for typos in earlier post). I need to check with him whether he now sends the form or whether the school do this.

@singingstones, it's Chemistry at Ox so a fair bit of maths but probably not as maths heavy as Physics for example. No entrance test either for them to filter so I think more importance may be placed on references than for other courses with entrance tests.