Oxbridge 2025

[SnowFairy2000]

Let's start the journey here !!!

I don't think it's brutal but it definitely hasn't been the same as applying for any other course for my child. Perhaps it depends on the subject choice.

They made a decision to apply in August based on their exam results and the prep they had to do for the assessment has been bloody hard. I think the school said they hadn't even covered 80% on their course so it was a steep learning curve. However, by the time they sat the assessment they were getting almost full marks in the mock tests.

I think it is considerably more work for a lot of students but I also think it's good that they learn that there's an element of luck and "right place, right time" in life. It's hard to watch their disappointment but it's great to see them working hard and giving it a go. All of my child's other choices are great unis and if Oxbridge doesn't work out, the assessment prep will benefit their current studies and I'm sure they'll be great wherever they decide to go.

Brutal" is an overstatement of course, but I think when parents have been using that word it's specifically for Cambridge maths

Although tortoise18 one could argue that these offerees are all incredibly talented mathematicians and they know the % cull that STEP inflicts, so they must be managing their expectations for those seven months during which they know the odds full well - and the exceptional level of the other offerees.

A lot of hyperbolic words get used in relation to Oxbridge; I also don't see process as brutal or an 'emotional roller coaster' any more than an application to another uni a DC really wants to go to. My feelings about whether my DC were rejected/ got an offer were exactly commensurate with how much each individual DC had their heart set on a place, and that varied.

Try getting a DC into a good drama school, that really can be a bit brutal! Massively over-subscribed (typically 5,000 applicants for 25 places) and completely subjective, it's a hell of a process to put a teenager through. At one London school the entry process starts with a self-tape, at which point thousands are culled. Survive this and about 50 or 60 hopefuls t- for weeks on end - turn up at the school off the Finchley Road. They each perform a Shakespeare monologue; a contemporary monologue; an unaccompanied song; and some self-devised piece they have to create from a painting they are shown. And they do all this in front of each other! At lunchtime one or two heads are touched - sometimes none at all - and those students are allowed to stay on for an afternoon session. All the others have to do a Walk Of Shame back through the Drama School. Those that survive the afternoon culling have another two rounds over the next few months to get through. There's no feedback. Oh and you have to pay an audition fee for the privilege!

Congrats to your DD maybemedmum. The Medicine interviews at Oxford are very different from everywhere else (apart from Cambridge), even from Imperial, but I'm sure your DD will know that. I hope she loves graphs. There's always an ethical question too somewhere in the mix but not front and centre - the science is.

everyone’s experience of this procedure will be different for whatever reason and I don’t think it’s helpful to belittle those who are finding it tougher than others

Oh and you have to pay an audition fee for the privilege!

That is outrageous somewhereinsomerset!

I think posters are just sharing perspectives and experiences periodiclabel, which clearly differ. I don't see any belittling at all.

Thanks @ThatllBeTheDay . They did a demo mock interview at the open day and she said it was very science-y with some tough graphs! Focus at the moment is on MMI prep, but she'll be able to start thinking about Oxford interview style once MMI 1 is done next week.

Asking for DD and a couple of prospective medic friends who have all been allocated 2nd colleges - any views on Exeter, Somerville, Oriel or LMH?

Everyone is allocated a second college with Medicine, but again, I'm sure they all know that. Probably worth the young people looking at the website of their second college just see who the tutors are, how big the intake is etc. There would be no questions at all on 'why this college?'. No vicarious input here on Exeter, Somerville or LMH. Oriel is fabulous in terms of position, beauty and friendliness. Accommodation is fine. That's very generic isn't it?! It's worth knowing that if their college of choice wants them, that college has first dibs. It's only if that college doesn't have space that the second college can offer. Any college has it's cons and pros - just have to focus on the pros even if it's not your college of choice. Best of luck to your DD.

I agree with you periodical label. Kindness is important.

Did anyone receive news on interviews from Oxford yet?

My daughter just heard from Oxford - she has an interview for Chemistry at Merton!

@OnTheRoll no not yet - can't be long now! Dc getting fidgety waiting.

I think it's much more of a process than applying for other unis, certainly for MFLT least. Very hard entrance exam, submission of essays, potentially followed by one or more interviews. None of the other (very good) universities Dc has applied to require any of that. So it may be course dependant but I can understand why some kids / parents find the Oxbridge process a lot more stressful than the usual just fill in a UCAS form!

I've been on the student room and Reddit today and there are very sad sounding young people who have been rejected for natural sciences or medicine or economics despite predicted A* and straight 9s at gcse and clearly a stellar school record. Rejection at Oxbridge can feel like a personal rejection and batter your sense of self, particularly if you've put yourself out there and let people know you're trying. Not all young people are equally resilient.

So many interviews at my son’s school but he still hasn’t heard either way. He must be the last one in his year to be informed.

And this ➡️ Rejection at Oxbridge can feel like a personal rejection and batter your sense of self, particularly if you've put yourself out there and let people know you're trying. Not all young people are equally resilient.

Just a reminder that if you are feeling despondent because you keep reading about young people not getting an interview despite their strings of 9s and A*s, you can get an interview, an offer and a degree from Oxford with much more of a jumble of grades. They look at the whole application when they make their decisions.

Ds got a chemistry interview invitation from Oxford today.

Fantastic

Yes exactly. This simply means that those applicants with those grades had something deficient in another part of their application. There are just as many anecdotes about applicants who have got offers with well short of a straight flush of 9s and A* predicted. It's a shame that the focus is more on those rejected with flawless grades than on those bright sparks with a much more mixed hand because the message is then: you need flawless grades - which you absolutely don't. The system isn't a lottery - the tutors spend a huge amount of time deciding who goes through and who doesn't. They're not going to waste that time if they could simply randomise who they offer to.

Also, it's only Tuesday - lots of days left in the week for Oxford to ping out offers. And then there's next week! DS2 and DS3 were only given four days notice each. Congrats to those with interviews already notified.

I think the use of the word 'deficient' is an excellent example of why your messages sometimes, perhaps inadvertently, derail what is meant to be a supportive community,

ontheturn my posts are bang on the subject. I tend to use the adjective which I feel is most accurate in the circumstances but if 'deficient' is an issue for you then please substitute and share; I'd have no problem whatsoever with that.

can I understand where you are coming from? Are you a parent of a current Oxbridge applicant, or are you here to help us with the experience you gained seeing your older children through school and into oxbridge?

Four days?? I was discussing the timeframe with DH who went to Cambridge in the 90s - he said that he was given weeks to prepare his interview and to read all the papers they had sent him.

I've had/ have DC at Oxford (and Cambridge). So one of the old guard. Some people sometimes seem to find the contributions of the old guard useful but it's always easy to scroll past if you don't.