Oxbridge 2025

[SnowFairy2000]

Let's start the journey here !!!

@Thekatzenjammerkid and @Cubic, my DS is going for Natural Sciences and there is a very short list of places that offer that (I had another thread going about that). I did Physics & Philosophy at Oxford many years ago, so much of my knowledge is out-of-date, but it's nice to see other Oxbridge-applicant scientists and to share thoughts.

Same to you ! He’s looking at Warwick and Notts too. I’ve heard good things about Lancaster but he was unimpressed, not sure why. He liked Notts because you can do a year in industry.

Birmingham is highly rated for physics but for some reason often gets overlooked (on MN, anyway unless it's a discussion about nice campuses!)

@Thekatzenjammerkid and @PhotoDad how are your ds finding the revision for the exam? My son's friend was going to sit the pat for engineering rather than physics but has just decided to switch to the cambridge/imperial exam. He said he's finding the wording of questions quite different while the content similar.

Best of luck to everyone sitting admission exams, we have brave set of kids.

My dd is preparing to sit the ESAT. She's planning to apply to Cambridge to do Engineering. We're in Scotland and there are areas of the esat papers which are not covered in the Scottish curriculum. So she's asking her teachers for input in those areas.
Personal statements will need to be in soon too which is another stressor on top of coursework (music exams and gold d of e too so a lot on her plate)! I suppose it will be good practice for all the juggling ahead!

Yes My DS has mentioned wording and that you have to work out what they really want in the question as it’s not immediately apparent. Definitely brave. I don’t think it’s real for them yet is it ? They’ve not actually invested much in it.
DS went with school to the C open day in July which he enjoyed. They stayed overnight, said his room was tiny but others were huge ! Managed to lock himself out 😳 The maths sessions were very busy, I’m sure he said he was stood at the door because the room was so full, physics was a lot quieter I think.
@ErrolTheDragon DS looked at Birmingham, not sure if it’s out of the equation for him. But it’s got a really good rep I think.

DS has spent most of his summer on music and his sport, @boobashka! Like @Thekatzenjammerkid, I hope he'll knuckle down to ESAT revision soon. I did nag him to do a first draft of his Personal Statement, though.

We happened to be in Cambridge earlier in the summer (my DD is at art-school there, not part of Cambridge Uni) and he looked around colleges then. Even the "closed to visitors" ones let us in when he uttered the magic words "prospective applicant," which is good for people to know. He couldn't make it to the official open day as it clashed with a music exam.

Another twist is that he's applying for Deferred Entry (hoping to make some money and see the world with his coaching qualifications in a watersport).

I agree with this. For Physics it's all about the PAT. We actually used a tutor for a few sessions for DS for the PAT which he loved. He came out absolutely buzzing each time.

@Cubic DS never actually got his PAT result. He got an interview so thought that he must have done OK and left it at that. I think you can ask when you're there.

@whiteroseredrose which tutor company did you use and did it help?

Hi @Coldilocks. We used a tutor based in Darwin in Lancashire called David Lewis. A couple face to face sessions which were a long drive, then a few more via Zoom or FaceTime.

He was excellent for DS. Straight into the physics, no messing! DS was really buzzing after every session. It was intense but excellent preparation for the Physics course itself.

My DS uses this which is aimed at Physics (and some Chemistry and Maths) up to uni level and is run by Cambridge:
https://isaacphysics.org/

Thanks, both - I’ll look into it.

@Coldilocks ds uses Isaacphysics, I believe Oxford recommend it.

Much to my genuine surprise, DS has just shown me a first draft of his Personal Statement. His school recommended that the summer would be a good opportunity for this, and it seems like he's listened.

However, he has also just bought a new guitar with birthday money/savings, and is spending far more time with that than on anything academic at the moment.

We've also started looking into gap year plans. Is anyone else aiming to defer, or have any experiences to share?

@PhotoDad My ds has just acquired his first girlfriend. Nothing too serious (hopefully). Inward sigh when he told me. The only saving grace is that she seems a nice sensible lass and is also applying for Cambridge (independently of ds). Not sure which is a worse as a distraction, a guitar or a girlfriend 😂

@Thekatzenjammerkid DS acquired a girlfriend just before the summer holidays!! She's in his maths set but isn't trying for Oxbridge. He is, however, suddenly much keener to play gigs as lead guitarist with his mates' informal band...😀

Apologies if this has been answered further up the thread, but is there a current list of Cambridge colleges that are doing in-person rather than online interviews for 2025 entry?

Last year there were only six (Peterhouse, Pembroke, Kings, Trinity, Selwyn, Caius). DS definitely prefers the prospect of in-person and has already discounted Catz and Queens because they're still going to be online, but there are many colleges that he can't currently find info for, so is that available anywhere?

Hi, just thought I'd see how everyone's young people are getting on with prep for entrance exams.

Ds has done a few drafts of his personal statement but he's taking a 'weekend off' after going back to school this week. I think now the entrance exam is booked nerves are kicking in.

Hope everyone is holding up well and cracking on with what they need to.

Just turned up here, as my DC has decided they want to try for Oxbridge 25, so apologies I haven't read the whole thread and this may already have been discussed: do they need to submit all of their choices to Ucas by October, or can they leave spaces free and add to them before Jan? Is it better to just do them all at once?

Yes this is a very good question and I’d also be keen to hear from anyone with previous experience and the pros/cons of doing the application in two phases. Do any unis (other than Oxbridge ofc) make offers before February at all?

In a way, I think it would be good to get them all out of the way, so she can stop worrying about it. She has been keeping a lot of options open in the last year with her A levels and work experience (for medicine and biosciences), and it is has been pretty exhausting attempting to juggle so many possibilities. Commitment might free her up a bit and at least she will have submitted her personal statement. She might get an early offer, which would give her confidence.
On the other hand, she is now considering some unis she hasn't visited, so may like to go on Autumn open days.

I’ve had DC have done it twice before – you can submit applications whenever you want up until the January deadline, you don’t have to apply for all five at once. My dc3 is applying this term and I’m encouraging them to do this as they want to do a course that is only offered by Oxford and one other university, which is annoying because it makes it very hard to write the personal statement as they would have to study something else if they go elsewhere.

Ideally we’d have their yeses or nos in by early January and they could then apply for a completely different course elsewhere at places that allow you to submit an additional PS.

Some universities offer very quickly – I remember one of my DC getting an offer from Bristol within a day or so of submitting an application in September, which was great as it took the heat off things subsequently. Other universities – notably Durham, Warwick, St Andrews, Edinburgh, some of the London universities (in other words the premier league, if you like) can keep people waiting pretty much up to the May deadline, which is infuriating. But not always… for example, a friend’s DC got an offer from St Andrews very quickly last year, it depends on the subject and this dc also was offered special consideration, which possibly speeded things up.

Oh, so you can write a different personal statement if you add more courses later?

No, you need one PS throughout. Some degree programmes will accept additional information, however