Oxbridge 2024 Entry Part 5

[YouOKHun]

Good Luck everyone whatever the outcome!

@mknmondaytosunday
don't think she could have done any better and at the end of the day she's still the same hard working person who will have a bright future wherever she gets her degree from

Wise words and similar to how I feel. I've been telling Ds, that he did as well as he could with his interview and his application, grades and reference were excellent. Perhaps his choice of college might make a difference but HE chose it based on the open days (kindness of one current student swung it) and I hope he won't have any regrets. He tells me that he's not in the "immediately give an offer" group so it could go either way. I believe I'm prepared for either outcome but it's difficult to predict emotions..whatever happens he will be fine. Due to his outside interests C will be more limiting so there are positives to focus on, if he isn't selected.

Re the process - there is bound to be an element of"soft" factors in offers, simply because the interviewers are human and there is only a brief time for students to make an impression.

@Lightsabre - I'm wondering if your DC school is the same one mine went to. West London? Out of a cohort of over 200, maybe 80 apply to Oxbridge and nearly all these days will realistically need to have at least 3 A-stars predicted, plus very top GCSEs. There will be around that number again with similar grade profiles, but they apply to US / other overseas unis or specific courses that Oxbridge doesn't offer. Some years about 30 might get in to Oxbridge, other years 20, depending on if it's a year when more apply for the 'less competitive' courses like Classics, MML, Anglo Saxon and Norse etc.

I think the schools that get most into Oxbridge are St Paul's Girls (about 40-45 out of a year group of 100), Brampton Manor (about 60, but massive year groups, I think) and Hills Rd (can't remember how many, but a lot) which is nextdoor to a Cambridge college and loads of the Cambridge tutors kids go there.

@ginuine Brampton Manor got 89 offers last year and Hills Road 78; there are also large numbers from Westminster (79), Eton (47 on a downward trend) amongst others. Interestingly St Paul’s Boys and other schools have now got equal numbers with top tier USA offers

Peter Symonds, a sixth form college in Brighton and Westminster are usually in the mix, alongside various Far Eastern schools too

Sorry - cross post!

@Revengeofthepangolins yes isn’t there an amazing school in China that provides a v large number of applicants/offer holders for STEM subjects? Can’t remember the name

The size of the cohort is relevant. Peter Symonds and Hills Road are vast.

People get very upset if anyone accuses Eton of being on a downward trend.

And then they say that most Etonians now want to go to the States anyhow, so they don't care. There are still a lot of applications to Oxford and Cambridge from Eton though, which is odd if pupils don't want to go there.

No, not West London, but SS Grammar. Those 80-90 applications result in about 26-30 offers across the two universities and rising slowly year on year.

Not really, many will apply in dual track alongside early decision and the US school will generally be their first choice.

Our superselective grammar used to get around 18 to 20 Oxbridge offers out of a cohort of around 110 thirteen to fifteen years ago. That was its heyday on the Oxbridge front. Numbers then declined when the then HT left but have started to rise again under the current HT who has strongly supported Oxbridge as a tool for social mobility for his students, since he joined in 2016. Last year the numbers were back up to 16 for a cohort of around 150. The decline and fall and rise has much more to do with the school leadership policies than Oxbridge admissions policies but those may start to make a measurable additional impact too.

sellingpetrol I can see why the big names such as Harvard, Stanford and MIT might be a genuine first choice for Etonians. More dubious about the less prestigious schools. But if your parents are able and willing to pay - obviously a luxury not open to many - then the less prestigious schools are not a bad option if no Oxbridge offer is forthcoming. Etonians are not going to the major names in droves.

This is probably pretty similar % wise to our school. I was forgetting that the East Ren schools would have much higher stats. We have very poor results for the catchment, suffer from terrible leadership unfortunately

I’d caution on presenting the offers vs size of cohort for some of the indie schools - their numbers include reapplications from the prior year’s group who have grades in hand but are supported by the schools with their references etc

Of course they care, and no one can debate the numbers - Eton places have about halved in the last 10 years.

This "oh they all want to go to the US" thing often quoted about Eton and other independent school children makes me quite cross (some schools themselves are guilty of this). Most parents of children in these schools can't contemplate the costs involved in the US route, and the implication that it is a standard option really annoys me.

Thats a good point - I believe that about 25-30% of the Oxbridge successes at DS2s school are reapplicants, or so the school gate chat goes.

Not quite sure who you're annoyed with Rotps - people like me or Eton parents who say they all want to go to the US anyway?

The state schools which cite numbers include reapplicants/ Y14s too - all comes out in the wash tbf.

Just catching up on the thread with interest.

DD’s (independent) school typically has around 25 Oxbridge applicants out of a year group of around 120, yielding around 3-5 offers, so not an amazing success rate. This year apparently they’ve had 3 Oxford offers (hearsay - the school don’t publish this info), including DD (who, though clever, is quite awkward and shy and probably wouldn’t have been considered one of their frontrunners). They’ve got mocks atm so DD has only been in for exams and may find out more when normal school resumes.

@whiteroseredrose Thank you! I think DD is getting quite excited about Lincoln now. Though not impressed to discover Rishi Sunak is an alumnus!

There are have been a few examples at my DC's school of top Ivy League destinations in recent years. They were all at the top of the tree in terms of sporting achievement (national representation) but they were nowhere near the top of their cohorts academically and although they did apply, none of them reached interview stage at Oxford.

Slightly late to the this very useful post - my YP has been offered a place at Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) Oxford. Not the college he initially interviewed at - was interviewed by them and Merton after his first interviews with another college. Not a college I knew much about - any experience of the College please? Know it's a little further out (which will benefit him from a sports point of view) - thx all x

You may be better off asking on the current student thread which has been running for at least the last 5 or 6 years (far longer than the title suggests) although I'm not aware of anyone actually there at present, but there have been recent participants who still lurk.

It has similar vibes to St Catz as it is less formal. Alan Rushbridger, the Guardian/ Observer editor became it's principal and made great strides in widening participation. Good reputation for music. Relaxed atmosphere and safe enough for Malala Yousafzai to enjoy studying for her PPE degree without constant intrusion.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/4930798-current-oxfordcambridge-students-supportchat-continued-2

Thank you x