Oxbridge 2024 Entry Part 5

[YouOKHun]

Good Luck everyone whatever the outcome!

@TenSheds DS was scheduled for interviews with 11 people (total) but they didn’t all turn up for round 2!

@janecrookall45 It's all quite an ordeal, perhaps for the tutors too!

@WriterOfWrongs Ha, 12 interviews, can you imagine! No, two people in each of six interviews (joint degree, two rounds). It might be a less competitive course but definitely not easy, she's certainly earned it.

@poster2024 my son had one really lovely Oxford interviewer and then had serious verging on hostile in one case interviewers. He didn't get shouted at though, but they made him more nervous and probably affected his performance when he was trying to work his way through the Maths problems. One interviewer didn't like my son trying to help him with his IT issues in getting the software for the whiteboard going and it was frosty after that. I am not sure what advice to offer, as an experience is so subjective, but it's definitely not a way to treat a candidate. What is the form you are referring to? Is this for feedback and where do I find it?

@TenSheds Hmm. This is part of their jobs…
@Thatisagreatquestion That’s a problem with online interviews. Your DS must have felt very awkward, which will have had an impact.
Perhaps it’s time to return to face to face. I understand the current financial situation for some candidates but the colleges have funds. In addition, actually being in the college is of great benefit to me candidates.
The tutors are supposed to be deciding which candidates they would like to teach but no real connection is forged online - you can’t even meet people’s eyes let alone feel any connection. I think it’s lazy and a cost cutting exercise to continue with this method. We are no longer in the Covid situation.

I guess as long as they feel they are still getting the 'right' people, ie bright, teachable students, there is not much incentive for them to go back to face to face. They may end up with a different selection of offer holders but I don't suppose that matters as long as the standard is there. Interviews are primarily a selection tool, not an experience for the candidate. Face to face costs everyone more money and time away from school and work, so I can see why they do it, same as lots of other organisations. And online suits some better than in person, so it's swings and roundabouts I guess.

It will be really interesting to see if the decision this year by six Cambridge colleges to offer in person interviews has affected the number of applications those colleges got. DS certainly wanted an in person interview. Last year Trinity was the only college doing in person and they had 10% more applicants than the year before but there is always some variation and perhaps 2022 was a low year for them.

Good luck to your DS for the driving test @space99

One week to go!

It's via the appeals form system @Thatisagreatquestion

Feel the same - as it gets closer you can't help thinking about their odds of success and the impact on those stats, by choosing a college with an in person interview, is unknown...

DD definitely preferred having an in person interview but it was just a happy coincidence that her preferred college happened to be one of the ones doing them in person.

This time next week we will know. The wait has felt interminable. DD has hardly spoken about it. Her sixth form have arranged for the whole year to have mock interviews with some guest employers the evening of next Wednesday and attendance is compulsory. If DD receives a rejection she is not going to feel like going back in to college in the evening to discuss her potential career with some random. I’m toying with contacting college and asking if DD can be excused from the evening. Not sure yet.

One of my DC had online interviews and the other in-person. They chose the colleges for reasons separate to interview type. Not sure it made much difference to the interview style, to be honest.
The wait has definitely been so long. Wishing all C applicants the very best, whatever happens next.

My DD would have preferred in person interviews too, for all the reasons stated above. But it didn't override the other reasons she chose her particular college (it also required a written assessment for her subject when most others don't, which she was more concerned about).
The wait has been difficult and she wants to also wait til after college to look...😬! Way more self control than me!

Research has shown that online interviews work to the benefit of many candidates. They haven't had to face other candidates, there is less risk of anyone coming out and telling all of the other candidates how they either smashed it or how awful the experience was, they don't need to worry about whether the feel they look or sound like the other candidates. They don't face a pool of other candidates who all have mutual friends.

It is of course levelling the playing field with overseas applicants who were already being interviewed online.

@HewasH2O That really surprises me. I wonder how big the survey was and how the participants were selected. The many 18 year olds I know are very happy to meet other young people (and they are applying to live together in college, after all). As for a pool of candidates with mutual friends… Are we talking about years ago here? Students from colleges with a large number of applicants are not encouraged to apply to the same college, for obvious reasons. Overseas applicants will always have to use Zoom, or whatever, but they know this when they apply. It is no reason to impose the system on everyone else.

DS had an in person interview. - wasn’t a decider but was definitely a plus when choosing college. He felt given his visual impairment it made it easier to pick up on visual cues he might miss online. Also felt it would be easier for interviewer to see if he was struggling to see the materials and modify slightly. Don’t think he regrets this choice.

Glad the wait is almost over.

DS has lots planned to keep him distracted. Interview today at Imperial - on the train back with DH at the moment. Fingers crossed as it would be his C Rejection plan.
Then 18th birthday with DS1 and DS2 coming home for a family bottomless brunch! Hoping alcohol takes the edge off the nerves!

I’m in agreement with notabed on this. University is about broadening horizons and encountering different perspectives. I don’t think protecting applicants from each other is a very positive objective.

@notabedofroses9 i agree with you; I think this research sounds quite limited in scope or is being quoted in part only - there are so many valid factors to consider when evaluating on line or in person interviews, including impact on the interviewer’s own approach/comfort level etc

My dd had an in person interview and without a doubt there were more people there applying for her course (quite niche) than the previous years statistics show. She chose the college for other reasons but I can’t help but think it’s reduced her chances of an offer. But as we all know it’s a lottery in the end 😏

Oh come on. Having online interviews is hardly going to stop students broadening their horizons - once they’re at uni. After all, the vast majority of students don’t have interviews and don’t meet their fellow students till offer holder days/start of term!

Obviously not years ago as they only had to introduce online interviews in 2020. As I said, these are benefits for many applicants. DD had in person interviews in 2019 and graduated a few months ago.

Clearly I did not express myself well. I meant that the days of multiple applications from the same institutions have long passed.

Thank you @IThinkIMadeItWorse
DS has also split up with gf so feels like a very stressful time with mocks, driving test and then Cambridge offer day 😩

Presumably if in person interviews were considered to be so crucial, the 24 colleges who voted to keep them would have joined the 7 who voted against. Simply offering a different perspective to those in the echo chamber.

I don't think they think it is advantageous one way or the other. It's the applicants that seem to largely prefer in person interviews, which surprised me to be honest. My dd wasn't worried about meeting other applicants (if she had applied to a college who did in person interviews) - she was more interested in making a connection with the interviewers, and picking up/delivery of non verbal communication- harder to do online.

@HewasH2O Perhaps you might share the sources of the survey you quoted- number of participants, reasons for their selection etc, just to remove any lingering suggestion of bias.

Why are you so concerned that I have simply shared an opposing view? I have given reasons why in person interviews are not the be all and end all for ALL candidates. Your own samples of parents of successful or hopeful candidates on a MN thread are hardly scientific either.