Oxbridge 2024 Entry Part 5

[YouOKHun]

Good Luck everyone whatever the outcome!

@RIPMatthewperry do you have a link please?

DD got departmental stats emailed from both her original and reallocated college. From which we can see that she is part of a very small cohort, and coupled with other factors, a unique combination definitely in college and probably across the entire university. I may have to rejoin the thread under a new identity 🙈

Has anyone’s DC had an offer holder day invite yet? DD is going on 2nd March to Exeter College (Oxford) 😊

Sorry if this has been discussed upthread btw!

Yes DS has an invite to an offer holder day next month, he hasn't booked yet but says he will. Waiting to hear from a couple of his possible insurance choices which he added to his form at the end of Jan. He hasn't booked any offer holder days anywhere else either.

I have just watched the "preparing for STEP" webinar with him, lots of work ahead to prep for those exams. Half term is officially next week but he finished yesterday. He has mocks straight after half term.

DDs college aren't running an offer holder day though she went there before so that's fine. 3 offers in now, 2 to hear (she added 2 end Jan) but the 3 are the preferred three for firm (O) and insurance (Bristol or Bath). Mocks just done and half term next week. Enjoy the offer holder days.

Actually she's just had an offer holders day e-mail today so there is one and she will be going.

DS2 and I are to an offer holders' day tomorrow which I hope will be fun

Sadly, the offer holder day for DD is when we are away.

DS has mocks this week too and has a 1 1 STEP offer. We are still waiting to hear from Imperial and another. Good to see STEP mentioned, it looks v hard and don’t think there much I can do to help than the usual

DC was asked to try a STEP past paper in the half term by the Maths teacher. Try each question 15 minutes and then look the answer. I'd assume that's the good way to prepare STEP.

@User11010866 In the webinar they said don't look up the answer straight away, in fact they suggested not looking it up until the next day! They suggested that it's good to give your brain time to try and think of the answer. They also said that there is no need to do timed past papers at this stage, better to work on questions, and do timed papers nearer the time. You can watch the webinar here https://maths.org/step/webinars It had a Q&A section at the end. They said that if you are an offer holder at a state school you should get an email from the STEP support program soon.

@nightowlly DS offer is also 1,1 I think that is the standard offer.

Good luck to those preparing for STEP. I remember DS last year started out with a question or two taking a very long time but he persevered and yes, didn't try doing timed papers until he'd got used to solving some of the typical questions. And eventually there's a strategic issue of a) how to choose which questions to attempt first and b) when to give up on a question and try another one (I think he said that generally if you got stuck on the last section of a question you were better off not attempting an "extra" question from scratch due to the time constraints). I think (without checking) that they get the marks from their 6 best questions on each paper. If I've got the number wrong the concept is right!

I'd agree from my own experience with challenging problem solving type maths questions back when I was their age, it can definitely be worth while wrestling with a question, then going and doing something else (go for a walk, sleep on it, whatever), and having another go later. Really interesting how that can develop your ability to find insights.

15 minutes is not a long time to spend on a STEP question! I've been doing STEP questions for the last 10 years as my work on the STEP support programme and there are very few questions I can do in that time. 15 mins then a break and then another go is reasonable, but not 15 mins and then look at the answer.

Any STEP questions please do feel free to tag me, and thanks to those who have shared our webinar recordings!

For anyone interested in relative application rates by college, the Cambridge application stats page has been updated for 2024 (still no offer rates)
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/apply/statistics

Just to let everyone know, the invitations to our STEP preparation webinar series for UK State School Cambridge Offer Holders went out a couple of weeks ago.

If your DC attends a UK State School and has an offer from Cambridge which includes STEP then they should have received an email from the Cambridge Admissions Office with details on how to register. If they are eligible but can't find the email then please check spam first, and contact the STEP Support Programme if you can't find it!

We've had lots of registrations already, just want to make sure we pick up as many people as possible!

Unfortunately DS goes to an independent school

Thanks @Pallando DS has signed up.

Thanks also @Cremebrulee45 interesting to see the graphs, colleges which interviewed in person don't seem to have had a downturn in applications apart from Kings where applications fell a bit below their average for the last few years. Pembroke had fewer than last year but last year was above average and I think there is natural variation, they had more than in 2020, 21 and 22. It looks to me like Peterhouse, Caius, Selwyn and Trinity all had an increase in applications. My stats is too rusty to say if this is significant but I'm sure someone at the uni is analyzing it all in great depth! It doesn't seem to have put people off is what I am trying to say.

Hi, looking for advice. My DC has a Cambridge offer that doesn’t leave much room for error. Teaching this term for foreign language (which already has v high grade boundaries) has been severely disrupted as teacher off sick since beginning of January and school (state) was unable to find a replacement. Probably lost 2/3 -3/4 teaching time due to limited availability of other teacher to take over.

I have spoken to careers/uni adviser about this and he seems to think it would be a good idea to send the Cambridge college a letter now (pre exams) just stating what has happened. He wants to discuss it with DC next week, who is feeling bad about looking like they’re criticising the teacher who has filled in when able (we aren’t, we are just asking for the disruption to be documented). I also expect the language dept/school overall may not want to admit that the class has been let down.

My feeling is that it would be a good idea to flag this with Cambridge in case of a relatively narrow missed grade and that (aside from the stress it’s causing DC) there is no real downside to doing it but would be interested to hear views ? Thanks

I would definitely flag this. Mitigating circumstances ought to be declared as early as possible to the time - that way it is on record (if you declare it after results day having never said there was a problem, it would look much less convincing).

Unfortunately, this is probably quite common in many schools

I would agree its a pretty common issue in state schools especially in certain subjects. It might be worth trying to find the stats for the course - in my DDs course I think 95% meet the offer and 97% get taken so around half those who go down still get taken. I would imagine due to things like teacher shortages they are more lenient on state applicants and those with special circumstances. I would be a little careful if its a subject that values independent learning in phrasing if you do mention it.

Thanks all. @Penguinsa i agree it’s no doubt common but still… we’ve lost a significant amount of Yr 13 teaching time. It’s a modern language so really you need a teacher! Where are the stats re how many missed but got taken?

There's quite a lot of stats either on Oxbridge's website or via Freedom of Info requests. If its Cambridge this seems to be saying 150 offers for languages for state schools and 148 acceptances. Might be more recent things but they don't tend to vary much year on year. As selection process is through they tend to know who they want and not offer many more than will take.

https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/ug_admissions_statistics_2021_cycle.pdf

The thing is that for anyone who got taken despite missing their offer it is going to be a very individual decision based on their personal circumstances, how significant the mitigating circs were, and also which aspect of the offer was missed (ie how relevant the dropped grade was deemed to be to the degree course). So I’m not sure how useful stats will be.

Yes it will be individual but some courses 50% don't get in after an offer, many others almost everyone does. But they are likely to be more lenient on state and special circumstances.