What super-curricular activities help with Oxbridge Natural Sciences applications?

[AddledPeacock]

DS hoping to apply to Oxbridge for Natural Sciences/similar. Undecided between Oxford vs Cambridge, will be going to Sept open days. I understand they don’t give a monkeys about extra curricular activities eg captain of football team, DofE, but focus on super curricular activities. I’d never even heard of the term until we started looking at Oxbridge!

What sort of things would this look like for STEM subjects? There is lots of mention about reading additional books around the subject but I’m not sure how you would demonstrate that in a PS although I can see how you could talk about the concepts in an interview.

Slightly concerned as a friend is employing a tutor to discuss her subject with her DS and sending him to a v expensive summer school focussed on this subject (humanities) which she reckons ticks the super curricular box. Surely the colleges can’t be expecting this as the bar, it precludes most kids? If this is what we are going up against I’m not sure where to start to support him in demonstrating impressive supercurriculars!

Just going into Y12 but want to hit the ground running. Thanks.

DD is applying this year, different subject, but I’ve picked up a few bits from following various college instagram accounts. They are very encouraging and help to get your head around it all.

Now she is writing her PS, we can see it has to go into depth about something within the degree subject that they are passionate about. DD has done quite a few different things and some won’t make it into the final version as they haven’t ended up being her favourite bits. But that’s part of the process.

So, she’s done work experience, courses at the RI, olympiads, competitions (nb there are some group ones set up by Oxbridge), set up a club at school, wrote and edited for a journal. Some of these were done through school, others she found herself. She did these between the end of year 11 and the end of year 12.

Because she’s at an independent school, she couldn’t apply for any of the courses Oxbridge run to widen participation but start looking online if this is an option for your DS. There are other unis that do different ones too and I imagine they would be a great option as he might get to see other unis as well, and they all need more options. You do have to be ready to apply early for some of them.

Ultimately, the odds are against her getting a place on the course she’s chosen but you never know and it’s been amazing seeing her develop over the past year.

Best of luck to your son (DH did natural sciences at Cambridge back in the day and enjoyed it).

Thanks for explaining, very helpful.

Wow. That’s crazy re. £5k summer school. Whilst I admire their dedication to their children, I’m pretty sure the Unis would see through it as they’re practiced in sifting through applications to pick out who is genuinely interested.

I didn’t spot if you’d mentioned which subject but if you opt for Physics (and thus Oxford), feel free to drop me a DM (& tag me here as I don’t check DMs often!) as I’d be happy to talk through colleges etc if helpful. Am conscious my experience is dated but hopefully some might be of use

The fee-based summer courses, particularly those held at elite universities, were very 'on trend' in applications 5-7 years ago, as were pay-to-participate service programs. Neither is looked upon favourably at the current time.

I don’t know anything about Cambridge, but Oxford do not care at all about extra curricular activities.
They want students of high academic ability who are truly engaged with their chosen subject, and able to talk about it. So in a way it’s not complicated and there is no need to stress yourself out trying to work out exactly what you need to do to get in, as either you are the sort of person they look for, or you aren’t. This comes down to personality and ways of thinking as much as academic ability. Even if you are, the margins between who gets a place and who gets rejected can be tiny, everyone will have excellent GCSEs and high predicted grades, so it comes down to the interview. They reject a huge number of very able students so it’s worth not over focusing on Oxbridge but also looking at the best universities for the course, and the type of learning that suits your child.
Oxford has both pros and cons, it’s really not a great fit for all clever students, some people will be happier and more fulfilled in a less intense environment with longer terms.
I think when a student gets fixated with Oxbridge being the only place worth going to, it can be crushing if they don’t get in, which is more likely than not, statistically, and not a reflection on their ability.

I agree that most Oxbridge applicants will have strong test scores and predicted or achieved grades. However, I don't find people to be either the type of person Oxbridge looks for or not. Even through this thread, there's been discussion of how an applicant can strengthen their application. And each aspect of the application, from the personal statement to the choice of course and college to the interview, influences whether one is accepted. There is a difference between being academically capable of succeeding at these universities (most of the applicants are capable) and knowing how to demonstrate that effectively throughout the application process. Rather than simply assuming the admissions outcome comes down to whether a student is "the type" Oxbridge is seeking, understanding what the universities are actually assessing can allow a capable student to show what they can truly offer.

Went to a talk 5 or so years ago form a Cambridge college admission tutor. She said they were not the slightest bit interested in grade 8 flute etc and only wanted to see interest and achievement in your proposed subject.
She even went so far as to say that they didn’t care if you were poor at social skills in interview( as the example she said making eye contact and appearing confident) - they were only interested in talking to you about your subject interests. She added the caveat that for medicine, interview/social skills were important.

It is fine to focus on Oxford and Cambridge but probably best to invest a bit in Imperial too - I know young people who have, after an open day, been horrified by the Oxbridge vibe and much preferred Imperial. Two of my young relatives have done Masters at Imperial in preference to continuing at Oxbridge which they oppressive.

@maybethisyear that is exactly what I have heard with regard to extra curricular for Oxbridge. But still important for some other unis.

@Ceramiq i think we are ruling out London, based on DS personality and living costs. But they do a great course in a similar subject that he would probably love in a different environment.

Not Oxbridge but, I have attended several open days with DD, mainly for medicine. Universities really, really aren't interested in D of E. They were more interested in things like volunteering and experience as well as the academics (DD was a young leader for Brownies for 3 years).

Your experience is out of date.

Gresham College lectures - free to attend in person if you can get to the London venues, but mos, if not all, are also available to watch live online, and then they are put up on YouTube soon afterwards.

www.gresham.ac.uk/

https://youtube.com/@greshamcollege?si=jxUY65rWzYpE6qY_

It was interesting hearing it from the horses mouth as it were. She honestly put it so bluntly! So refreshing a change from people being mealy mouthed.

Essay competitions - Cambridge colleges run these for various disciplines. A commendation or a prize from these really stands out on a personal statement.

Olympiads, as others have said!

Many Oxbridge applicants are the sort of driven young people who will have lots of other interests too. You can certainly mention them in the PS, but don't waste much space talking on them! My DS did go into a little detail about his sport, but only because he was applying for deferred entry in order to coach it on a gap-year. I think he put his music grades in the 'qualifications' section of the UCAS form too!

DD managed to weave her DofE experience into her PS for Oxford Biology. She also shadowed a postgrad in the Biology department of our local uni, read a lot of biology related current affairs and completed a relevant EPQ. Her extra curriculars were summarised in a couple of sentences at the end of her PS. Her Oxford college tutor later told her that he didn’t care what the extra curriculars were but that he liked applicants to have them as, in his experience, students that achieved high academic grades at school alongside something demanding or time consuming were more resilient and had already learnt the time management skills that were needed to thrive at Oxford.