Open application to Oxford?

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Open application to Oxford to study geography?

Son Is being strongly encouraged by the school
to do so to give him a better chance of getting in. What do you think?

When I went, the colleges were in groups. So you were interviewed by the chosen one but then seen by another if they thought you should go but they might not have space. The colleges can be quite different in character. I didn’t know much about it really before applying but I sometimes wish I’d have done more research! Depends on his character really.

He has visited most of the Colleges and selected 4 he liked but my worry is that he will end up - if gets in - somewhere he really doesn’t like. I know that there is no guarantee of getting inyo
the college as if they want you will offer you a place in a different college anyway.

If one is over subscribed & they like you, you can get shuffled around. I would suggest apply to the one he likes, then it might become an open app anyway

My son read geography at Oxford and he graduated three years ago. At that point in time the geography department made sure that every college was interviewing about three people per place and they juggled people around pre interview. Unlike other departments Geogrpahy didn’t then do second interviews at other colleges. I would therefore think that an open application might well be really good to do with geography because he will be allocated to the college that is a bit short on applicants. There are as I’m sure you’re already aware only about 10+ colleges that do geography so you have a limited selection anyway.

I don’t think it sensible to get too hung up on college choice, my daughter, for a different subject, was relocated to another college and she was initially very upset but has had a brilliant time there and is a complete advocate for where she ended up. I don’t think there are any bad colleges:

If he has actually identified 4 that he likes, then school are wrong to discourage him from putting one of those down. As mentioned above - the departments ensure that applications get moved around if there is not an uneven distribution of applications. Not sure how they decide which applications get moved from the more popular colleges, but either way - I don't see the harm in stating a preference. Schools can be resolute and yet incorrect about the advice they give Oxbridge applicants. Common sense would tell you that any applicant willing to put the extra work into preparing for an Oxbridge application should do so safe in the knowledge they have stated a preference, if they have one. I don't like when schools suggest there are hacks to improve your chances.

It will not give him a better chance of getting into Oxford. All it will do is give him a better chance of getting into the particular college he gets allocated by the computer (because open apps get allocated to less over subscribed colleges). If he applies to a popular college, he may be reallocated and after reallocation is complete all colleges will interview a similar ratio of applicants per place. The system isn’t gameable like that.

It he has a preference he may as well state that preference and he certainly shouldn’t be railroaded or frightened into not doing so.

Agree with other posters - if he has 4 colleges he likes, apply to one of those. If they don't shortlist him for interview but feel he is of the right standard, he will be reallocated to another college.

Only choose the open option if he really has no preference.

Good luck 🙂

Sounds like he’s already done the useful bit by visiting and narrowing it to four. I’d probably let him name a preferred college rather than choose open just because it seems safer, as the application still gets considered across the colleges. It’s worth comparing the geography course, admissions approach and accommodation, not just the college name. We found this useful for getting UK uni choices and applications in order: https://helpmedegree.com/universities

I’d genuinely advise him to go with his gut on it and then see what happens.

It's unlikely he'll get in "somewhere he really doesn't like", there are posher and richer and older Oxford colleges but people are very happy at the less posh, poor, modern ones as well, sometimes happier because the vibe is less snooty. I'd agree Oxford is good at reallocating across colleges so there is no way to game the system, so he might as well apply to one he likes in the knowledge he'll likely end up elsewhere so not to get set on anything.

He should pick one of his preferred list of 4, on the understanding that any offer may be from another college entirely. A lot of effort goes into making sure that good applicants are not disadvantaged by their choice of college, so given that he does have a preference he may as well express it. Best of luck to him.

@Juja Did your DS have a good experience of geography at Oxford? My DS (Y10) is at a very early stage of considering his future path.

Re him ending up somewhere he doesn’t like… Colleges are really good at creating loyalty and community. It’s rare for a student not to decide pretty quickly that their college is the best one, whether it’s the one they applied to or not. That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t apply to the college he likes the look of, but I agree about not getting hung up on it. Around a quarter of Oxford students end up getting an offer from a college they didn’t apply to, so it’s best not to get too fixated on the idea of a particular college.

To help him decide out of the four, you can have a look at the comparative costs of accommodation on the Ox Uni website, if that matters to you. We only found it after ds applied unfortunately.

Ds read geography and had developed quite an affinity to his college before application, so didn't do an open application. Once there, he realized he would have been equally happy at most of the other colleges (though particularly fell in love with Worcester, when visiting friends there.)

Hth

Thank you everyone for your responses. I think my DS felt somewhat panicked at putting down a college after being told it would be better to submit an open application.

DS has just told me his school is not necessarily discouraging him from choosing a specific college, but encouraging an open application due to the statistics from last years applications heavily favouring open applications: Half of all applicants from his school (for all subjects) received interviews, but half of all open applicants were made an offer, a far higher proportion. As out of all 14 Geography colleges, DS only disliked 1-2, he says he would rather take the chance with the hope it gives him better odds of getting an offer.

i attended an Oxbridge applications talk by a Cambridge admissions tutor earlier this year (at my son’s state secondary school). Her advice was to apply for a college you like and if you’re good but they can’t take you you’ll be offered to other colleges. She implied no benefit to making an open application.

Schools can often be very adamant about knowing the secret to Oxford admissions (especially independent schools as that is part of what they are promoting to parents), but they often give quite random advice. There isn’t in fact a secret way of boosting your chances with this or with any other Oxford myths (eg “tutors are really looking for XYZ even though the website doesn’t say so”) and there wouldn’t be allowed to be.

In his case it sounds to me like they are
making general extrapolations from a small data set based on one year. That is pretty typical for schools as they only have access to information about their own candidates but know those candidates very well.

All doing an open application does is pre-empt the pre interview reallocation process. Either you get allocated in October or you (may) get reallocated in November. Oxford spends a huge amount of time and effort reallocating precisely to make sure that college choice doesn’t disadvantage anyone.

But he should do what he feels most comfortable with, and if that means avoiding the “what if”, then do that.

There are absolutely ways to boost your odds of getting into Oxford and Cambridge. Whether these are the same as what is understood by schools is another question. Both course and college choices influence the odds of getting in.

I think I would trust @foxglovetree 's views above anyone else's on this thread.

I would agree with the earlier poster not to look too much at a single year or single cohort.

I advise students through the application process, and 75% of my clients get into Oxbridge. There is data to support what works. Course and college choices significantly influence the odds of getting in.