Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>

Oxford International Applicants

Scroll to see replies

Hmmmm sounds complicated, thanks!

I'll just apply to the college I like best then, as both of you have indicated that choosing whatever college will have no effect on if I get an offer. From what I understand of what you both said, if my credentials are deemed good enough any college cud potentially interview me despite my choice of college.

Reply 41

dogmatichurricane

Original post by hobnob

One thing you need to bear in mind is that E&M is a very small course. So you're really talking about the difference between a college accepting 2-3 students, as opposed to 1-2. Also, as qwertyuiop1993 said, you're not just up against the people who applied directly to that college but against anyone they interview (possibly even some they don't interview).
Trying to play numbers games is a bit pointless, really, especially since E&M is generally oversubscribed, but if you're worried that you'll accidentally end up applying to the college which happens to be the most oversubscribed of the lot that year, you could do what nearly a third of all E&M applicants do and make an open application. That way you'll get allocated to one of the marginally less oversubscribed colleges. It won't improve your chances of getting an offer, but it will slightly improve your chances that if you get an offer it will be from the college which you were interviewed at, and which you'll probably have grown to like at the end of the interview period.

Actually Pembroke and Hertford take in 8 students for E&M while Braseonse and Keble both have an intake of 6 a year.

Reply 42

orchid1

To be honest, I am a foreigner who came to study in the UK and from my experience as long as you pay for it, you get a place. If you are looking for scholarship then that is a different case.

Reply 43

hobnob

Original post by rohitronaldo

Actually Pembroke and Hertford take in 8 students for E&M while Braseonse and Keble both have an intake of 6 a year.

OK, I stand corrected. The size of the intake must have increased by quite a bit over the past few years, then.

Reply 44

Chunif

Thanks for the info! I have another unrelated question, for UCAS am I only allowed to submit one personal statement for all the colleges to see? ><

Because I should show interest in the major I'm applying to, which would be E&M at oxford

but if I want to apply to say accounting and finance at LSE at the same time, would that be possible? Would UCAS make impossible applications to two or more relatively unrelated courses?

Reply 45

qwertyuiop1993

Original post by Chunif

You only have one personal statement unfortunately.

Reply 46

hobnob

Original post by Chunif

*Theoretically* you could try to be clever and write a statement which fits both courses, but in practice it near-impossible to do this and be successful. It will be obvious what you're trying to do, and then neither university is going to be too happy that you can't make up your mind between economics and accounting. And since they're both highly competitive courses for which quite a bit of 'deselection' is necessary, that may be the end of your application. :erm:

What you could do, though, is write a very economics-focused statement and apply for straight economics courses (or possibly Economics and Something Else) elsewhere.

Reply 47

punctuation

Since you're doing E&M, remember you must take the Thinking Skills Assessment. It's multiple choice (with critical thinking and problem solving), then an essay portion. You have 90 minutes for 50 questions for the MC and 30 minutes for the latter.

Reply 48

Chunif

hmmmm yup will do! thanks so much for the advice/info everyone! :smile:

britain's college app system is almost like its own world :P

one last last question, when i accept an offer and make it my firm choice, is that then binding? say if i accept an offer as a firm, and then I get a better acceptance from the US (always unconditional) am I allowed to throw away my firm choice?

Reply 49

dbmag9

Original post by Chunif

hmmmm yup will do! thanks so much for the advice/info everyone! :smile:

In theory it's binding (and UCAS won't let you turn it down for another UK offer), but they're not going to hunt you down and drag you to study. It would just be polite to tell them as soon as you're sure if you're not going to accept the offer, so that they might be able to offer the place to someone else.

Reply 50

dogmatichurricane

Original post by Chunif

hmmmm yup will do! thanks so much for the advice/info everyone! :smile:

You should have got all your replies from US universities by the first week of April (unless you are waitlisted) and that's well before the UCAS deadline of firming/insuring. So in theory, you wouldn't firm any of your UK choices until you hear from the US ones.

By the way, with regard to your first post --> your grades seem good and make you a competitive applicant. The only thing I would suggest is work hard on your Math and maybe increase that to a predicted 7. I don't think having a 6 would hurt you (unless you're applying for straight Econ to LSE) but having a 7 would help you.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 51

Chunif

Thanks! Math HL is a bi tch but I'll try :P I was actually more worried about my German Ab-Initio, but this is my third high-school in four years of high school education. So I'm hoping Oxford will be able to understand that moving between three different countries and across two continents is not as easy as it sounds.

do you guys happen to know if PPE is easier to get in than E&M? I was looking at the statistics the other day and they seem to have a much greater intake....shortlist for interview is 60% in PPE compared to 30% for E&M. Similarly, accepted stands at 30% for PPE but only 7.8% for E&M..... the rates for E&M are quite disconcerting to say the least :'(

Reply 52

dbmag9

Original post by Chunif

You said you're in Germany; I'm sure you'll do fine with German AI (especially if you've got experience picking up languages through travelling so much).

As for statistics, bear in mind that a major skewing factor is the number of people who apply but aren't really qualified: you'll get loads of people applying for E&M just because they want to make money and Oxford sounds prestigious, who wouldn't stand a chance of getting in anyway, whereas that's less true of PPE (obviously course size is very important too). As far as I'm aware, the acceptance rate for open applications is lower for the same reason.

Reply 53

Chunif

and another question,

i took the AP calculus AB exam when i was in 10th grade, and i received a 5/5...it was listed on the list for UCAS tariff points....does that mean i get to add the tariff points i get from the AP result to the tariff points i get from my IB predicted result?

Reply 54

dbmag9

Original post by Chunif

If you're applying to the top end of the UK universities the UCAS tariff is pretty much irrelevant; offers will be based on results in whatever exams you have left to do. I assume you'd add the points up if you did get a points-based offer from somewhere, though.

Reply 55

Chunif

hmm thanks! do you happen to know if it is easier to get into PPE than E&M? the low acceptance rates look rather intimidating ><

Reply 56

dbmag9

Original post by Chunif

hmm thanks! do you happen to know if it is easier to get into PPE than E&M? the low acceptance rates look rather intimidating ><

Original post by dbmag9

As for statistics, bear in mind that a major skewing factor is the number of people who apply but aren't really qualified: you'll get loads of people applying for E&M just because they want to make money and Oxford sounds prestigious, who wouldn't stand a chance of getting in anyway, whereas that's less true of PPE (obviously course size is very important too). As far as I'm aware, the acceptance rate for open applications is lower for the same reason.

Also, you should apply to a course because it's interesting, not because you think you might get in more or less easily. The two courses are totally different.

Reply 57

Chunif

hmm thanks! would I have better chances of getting in if i applied to PPE rather than E&M? I like E&M more but the acceptance rates are quite intimidating...><

thanks for all the help by the way, they're really helpful as I've never really considered applying to the UK until recenly...