The Student Room Group

Scroll to see replies

Original post by Reminisce
I thought you wanted opinions from TSR? Not everyone works in Oxford but most of us are students going through the same thing, enduring the same experience... We can offer help and all to each other yeesh...

And about the rating the grades thing, we can still give a comparison relative to each other so I don't see how I would have to work at Oxford to provide advice.


Looks like I misread your original post.
Reply 61
Now the thread has reached 10,000 posts, I thought i'd be a good time to get Oxford in the title instead of Oxbridge. As the requirements and main focuses are different, it would be easier for people to post in the relevant sub forums knowing which university they are considering.

Feel free to post here if you are unsure if your grades are good enough for Oxford. Please give as much detail as possible so those here can give you the best advice.

Good luck with your relevant applications everyone. :u:
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 62
Just out of interest....how does Oxford feel about resits. Just interested to see if there is a point in applying. I've had to re sit psych a few times because my teacher was so diabolical she didn't even show us what a test paper was like until the day before our exam and wondered why only 5 people got A's.

But yeah. And I want to retake my English CWK because I know I could have got a higher A. I only got a borderline A.
They feel that they are re-sits. How much it matters will be context dependent but they don't automatically preclude you from getting an offer. To be honest, though, having a bad teacher is literally no excuse because you can find everything you need on the internet.
Reply 64
Original post by EssieAnneW
Just out of interest....how does Oxford feel about resits. Just interested to see if there is a point in applying. I've had to re sit psych a few times because my teacher was so diabolical she didn't even show us what a test paper was like until the day before our exam and wondered why only 5 people got A's.

But yeah. And I want to retake my English CWK because I know I could have got a higher A. I only got a borderline A.


Yeah, because the exam papers and mark schemes aren't freely available on the examination boards websites'

...

:colonhash:
Original post by tehforum
Yeah, because the exam papers and mark schemes aren't freely available on the examination boards websites'

...

:colonhash:


Lol, snap.
Reply 66
Original post by paddy__power
They feel that they are re-sits. How much it matters will be context dependent but they don't automatically preclude you from getting an offer. To be honest, though, having a bad teacher is literally no excuse because you can find everything you need on the internet.


True, and tbf I did do my best considering sciences is NOT my strong point. And I bought every book available and went on every site and DID NOT LEAVE MY HOUSE FOR A MONTH.

If you'd have had her, you would understand.

One lesson, she sat for 40 mins flipping through a magazine before finally looking up and then writing a load of stuff on the board that turned out not even to be for our lesson.

SHe would spend most of the lessons trying to get out of the lessons and if she couldn't she'd send students to get her cokes and lattes from the cafe 15 mins away. Or discussing her latest boyfriend.

And thanks....rant over. I'd just heard of loads of different things....
Reply 67
Original post by tehforum
Yeah, because the exam papers and mark schemes aren't freely available on the examination boards websites'

...

:colonhash:


Yeah. Ok. Apologies for someone who has to share a computer with 7 other people in a household and panicking too much to realize this. This was the first A level exam I had taken ever in January.

I was using that purely as an example.
Original post by EssieAnneW
True, and tbf I did do my best considering sciences is NOT my strong point. And I bought every book available and went on every site and DID NOT LEAVE MY HOUSE FOR A MONTH.

If you'd have had her, you would understand.

One lesson, she sat for 40 mins flipping through a magazine before finally looking up and then writing a load of stuff on the board that turned out not even to be for our lesson.

SHe would spend most of the lessons trying to get out of the lessons and if she couldn't she'd send students to get her cokes and lattes from the cafe 15 mins away. Or discussing her latest boyfriend.

And thanks....rant over. I'd just heard of loads of different things....


So you should have just allowed her and got on with it. If I had her I would just have pointed out to her that she was a useless **** and gone and done something else. Your class must be very polite.
Original post by EssieAnneW
Just out of interest....how does Oxford feel about resits. Just interested to see if there is a point in applying. I've had to re sit psych a few times because my teacher was so diabolical she didn't even show us what a test paper was like until the day before our exam and wondered why only 5 people got A's.

But yeah. And I want to retake my English CWK because I know I could have got a higher A. I only got a borderline A.



Original post by paddy__power
So you should have just allowed her and got on with it. If I had her I would just have pointed out to her that she was a useless **** and gone and done something else. Your class must be very polite.


Was that by any chance Louie, Essa? Aha I had her too, and yeah. In my class we reported her numerous times....People asked her to actually do something, but she would just sigh. In the end it got to the point where we just wouldn't turn up and plan lessons ourselves. She was 'let go of' anyway.
Reply 70
Original post by EssieAnneW
Just out of interest....how does Oxford feel about resits. Just interested to see if there is a point in applying. I've had to re sit psych a few times because my teacher was so diabolical she didn't even show us what a test paper was like until the day before our exam and wondered why only 5 people got A's.

But yeah. And I want to retake my English CWK because I know I could have got a higher A. I only got a borderline A.


For one, Oxford don't look at your individual marks, or modules, so an A is an A. Re-take it if you want security for your grade, but remember, if you're re-sitting things you have to put your grade on UCAS as 'pending', which can count against you. Or at least, people did that at my school and it didn't turn out brilliantly.

Drop psychology.
Reply 71
Original post by deFossard
For one, Oxford don't look at your individual marks, or modules, so an A is an A. Re-take it if you want security for your grade, but remember, if you're re-sitting things you have to put your grade on UCAS as 'pending', which can count against you. Or at least, people did that at my school and it didn't turn out brilliantly.

Drop psychology.


Whether you're retaking or not isn't what determines whether you should put pending or not. If the result has been certificated, you give the grade; if not, it's pending.
Reply 72
Original post by BJack
Whether you're retaking or not isn't what determines whether you should put pending or not. If the result has been certificated, you give the grade; if not, it's pending.


Ah. Thanks. Well, some friends of mine must have got worse offers than they could have done then. I won't tell them about that though. Twisting the knife.
Reply 73
Original post by EssieAnneW
Just out of interest....how does Oxford feel about resits. Just interested to see if there is a point in applying. I've had to re sit psych a few times because my teacher was so diabolical she didn't even show us what a test paper was like until the day before our exam and wondered why only 5 people got A's.

But yeah. And I want to retake my English CWK because I know I could have got a higher A. I only got a borderline A.


Pretty sure that they only mind A2 resits, not AS, so it depends which exams you're resitting. In terms of resitting AS modules, that's presumably ok, but for more information, call the admissions office, they're quite happy answering questions, just have a course code/name and your question at the ready (no need for names so don't feel embarrassed for asking). If you feel like you want to resit to get a higher A, go for it, you have the A regardless of whether you do better or not, but be aware that it will cost you (if your college/sixth form charges) and will also cost time that could be used revising elsewhere. If you have 2 exams in exam season, go for it, but obviously not if you have 6.
If you can cope with it, I'd say yes, you have nothing to lose. Oxford are really the only people to confirm your question, so go on their website and ask the admissions office via email/phone, and you can be sure. The only thing is, if the university do not accept the grade and you resit anyway, it will make little difference. E.g. if you get 81% first, then 84%, other universities will accept the new mark, but Oxford will probably just take the previous 81%.

Hope that helped. PM me for further help. (:
I got 7A*, 3A in GCSE

and then:
Maths:
87/100 - C1
85/100 - C2
86/100 - S1
84/100 - M1
96/100 - C3
94/100 - C4

Economics:
89/100
90/100

English Lit:
74/80 coursework
74/120 exam (but that sh** is getting remarked)

& Further Maths for next year.

I want to apply for Economics :smile:

Additionally, I am fully bilingual, speaking both German and English.



Sooo... what do you guys think are the odds of me getting an offer? :biggrin:
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 75
Original post by josh9294
Any comments for Jesus college, regarding its competitiveness?


Very relieved to hear people emphasise the advantage of Cambridge :smile:
I felt quite uncomfortable when feeling I had to switch my application to Oxford due to my situation.



I think people think about where they want to go, THEN play the 'numbers game' :biggrin:
Which is important, otherwise it may just be wishful thinking!


jesus = standard imo, not like the ones i mentioned, trin/emma/downing
Reply 76
Original post by Helenia
They have more supervisors, but I think that there's still a relatively small number of people actually involved in interviewing and decision making.



Meh, I'm not convinced either way, in this case.


Not really...at caius we had 9 people doing interviews over two days to get through the 125 applicants.

I think nextime's right about the problem that Oxford has is the logistics of dealing with so many candidates per place because when you're teaching just 5-6 medics per college, you wont have the staff to interview 65 people. Most of the Cambridge colleges will do.

I agree that using GCSEs and putting emphasis on pA* like Birmingham is a totally brainless way to address the situation, though.
Reply 77
thanks! i am very passinate about law. Yes, i understand that and im very frustrated that i missed off my music A* and geography A* by 2 UMS marks! But yeah, im aiming or straight A*s at A level, looking forward to it!
Reply 78
Not really...at caius we had 9 people doing interviews over two days to get through the 125 applicants.


Are the any particular differences with Caius admission process, since its a medical based college?

Also, I forgot to mention. I took an A level early, I thought this would be neutral, or positive - anything but negative. But it seems some universities actually look down on that, perhaps because you may have 'less work' to do over the A2 year or whatever reason.

Is this the same for Cambridge?
Original post by BJack
Since the changes mean you have to declare AS grades, not module scores, the high module scores would still go on the reference. If you have other questions about the UCAS process, you'd be better-off asking directly in the UCAS forum. (This thread in particular seems relevant.)

The tutors assessing your application will use all the information they have, including AS results and A2 predictions. They will probably draw their own conclusions about your likely performance at A2 based on your prior results, including AS grades, so unrealistic predictions won't be of much help to you. When you say "less than satisfactory AS grades", what were they? I see you're sitting on AABB at the moment and hoping to go up; is that a mix of A and B modules?


Im hoping for an A*A*A prediction at the least, given that I had rather high UMS in English and Economics. And you would be right about the modules. In Biology, I had A's in both my F211 and F212 papers, but my poor practical performance ended with me having a B overall, and left me 1 UMS off a A. Hence the remark of the written papers, hoping for a higher A in one of them. In Computing (very different from ict), I had a B in both my written paper and my coursework. I need it to move up about 5 UMS, and since the written paper is rather subjective to mark, hoping for it to go up. I also think the marker was quite unfair, and possibly downright ridiculous. Even if my Computing doesnt go up, would it be worthwhile for my tutor to mention in my reference, that I had the highest UMS in my year, even if it only was a B grade? I want him also to mention I was only 1 UMS from an A in biology if I dont go up a grade, as Im a more humanities oriented kind of guy. Sorry for the longwinded reply. But basically yes Im sitting on AABB, with average gcses, extenuating circumstances for them, and I think ill still give it a shot, though.
(edited 12 years ago)

Latest