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The Oxford UNIQ Summer Schools Thread

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Yeah ima apply on Monday lol I think im going to get my head of department for a reference but thats mainly cos he's awsome. Have finished draft of personal statment but its about 2500 characters not 2000...
Reply 201
aaa i didnt know about the reference how long does it have to be ?
Original post by rsp
aaa i didnt know about the reference how long does it have to be ?


The application form will ask you for the following:


Name, address and postcode of your CURRENT school/college;
Name, address and postcode of the school/college where you sat your GCSE exams;
Personal details including up to date contact details, details of any time spent in care, and any disabilities;
Which UNIQ course you would like to apply to;
A Personal Statement, 2000 characters in length (we advise writing this on a word processing package, such as Word, and then pasting into the application form);
Details of parental income, education and occupation (which are used for monitoring purposes ONLY and will NOT be taken into account during selection);
The name and email address of a teacher at your current school/college who will be willing to provide a reference should you be offered a place on the summer school.Please ensure that you have prepared this information before starting your online application.

It doesn't say how long...it's alright, all you actually need for the moment is the name & email address of a teacher but obviously you still have to ask someone suitable ... and I'm kinda scared to ask?
Reply 203
Original post by Niki_girl
The application form will ask you for the following:


Name, address and postcode of your CURRENT school/college;
Name, address and postcode of the school/college where you sat your GCSE exams;
Personal details including up to date contact details, details of any time spent in care, and any disabilities;
Which UNIQ course you would like to apply to;
A Personal Statement, 2000 characters in length (we advise writing this on a word processing package, such as Word, and then pasting into the application form);
Details of parental income, education and occupation (which are used for monitoring purposes ONLY and will NOT be taken into account during selection);
The name and email address of a teacher at your current school/college who will be willing to provide a reference should you be offered a place on the summer school.Please ensure that you have prepared this information before starting your online application.

It doesn't say how long...it's alright, all you actually need for the moment is the name & email address of a teacher but obviously you still have to ask someone suitable ... and I'm kinda scared to ask?





aaaa ye thanx okay so dont need one ready written. im scared of asking aswell, theres this one teacher who is willing to do references (shes done me some for other things) but she donsent actually TEACH me anymore shes kind of just a help for 6formers although she used to be my form teachers. i could ask my chemistry teacher but im not sure if she lieks me and she dosnet know about the extra curricula stuff i do in school whilst the non teacher knows me well . i could ask maths teacher i suppose hmmmm or head of 6form but im to nervous theyl probablyu be like why the f**** u doing this u actually want to go to oxford? ;(
so who do u think i should ask? hmm maybe ill email maths teacher now.
Original post by rsp
aaaa ye thanx okay so dont need one ready written. im scared of asking aswell, theres this one teacher who is willing to do references (shes done me some for other things) but she donsent actually TEACH me anymore shes kind of just a help for 6formers although she used to be my form teachers. i could ask my chemistry teacher but im not sure if she lieks me and she dosnet know about the extra curricula stuff i do in school whilst the non teacher knows me well . i could ask maths teacher i suppose hmmmm or head of 6form but im to nervous theyl probablyu be like why the f**** u doing this u actually want to go to oxford? ;(
so who do u think i should ask? hmm maybe ill email maths teacher now.


Lol, you think you have it bad my teachers think I want to study Biology at university, (and I did) since my Extended Project and everything is based on it, but actually I really want to do History :colondollar: Except I'm stereotyped as "the science girl".

Oh, and I quit chemistry AS level and started theology & ethics this week :biggrin: so that means I can't exactly ask my old chemistry teacher (who now hates me) or my new theology & ethics teacher, who doesn't know me!

Right...I'm thinking either my history teacher (who will be shocked and argh...so embarassing I'll just have to have "a talk" with them, which will be awkward) OR my sixth form Oxbridge woman, who also annoyingly thinks I'm addicted to science...she's just going to be like "what ARE you doing? But you love science???"


:rolleyes: Good times. Either get your old form tutor or your maths teacher (if they know you well enough) or maybe do what I'll do, just ask whoever normally writes sixthformers references, after all they're not going to say anything terrible are they? (and they'll probably discuss with your other subject teachers as well just to check you are well behaved/ put effort into all your subjects etc.)

You know what? I'm going to wait a few weeks, and when it gets to February I'll ask for a reference :colone: I don't want to be the first person at school to mention it when nobody else even knows about it :ninja:
Reply 205
Original post by Niki_girl
Lol, you think you have it bad my teachers think I want to study Biology at university, (and I did) since my Extended Project and everything is based on it, but actually I really want to do History :colondollar: Except I'm stereotyped as "the science girl".

Oh, and I quit chemistry AS level and started theology & ethics this week :biggrin: so that means I can't exactly ask my old chemistry teacher (who now hates me) or my new theology & ethics teacher, who doesn't know me!

Right...I'm thinking either my history teacher (who will be shocked and argh...so embarassing I'll just have to have "a talk" with them, which will be awkward) OR my sixth form Oxbridge woman, who also annoyingly thinks I'm addicted to science...she's just going to be like "what ARE you doing? But you love science???"


:rolleyes: Good times. Either get your old form tutor or your maths teacher (if they know you well enough) or maybe do what I'll do, just ask whoever normally writes sixthformers references, after all they're not going to say anything terrible are they? (and they'll probably discuss with your other subject teachers as well just to check you are well behaved/ put effort into all your subjects etc.)

You know what? I'm going to wait a few weeks, and when it gets to February I'll ask for a reference :colone: I don't want to be the first person at school to mention it when nobody else even knows about it :ninja:




Dont worry what you are stereotyped as just say tell t hem you want to do history it's your future not theirs. we have a meeting at school every so often for medicine prospective students and although i have been to 4 every time i turn up the head of 6form is like y are u here and i have to explain all over again y i want to study medicine. ooo interesting how come you dropped chemistry , good luck with your theology and ethics course sounds good. Ye i think you should get youre history teacher to do it although that 'talk' will be awkward i hate it when youve got to tell a teacher something academic, its stopped me applying to Sutton trust thing because teachers have to fill in a form i feel like they will think im full of my self.

out of interest why the change between biology and history? I'm
also doing history a level but dont really like it :frown:

Its good you have an oxbridge person we have no such thing what do they do? out of interest you definitely applying to oxbridge what gcses did u get?

my plans similar to yours but no one in my school has ever on this course , school has never heard of it so im going to ask maths teacher to be a referee for a 'random thing' and only if i get a place which will be unlikely then ill tell them about it properly.
Original post by rsp
Dont worry what you are stereotyped as just say tell t hem you want to do history it's your future not theirs. we have a meeting at school every so often for medicine prospective students and although i have been to 4 every time i turn up the head of 6form is like y are u here and i have to explain all over again y i want to study medicine. ooo interesting how come you dropped chemistry , good luck with your theology and ethics course sounds good. Ye i think you should get youre history teacher to do it although that 'talk' will be awkward i hate it when youve got to tell a teacher something academic, its stopped me applying to Sutton trust thing because teachers have to fill in a form i feel like they will think im full of my self.

out of interest why the change between biology and history? I'm
also doing history a level but dont really like it :frown:

Its good you have an oxbridge person we have no such thing what do they do? out of interest you definitely applying to oxbridge what gcses did u get?

my plans similar to yours but no one in my school has ever on this course , school has never heard of it so im going to ask maths teacher to be a referee for a 'random thing' and only if i get a place which will be unlikely then ill tell them about it properly.




I dropped chemistry because no matter how much work I put in I kept randomly failing tests, losing confidence and gradually I began to dread the lessons/ homework, which I constantly had to ask help for. I got an A* at GCSE, but as you probably know, it's completely different at AS.

Yeah that's what I'm afraid of! That teachers will be like -.- wait, you think you could go to Oxford? They probably won't, but I still think about it.

Basically, I always wanted to do Biology, and I still like Biology as a subject but I don't really like maths or stats, which most Biology courses include, also, Biology relies heavily on chemistry, which after a term I found unbearable :/ and so dropped, everthing I like about Biology is more prominent in History (the research, extra reading, extended writing and factual knowlegde rather than mathematical logic and applied knowledge) so in the end I realisied I liked, and was more suited to History :smile:

Out of interest, what don't you like about History? I'm on OCR, doing 1066 & the Norman Conquest alongside the French Revolution, which I really enjoy.

Well, the "Oxbridge person" is actually a history teacher, who organises the trips and schemes as well as helping those who want to make applications to Oxbirdge. Basically she knows about the early deadline, college system admissions tests and stuff and she tells people about access schemes and sorts out trips for people who want to visit.

hmm I'm not *definitely* applying to Oxford or Cambridge... it's a dream but I need 4 As at AS, and a good personal statement etc before I'm sure I will apply - otherwise, as one of my history teachers said "it's a waste of a postage stamp", lol

My GCSEs are in my sig, 5A*s, 6As and 3Bs... I've seen people with like 12A*s applying :eek: but I'll give it a go, I only know of a handful of people in my year that did better than me :tongue: so I'll go by that.
Reply 207
Hiya (: I was thinking of applying too but I don't know if I really stand a chance. I mean I did okay in my GCSEs, I was in the top 15 at least at my old school but it was a private school, not a hugely prestigious one, but still (please don't judge me, my Gran died in year 6 and I was on a hefty scholarship and it was still a struggle at the end) I don't know whether this will count heavily against me or not :/

'good' news though is that I'd want to apply for music and that had the second highest acceptance rate last year :L What do you think? Is it worth a go anyway? :smile:

Thanks. x
Original post by jennytattum
Hiya (: I was thinking of applying too but I don't know if I really stand a chance. I mean I did okay in my GCSEs, I was in the top 15 at least at my old school but it was a private school, not a hugely prestigious one, but still (please don't judge me, my Gran died in year 6 and I was on a hefty scholarship and it was still a struggle at the end) I don't know whether this will count heavily against me or not :/

'good' news though is that I'd want to apply for music and that had the second highest acceptance rate last year :L What do you think? Is it worth a go anyway? :smile:

Thanks. x


I'd go for it. You have nothing to lose, after all :smile:
Reply 209
Original post by Festina lente
I'd go for it. You have nothing to lose, after all :smile:


Thank you :smile: Now I guess I need to decide who to ask for a reference :L
Original post by Festina lente
I'd go for it. You have nothing to lose, after all :smile:


Agreed. Nobody has anything to lose from it, it's not like if you apply and don't get in you can't go to the university or anything. Everyone is a little nervous about asking for a reference from a teacher (as me and rsp discussed above ^) but at the end of the day, they probably won't say no if they know you're interested (or if you prove to them you're interested by going to see them :tongue:)
Reply 211
Original post by Niki_girl
Agreed. Nobody has anything to lose from it, it's not like if you apply and don't get in you can't go to the university or anything. Everyone is a little nervous about asking for a reference from a teacher (as me and rsp discussed above ^) but at the end of the day, they probably won't say no if they know you're interested (or if you prove to them you're interested by going to see them :tongue:)


:P so I saw :smile: I think I'll probably ask my music teacher, because maybe he'll be able to make it a bit more subject related? Hopefully he'd be nice about me :biggrin: Even if I don't get accepted it'd be a good experience for future applications.
Original post by ikigai
I went on the UNIQ summer school last year, I met loads of new friends, it gave me a real insight into the course and it was actually really fun. You should apply even if you think you might not get in. You never know! :smile:


Wow, which course did you go on? They all look really good, but I want to apply for History :colondollar: are you going to actually apply to Oxford?
Reply 213
Original post by ikigai
I went on the UNIQ summer school last year, I met loads of new friends, it gave me a real insight into the course and it was actually really fun. You should apply even if you think you might not get in. You never know! :smile:


:smile: that's amazing, which subject did you take?
Reply 214
Original post by Niki_girl
I dropped chemistry because no matter how much work I put in I kept randomly failing tests, losing confidence and gradually I began to dread the lessons/ homework, which I constantly had to ask help for. I got an A* at GCSE, but as you probably know, it's completely different at AS.

Yeah that's what I'm afraid of! That teachers will be like -.- wait, you think you could go to Oxford? They probably won't, but I still think about it.

Basically, I always wanted to do Biology, and I still like Biology as a subject but I don't really like maths or stats, which most Biology courses include, also, Biology relies heavily on chemistry, which after a term I found unbearable :/ and so dropped, everthing I like about Biology is more prominent in History (the research, extra reading, extended writing and factual knowlegde rather than mathematical logic and applied knowledge) so in the end I realisied I liked, and was more suited to History :smile:

Out of interest, what don't you like about History? I'm on OCR, doing 1066 & the Norman Conquest alongside the French Revolution, which I really enjoy.


Well, the "Oxbridge person" is actually a history teacher, who organises the trips and schemes as well as helping those who want to make applications to Oxbirdge. Basically she knows about the early deadline, college system admissions tests and stuff and she tells people about access schemes and sorts out trips for people who want to visit.

hmm I'm not *definitely* applying to Oxford or Cambridge... it's a dream but I need 4 As at AS, and a good personal statement etc before I'm sure I will apply - otherwise, as one of my history teachers said "it's a waste of a postage stamp", lol

My GCSEs are in my sig, 5A*s, 6As and 3Bs... I've seen people with like 12A*s applying :eek: but I'll give it a go, I only know of a handful of people in my year that did better than me :tongue: so I'll go by that.




Sorry to hear about chemistry dropping it was the right choice though and ye im finding as level harder (doing wjec) its more mathsy but I kind of like that. its not that i really dislike history but ive been concentrating more on science/maths because i have exams and have therefore fallen behind. were doing Natzis (which we aslo did in gCSE so is getting boring plus its horrible our massive coursework essay has to be on the final solution.

Congrats on your GCSE's i dont think ill apply to Oxford or Cambridge because it would be impossible to get in for medicine!
Reply 215
Has anyone else found the leap from GCSE to AS quite large in some subjects?
Original post by jennytattum
Has anyone else found the leap from GCSE to AS quite large in some subjects?


Yes :frown: I found chemistry so horribly hard I dropped it, which people found unbelievable considering I'd done well at GCSE.

English lit/ History hasn't been that much of a jump, but Biology and Chemistry combined killed me, so I switched Chemistry for Theology & Ethics and it's much better now :smile:

Biology is still quite hard though...I remember at GCSE all those basic things I didn't even have to understand - I memorised most of it and then remembered it for the exams - now I have to actually understand it! :dontknow:
Reply 217
Original post by Niki_girl
Yes :frown: I found chemistry so horribly hard I dropped it, which people found unbelievable considering I'd done well at GCSE.

English lit/ History hasn't been that much of a jump, but Biology and Chemistry combined killed me, so I switched Chemistry for Theology & Ethics and it's much better now :smile:

Biology is still quite hard though...I remember at GCSE all those basic things I didn't even have to understand - I memorised most of it and then remembered it for the exams - now I have to actually understand it! :dontknow:


I am so glad that it's not just me! Physics has been a huge leap too but I'm sticking with it. Mainly because I have no idea what I would have swapped it for :/ That's like Maths too, facts just don't seem to do anymore, understanding is key :/ I'll be happy to pass :L

Music's not too bad though follow on wise because everything's new for it. I feel quite unprepared for my exam tomorrow though :/

Thank you for the friend request :smile: x
Reply 218
The UNIQ Summer School is absolutely amazing, guys. I'm sure I met friends for life there, one of the best weeks of my life :biggrin:
I'm applying this year for English :>
I need to get started on my Personal Statement thang, I was gonna put it off til after exams but I'm secretly paranoid they've got some irrational prejudice against those who don't apply really early on hah. Just y'know how schools always tell you to send off your UCAS as early as possible etc.

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