The Student Room Group

Successful Oxford Applicants, could you answer these questions?

What was your subject?
Which college did you apply to?
What is your school type (independent, grammar, comprehensive)?

What were your GCSE grades?
Your AS grades.
Your predicted grades for A2.
Your final A2 grades.

How did you do in your entrance test? (If required)
How well did your interview go?
How nervous were you before your got your acceptance letter (congratulations, by the way)?

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If you look around TSR you'll find plenty of this information. If you want to see the actual statistics they're on the Oxford website.
Reply 2
Original post by anyone_can_fly
If you look around TSR you'll find plenty of this information. If you want to see the actual statistics they're on the Oxford website.


Yeah but that involves a lot of effort. :P This makes everything nice and concise.
But where on the website, do you have a link?
Reply 4
Original post by wisdomevra
What was your subject?
Mathematics
Which college did you apply to?
New College

What is your school type (independent, grammar, comprehensive)?
Independent
What were your GCSE grades?
8 A*, 2 A, A in FSMQ Additional Maths

Your AS grades.
AAAAAA
Your predicted grades for A2.
A*A*A*A* :eek:
Your final A2 grades.
A*A*AA :frown:
How did you do in your entrance test? (If required)
I don't know! The tutors determined not to tell us at interviews and I've not asked since. 'not going to lie: I found the questions answerable, and would be disappointed if I scored lower than the average (49/100)
How well did your interview go?
They were passable but not brilliant. Only once in my four interviews did a tutor seem genuinely impressed with an answer. Then again, being honest, periods of uncomfortable silence were similarly rare. As I say I feel they were mediocre overall, yet I do feel that I achieved my potential and don't have a capacity to do much better.
How nervous were you before your got your acceptance letter (congratulations, by the way)?
I remember it was indeed quite nervewracking. A very short wait however; having finished interviews on a Wednesday I received an e-mail on Friday afternoon of the same week due to the heavy snows (this varied very greatly between colleges) .Less nervewracking than awaiting A-level Results' Day, however, when there is so much implied expectation from both friends, family, teachers and tutors not to fail.


I shall assume that you will be applying. Best of luck :smile:
Reply 5
Original post by wisdomevra
What was your subject?
English
Which college did you apply to?
Lincoln
What is your school type (independent, grammar, comprehensive)?
Independent, new, with no real history of oxbridge!!

What were your GCSE grades?
8 A*s, 3As
Your AS grades.
3 As in French, History and General Studies, B in Latin (I did English as a Cambridge Pre U, therefore it was a 2 year course)
Your predicted grades for A2.
D2 for English (equivalent of A*) A* for History, A for french
Your final A2 grades.
A for French, A* for History, D1 for English (more than A*)

How did you do in your entrance test? (If required)
Not very well at all!! 42 out of 60 in Elat if I remember right
How well did your interview go?
Well it must have gone ok, I got in!! I didn't get time to talk about my area of special interest because we became too engrossed in the poem they had given me and my essay, but I enjoyed it.
How nervous were you before your got your acceptance letter (congratulations, by the way)?

Very. Very very nervous. I was told that I would hear before Christmas, and some of my friends and others on studentroom had heard before me. Our post wasn't coming because of the snow, so I rang Lincoln and they told me over the phone. I was delighted. I told my mum, but she wasn't listening properly and thought that I had told her that Oxford would email me the result, so I had to tell her again!!! :smile: Then she was happy.
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by wisdomevra
What was your subject? English
Which college did you apply to? Magdalen
What is your school type (independent, grammar, comprehensive)? Grammar

What were your GCSE grades? 4 A*s, 7 As
Your AS grades. AABC, which was very disappointing. I retook some, and didn't have to declare them
Your predicted grades for A2. A*AAA
Your final A2 grades. A*A*A*A, which was something of a shock

How did you do in your entrance test? (If required) 50/60 on the ELAT, I know someone who received 55 and did not get an offer, if that's of interest
How well did your interview go? I enjoyed them all, but had three at Magdalen and things were more formal and scary by the third. I then had two very comfortable ones at Mansfield, where I am going
How nervous were you before your got your acceptance letter (congratulations, by the way)?Nervous before, but did not know when it would make it, because of the snow. When it came I was just overjoyed, because both colleges sent a letter, meaning I could only have got into the second.


Good luck if you're applying, and just love and enjoy your subject. It'll be great whatever happens.
What was your subject? Physics
Which college did you apply to? Oriel
What is your school type (independent, grammar, comprehensive)? Grammar

What were your GCSE grades? 9A* 2A 1C
Your AS grades. AAAAAB
Your predicted grades for A2. A*A*A*AA
Your final A2 grades. A*A*A*AA (but in different subjects than predicted)

How did you do in your entrance test? (If required) Wasn't told, well enough to get interviewed.
How well did your interview go? Two felt awful and faily, last one felt more okay but by no means great...
How nervous were you before your got your acceptance letter (congratulations, by the way)? Not that nervous really in the days leading up, as I wasn't expecting an offer. VERY nervous before I opened the envelope! Then very very happy indeed :smile:
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 8
What was your subject?
Experimental Psychology
Which college did you apply to?
New (but received offer from Somerville)
What is your school type (independent, grammar, comprehensive)?
Comprehensive.

What were your GCSE grades?
5A*, 5A
Your AS grades.
AAABC in Psychology, Maths, English Lit, Geography, Chemistry.
Your predicted grades for A2.
AAA (A) in Psychology, Maths, English Lit, (Geography)
Your final A2 grades.
AAA (A*) subject in brackets was taken during gap year.

How did you do in your entrance test? (If required)
I know I scored 62.6 in the TSA - I think it's just slightly above average, but nothing particularly special. I thought it had gone a lot worse though, because I found it so much harder than the mock exams.
How well did your interview go?
I had three interviews - my first at New was diabolical, the second was average, but my last interview (at Somerville) went really well - whilst the other interviews had focused on possibly the worst things they could have asked, this interview focused a lot on my areas of interest, and I felt that I got on with my interviewer a lot better.
How nervous were you before your got your acceptance letter (congratulations, by the way)?
I couldn't believe I got to the interview stage in the first place, so I was just pleased to have made it that far (I never thought I'd be able to get in, but thought I might as well apply rather than regret it later. No-one from my school had gone to Oxbridge in years). Even though the last interview went well, I was sure that the first two interviews would have ruined my chances (and so wasn't that nervous), but a couple of weeks after, I received an email from New telling me that another college planned to make me an offer :biggrin:
(edited 12 years ago)
I really like this thread. Hearing that many of you who were given offers didn't think you would get in makes me feel better about applying. :smile:
Original post by wisdomevra
What was your subject? French
Which college did you apply to? Trinity
What is your school type (independent, grammar, comprehensive)? Comprehensive

What were your GCSE grades? 10.5 A*s 0.5 A and 2 Bs
Your AS grades. AAAAB in French, Maths, English Lit., Philosophy and Critical Thinking respectively
Your predicted grades for A2. A*A*A*
Your final A2 grades. A*A*A* (French, Maths and English Lit.)

How did you do in your entrance test? (If required)
Grammar test- Apparently I did quite well according to my tutor but I never got a specific mark back.

How well did your interview go?
My interview was surprisingly chilled - I got some challenging texts but the tutors were very friendly. Got into a very enthusiastic discussion about the importance of immersion and found out I'd been to the same festival as the tutor the previous summer, we gave each other a mental high-five :wink:

How nervous were you before your got your acceptance letter (congratulations, by the way)?
I was an absolute wreck - I'd convinced myself that the interview had seemingly gone well because they had taken one look at me and decided "Too stupid" so didn't bother grilling me like I was expecting. Also, the snow caused havoc on my nerves and I'd compulsively check the post (as well as the Oxford web cam to gauge how hard it was snowing :s-smilie:) All my friends had also heard and most had got in so the pressure was on...


The most surprising part of my application was probably how fun it was - not just talking to tutors but meeting so many like-minded people who were enthusiastic about my subject.
(edited 12 years ago)
What was your subject? History
Which college did you apply to?New, but was pooled to Keble during interviews.
What is your school type (independent, grammar, comprehensive)? Comprehensive.

What were your GCSE grades? 10A*s and 1A
Your AS grades. 4As. French, History, Maths and Eng Lit. Oh and an A in General Studies :tongue:
Your predicted grades for A2. A*A*A*A (one of the A*s in GS)
Your final A2 grades. A*A*AA (A*s in GS and Eng Lit (99.5% :tongue:)) So not as great as I could have done, especially in History, due to a really dodgy OCR themes mark :colondollar:

How did you do in your entrance test? (If required) I did the HAT, however I didn't ask. I was worried a) I'd get too cocky if I found I'd done really well and therefore be stupidly complacent for my June exams, or b) I'd feel inferior and useless if I'd only just scraped the marks.
How well did your interview go? First interview at New (on my PS) was really good, lovely interviewers and it was really relaxed. Second one was awful. It was on my written work, and the first question I was asked completely threw me, which set the tone for the whole interview. I also forgot the word for 'primary' source, so came across as being very stupid. Found out the next day I had an interview at Keble, for which I got given a source on State Formation in Mexico (I know), and then got grilled on it by...4 interviewers, one of whose cat was chilling in the room while I was interviewed :confused: Really didn't know what to think, but gave it my all because I was pretty sure I'd been handed another chance I really didn't deserve.
So in short...mixed.
How nervous were you before your got your acceptance letter (congratulations, by the way)? Haha thank you :smile: I sort of put it to the back of my mind...kind of nervous I guess, especially because I'd only had one offer so far (from York), so the whole UCAS thing wasn't going to well. I actually got an email from New first, telling me that I hadn't got in but that another college would be offering me a place. So I couldn't properly celebrate...I didn't want to say anything until I'd actually heard from Keble! So I was kind of in limbo for a few days.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 12
Original post by wisdomevra
What was your subject? PPE
Which college did you apply to? don't say on TSR. Anonymity and all that.
What is your school type (independent, grammar, comprehensive)? private. Well public (boarding) in fact

What were your GCSE grades? 10 A*s
Your AS grades. AAAA
Your predicted grades for A2. I have no idea
Your final A2 grades.A*A*AA

How did you do in your entrance test? (If required) average ish
How well did your interview go? Very well. Obviously since I got in

haha seriously I have no idea - I came out shaking and full of adrenaline. Actually really enjoyed the constant questioning from the politics tutor. But I had no idea how I'd done. And I lied about whether I could answer the maths problem (it was to differentiate a log and I couldn't remember how to, so I said we were learning another area and not differentiating. One off Maths questions make me nervous. I was fine in maths exams (surprising A*), but rubbish in tests.)

How nervous were you before your got your acceptance letter (congratulations, by the way)? marginally nervous. But like 3 days before I'd been accepted onto an amazing gap yah thing, and I was never that bothered about Oxford. Still feel that way really.


xx
Reply 13
Original post by wisdomevra
What was your subject? medicine
Which college did you apply to? Merton
What is your school type (independent, grammar, comprehensive)? Comprehensive

What were your GCSE grades? 12A* 1A
Your AS grades. AAAAA
Your predicted grades for A2. AAAAA
Your final A2 grades. AAAAA
NB: this is pre-A*

How did you do in your entrance test? (If required) BMAT - 7.8, 9.0, 7.5 = 86%
How well did your interview go? I felt one set went pretty badly, the other a bit more easy, although there were a couple of sticking points where i didn't know what they meant
How nervous were you before your got your acceptance letter (congratulations, by the way)? It wasn't a letter, it was an e-mail, and i read it without realizing what it was :tongue: My heart was beating pretty fast afterwards though



Original post by anyone_can_fly
If you look around TSR you'll find plenty of this information. If you want to see the actual statistics they're on the Oxford website.


Only medicine releases detailed information about grades though. I have long thought that a thread similar to the medics one would be useful.
Reply 14
Hi!
Hope you don't mind if I post here...I'm not a "successful oxford applicant"myself, more of a prospective applicant...but it is related! :smile:

Just wondering, any successful oxford applicants from Australia here? If so, what subject did you apply for and what was your ATAR?

...I'm not really sure how many Australians are here, so if anyone is, please answer :biggrin:
Reply 15
What was your subject? Mathsss
Which college did you apply to? New college
What is your school type (independent, grammar, comprehensive)? grammar

What were your GCSE grades? 10A*
Your AS grades. AAAAA
Your predicted grades for A2. 4A*
Your final A2 grades. 4A*

How did you do in your entrance test? (If required) no idea - our tutors tell us only after we've graduated aha
How well did your interview go? they seemed ok to me - it was hard to tell really
How nervous were you before your got your acceptance letter (congratulations, by the way)? not at all - i was like, oh, my rejection letter is here
Reply 16
What was your subject? PPE
Which college did you apply to? Wadham
What is your school type (independent, grammar, comprehensive)? Comprehensive for school, then a Sixth Form College

What were your GCSE grades? 4A* 5A
Your AS grades. AAAB
Your predicted grades for A2. A*AA
Your final A2 grades. A*AA

How did you do in your entrance test? (If required) Can't remember exactly, was mid-high 60's I believe
How well did your interview go? Philosophy was good, Politics was OK, Economics was terrible.
How nervous were you before your got your acceptance letter (congratulations, by the way)? Nervous in the days running up, I was in bed when the letter came though, and the "we are pleased to offer you a place..." letter had slid up into the plastic seethrough window bit of the envelope so my Mum came rushing into my room knowing I'd been accepted.
Original post by wisdomevra
What was your subject?
Which college did you apply to?
What is your school type (independent, grammar, comprehensive)?

What were your GCSE grades?
Your AS grades.
Your predicted grades for A2.
Your final A2 grades.

How did you do in your entrance test? (If required)
How well did your interview go?
How nervous were you before your got your acceptance letter (congratulations, by the way)?


Music at Woosta. Came from a comp. 7 A*s and 3 As at GCSE, aaac at AS, predicted AAA for A2 but actually only got AAB.

Not an entrance test per se but my performance recital went pretty well. My interviews went really well, even though I thought I'd messed up one of them.

I wasn't particularly nervous tbh :nah:
Reply 18
Original post by wisdomevra
What was your subject?
Chemistry
Which college did you apply to?
Balliol
What is your school type (independent, grammar, comprehensive)?
Comprehensive

What were your GCSE grades?
10 A* 1 A
Your AS grades.
4 A's
Your predicted grades for A2.
Your final A2 grades.
A*AA

How did you do in your entrance test? (If required)
How well did your interview go?
Apparently very well, but I wasn't really sure.
How nervous were you before your got your acceptance letter (congratulations, by the way)? I was in bed from a night out, my mum woke me up, I read it, she was ecstatic and I fell straight back to sleep. Celebrated properly about 2 hours later :biggrin:


I'm now going into me second year :smile:
Reply 19
Original post by wisdomevra

What was your subject?

History.

Which college did you apply to?

Magdalen.

What is your school type (independent, grammar, comprehensive)?

Comp.

What were your GCSE grades?

7A*s, 4As.

Your AS grades.

3As, 1B.

Your predicted grades for A2.

2A*s, 1A.

Your final A2 grades.

3A*s, History, English Literature, Art.

How did you do in your entrance test? (If required)

Really well, toughest exam I'd done, but I'd prepared well enough. My arguments were concise, and without waffle. The big essay question was fantastic, too, as I wrote about the Dutch Revolution in the 16th Century, which is one of my favourite events.

How well did your interview go?

Fun, but scary, but mainly fun. I had some tricky sources to analyse and debate with the tutors, but I was pleased with what I said to them, and I held up the arguments in my submitted essay well. I was shaking after both of them, but I didn't feel like I'd ballsed it up.

How nervous were you before your got your acceptance letter (congratulations, by the way)?

Quite, but when I thought rationally about it all, I was pretty confident. I did everything to the best of my ability.


May as well have a go, it's not as if I have 200 pages of history in French to read.

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