Is applying to Oxford with an inadequate iGCSE results a good idea?

Hello everyone,

I applied to Oxford to study maths but I am a little concerned about my IGCSE results as they are not very fantastic (in fact very appalling compared to those of the successful applicants).

I got 1A* 8As and 2Bs and I see many people applying with +8A*s and such...

I am currently doing the IB meaning I have no AS results to show my improvements. I have a predicted grade of 41 points but I don't think this will mean a lot to Oxford as this cannot really be a real evidence.

I'm wondering if I have a chance to be shortlisted for the interview.. Any thoughts?

Reply 1

uniqsummer

In your situation you would have to perform amazingly well in the MAT to be considered for an interview as A*s will be an important consideration for the admissions tutors.
I guess it all comes down to whether you believe you could perform well in the MAT or not. Have you done any of the test papers?
http://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/study-here/undergraduate-study/maths-admissions-test

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 2

Noble.

Those kind of GCSEs are not unusual among maths/physics/engineering students at top universities.

Reply 3

standkakao

Original post by uniqsummer

The questions in MAT looked really random, most of them seemed to require lots of thinking. It's either I work out how to solve the question and get a decent grade or I fail *_* looks like Oxford may be out of my option then...

Original post by Noble.

Those kind of GCSEs are not unusual among maths/physics/engineering students at top universities.

Can you elaborate on that a lil bit, it's kinda nice to hear (not unusual = usual right?) but I thought maths/engineering required really decent grades from (I)GCSE *_*

Reply 4

uniqsummer

Original post by standkakao

Isn't that the case for all tests? They are challenging but nothing that's impossible providing your good at Maths.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 5

standkakao

Original post by uniqsummer

Isn't that the case for all tests? They are challenging but nothing that's impossible providing your good at Maths.

I guess it's all down to personal capabilities. I find IB Maths HL Questions really easy and I think these questions don't require much thinking.

Though to me, MAT Questions are more like, you need to be very imaginative and creative to find the answer (I don't know which one is supposed to be more difficult and challenging but whatever). Oh well, I guess it's a fair measure to filter out the not-very-talented students..

Reply 6

uniqsummer

Original post by standkakao

Though to me, MAT Questions are more like, you need to be very imaginative and creative to find the answer.

I dont understand what you mean buy this? Take this paper as an example https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/system/files/attachments/test07.pdf
Every question is pretty much formatted in a way that says 'Heres an equation - tell me something about it' They seem totally in-line to what would be on a typical Maths based test.

Its been a while since I studied Maths properly but I honestly believe that if I sat down for half a day I could answer most of the questions effectively - the difficulty of the test is partly to do with the limited time you have, but that's where revision and practice papers can help bring you up to speed.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 7

Chlorophile

Original post by standkakao

Of course the MAT is more challenging than the kind of IB HL questions you'll be doing! I don't do IB but it's not that different from A Levels in the sense that both are very repetitive and neither require a lot of thought. You can do perfectly well at A Level/IB Maths and not be particularly great at Maths. Maths at university is very, very different from Maths at school and whilst the STEP paper is probably a better representation of university maths than the MAT, if you find the MAT exceedingly difficult, it might not be the best option for you. Maybe an applied mathematics subject like Physics would be better?

Reply 8

Ripper Phoenix

ugly truth: you stand very little chance, almost 0 ... the average applicant that gets in has 7A*'s average.
On the brighter side you can look at other RG top unis :smile:

Reply 9

OxfordMathsDept

Original post by standkakao

Hi there,

I wouldn't worry too much about your GCSE results. As Noble. said, they're not unusual. On average, Maths applicants to Oxford have about 5-6 A* at GCSE. However, just knowing the average tells you nothing about the distribution, which is why it's not a particularly useful statistic by itself. The standard deviation is very high for the number of A* at GCSE our applicants have. In addition to that, we also look at how well you performed compared with the cohort at your school. So it's not as simple as saying [x] number of A* at GCSE will get me an interview and [y] number won't.

The best thing to do is to prepare for the MAT. Take a look at the past papers, and compare your performance to the performance that year ( http://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/study-here/undergraduate-study/maths-admissions-test ). Make sure you know what's on the syllabus and that you understand those concepts really well.

(edited 9 years ago)

Original post by standkakao

didn't say it's exceedingly difficult :P just a little worried as the questions are sort-of unpredictable (altho it's kinda beauty of maths)

But I don't really understand why you keep saying they're "unpredictable" as if that's a surprise? It's a major flaw that A Level/IB papers are predictable - you're (hopefully) not going to get that predictability once you leave school!

Reply 12

standkakao

Original post by Chlorophile

I was expressing my concerns and worries due to their unpredictable nature, as I really want to be called for the interview. sorry if it sounded like there was an element of surprise. and yea I don't like A lvl / IB maths questions cos anyone with half a brain can just do few past papers and know the concepts and then get A*/7 with some effort.