Oxbridge interview weight bias?

Hey, I just got my GCSE results (9A*s) and am thinking about applying to Oxbridge next year. I'm male and I weigh nearly 17 stone and I'm a bit above average height. I've gained about two stone in the last year so I'd be about 19 stone by the time interviews came around. I'm just wondering if being fat would affect my chances of getting in, in any way, no matter how small.

Thank you
:smile:

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Reply 1

Plagioclase

Original post by venividicenavi

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No, it won't.

Reply 2

Duncan2012

WTF? Why would you even think this was an issue?

Reply 3

venividicenavi

Original post by Duncan2012

WTF? Why would you even think this was an issue?

I can imagine the interviewer thinking something along the lines of "he's too lazy to lose weight so won't work hard at the degree" or "he's not clever enough to realise that he needs to lose weight".

Reply 4

Duncan2012

Original post by venividicenavi

You got 9A*. You're obviously clever. That's all they'll see.

On a completely separate note, there's nothing stopping you losing weight this year if you wanted to.

Reply 5

venividicenavi

Original post by Duncan2012

You got 9A*. You're obviously clever. That's all they'll see.

On a completely separate note, there's nothing stopping you losing weight this year if you wanted to.

That's good. Yeah I know but I'm fairly active but I like to eat a lot. At this point my weight isn't really affecting my health because I play rugby fairly frequently, so there's little incentive to lose weight, given that I enjoy eating a lot and losing weight would be difficult.

Reply 6

Helenia

Original post by venividicenavi

That's pretty crap reasoning for someone supposedly intelligent enough for Cambridge. It's not going to get any easier to lose weight as you get older, and rugby will get tougher as you get bigger.

Reply 7

alow

Original post by venividicenavi

A lot must be an understatement.

A healthy diet would also mean you'll almost definitely be better academically.

Reply 8

Doones

Original post by venividicenavi

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And I was expecting a question about how much importance does Oxbridge give the interview...

(BTW, just because you gained 2 stones last year doesn't mean you will continue to gain 2 stones every year, otherwise you're going to need new rugby kit.)

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(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 9

MouseyBrown

Original post by jneill

Haha I know....I was expecting a 'how important are interviews' question.

And then I thought this was a wind up :s-smilie:

Reply 10

venividicenavi

Original post by Helenia

That's pretty crap reasoning for someone supposedly intelligent enough for Cambridge. It's not going to get any easier to lose weight as you get older, and rugby will get tougher as you get bigger.

I know but with exams and all that I don't want to lose weight now and I'm probably going to quit rugby soon anyway because of A-Level revision next year

Reply 11

venividicenavi

Original post by alow

A lot must be an understatement.

A healthy diet would also mean you'll almost definitely be better academically.

Hahaha, what can I say, I like to eat. (I also started a food diary today for unrelated reasons)

Reply 12

alow

Original post by venividicenavi

Hahaha, what can I say, I like to eat. (I also started a food diary today for unrelated reasons)

You can still eat nice food and lose weight. Eat lean meat and control your portion sizes.

Reply 13

venividicenavi

Original post by jneill

Haha yeah I know but I gained about two and a half pounds last month which projects forward accordingly. Hahahaha I often have to buy new kit but the shorts I have currently are elasticated so stretch really comfortably

Reply 14

venividicenavi

Original post by alow

You can still eat nice food and lose weight. Eat lean meat and control your portion sizes.

I do have a pretty big appetite though, like I'm hungry all the time and it takes quite a lot of food before I'm full

Reply 15

Doones

Original post by venividicenavi

I know but with exams and all that I don't want to lose weight now and I'm probably going to quit rugby soon anyway because of A-Level revision next year

A healthy body helps a healthy mind. Best not to drop a sport. Especially a winter sport.

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Reply 16

venividicenavi

Original post by MouseyBrown

Haha I know....I was expecting a 'how important are interviews' question.

And then I thought this was a wind up :s-smilie:

Why'd you think that?

Reply 17

alow

Original post by venividicenavi

I do have a pretty big appetite though, like I'm hungry all the time and it takes quite a lot of food before I'm full

Then you need to have some willpower. Your body will adjust to getting less food.

Reply 18

difeo

Probably, weight bias is a common thing in all aspects of life. Yet another reason to lose weight.

Reply 19

venividicenavi

Original post by alow

Then you need to have some willpower. Your body will adjust to getting less food.

I've tried before to cut back but it always comes back on (due to bad family habits) and my appetite never seeming to die back. I also really really enjoy eating and it's not really a problem while I'm still playing sports and being reasonably healthy