Rejected from Oxford, Reapply to Cambridge?

Hello!

Basically, Its been a childhood ambition of mine to go to oxford or cambridge, particuarly oxford. I have sub cousciously spent my entire
life working towards that goal - every test, exam, hour Ive spent studying has always been to help bring one step closer to oxford. This year, I finally was going to apply to oxford and find out if I was competent enough to go the clandestine elite intelluctual paradise that is oxford. I applied for History at corpus christi and got rejected 2 weeks ago, without even been offered an interview. Despite my best efforts at my personal statement, history admissions test and written work I sent in. I was predicted an A* in history, and 2 A's in politics and economics additionally. Needless to say I was shattered when I found out and still am.

All my friends and teachers were shocked when they found out. My History teacher told me that it was probably my college choice that let me down. He said applying to oxford can be a bit of a lottery sometimes and corpus was a competitive college, more so this year as so many cambridge hopefuls applied to oxford due to cam increasing its standard conditional offer. He said that corpus might have been mathematically ruthless by rejecting anyone who didnt get above 90% in their AS scores. I did get A's in my four AS subjects but % wise, I was just under 90%.

Anyway, I dont what to do now...ive already got an offer from warwick, leciester and waiting for lse to respond. My hist teacher told me to simply reconfigure and just go to warwick or lse and do a postgrad at oxbridge if I reallly wanted to go there. But, my dream is to go oxbridge and the rejection still stings...I just feel Im giving up too easily.

So Im considering taking a gap year and reapplying to cambridge...is this too risky? are reapplications usually sucessful? should I just go to warwick? I just feel i would have a greater chance at cam if given an interview, and they interview pretty much everyone who applies...help!

sorry for the long message...

xxxx

The danger of not liking it is a terrible reason to go to a different uni. That danger is always going to be there whichever or whenever you go to Uni. (And actually on student satisfaction levels on league tables oxbridge is among the highest so its b******* anyway).



...and pay an extra years accommodation and tutoring? Yeah, greeeat idea



As long as he/she does well in A2's then he/she is more likely to get the offers next year as the grades are already achieved. I got offers from Nottingham, Durham, Bristol, and Heythrop College last year for competetive courses. I turned them all down, and now have a much better offer from LSE.

So yeah, whilst I respect your decision, don't let your misleading arguments hold other people back

University is very expensive, and takes up a significant amount of time. It also does help to shape your future. If you're not sure that you want to go to anywhere else, then I'd suggest taking the gap year, and working to improve your personal statement (volunteering, job, etc) and financial situation, to reapply for next year. For people saying 'it's just a university' - it's 3 years of your life, ~£25000 of your money, and has a great deal to to with your happiness, and your future career.

Just think about it carefully OP - unfortunately you've chosen the most competitive universities in the country to attempt to get into. However, I don't think a gap year is a silly idea if you have the right mindset about how you're going to spend that time. Apply to the same unis (LSE, Warwick) as this time, too, and you could end up with the same choice again, or perhaps a better outcome with an oxbridge offer.

I feel for you OP, hope whatever you decide it works out.

I think you should reapply to Cambridge. I got rejected after interview for theology at Pembroke, Oxford. I'm applying for anthropology and archeology at Cambridge this year, and I'm so glad because I've got a lush offer from LSE as a back-up and am going on an amazing expedition to India with Raleigh international and then across Indochina for 5 months.

Think of the benefits of having a gap year. Also, applying with your grades might help your chances, particularly if you get 1 or more A*'s at A level. I'l tell you how I get on (I got a 96% average in A2 Theology, History, and Dra/Theatre studies, and a distinction at AEA Critical thinking. Also 2 A's in AS music and crit think. 4A* 6A for gcse).

LSE is really good for history, so if you get an offer then you might want to think about taking it (if you don't want a Gap year). However, if you're up for working hard at your A2's then I think reapplicants have a better chance.

LSE and warwick are very likely to reject straight out if OP reapplies after rejecting their intial offer so the OP could go from having an offer to Warwick to being rejected from there and having to go somewhere even further away academically from Oxbridge than Warwick.

Also no guarantee of a job in this climate anyway, in fact it's damn hard to get one on gap years as some of my friends have discovered this year.

Did you/do you know anyone called Beatrice Fagan or Max Laverack..?

Max is in first year at uni and Bea in year 12..

Ah right fair enough. I go to Cottingham High, obviously just got to finish this year but yeh I know a few people that go there

If you get all As then you are likely to get an unconditional offer from Oxford.

your argument could be said to be equally misleading and the OP may still get the LSE. The OP asked for advice and I said what I would have done faced with the OP's choice, so with that in mind you have confused misleading with different to your set of choices.

Also OP could reject all offers, then bomb out at A level and end up having to go to a much worse university than she originally applied to: although Warwick's and the LSE's (althought hat may have changed now) standard offer is AAB for history it is very unlikely to give someone an offer who achieved AAB at A level and applied during a gap year, so what you have said about being more likely to get an offer whilst having your grades isn't necessarily true as there isn't a guarantee the OP will achieve those grades.

Furthermore with the foreign language study included in the Warwick degree I fail to see how it is not better than taking a gap year and reapplying to Oxford even if the OP did get into Oxford: Oxford is definitely a better place to do history at, but similarly without a very productive gap year it is still a wasted year and for what? In the hope that the OP might not be rejected again from Oxford the next year? That sounds stupid to me when then OP has a perfectly decent offer from Warwick and may get one from the LSE too.

Also if you don't like a university and drop out then have a gap year then that's one year gone wasted, if you take a gap year and go to university and don't like it and drop out then that's two years gone and ultimately they all add up so I do think it is a legitimate worry especially when the OP could go to a perfeclty decent university ranked very highly anyway.

96% from Theology, Hisotry and drama, all together? If so that is amazing,

well if you must know, my gcse grades were 5 A*'s and 5 A's and 2 Bs, do you think that that was the basis of my rejection?

and i was told told by the people who handle oxford applications at my sixth form college that oxford dont request ums scores but they have covert methods of finding out....

I didnt think that hat was awful...hard to know with the hat as there isnt really a definitive marking scheme for such an exam...and they never tell you the results...

No, Oxford don't request UMS scores because they don't need to know them, they don't use 'covert' methods of finding them out. Oxford used to ask for the UMS scores, like Cambridge, but disbanded it in recent years. Oxford do place a lot of emphasis on GCSEs, and for a competitive subject such as History, you would either need 80-100% A*s at GCSE, or do fantastically on the HAT, to secure an interview.

The idea that you need 80-100% A*s at GCSE to get an interview for History is balls, about 75% of history applicants get an interview, and just over 30% get an offer, with the average GCSE results varying quite a bit, but 8A*s+ would be at the high end for applicants.

Please don't talk rubbish.

I thought it was 40% that were interviewed?

I thought it was 40% that were interviewed?

Hello!

Basically, Its been a childhood ambition of mine to go to oxford or cambridge, particuarly oxford. I have sub cousciously spent my entire
life working towards that goal - every test, exam, hour Ive spent studying has always been to help bring one step closer to oxford. This year, I finally was going to apply to oxford and find out if I was competent enough to go the clandestine elite intelluctual paradise that is oxford. I applied for History at corpus christi and got rejected 2 weeks ago, without even been offered an interview. Despite my best efforts at my personal statement, history admissions test and written work I sent in. I was predicted an A* in history, and 2 A's in politics and economics additionally. Needless to say I was shattered when I found out and still am.

All my friends and teachers were shocked when they found out. My History teacher told me that it was probably my college choice that let me down. He said applying to oxford can be a bit of a lottery sometimes and corpus was a competitive college, more so this year as so many cambridge hopefuls applied to oxford due to cam increasing its standard conditional offer. He said that corpus might have been mathematically ruthless by rejecting anyone who didnt get above 90% in their AS scores. I did get A's in my four AS subjects but % wise, I was just under 90%.

Anyway, I dont what to do now...ive already got an offer from warwick, leciester and waiting for lse to respond. My hist teacher told me to simply reconfigure and just go to warwick or lse and do a postgrad at oxbridge if I reallly wanted to go there. But, my dream is to go oxbridge and the rejection still stings...I just feel Im giving up too easily.

So Im considering taking a gap year and reapplying to cambridge...is this too risky? are reapplications usually sucessful? should I just go to warwick? I just feel i would have a greater chance at cam if given an interview, and they interview pretty much everyone who applies...help!

sorry for the long message...

xxxx