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Support from schools to Oxbridge applicants...

Ahoy!

Hope all you guys aren't too worried about results day...8 days and counting...but I have been casting my mind back to pre-application times...

I came from a state school in Mid-Wales and was always told that Oxbridge was out of the question, and I was just wondering how much help/interview prep & what the general feeling towards Oxbridge was at others' schools..?

Cheers :biggrin:

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Reply 1

xx_ambellina_xx

Humble_Pi

Basically, I was told that by a lot of my teachers. There was no help, and no interview prep. Don't worry, if you have the potential you won't need it.

Reply 2

RichE

Very few teachers I think know how to run a good approximation to an Oxbridge interview - and the few that do only in their own subject area really.

What did you apply for? Which college?

Reply 3

Humble_Pi

Got an offer at Mansfield, Oxford, for Physics, 2005.

Just waiting on results now...

Reply 4

Hoofbeat

I went to a small independent school and we were given details of Open Days etc and we met once a week with a teacher so they could check that we were researching our applications, had decided on college/course. We also had to give a 5minutes talk on a topic of our interest and get quizzed by the other applicants (this was used so the school could 'predict' who would get in by seeing how enthusiastically we all came across..interestingly this was actually correct). Most of us also had mock interviews - both a general interview (which was actually pointless!!!) and a subject interview (the quality of these varied...some ppl had local professionals such as a lawyer, others had students relatives who did that degree many years ago!). It probably sounds like we had a lot of help, but to be honest none of it really helped my application (apart from motivating me to get my application done in time) and I know other schools offer a lot more support/advice.

Like ambellina says...if you have the potential you'll succeed no matter how little help your school offers you.

Reply 5

Hoofbeat

Humble_Pi

Got an offer at Mansfield, Oxford, for Physics, 2005.

Just waiting on results now...

WAHOO! Another physicist! Oooo... Phil (K'uin K'ra on here) could be your college father!!! (he's just finished his first year at Mansfield doing Physics).

Reply 6

kellywood_5

I'm thinking of applying for 2006 and as far as I know, I won't have any help whatsoever, unless you count the conference a teacher took me to which was basically a Q & A session. My school only has a couple of people each year applying, maximum, and only one person's ever got in, so my teachers don't really have the experience to help me. I probably know more about the application process than they do :p:

Reply 7

Woostarite

Hey there, I know a physicist from Mansfield quite well. I'll PM you her email (it was her request). :smile:

Reply 8

priya

some schools get very easily discouraged because they only ever have a couple of students getting AAA+, or in the past their students have always been rejected from oxbridge. or, simply, they're stupid and listen to all the myths surrounding application and acceptance to the unis.

like people have said, if you have the potential, apply. the uni will know (Certainly cambridge anyway), when you apply, whether your school has a history of sending people to oxbridge, or at least even if getting applicants. that way they'll be able to judge reasonably well whether its likely you will have recieved any info about the unis, how familiar you are with the system etc.

basically, the prospecti (college/alternative/university) are fairly comprehensive as regards application process. in terms of the colleges, its best to try and get on an open day-even if schools don't organise them for you, take the initiative!

must be said as well, it's not just state schools which can discourage oxbridge applications. there are some private schools which give their students NO help whatsoever...right down to going on open days as well, the kids at these schools have to do everything themselves. scottish schools are also partiac notorious for discouraging application, as its an english university, and for some reason they wanna keep all their kids in scottish unis

Reply 9

PinkPigeon

kellywood_5

Yep, I'm basically in the same situation, except my head of sixth form is the one who has told me to apply! Also, she's an english teacher (and a pretty good one) so she's pretty handy in preperation for applying for english, as a personal library if nothing else!

Reply 10

iluvcheesecake

Humble_Pi

Got an offer at Mansfield, Oxford, for Physics, 2005.

Just waiting on results now...

Yay! Another Mansfieldian! I have an offer there for Maths/Phil, though I'm thinking it's unlikely I've made my grades atm :redface:

. Anyways, if I do, I'll probably send you a pm... always good to get to know people I'll be at uni with. I'll try and remember to direct Phil (K'uin K'ra on here) to this message; he's just finished his first year as a Mansfield physicist :smile:

. Oh, and I know that it's sad to comment, but just thought I'd say that I think your screenname is very cool, hehe :biggrin:

Reply 11

KuinKra

Humble_Pi

Got an offer at Mansfield, Oxford, for Physics, 2005.

Just waiting on results now...

Aha! A fellow mansfield physicist. Soon, you shall be enjoying the brilliance and prosperity of Oxford's finest college doing its most brilliant subject :biggrin:

. We're all a great lot here, and I'll be happy to give you the lowdown on your upcoming work and tutors (I'll pm you my address, so add me to MSN if you have it, I won't mind :smile:

). I can also give you mails of other cool mansfield people.

And you might even have me for you father. He he he.

Woostarite

Hey there, I know a physicist from Mansfield quite well. I'll PM you her email (it was her request). :smile:

Alyssa, right? :smile:

iluvcheesecake

Oh, and I know that it's sad to comment, but just thought I'd say that I think your screenname is very cool, hehe :biggrin:

heh, of course you would :p:

Reply 12

Jenny...

Humble_Pi

hmm... I guess my school had a pretty good approach to oxbridge in general, in a kind of 'if our pupils go there it looks good for us' kind of way, which isnt necessarily a bad thing, but looking back my head of sixth form didnt really know much about the application proceedure, he told me to drop Art because Cambridge wouldnt look favourably on it and i took his advice and did, one of my big regrets, especially as I was chatting to the senior tutor about it, who said that it would have made no difference to my application. We had 'mock' interviews, but they were so far away from what a cambridge interview actually is that it was completely pointless. My head of sixth form also said i wouldnt get in...having said that some of my teachers were great, very encouraging.

Reply 13

Ardea

People who wanted to apply to Oxbridge had to register with our Careers Aadvisor at the end of the Lower Sixth. We had two meetings during lunchtimes, where we were drilled on how to fill out the extra application forms; a ten minute meeting with one of the Careers staff where they noted down which course we were applying to, and where; one mock interview with someone in their huge file of parent contacts who had some familiarity with the subject we wanted to study. They also kept a file full of the reports older girls had made on their interviews, vaguely detailing what happened, but since no-one had done one of them for my course it was pretty useless to me.

Reply 14

ssmoose

One of my teachers is being really supportive. I think it's only cause I want to do maths at uni, he's getting someone to give us mock interveiws. I have a feeling it's because school produces very few maths applicants 2 in the last 5 years and we're a big 6th form. But I think they'd encourage applying to Oxbridge providing you had As and Bs at A Level.

Reply 15

emily87

Mine was supportive of me (well, I was even asking them on the open day, they got pestered plenty!), wrote me a good reference etc, but the advice was rubbish really, as they just didn't know enough.

I was (vv strongly!) advised to apply to Girton as the school has a 'record' of getting students in there - well, about 3 over 10 years! Glad I ignored that.... Luckily I talked to tutors and students and saw where Girton was and was persuaded by the Cam people not to do the tactical application thing and I chose the place I liked the most.

They never tried to put me off applying (I'm pretty shocked that some teachers do) and tried to help...just they weren't that helpful unless it was something they really knew about anyway, like writing a good reference, because they just didn't know enough.

Reply 16

zxczxc

At mine we've all had to register with the head of sixth form saying that we're interested, which university/college/course. Then our teachers all gave a yes or no regarding an application, and the ones with a no were sent to the head of year where they were strictly discouraged from applying, on the basis that they'd shame the school. BTW, there are about 45 of us still applying out of a year of 120. And each year there are normally about 15 who get in.

Reply 17

RichE

zxczxc

It makes me so angry to hear of school "strictly discouraging" applicants - though clearly the school still gets plenty in. I know plenty of examples where schools have been wrong about such things, and frankly it isn't the schools decision. Do the 30 out of 45 that don't make it shame the school? :frown:

Reply 18

Hoofbeat

RichE

It makes me so angry to hear of school "strictly discouraging" applicants

I believe my school had the right idea about this, since when they didn't believe someone was good enough for Oxbridge they did not "strictly discourage" them from applying and still agreed to write them a decent reference, give them mock interviews etc. However they were all sat down and spoken to by the headmistress (who also spoke to their parents) and were informed that the school did not agree with their decision to apply but that they would support them and help where possible, but the student should be aware that they only had a vary slim chance of being successful. Interestingly, the school usually did correctly predict those who wouldn't be good enough both in those who get rejected and also who got poor reports from interviews etc.