Any Scottish Oxbridge applicants this year?

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Reply 40

Meteorshower

Original post by ukdragon37

Didn't get top again :o:

From Unbelievers post, still good though right?

How did you do Unbeliever?

Reply 41

TheUnbeliever

Original post by Meteorshower

How did you do Unbeliever?

Dreadfully once more, although for different reasons. C'est la vie. :dontknow:

Reply 42

ukdragon37

Original post by Meteorshower

From Unbelievers post, still good though right?

Yep

Original post by TheUnbeliever

Dreadfully once more, although for different reasons. C'est la vie. :dontknow:

Hopefully nobody's going to get you into bother about it.

Reply 43

TheUnbeliever

Original post by ukdragon37

Hopefully nobody's going to get you into bother about it.

I'm relatively unfazed by it, next to last year - partly because I knew it was coming after the first paper (should've been best, was worst). I doubt anyone'll give me much more than a 'wtf?' since there's ample evidence of me working hard and well this year :o:

So, first year complete fail. Second year exam fail. Hopefully third year I'll get the hang of this uni malarky. :p:

Still, no PhD for me.

Thankees for sympathy :smile:

Reply 44

ukdragon37

Original post by TheUnbeliever

So, first year complete fail. Second year exam fail. Hopefully third year I'll get the hang of this uni malarky. :p:

Still, no PhD for me.

Thankees for sympathy :smile:

No problem :smile:

This year was very much about tactics and strategic revision, which the other CompScis had discussed in quite a great detail. The subjects where there were non-traditional lecturers (L&P, Compilers, C&D, Computation) were expected to have easier than normal/fair questions and they duly delivered. The lecturer for Compilers and DB (TG) had a reputation for setting straightforward questions and he did. Unfortunately this year there was a big advantage to be gained by being on the grapevine and know what to revise/pick beforehand so sorry if you didn't pick up on that :s-smilie:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 45

TheUnbeliever

Original post by ukdragon37

Unfortunately this year there was a big advantage to be gained by being on the grapevine and know what to revise/pick beforehand so sorry if you didn't pick up on that :s-smilie:

It's my own decision to be a semi-antisocial panda, don't sweat it. I think the project will help my grade substantially next year. Talking of which, I should email people about that sometime soon... Any idea what you're looking at?

Reply 46

ukdragon37

Original post by TheUnbeliever

Remind me of the reason why? :p:

Nope, no idea yet. Probably something theory-related. Everyone seems to be doing graphics though so that might be stealing your thunder a bit :wink:

Reply 47

TheUnbeliever

Original post by ukdragon37

Remind me of the reason why? :p:

Why I'm antisocial? :p:

I'm not terribly sure, probably because I'm not great at approaching people although I'm happy enough to talk in public or continue a conversation. Got on well enough with people in the group project. I think basically time's just moved on enough that it'd be awkward to try to mingle now. :o:

Nope, no idea yet. Probably something theory-related. Everyone seems to be doing graphics though so that might be stealing your thunder a bit :wink:

Drat, was thinking of using it as a fallback. My initial plan had been to try to autodetect (and do some magic to avoid) false sharing by modifying the toolchain and library of GCC or LLVM since this was a problem I ran into last year. Unfortunately, it also seems to be something which has been at least partially addressed, which means a) breaking something just to fix it would be silly and b) the low-hanging fruit has probably already been taken.

Consequently, I'm needing to sit down and brainstorm some new ideas. Probably either in tool support for parallelism, or coming back to graphics again...

Reply 48

dbou

Original post by derangedyoshi

Considering Maths at Cambridge. My school has a fairly decent history with Oxford - 9 people in 5 years - but in the same time only 3 to Cambridge. Possibly due just to number of applications though - an old headmaster used to put people off applying to Cambridge, something to do with a Jesuit organisation at Oxford which they liked or something stupid like that.

I'm taking AH Maths, Physics and Chemistry, and possibly AH Music as well, which would be an easy 4th one given the content is the exact same as Higher, just a higher (but still manageable) level of performing/inventing and a couple of essays in the listening.

I'm slightly doubtful as to chances of success, but I may as well try!

I applied for maths at cambridge this year, and now i'm just waiting for my results :smile:

It really is worth applying, if you are applying for maths you are guaranteed to get into every scottish uni you apply to, so you are practically wasting spaces on your application if you don't apply to a couple english unis :tongue:

Definitely remember that STEP is supposed to be equivalent in workload to taking another AH, so with two investigations that's going to be a ton of work :smile:

Oh, and if there is any way for you to do the AH mechanics course then take it, you will be pretty disadvantaged if you don't have it, even if its only in a lack of mathematical experience kind of way :smile:

good luck! :biggrin:

Reply 49

thequeenofsheba3

I applied for English at Oxford this year, now just waiting for my results. :smile:

I'd say go for it- I don't know anyone who regretted applying, and if you don't get in at least you'll know it wasn't for lack of trying! (Plus the open days and interviews are a great chance to meet loads of really friendly people who are in the same position as you!)

On an unrelated note, I'm quite glad I didn't find this thread (or similar) before I applied- I might even have been scared off the idea. I'm seeing some very silly posts in the earlier pages- nonsense about Scottish students never getting in, or being unable to get student loans. There is not an ounce of truth in it. If you're a strong candidate, it doesn't matter where you're from. It's all about the individual. And SAAS is unworkable and complicated for everyone, but no more so for Oxford than anywhere else. :smile:

Hope that helped. I hate the idea of able kids (and what's more, able Scottish kids!) not applying because of a few scary myths.

Reply 50

username458263

Original post by dbou

I applied for maths at cambridge this year, and now i'm just waiting for my results :smile:

Definitely remember that STEP is supposed to be equivalent in workload to taking another AH, so with two investigations that's going to be a ton of work :smile:

good luck! :biggrin:

Yeah, I do realise STEP will be a lot of work. Music will really not be much, since I plan on playing cello and piano and singing through the year anyway. I need to think about it though.
I definitely agree about applying to a couple of English unis. I'd be pretty happy at St. Andrews or Edinburgh - they'd be my top choices in Scotland - but I'm definitely not going to apply to just Scottish unis. If nothing else, applying to Cambridge forces me to get UCAS done early :P
Unfortunately I can't take Applied Maths, as far as I'm aware, but from speaking to people at a conference or open day or something, I'm pretty sure it won't be too big an issue. Wish I could take it though.

Reply 51

wawa1906

Original post by Albertine

Just wondering if anyone else is hoping to apply to Oxbridge this year! How many AHs are you taking and what do you want to study? :biggrin:

I am considering applying for Law, not sure which college yet (Oxford) I have narrowed it down from 30 to... 25 :wink:

I'm a Scottish Oxbridger! I'm doing Law at Cambridge so if you want any subject specific, rather than university specific (although I did look at Oxford a lot), advice, get in touch!

Reply 52

oxymoronic

Hey guys - just a wee message to let you know that if your Highers results come through fine next week and you're serious about applying to Oxbridge then post a draft of your PS in PS help and we'll help you with it. A lot of PS helpers are affiliated to Oxbridge, and there's a lot of people who are graduates/current students at Scottish universities too so we can answer questions in that department :smile:

If you're at all considering applying to Oxbridge (or any other English/Welsh/Northern Irish universities) then please do. All of the rumours about lack of funding and it being really hard for Scots to get in are just rumours. If you've got the grades then you may as well try it and see what happens :smile:

We're in a bit of a quiet period at the moment as all of the A level students are waiting for their AS results at the end of August before properly deciding what/where they're going to study, so its a good time for Scots to get a review given you guys will know the outcomes of your application and be back to school well before the A level people. By September/early October the wait for a review will be longer and we'll only be able to guarantee you one review, whereas if you post at the moment we'll be able to help you with several drafts of your application.

Reply 53

Albertine

Original post by wawa1906

I'm a Scottish Oxbridger! I'm doing Law at Cambridge so if you want any subject specific, rather than university specific (although I did look at Oxford a lot), advice, get in touch!

Cracking! i grew up in Cambs, moved to Scotland when I was nearly 15. Gorgeous place! I dont really know about specific questions I just need to get an interview then I can dazzle them :cool:

(but I don't know how to make a good application for Oxbridge!)

Reply 54

laughylolly

If I get good enough highers (knock on wood I do) then I'll apply to Oxford for Mathematics. This year I took H Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Economics and English. Next year I am planning to take AH Maths, Stats, Physics and H PE.