[laughylolly]

It's mentioned in the first post that Oxford are caring more about GCSE's. I guess I have pretty average GCSE's for an oxford applicant (I think "/) 5 A* 4A, however I got 3 A1's at higher (5 A's in total). Will these band 1's put me in better stead or just a good a place as people who have better GCSE's but maybe not as good highers/AS levels.

Just curious, thanks =)

[Festina lente]

(Original post by laughylolly)
It's mentioned in the first post that Oxford are caring more about GCSE's. I guess I have pretty average GCSE's for an oxford applicant (I think "/) 5 A* 4A, however I got 3 A1's at higher (5 A's in total). Will these band 1's put me in better stead or just a good a place as people who have better GCSE's but maybe not as good highers/AS levels.

Just curious, thanks =)

I think for Maths at Oxford the MAT is really important in the decision making, so in this case GCSEs are presumably not as heavily weighted.

[Noodlzzz]

(Original post by laughylolly)
It's mentioned in the first post that Oxford are caring more about GCSE's. I guess I have pretty average GCSE's for an oxford applicant (I think "/) 5 A* 4A, however I got 3 A1's at higher (5 A's in total). Will these band 1's put me in better stead or just a good a place as people who have better GCSE's but maybe not as good highers/AS levels.

Just curious, thanks =)

Not to offend Groat (the OP) but he's not a cambridge tutor or student. Usual procedure on what's valued more is dependent on the course, college and tutor. The only difference between oxbridge that impacts weightings which is university wide is Cam asking for UMS. While this may be a sign that they see AS as more important than GCSE, you can't assume that is the case for every cam tutor.

I'd email your chosen college(s) at both unis and ask them what they rely more on. It may be the case that they won't say or act vague in their response. If that's the case just go with which ever one you want based on course content etc. Either way in terms of GCSE, they are still average not below and those are some amazing highers which both unis will see.

[yahhhhhh]

(Original post by SamF1992)
As long as you're predicted AAA or above for A2 then it's worth it. Oxford place a lot of emphasis on aptitude tests, so nail that and you have a very good chance of getting to interview.

I see, seen as you have reiterated pretty much what a number of the people who answered have stated; to summarise it seems that a lot less attention is given to AS and GCSE grades and far more to predicted grades as far as grades go and the other sectors of the application that are given significant weight with regard to the final decision and interview offer are the said LNAT result and the impression that you give the admissions tutors at interview are of course key to the final offer, which you'll probably get if your LNAT Mark is good enough and your AS and GCSE grades are worthy, is this pretty much accurate?

[laughylolly]

(Original post by Festina lente)
I think for Maths at Oxford the MAT is really important in the decision making, so in this case GCSEs are presumably not as heavily weighted.

(Original post by Noodlzzz)
Not to offend Groat (the OP) but he's not a cambridge tutor or student. Usual procedure on what's valued more is dependent on the course, college and tutor. The only difference between oxbridge that impacts weightings which is university wide is Cam asking for UMS. While this may be a sign that they see AS as more important than GCSE, you can't assume that is the case for every cam tutor.

I'd email your chosen college(s) at both unis and ask them what they rely more on. It may be the case that they won't say or act vague in their response. If that's the case just go with which ever one you want based on course content etc. Either way in terms of GCSE, they are still average not below and those are some amazing highers which both unis will see.

Thank you for the replies =)

I'm not too worried but I was just curious after seeing what the OP wrote. I've heard that the MAT can really make you or break you in a sense so I'm putting in quite a bit of time to make sure I do well in that.

I take it Oxford won't ask for my bands then as they don't ask for UMS? Would it be something for my referee to put in my reference?

[Noodlzzz]

(Original post by laughylolly)
Thank you for the replies =)

I'm not too worried but I was just curious after seeing what the OP wrote. I've heard that the MAT can really make you or break you in a sense so I'm putting in quite a bit of time to make sure I do well in that.

I take it Oxford won't ask for my bands then as they don't ask for UMS? Would it be something for my referee to put in my reference?

I'm afraid I don't know how uCAS works in terms of bands but if they don't, deffo get it included in your reference.

[Groat]

(Original post by Noodlzzz)
Not to offend Groat (the OP) but he's not a cambridge tutor or student. Usual procedure on what's valued more is dependent on the course, college and tutor. The only difference between oxbridge that impacts weightings which is university wide is Cam asking for UMS. While this may be a sign that they see AS as more important than GCSE, you can't assume that is the case for every cam tutor.

I'd email your chosen college(s) at both unis and ask them what they rely more on. It may be the case that they won't say or act vague in their response. If that's the case just go with which ever one you want based on course content etc. Either way in terms of GCSE, they are still average not below and those are some amazing highers which both unis will see.

None taken, I've edited it out. Zoe said she plans to edit the first post to make it more informative soon.

[cpdavis]

I'm still here to give advice should it be needed

[nexttime]

(Original post by The Mr Z)
Does anyone even read what sub-forum these are in? Move them, merge them, whatever, it's not really going to make any difference.

I think that there is an Oxbridge sub-forum rather illustrates my point about the two being lumped together though.

So wouldn't a 'should i apply to oxford or cambridge' thread be useful?

I do agree with you that most of the questions that we got on the old thread were about oxbridge and a big part of answering them was deciding between the two. I think one thread may be a bit much though - why not have three?

[The Mr Z]

(Original post by nexttime)
So wouldn't a 'should i apply to oxford or cambridge' thread be useful?

I do agree with you that most of the questions that we got on the old thread were about oxbridge and a big part of answering them was deciding between the two. I think one thread may be a bit much though - why not have three?

The issue with multiple threads is that people would hypothetically have to post in all of them to get all the info. Obviously that's only hypothetical, they'd probably get all the info in all the threads, but that brings up the problem of duplicates of the same posts.

The issue with one thread is that at the time exam results are released, the inundation of questions would mean that most people's queries get buried in the sheer weight of questions and responses and it becomes hard to follow.

We could easily devote a whole subforum to the issue and let everyone create their own thread, that helps keep everything relevant to someone's application together, but that also requires a whole new subforum.

I don't know what the best option is, but I do know we need to at least leave space for people to ask Oxbridge-wide queries.

[Jordan B]

8A*s 5As GCSE, want to do medicine...good enough? Average, above or below? Thank you.

[nexttime]

(Original post by Jordan B)
8A*s 5As GCSE, want to do medicine...good enough? Average, above or below? Thank you.

61.5% A* - average interviewee had 89%A* last year, with the average offer holder having 91%. About 73% of applicants had better GCSEs than you last year. Source

This %A* measure is very important pre-interview, forming half of the criteria along with BMAT score. Given that only about 30% of applicants are interviewed, it would take a very good BMAT (even by Oxford standards) to get an interview. I would suggest applying elsewhere.

Do bear in mind that all medical schools offer top-quality courses though, and that uni attended has no direct impact on job allocation.

[Sykez]

What uni can I see myself going with:

AABBBBBCC?

[Noodlzzz]

(Original post by Sykez)
What uni can I see myself going with:

AABBBBBCC?

Oxbridge may be out of your league. Depends on your AS results, PS, interview, tests etc. and if there was contextual reasons for low GCSEs.

[The Mr Z]

(Original post by Jordan B)
8A*s 5As GCSE, want to do medicine...good enough? Average, above or below? Thank you.

61%, just good enough. In terms of number of A*s, just bellow average, but because you've taken more total in terms of %s on the low end. You wont be excluded because of those alone, your BMAT score will make all the difference in getting an interview. However, you will need pretty impressive BMATs, as mentioned above.

[OMGWTFBBQ]

Is 8A*, 1 A, 1 B at GCSE good enough for Maths?

[Festina lente]

(Original post by OMGWTFBBQ)
Is 8A*, 1 A, 1 B at GCSE good enough for Maths?

As a GCSE score I don't see why not - the MAT afaik is really important though in assessing your whole application.

[Festina lente]

(Original post by laughylolly)
Thank you for the replies =)

I'm not too worried but I was just curious after seeing what the OP wrote. I've heard that the MAT can really make you or break you in a sense so I'm putting in quite a bit of time to make sure I do well in that.

I take it Oxford won't ask for my bands then as they don't ask for UMS? Would it be something for my referee to put in my reference?

Yup that's the way to go, a good MAT score would be really helpful. I don't think Oxford will get your bands, bunging them in the ref is a good idea.

[Jordan B]

(Original post by nexttime)
61.5% A* - average interviewee had 89%A* last year, with the average offer holder having 91%. About 73% of applicants had better GCSEs than you last year. Source

This %A* measure is very important pre-interview, forming half of the criteria along with BMAT score. Given that only about 30% of applicants are interviewed, it would take a very good BMAT (even by Oxford standards) to get an interview. I would suggest applying elsewhere.

Do bear in mind that all medical schools offer top-quality courses though, and that uni attended has no direct impact on job allocation.

This really cunfuses me... does this mean to say that my grades are actually worse than say, 8A*s and 1A? Thank you.

[probably not]

(Original post by The Mr Z)
Actually one person in each college for each subject (or less, given that several smaller courses have the same admissions tutor). To Cambridge applicants only 1 person's decision is relevant, to Oxford applicants 2. Narrows it down a lot.

Also, they may be separate individuals but their decisions are not independent of each other, they are linked through common guidelines and policy.

that's still hundreds. also what? my experience of interviewing involves a group of six of us for a given subject. we decide between us. we each have different approaches to what we think is important, we often disagree, and certainly vary in terms of how much we care about things like gcse performance. given that variation in a group of six admitting for one subject in one college, i think it's fair to say that there's wild variation. "common guidelines and policy" just means "take the best people" - what we think of as "the best people" varies by individual. sure, if i thought "the best people" meant "the people who'd been to the most expensive schools", someone would have a word. but asking for a single line on "what does oxford care about" is a fool's errand.