The Oxford rejection - Is this really it?

Sucks mate, it sounded like you were really close. Are you reapplying? Ha mine was a little more brutal, just a simple score out of 5 (no entrance test etc) for each college and then goodbye.

Email the admissions tutor at your college and they should send it for you. How detailed it will be you can't predict as each subject at each college do things differently.

Can't reapply really, I'm post A-level already (didn't apply to Unis last year as I always wanted to take gap year).

Yeah it is annoying that they give so little information, I'd have been interested to see what they genuinely thought of me (as long as it wasn't too brutal ).

reapplicant made an offer here; don't lose hope!

My college or the college I applied too?

Damn you got a whole letter?

I got 5 lines

ah never mind. Where next for you, Mr Historian? I know, right? I guess they just don't have time for rejects like us :P Though jokes aside, some colleges are pretty good at feedback.

what college? was it not helpful at all?
I only just noticed my paragraph of feedback, I wish I hadn't seen it! It says I was 'strongly debated over' and that it was coz of my first interview where I found it hard to 'respond to new ideas' that I was rejected!
I didn't even mind before but being so close is frustrating.

also in fairness the entire letter was a bunch of statistics that I didn't even read, only just now I looked at the letter and noticed the final paragraph. It was only a few lines but it was personal so I'm happy

'Mr'? Awkward...

Hopefully York (my second choice was KCL but got rejected there too, my issue is that I'm resitting one exam post A level, I have A*AB which makes life very awkward).

They do seem to vary quite a bit, some people also say that they send detailed feedback to our referees but unless my old school simply hasn't told me about it they haven't. If they do give them feedback I'd like to see that.

St Hugh's

Well it was helpful in that they gave me my scores for each part of the process and then put them in context so I could see why I'd been rejected but there were no personal comments or really detailed information.

That does sound frustrating, being close to getting in isn't much of a consolation when at the end of the day you didn't get in!

Ah sorry dude didn't notice the gender sign Oh I see, yeah filling in the UCAS form for that bit would look a bit odd. Oh I got an email today again from the admissions tutor for my college and she just said the outcome of your app will be sent to your referee. I mean what is the point of that when they can see it on my fricking UCAS form?!

ohh thats annoying yeah i got my hat score
hahaha i know! i almost wish i hadn't seen it, it just makes it even more annoying, i think i woulda rather been a straight reject rather than a close one

Well no that's the whole point of Carrot as a character, he looks big and good natured and good looking but underneath there's steel and implacability and great complexity, there's also his huge charisma. I think it would be very difficult to convey that in illustration and also very hard to convey him on screen. You'd have to be a very good actor to get him right, he could so easily be got very wrong and I imagine film makers are wary of that. I think that Tom Hardy (the British guy in Inception) would do him well, he has a speciality in guys with big muscles and yet also very complex characters.

What are you doing in the army exactly?

And ESPS would be a perfect course for that (as you say below you get to travel).

Oh plenty have gone to Oxford and then never done much with it! My father went there and loads of his friends from his time there have really done nothing spectacular. And I know many people at Oxford who have no clue where they are going in life or what they want to do. Going to Oxford doesn't immediately mark you out for future success, in the end, the University you go to is just a word on your CV, the rest of your experience and your attitude to the world and the effort and commitment you are willing to put in is what will impress people and make you successful.

It was my re-sit, I think I've told you about it (do say if I haven't).

From what I remember Carrot doesn't have much charisma, just a whole lot of earnestness. Still... I think Pratchett just needs to develop him further in more books. If we were looking for guys to play Carrot on the screen my vote would be for Zachary Quinto. He's tall, and I think he has the looks. He'll just need to dye his hair and get very buff.

I'm an officer, and contrary to what most of my officer friends do (i.e. going out into the field) I spend the vast majority of my days dealing with administrative work. It's quite interesting work really, and gives you a nice taste of what work processes in the outside world are like before you actually enter civilian life. Still, it's quite untypical of what one would expect a soldier to do. I just got a rarer posting after training school that's all.

I can only hope so!

With your father an Oxford graduate it must've put quite a lot of pressure on you to perform (this would also explain the university friend who's the science editor at The Economist)! What did he do?

And again, it's always nice to understand that just because you don't get into your dream university this doesn't mean that you've lost all chances of accomplishing what you wanted in life.

Oh yes you have, but I was under the impression that you had already taken them and gotten the results. Apologies. When do you take them and when do you get the results back?

Nice one geezer, I'm strongly considering reapplying so if you don't mind could I have the last couple of years of your life story?

That's when he first features in the books, so in Guards! Guards! etc but he develops substantially later on, by the time you get to books like Nightwatch he's much more developed as a character.

That's probably quite good experience to have on your CV if you described exactly what you do and being in the military always makes you stand out. Would you look to getting jobs in the UK after uni?

Well if I'm honest there wasn't quite the unhealthy amount of pressure you describe, my parents have always encouraged me to do my best and learning and reading for it's own sake has been one of the most important things they've passed on to me but Oxford has never been the be all and end all. I first brought it up, they never said 'We want you to be aiming for Oxford', they just wanted me to go to wherever I'll be happy. My Dad did law at Balliol but thing is my mum bombed her A levels and went to a University that doesn't even exist any more and she has been the really successful one out of my parents so they've always placed more emphasis on the fact that it's what you do beyond your academic stuff that makes you stand out.

Yes, harking back to the example of my mother. My parents have encouraged me to do work experience for some years now and I've built up my CV to the point where it's better than most graduates.

Oh sorry, no I just did it on Friday (just the one exam) and I should hear back some time in march.

Can't reapply really, I'm post A-level already (didn't apply to Unis last year as I always wanted to take gap year).

Yeah it is annoying that they give so little information, I'd have been interested to see what they genuinely thought of me (as long as it wasn't too brutal ).

This is my exact situation where will you be going now?
I wish there was better feedback too. I emailed and I just got this essay back about all interviewed applicants are highly qualified blah blah it wasn't that you weren't good enough it's that others had a better claim to the place available, the Law tutors had a very tough time choosing 1 of 5 for a place blah blah blah.
I really want to know what they thought of me! I would also like some advice as to were to choose now in terms of career prospects.
Oh well, as you mention below, sometimes its not about where you graduate from it's all the extra things you do that make you stand out

I'm not sure, but hopefully York, my second choice had been KCL but they rejected me too

Where are you thinking of now? For Law any of the top Universities will be good and stand you in good stead for TC's etc I'm sure

Urgh we are in very similar positions indeed. I desperately wanted UCL as I thought I had a better chance there than Oxford but they rejected me back in November! Really annoyed about that one as I well and truly exceed all the entry requirements they could possibly want and my LNAT is good enough (not great but above the cut off for UCL). I now have a place at Warwick and am still waiting on Bristol and Nottingham.
Yes I'm going to do everything in my power to give me a good shot at a TC with a magic circle firm and show them all what calibre of alumni they missed out on