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University of Oxford Admission

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Original post by AnimalSpirit
Seven?! :shock: Holy crap! What did you apply for back then?

Actually I had two interview, but the first one was with the college principal (he interviews all the candidates) and wasn't academic or subject-specific. I think he just wanted to get a feel for the candidate and see if we could fit in at the college.. Or maybe he just wants to meet all the candidates.. I'll ask him once I get up there in October - apparently he invites all the freshers to a conversation too :biggrin:


Wow, which college is this (if you don't mind me asking)? I'm assuming one of the smaller ones? Sounds friendly though! :smile:

I applied for Music: three interviews at my college of choice (ChCh), and four interviews at four other colleges. Fun times!
Original post by Lord of the Flies
Wow, which college is this (if you don't mind me asking)? I'm assuming one of the smaller ones? Sounds friendly though! :smile:

I applied for Music: three interviews at my college of choice (ChCh), and four interviews at four other colleges. Fun times!


It's Harris Manchester College - the one for mature students and in fact the smallest at Oxford :biggrin:..

I can honestly say I have never heard about someone getting that many interviews at that many colleges - at least you got to see a lot of the university once you were there! They must really have been close to admitting you! :smile:

What will you be applying for this year?
Original post by AnimalSpirit
It's Harris Manchester College - the one for mature students and in fact the smallest at Oxford :biggrin:..

I can honestly say I have never heard about someone getting that many interviews at that many colleges - at least you got to see a lot of the university once you were there! They must really have been close to admitting you! :smile:

What will you be applying for this year?


Haha, who knows, who knows... The admissions process is sprinkled with mysteries!

I will be applying for Maths! :smile:

I thought about applying to a mature college for a while, but was afraid of not fitting in and feeling at home... Could you perhaps expand on your experience of HM?
Original post by Lord of the Flies
Haha, who knows, who knows... The admissions process is sprinkled with mysteries!

I will be applying for Maths! :smile:

I thought about applying to a mature college for a while, but was afraid of not fitting in and feeling at home... Could you perhaps expand on your experience of HM?


It is indeed mysterious!

Well, the only experience I have with the college is from interviews in December and I got the feeling that it was very friendly and open-minded. People didn't seem to have a problem with socializing across different age-ranges.. That said, the majority of the students (and applicants) are in the age-range, 21-25. I didn't apply for HMC originally but was pooled pre-interview. When I think about it, I was actually worried about my own age when I applied (it even put me off applying initially). I didn't know how I would feel at a college where everyone's 3 years younger than me. Because of this I felt pretty good about being pooled - I had never considered applying for a mature students college (didn't even know I was one - I am not 21 yet, but will be before matriculation).
Unfortunately, they don't offer Mathematics as a subject at HMC, so I guess that's kind of ruled out for you :/
Original post by AnimalSpirit
It is indeed mysterious!

Well, the only experience I have with the college is from interviews in December and I got the feeling that it was very friendly and open-minded. People didn't seem to have a problem with socializing across different age-ranges.. That said, the majority of the students (and applicants) are in the age-range, 21-25. I didn't apply for HMC originally but was pooled pre-interview. When I think about it, I was actually worried about my own age when I applied (it even put me off applying initially). I didn't know how I would feel at a college where everyone's 3 years younger than me. Because of this I felt pretty good about being pooled - I had never considered applying for a mature students college (didn't even know I was one - I am not 21 yet, but will be before matriculation).
Unfortunately, they don't offer Mathematics as a subject at HMC, so I guess that's kind of ruled out for you :/


I'm surprised the majority are in the 21-25 range - I was a bit put off thinking everyone would be 10+ years older than me (I won't be 21 when I apply either). I just checked and indeed none of the mature Oxford colleges/halls offer Mathematics... So Trinity it is! :smile:

Good luck with everything!
Reply 25
You guys are the very best.

Great comments, most very helpful.

Thanks Rennit, I had a feeling that some Colleges were more open to foreigners.

I have travelled extensively - 65 countries - so I don't think that I will be homesick. I worry that the Tutor system may isolate students; as the North American system is more social - Lecture or Seminar based.

Really trying to understand what I don't know I don't know.
Reply 26
Original post by Halogenation
Because Durham is a collegiate university and I was just stating that the durham chemistry department is the only source of information that has indicated the potential existance of an affect on application success rate depending on choice of college.

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.


Maybe I've misunderstood your point but you seem to be suggesting that the website in question indicates the prospects of a successful application to the University can be influenced by the choice of College. If so, that is quite definitely incorrect. Durham Colleges play no part at all in that University's admissions decision and applications only reach a College once the UCAS offer has been made. If the preferred College is oversubscribed (and proximity does seem to be a major factor in this) then the successful application is taken up by another College but the University is already committed to making an offer at this stage. It is literally impossible for the College choice to have any impact on the prospects of an offer from Durham. As has been pointed out already, this isn't fantastically relevant to Oxford's admissions process but people are often interested in both so I thought it was worth making the point. Apologies if this is based on my misunderstanding the original post.
Reply 27
Original post by Torontoboy
You guys are the very best.

Great comments, most very helpful.

Thanks Rennit, I had a feeling that some Colleges were more open to foreigners.

I have travelled extensively - 65 countries - so I don't think that I will be homesick. I worry that the Tutor system may isolate students; as the North American system is more social - Lecture or Seminar based.

Really trying to understand what I don't know I don't know.


To be honest I think the tutorial system is less isolating than other structures... I'm closer to the 6 other PPEists in my year in my college than my friends at other unis are to people on their course. Tutorials mean you are spending a concentrated hour with one person, plus discussions when you're doing your reading and writing (assuming you get on with your partner!), rather than walking into a huge lecture hall of nameless faces. Obviously that does happen with lectures, but PPEists aren't exactly renowned for attending all their lectures religiously :wink:

It's amazing how you do get to know others doing your subject but at other colleges - you chat before a lecture starts, sit next to someone on a crewdate, get introduced as a friend of a friend, go to the same society, play the same sport...

Assuming your cohort get on well in your college, you will make some strong bonds. Just moaning about the reading, letting others know which books were the best, etc. I'm not saying the other PPEists will be your best friends, but in 1st year it's good to have pleasant relations with them. We swapped all our essays between us (at the suggestion of our tutors) - you can learn so much from your colleagues. Every has a different take on a question. There may only be one other person in your tute, but there could be 6 other people who are writing the same essay (depending on how many PPEists in the college).

By 2nd and 3rd year there's a reasonable chance you'll be in tutorials with PPEists from other colleges because of options choices - widening the web further!

If you are concerned about being isolated, I'd really recommend applying to a college that takes a reasonable number of PPEists, i.e. not just 2 or 3. That way there's a higher chance you'll click with at least some of the group!
Original post by Halogenation
Because Durham is a collegiate university and I was just stating that the durham chemistry department is the only source of information that has indicated the potential existance of an affect on application success rate depending on choice of college.

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.


"Potential existence of an affect on application success rate depending on choice of college?"

Either this is referring to Durham colleges, in which case you are severely mistaken since acceptance is made at department level, not college level.

Or this is referring to Oxford colleges, in which case you should provide us with a link since I cannot see why the Durham chemistry department would be talking about Oxford admissions procedures on their website.
Original post by Lord of the Flies
"Potential existence of an affect on application success rate depending on choice of college?"

Either this is referring to Durham colleges, in which case you are severely mistaken since acceptance is made at department level, not college level.

Or this is referring to Oxford colleges, in which case you should provide us with a link since I cannot see why the Durham chemistry department would be talking about Oxford admissions procedures on their website.


You are french. Go away.
Reply 30
Original post by Halogenation
You are french. Go away.


English is clearly not your native language either.
Original post by Lord of the Flies
Well spotted. I like to be a rude, conniving little ponce to fellow users of this forum to cover my insecurities about my homosexuality..


//
Original post by Halogenation
//


Ha, at least you made me laugh - typical defense mechanism on your part; but please continue, this is entertaining.

By the way, good luck with applying to Oxford.
Reply 33
Original post by Poppyxx
To be honest I think the tutorial system is less isolating than other structures... I'm closer to the 6 other PPEists in my year in my college than my friends at other unis are to people on their course. Tutorials mean you are spending a concentrated hour with one person, plus discussions when you're doing your reading and writing (assuming you get on with your partner!), rather than walking into a huge lecture hall of nameless faces. Obviously that does happen with lectures, but PPEists aren't exactly renowned for attending all their lectures religiously :wink:

It's amazing how you do get to know others doing your subject but at other colleges - you chat before a lecture starts, sit next to someone on a crewdate, get introduced as a friend of a friend, go to the same society, play the same sport...

Assuming your cohort get on well in your college, you will make some strong bonds. Just moaning about the reading, letting others know which books were the best, etc. I'm not saying the other PPEists will be your best friends, but in 1st year it's good to have pleasant relations with them. We swapped all our essays between us (at the suggestion of our tutors) - you can learn so much from your colleagues. Every has a different take on a question. There may only be one other person in your tute, but there could be 6 other people who are writing the same essay (depending on how many PPEists in the college).

By 2nd and 3rd year there's a reasonable chance you'll be in tutorials with PPEists from other colleges because of options choices - widening the web further!

If you are concerned about being isolated, I'd really recommend applying to a college that takes a reasonable number of PPEists, i.e. not just 2 or 3. That way there's a higher chance you'll click with at least some of the group!


PoppyXX I appreciate your excellent analysis (is everyone as smart as you). I do believe that the Tutoring system is far superior. If I may.. what college are you attending. If you had to do it all over again - how would you have approached things differently and or what concerns and issues where spot on in deciding where to apply. What is your advice for the interview process.

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