[icycreamy6]

I went to the open days and oxbridge these few weeks and am still unsure about which one to apply to. It seems to me that I'm more likely to fit into Oxford, yet I think I like the environment of Cambridge more (the bustling city centre and bigger colleges). I attended a sample lecture at the latter and really enjoyed it.

I'd like to study law. I think I can get good results in my public exams (I'm an international student), but I'm not as confident about my interview (and am yet to try LNAT practices). That said, I wouldn't consider myself to be the greatest debater either.

I talked two law tutors at a college in Oxford and they emphasized that interviews are only part of the admissions. Whereas the supervisor in Cambridge says that she knows many students get people to polish their statement anyway, so the interview is more important. Does Cambridge put more emphasis on interviews?

Another thing is that Oxford interviews a smaller percentage of applicants. Given that I'll get good grades, I'm guessing this would be an advantage to me as I may compete with less people in interviews? (if I get one with my results, of course) Plus with Oxford, I wouldn't be called to visit the UK again for a second interview as that may happen with Cambridge.

With stronger paper performance, should I apply to Oxford instead of Cambridge?

Is there a particular one (oxford & cambridge) that law students studying locally in the UK prefer?

Thank you!

[roh]

(Original post by icycreamy6)
I went to the open days and oxbridge these few weeks and am still unsure about which one to apply to. It seems to me that I'm more likely to fit into Oxford, yet I think I like the environment of Cambridge more (the bustling city centre and bigger colleges). I attended a sample lecture at the latter and really enjoyed it.

I'd like to study law. I think I can get good results in my public exams (I'm an international student), but I'm not as confident about my interview (and am yet to try LNAT practices). That said, I wouldn't consider myself to be the greatest debater either.

I talked two law tutors at a college in Oxford and they emphasized that interviews are only part of the admissions. Whereas the supervisor in Cambridge says that she knows many students get people to polish their statement anyway, so the interview is more important. Does Cambridge put more emphasis on interviews?

Another thing is that Oxford interviews a smaller percentage of applicants. Given that I'll get good grades, I'm guessing this would be an advantage to me as I may compete with less people in interviews? (if I get one with my results, of course) Plus with Oxford, I wouldn't be called to visit the UK again for a second interview as that may happen with Cambridge.

With stronger paper performance, should I apply to Oxford instead of Cambridge?

Is there a particular one (oxford & cambridge) that law students studying locally in the UK prefer?

Thank you!

Before applying also look at the Law course structure.

Cam run it with more optional modules and exams at the end of each year, similar to other universities.

Oxford run it with exams after 2 terms which don't count towards your overall classification (Mods I think they're called) then no exams until Finals, which assess all of your second and third years. They also offer fewer optional modules.

Check them out in more detail on the websites and decide which course structure you prefer.

Remember Cam set their own test just as Oxford use the LNAT so you will need a good performance in an additional test for either.

In terms of British applicants both are highly oversubscribed with lots of excellent candidates.

[michael321]

(Original post by icycreamy6)
I went to the open days and oxbridge these few weeks and am still unsure about which one to apply to. It seems to me that I'm more likely to fit into Oxford, yet I think I like the environment of Cambridge more (the bustling city centre and bigger colleges). I attended a sample lecture at the latter and really enjoyed it.

I'd like to study law. I think I can get good results in my public exams (I'm an international student), but I'm not as confident about my interview (and am yet to try LNAT practices). That said, I wouldn't consider myself to be the greatest debater either.

I talked two law tutors at a college in Oxford and they emphasized that interviews are only part of the admissions. Whereas the supervisor in Cambridge says that she knows many students get people to polish their statement anyway, so the interview is more important. Does Cambridge put more emphasis on interviews?

Another thing is that Oxford interviews a smaller percentage of applicants. Given that I'll get good grades, I'm guessing this would be an advantage to me as I may compete with less people in interviews? (if I get one with my results, of course) Plus with Oxford, I wouldn't be called to visit the UK again for a second interview as that may happen with Cambridge.

With stronger paper performance, should I apply to Oxford instead of Cambridge?

Is there a particular one (oxford & cambridge) that law students studying locally in the UK prefer?

Thank you!

Oxford look at statements but from what I heard they too don't give them loads of weight, because you'll be interviewed too.

At a guess, I'd say that the statement is important in getting an interview at Oxford (Cambridge interviews most people) but then it will probably be down to your interview, grades and LNAT (I suspect they give the essay section careful consideration). That's not to say that these won't also be very important factors in determining whether you get an interview.

You're looking for the easier route in but to be honest there isn't one. You say that:

"Oxford interviews a smaller percentage of applicants. Given that I'll get good grades, I'm guessing this would be an advantage to me as I may compete with less people in interviews?"

This isn't really true. You'll still be competing with all the best people, and the occasional fluker - it's just that those less likely to get in will have been removed from the pool of applicants. There's little substantive difference.

Basically as Roh said, you are going about this the wrong way. Both courses are very competitive, so you should see which course and which city you prefer, and pick that one.

[icycreamy6]

(Original post by michael321)
Oxford look at statements but from what I heard they too don't give them loads of weight, because you'll be interviewed too.

At a guess, I'd say that the statement is important in getting an interview at Oxford (Cambridge interviews most people) but then it will probably be down to your interview, grades and LNAT (I suspect they give the essay section careful consideration). That's not to say that these won't also be very important factors in determining whether you get an interview.

You're looking for the easier route in but to be honest there isn't one. You say that:

"Oxford interviews a smaller percentage of applicants. Given that I'll get good grades, I'm guessing this would be an advantage to me as I may compete with less people in interviews?"

This isn't really true. You'll still be competing with all the best people, and the occasional fluker - it's just that those less likely to get in will have been removed from the pool of applicants. There's little substantive difference.

Basically as Roh said, you are going about this the wrong way. Both courses are very competitive, so you should see which course and which city you prefer, and pick that one.

Indeed, I'm sure both universities and extremely competitive. But because a lot of people do say that the two universities put a slightly different emphasis of components in an application, so I was wondering if that was true.

I also asked about preference of UK students because I might like somewhere with a certain percentage of international students for a mix as well as perhaps to fit in.

Thank you for the reply!

[DeeWave]

Whilst it's true that Cambridge interviews almost anyone, not all applicants enter interview on a level playing field. As others have said, the interview is only one part of the admissions process, though an important one. You'll need to give a good interview at either to gain a place, but don't build it up to be too much as it's only one part of the process.

I can't speak for Oxford or make a valid comparison as I don't know anything about their process.

[michael321]

(Original post by icycreamy6)
Indeed, I'm sure both universities and extremely competitive. But because a lot of people do say that the two universities put a slightly different emphasis of components in an application, so I was wondering if that was true.

I also asked about preference of UK students because I might like somewhere with a certain percentage of international students for a mix as well as perhaps to fit in.

Thank you for the reply!

Fair enough, but my point is that if you're good enough, you will stand a strong chance at either. Therefore you should think about which course you prefer first.

If you genuinely like each course/city equally, and you're still interested in analysing the application process, the best thing you can do is look at a few LNAT and Cambridge Law Test past papers and see which you prefer, as these will form an important part of the process and you want to do well in them. This is much more substantive than trying to work out the weighting of different parts of the application process, like the interview.

As far as I know Cambridge's test is not prescriptively marked, but you should be able to get an idea of what you're best at. If you love the Cambridge Law Test but the LNAT multiple choice questions bamboozle you and you don't like the essay style, go for Cambridge. And vice-versa.

[shoshin]

(Original post by icycreamy6)
...I think I like the environment of Cambridge more (the bustling city centre and bigger colleges)...

+1 to cancel out the incomprehensible neg.

I'm surprised that you feel that, of the two, it is Cambridge that has the 'bustling city centre' Which colleges did you visit in Oxford?

[KingMessi]

(Original post by icycreamy6)
I went to the open days and oxbridge these few weeks and am still unsure about which one to apply to. It seems to me that I'm more likely to fit into Oxford, yet I think I like the environment of Cambridge more (the bustling city centre and bigger colleges). I attended a sample lecture at the latter and really enjoyed it.

Fair enough, though both universities are likely to have good lectures and I wouldn't say Oxford's city centre is 'quiet'.

(Original post by icycreamy6)
I'd like to study law. I think I can get good results in my public exams (I'm an international student), but I'm not as confident about my interview (and am yet to try LNAT practices). That said, I wouldn't consider myself to be the greatest debater either.

As an international applicant, you'll most likely need to get exceptional grades as opposed to good ones, because as far as I know (and someone can by all means correct me if I'm wrong), the admissions standard for international applicants is slightly higher.

(Original post by icycreamy6)
I talked two law tutors at a college in Oxford and they emphasized that interviews are only part of the admissions. Whereas the supervisor in Cambridge says that she knows many students get people to polish their statement anyway, so the interview is more important. Does Cambridge put more emphasis on interviews?

I can't speak for Cambridge, sorry about that. However, whilst interviews may only be a small part of the interviews, they're a very important part. Think about it: given five candidates with straight 'A's and 'A*s' in public exams, a glowing reference and a strong personal statement, the interview may be the deciding factor. Whichever you choose to apply for, the interview is likely to be of key importance and therefore shouldn't sway your decision either way.

(Original post by icycreamy6)
Another thing is that Oxford interviews a smaller percentage of applicants. Given that I'll get good grades, I'm guessing this would be an advantage to me as I may compete with less people in interviews? (if I get one with my results, of course) Plus with Oxford, I wouldn't be called to visit the UK again for a second interview as that may happen with Cambridge.

But Oxford still interview a majority of candidates, however minor that majority is. Regardless, it's only a tiny advantage, if one exists at all - after all, increased filtering prior to interview naturally implies that the standard of candidate called to interview is likely to be higher. What results are you expecting?

(Original post by icycreamy6)
With stronger paper performance, should I apply to Oxford instead of Cambridge?

Is there a particular one (oxford & cambridge) that law students studying locally in the UK prefer?

Thank you!

At the end of the day, only the most outstanding of paper performances is likely to make a huge difference, and by that I'm implying essentially straight A*s at GCSE/IGCSE and the very highest IB/A-Level scores. As such, you should really choose the one that you prefer, because regardless of which one you apply to you'll still be up against candidates with exceptional records.

[fluteflute]

(Original post by icycreamy6)
I talked two law tutors at a college in Oxford and they emphasized that interviews are only part of the admissions. Whereas the supervisor in Cambridge says that she knows many students get people to polish their statement anyway, so the interview is more important. Does Cambridge put more emphasis on interviews?[

Some people panic and go "argh! interviews, I won't perform very well in comparison to people from other backgrounds ". So by saying this and making the point that interviews aren't absolutely everything, they are hoping more people will apply. Because ultimately that is what they want: the best people to apply. Because if people don't apply, they can't get in.

Maybe they're also making the point that only 56% of applicants are interviewed (and of course a lot of excellent candidates are not interviewed, simply because only so many can be interviewed), and therefore other parts of the admissions process are used to decide who to interview.

(Original post by icycreamy6)
Does Cambridge put more emphasis on interviews?[

I doubt it.