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Oxford application for a formerly underachieving student

I am currently 6th form student and I was looking to apply to read Physics and Philosophy at Oxford. Unfortunately, I have underachieved in my first year of AS levels but I have managed to redeem my grades up to an adequate standard after resitting my AS year again.
So I was wondering if I would still have a chance at Oxford, and if so, which colleges will consider my application?

Thank You!

Reply 1

Octohedral

It may help to post your grades.

I won't lie, most of your competitors will have AAA first time around as an absolute minimum. After that, they'll have all sorts of things like the Physics olympiad. However, since you actually have the grades now (i.e. aren't just predicted them), it's not impossible. You need to ace the PAT and any philosophy tests, and impress at interview.

The more traditional colleges will be harder to get into in general, but your application may be moved 'downwards' or 'sideways' by pooling or second interview. It won't be moved 'up' (no disrespect meant to members of newer colleges, it's just more competitive to get into the older ones because people like the architecture).

Meanwhile, there's no harm in e-mailing a few colleges to ask about their attitude to resits. It's better to speak to an admissions tutor if possible, but they may be quite busy. :smile:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 2

araf95

Thank you very much! Your advise has been very useful! I will email some of the colleges and see how it goes :smile:

Reply 3

username873490

I'd email them- I can't find anything definite on their website. I know cambridge don't accept year resits, except in very exceptional circumstances, so I wouldn't be surprised if they said no...sorry :frown:

I'd imagine, though, that if you apply after A levels and you have done really well (i.e. above A*A*A), this might be better, as they can see you've improved a lot.

Reply 4

araf95

Ahh I was thinking the same :/ I am not overly optimistic about my chances but I want to apply because I have developed deep interests in both these subjects over the past year and I feel like Oxford will be a university where I can carry developing them to a high standard.