Official Oxford Applicants 2015 Entry, including Interview Chat

Course: Engineering Science
College: Undecided (Suggestions?)
GCSEs: 4A* 6A
AS Results: Mathematics A (95% across core modules), Physics A, Chemistry A, History C (Is it worth retaking to get an A) and picking up AS Further Maths next year.
A2 Predictions: A* Maths, A* Physics, A Chemistry, a in FM

Do I still have a good chance due to the PAT and interviews in the application process considering my C in history, is there any extracurriculars anybody could suggest to enhance my application?

Oh okay, thanks Yeah I really want to do history. I have questions though - do the tutors let you take a variety of topics, e.g. a topic from 1100 to religious and social change in 1960, or do they want you to focus on a certain time period? Also, do you need a language for history at Oxford? Do many others doing history have a language AS/A level? Do you think I will be okay without one?

Oh okay, thanks Yeah I really want to do history. I have questions though - do the tutors let you take a variety of topics, e.g. a topic from 1100 to religious and social change in 1960, or do they want you to focus on a certain time period? Also, do you need a language for history at Oxford? Do many others doing history have a language AS/A level? Do you think I will be okay without one?

Well done to everyone on results day!!!
I've unfortunately been thrown back into the Ox vs Cam conundrum (98% ums average) arrrgh

Your gcses are good and Oxford don't look at Ums average unless you mention it in your reference so should be fine hehe although I'm not an expert. How are u preparing for the tsa?

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I'm an IB international student (from the Canada) who is currently taking HL Chem, HL Bio and HL Business.

However, lately, I've been learning that Oxford (and most of the UK Universities) frown upon HL Business, especially for the Medicine program; as they deem it to be too "soft."

So, can any of you actually verify if this is true or not?

Congratulations on your excellent AS results. If you want any info on CompSci at Oxford, or have any questions please do feel free to get in touch. Either through here or <[email protected]> will come through to me too.

My school doesn't offer FM (will be mentioned in school reference). Hence, I will self-teach the AS level. How does Oxford look upon these kind of students? Are we disadvantaged compared to those taking the full A level in school?

My school doesn't offer FM (will be mentioned in school reference). Hence, I will self-teach the AS level. How does Oxford look upon these kind of students? Are we disadvantaged compared to those taking the full A level in school?

No. Being able to self-teach is a very valuable trait because it constitutes a good portion of what you'd be doing at Oxford. Plenty of people also don't realise that they need AS Further until the end of AS (i.e. because they realise they enjoy maths, decide on a degree where it's massively beneficial to have FM).

From your original post you also seem to overly-enthusiasticly think you're guaranteed an offer - you're not. Even with those AS-Level grades you're not going to stand out against the competition (which is why Oxford will make you do the MAT and, if shortlisted, an interview). Plenty of people with 4-5 high As at AS end up doing badly enough in the MAT to not even be invited to interview.

Hi. We do understand that some schools don't offer it. As you rightly mention, it's helpful if your teacher can tell us this in the reference and emphasise that you've self taught. The tutors will then be aware of this when the review your application.

We're looking for an interest in Maths, so it will be a positive thing that you've put in the time and effort off your own back. (There's a difference between someone not liking Maths, so not wanting to do FM - which we'd be concerned about - and not being able to take it.)

Doing it to AS is certainly better than not at all. We wouldn't include it in any offer as we only offer on three straight A Levels. But actually doing it is likely to improve your mathematical skills, which will help you in the MAT and if invited at interview.

If you do well in the MAT we'll interview you with or without FM. But if you were borderline on the MAT, and we knew you hadn't taken full FM/had self taught AS, the tutors might well use that information to pull you above the cut-off point, as we would see that you'd achieved that result without the level of support some candidates would have.

Does that help?

I don't think I'm guaranteed an offer. During a moment of euphoria after my results, I realized they were good enough to actually make a competitive application to Oxford. I am doing good at my practice MATs, and yes, I might be overly-enthusiastic, but that's just my attitude towards everything, not only Oxford.

Yes. It's more or less what I expected. Do you by any chance have statistics on how many applicants without FM get an offer? I'm very curious.

That's not one we can be sure of, as we're not the one's making the decisions.

But more generally, it's probably not looked that highly upon, but at the same time, if you're doing HL Chem and HL Bio then you're doing what they're asking for.

More important will be the BMAT (and interview). Good luck!

I don't have exact statistics to hand, but, roughly for the last admissions round we made 68 offers. Of those a bit over half would have been A-Level taking students (the others having done IB, American qualifications, etc where FM wasn't an option.)

Out of those 30-something A Level-taking candidates I think there was probably 2 or 3 who hadn't taken FM to A Level.

Noble makes a good point about self-teaching above too.

Of course it's worth mentioning that while only 2-3 hadn't taken FM to A-Level, there probably weren't many applicants who weren't going to take FM to A2.

Also, not to mention, generally the people who end up with an offer are the kind of people who have enjoyed maths from very early on and so wanted to do FM from the beginning of A-Levels.

I say this just in case someone points out that Oxford seem to be 'discriminating' against those not taking FM to A2, when in reality it's because there's not many that don't, and they probably tend to not be the high performers on the MAT and at interview - so you shouldn't be put off applying on the basis you don't offer FM to A2.