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Oxford Applicants 2016 Entry & Interview chat

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Hey there! Think I'll just put this here;
GCSE grades: 10A*
AS levels: Biology, Chemistry, Maths (stats), History and Latin (not sure which of History/Latin I'm dropping in A level - wait for results day!) Plus EPQ
Course: Biological Sciences
College: Jesus College

Anyone out there either planning to take biology, or is taking biology at Oxford? Or are they any people who currently go to Jesus College I can message? Thanks :smile:

Reply 501

_katherineee

How realistic are my chances of getting into Oxford? Be brutally honest with me!
2A*s, 7A's, 2B's and 1C at GCSE, predicted A*AA at A Level.
Currently predicted AAAA for AS - studying Biology, Chemistry, Maths and History (&EPQ); hoping to study Biomedical Science.

Reply 502

Artfanatic

GCSE grades: 3A* 7A 1B
AS grades: AAAA
Predicted A-Level: A*A*A
Course: Fine Art
College: St Johns/Worcester

*reapplying with foundation in art+design*

Reply 503

Gerald DGrilla

Super.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 504

_katherineee

Original post by Gerald DGrilla

In what subject were the Bs and the C?

State or Indy?

Does your school usually send many to Oxbridge?

A*AA are good grades, and I wish you luck, but are you a super-duper superstar, do you genuinely study your socks off all the time and do you seriously read off syllabus?

Once you get to Oxford it will be mahoosively hard work - could you cope with that? And I mean Proper Mahoosively!!

Are you one of the very brightest and best of your generation?

Many applicants will have 7*s and the rest As at GCSE and will get top marks at A Level - not just A*s but high marks within that top band.

The 2 Bs and a C are not in themselves going to stop you getting an offer - but are they an indication that you are very good, but not Oxbridge material - there are many that are the Right Stuff and who don't get an offer. Just 2 A*s is also on the low side.

The test/interview/reference/PS are all much bigger factors, so you should go for it, really you should, but only you can answer why you dropped those marks at GCSE - was it an unfortunate and atypical 'screw up on that Drama paper' or were you only worth a C in, say, History? If it is the latter, you might well be better lowering your sights.

The competition will be fierce, but go for it!

Good luck.

G D'G

My B's were in DT (taken in year 9) and PE, the C was in French (taken in year 9).
I go to a state school and few people from my school go to Oxbridge but the numbers are steadily increasing each year.
But thank you, I will take on board what you said.

Reply 505

Gerald DGrilla

Good

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 506

pak1994

Original post by Gerald DGrilla

- College: Not sure....

...thinking of the following, in this order:
- Magdalen
- Brasenose
- St John's
- New
- Merton

I like old and beautiful, interesting tutors, diverse people, college wealth, library, quiet, central... Prefer smaller, friendlier, but Magdalen and New blew me away when I visited!

I realise this is quite old, but thought I'd comment on the interesting tutors thing - the New College tutors are definitely that (I don't do Classics, but one of my best friends does).
I'm sure all the college tutors are though, so the best thing to do is to go to an open day and speak to a current student at the college.

Reply 507

learner248

Is anyone considering doing oriental studies?

Reply 508

MSJKSP

anyone hoping to apply to Oxford for medicine? :smile:

Hello, I do :smile:

Glad to finally be able to join a thread like this :smile:

GCSEs: 12A*s
A levels: Maths, Further Maths, History, Economics
Course: Was thinking law for quite a while, then realised PPE is my dream course (': (Gunna be a bit weird going to UNIQ for Law, knowing I'm gunna apply for PPE xD)
College: New, Brasenose, Trinity/ St John's? Heart's set on New though tbh.

Reply 511

PerlaDeSabiduría

I might as well join in the fun :tongue:

GCSE's: 6A*s, 6A's, somehow top of my year
AS levels; French, Spanish, Maths and English Lit
Predicted A's, but we'll see :colondollar:

I really want to do French and Spanish at Oxford, but Linguistics seems really interesting too!
If anyone has any relevant personal experience of these courses, or wants to promote their college for these subjects, please message me :biggrin:

Reply 512

lifescomplexity

Anyone applying for History/History joint honours...?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 513

lukedando

Original post by Edminzodo

I'M SO CONFUSED. I fell in love with Oxford when I went there, but I can't go to the college I want to because of the subject I am doing, plus I don't think I will do brilliantly in my GCSEs but I think I will be fine at A-Level . . . I know I have a year to think about it but I really can't decide! As I'm applying for an obscure-ish subject (Japanese), I feel like I have a decent chance at either but Oxford looks more at GCSE results . . . Can you give me some advice, please? :frown:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Dw dude, I was in a similar situation after my GCSEs with only 3 A*s. Luckily, they were in the subjects I'm doing at college (Maths, Further, PE and Chemistry). I've loved every minute of college and am getting 100% in most of my papers since christmas. As long as you put the work in outside of college hours too, you'll have no problem :smile:

What Oxbridge will look at are your predicted grades. This is something a lot of students don't know of. Your college send of both your AS results and your predicted. This means, if you finish your first year with abbb, but are predicted a*a*a because of the huge improvement made from GCSE to A Level, you will most definitely be chosen as a suitable candidate. One other thing is that predicted grades can be discussed with your tutor if you don't think they are high enough! I strongly advise you bump those predicted grades up with a trip to your tutor after you get your results. Hope this helped. :biggrin:

Reply 514

cranberrie'spy

•

[INDENT] Hi everyone
I'm an international student and I have a couple of questions that I'd like to ask before I consider applying for my desired course. It would be really, really great if I can get helpful information answering my queries. So, here I go, a little bit of background:

[INDENT]
I don't know if this really matters or not but I come from an African country and I studied my undergrad at a mediocre private university where I graduated with a gpa of 3.75.

My undergrad major was International Organizations but to be completely honest I didn't do quite well at first and I have a few poor grades here and there. So I took up a masters degree in Political Science at a very ancient university in my country and I did quite well. I ended up with a straight 4.0 gpa and received a distinction grade in my thesis. Then I took up the IELTS Academic and scored over 8.5 in all sections. Fair enough, I am extremely interested in the Mphil of International relations at Oxford and my ambition is to continue on to do the Dphil. I don't know if my above credentials are enough though so I would love to hear your opinion on my situation specifically if you are a post grad at Oxford. I need to also clarify something; the reason I pursued a Masters degree is because the Cambridge University International Requirements at minimum is a Masters degree where I am from. Even though Oxford University doesn't state the like in it's website I assumed it was the deal as with Cambridge; that international students coming from third world countries need a higher level degree as a prerequisite to demonstrate their competence for the world class programmes both universities offer.

So I was wondering am I on the right track? and what should I do to increase my chances of getting in? I would be very, very grateful for any insight on this matter. For what it's worth I still haven't asked any of my professors to write any letters of rec, frankly I'm uncertain and pretty anxious about all of this.Please, please, please be honest and frank about what you really think my chances of getting in are. I know that my undergrad grades are not strong as they should be for an offer but I tried to make-up for them and compensate in my masters of PoliSci. Finally, thanks a million for reading all of this, I was thinking of speaking to one of my professors about applying but I decided to come here first and "test the waters".

P.S: I apologize in advance for any typos or grammatical errors as I am writing this from my phone

Reply 515

Leondarius

Original post by BrasenoseAdm

Oxford Tube also has free wifi and stops much closer to the centre of Oxford (where most of the departments and colleges are located) than the rail station. Added to that, the reliability of the train service is not always great and at the moment there are engineering works during some of the weekends which can cause delays. The bus link from London wins hands down.

Oxford Tube and X90 stop in the same place on High Street in Oxford and travel between the same terminals from Victoria to Oxford Bus Station. They do however have slightly different stops within London, if I remember correctly. So depending on where you plan to board in London you may take one or the other. Both offer Wifi and very comfortable seats. One thing to notice is that if you buy a return ticket you must use the same company both ways.

Reply 516

Swifty139

GCSE's: 10A*'s, 2A's
A Levels: Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Classical Civilizations, French
Predicted: A's

Would like to do Classics, possibly with French :smile:

Reply 517

Uhhh

Original post by MSJKSP

anyone hoping to apply to Oxford for medicine? :smile:

MEEEEEEEEE I absolutely love Oxford, both the place and the uni - do you have any insider information on the best colleges for medicine or application tips?

I've heard you shouldn't worry about grades too much because, whilst they're important, some people get 3 A* at a level and don't get an offer
(good luck friend)

Reply 518

MSJKSP

Original post by Uhhh

Yeah I would absolutely love to go there :biggrin:

unfortunately not, because I am in year 12, so don't have any insider info, but I think I might apply to Brasenosd, it just looks lovely!

I know, but I suppose it's best to get good grades anyway! I'm doing the IB actually which is bloody hard! what subjects are you doing at a level?

Reply 519

Uhhh

Original post by MSJKSP

Yeah I would absolutely love to go there :biggrin:

Whoa IB, I'm sorry :wink:

I'm thinking maybe Magdalen, because I like the facilities/amount of sports.

I do bio, chem, maths, psychology and general studies (it's compulsory) I'm gonna do an EPQ next year too but I'm torn between dropping maths or psych - I may just keep both. How about you?