Eeeek, this has been worrying me slightly.

Scroll to see replies

well the uni people that have come to our skool to give talks etc etc, say that if you send off your ucas late, you'll have a lower chance to get into a course...

they can kinda justify this that... well you should of sent it off earlier, and that your a little disorganised if you send it off just before the deadline, and they probs dont want disorganised people on their courses...

and yeah anyone can APPLY to oxbridge, but it costs an extra 10 quid... so someone predicted anything but straight A's... probably wouldn;t bother... unless they had ALOT of extra curricular stuff

Reply 21

Rhys.

didgeridoo12uk

and yeah anyone can APPLY to oxbridge, but it costs an extra 10 quid...

Really? Well I'm glad I didn't apply there, then.

That's like.. 3 chicken mcnugget meals.

or 5 happy meals =]

i think this is one of those chicken and egg scenarios tho. more organised candidates are likely to have prepared well for their application with relevant work experience, prepared well by revising for exams and hence have better grades. therefore they are "better" candidates if you're a university. their very nature also makes them likely to be organised quickly and to have sent their form off early. i think it's not the early application that helps, but being the sort of person who would apply early.

Reply 24

Good bloke

I'm not so sure. If the university has made nearly all its planned quota of offers to strong early candidates it might well think twice if weaker ones come along later. In that case, second tier candidates would be well advised to get in early.

Reply 25

bright star

you will receive EQUAL consideration if you apply before the Jan deadline!!

Reply 26

bright star

found this on the ucas website

15 January 2008
Closing date for applications from UK and EU students to be guaranteed equal consideration.

Reply 27

</gibberish>

XIII

I somewhat doubt it considering if you sent it off, for example, on Friday then you'd be unlikely to be an oxbridge applicant... theoretically you could be, but you'd be leaving it until 2 days before the oxbridge deadline to send off your application.

Anyway, if you're really concerned just send it off next tuesday and they'll know you aren't :wink:

(or they'll think you're a really dumb oxbridge applicant who's just missed the deadline)

The deadline has been extended to the 16th due to the postal strikes =]

Reply 28

silent ninja

This thread isn't necessary as its been done HERE just a few days ago.

Reply 29

Drongo

Yup, read that one too!
I sent mine off 2 weeks ago but school hasn't attached reference yet, perhaps their policy is to keep non Oxbridge candidates' applications after Ox deadline OR they are busy doing those and won't get to ours (however they made Oxbridge candidates submit before summer hols so that would be pretty slack!).

I can't help but feel that applying early in the process is better because offers are already being made. If the uni realises at some point it is receiving better applicants than it originally expected then it may change its admission criteria to a higher standard. It must have a formula for number of offers made to expected accepted to actual admissions. In different years there may well be different factors affecting application numbers (eg league table movements, Prince William factor...) and yet the number they accomodate may be the same. They can't know how many applicants they'll get until they actually get them! And more people may accept than they expected.

This must work in reverse too!

All applications are equal just some are more equal than others!.....maybe :biggrin:

Reply 30

peachmelba

the oxbridge discrimination thing is a red herring. why would the likes of bristol and durham discriminate against well-qualified candidates who only have a 1 in 4 chance of getting an oxbridge offer? All the stories about people who get into oxbridge being rejected by other unis are almost certainly down to more competition e.g 1 in 20 for subjects like english; other unis having a narrower evidence base on which to make a decision.

i am less persuaded about the "equal consideration" argument for applicants applying on January 15th. Some unis/departments defer all decisions until the New Year (the gathered field approach). Some make early offers to strong candidates. For competitive courses, the latter will by definition reduce the chances of getting an offer. policy is one thing, practice is something else.

Reply 31

Good bloke

peachmelba

I completely agree on both points. Well put.

Reply 32

Rebel Yell

Yeah have to agree. Our school were lax about deadlines as long as we sent it before them. I sent mine 1st week in december and got accepted to all 6 of my choices.

Reply 33

stosie

bright star

you will receive EQUAL consideration if you apply before the Jan deadline!!

However much you want this to be true, universitys do start giving out their places before the deadline. I had all my offers by christmas so there is obviously less chance of getting a place if you apply in January as opposed to October. If you are a brilliant candidate you will still have just as much chance of getting a place though as long as you're on time.

Reply 34

bright star

they have a quota of how many places to give out at each stage so they can reserve places for later applicants. then after the deadline, all those that didn't make the grade are usually reviewed all together to fill the gaps. unless your application isn't up to the required standard, in which case your application will be rejected as soon as it's reviewed.