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El Hosko
They apply then get shot out for not getting the ridiculously high grades!!


You can hardly call the required grades ridiculously hard when 10% of A level students achieve them, can you?
Good bloke
You can hardly call the required grades ridiculously hard when 10% of A level students achieve them, can you?

Is AAA all that's required though? :p:
Reply 22
jismith1989
Is AAA all that's required though? :p:

no, but thats because there are more people who apply with AAA than places so you need further tests to distinguish.
Sallena
no, but thats because there are more people who apply with AAA than places so you need further tests to distinguish.

Indeed. But are these tests absolutely valid? As the admissions system sees them as being so.
jismith1989
Is AAA all that's required though? :p:


Well, usually, in terms of grades it is. However, there are exceptions. You might be unlucky and get a AAAA offer, or you might be applying for a subject or college that requires STEP (maths, where the STEP requirement is massively important and searching), or an AEA, or a specialist test such as LNAT.

But AAA is really only the price of admission to the game, of course. The point is that, in the context of the present A level examination, the required grades are not ridiculously high as was stated by El Hosko.
jismith1989
Indeed. But are these tests absolutely valid? As the admissions system sees them as being so.


It doesn't matter much, does it? The admission tutors use whatever methods they choose. The applicant that doesn't like it need not apply.
Reply 26
I find the step exams very well set and certainly will determine who is up for it. they are also alot more fun than any school exams. not sure about the other exams though, but as the previous poster said, if you dont want extra exams, dont apply. its a free world.
Reply 27
Rudrax
I don't know, if they want to lose the image, why not go down to areas from where intake is lowest and talk to people about Univeristy/applying to Cambridge through schools or after-school programmes?

THEY DO THIS ALREADY.
Which is exactly why other methods are necessary. This stuff is working, but not to the extent that we would all like.

And it's not about a direct "See on soap" --> "Apply" effect. It's about getting these places to be seen as real, accessible, attractive and possible. Which putting them on TV does (it has been proven, as I say, by it working for colleges).
epitome
Whilst I'd agree that it's deeply unfortunate Cambridge has to think about doing this in order to get people to think differently about its image, I cannot agree that it's a "stupid idea". It's good marketing, if past experience can be relied upon; and many people are just not paying attention to the written stuff. This reaches a different audience, and puts Cambridge in a place that people - wrongly - don't expect.

Unfortunate situation, rather than stupid idea.

But:
1) admissions stats concerning ratio of state:tongue:ublic schools ratio are available
2) one only needs to look at the prospectus to know that cambridge is not more expensive than other unis for study
epitome
Well, no, it's not really. Whilst I think soaps are a waste of time, many (many) people don't.
And this comment:

is way off the mark. What an unbelievably snobbish and myopic thing to say.


Whilst this may be true, my experience after living with seven different [foster] families who are avid fans of these soaps, is that the families themselves usually hadn't completed more than four GCSEs, and had no contacts whatsoever that may even have a shred of hope to go to somewhere like Cambridge. So this is my experience of Corrie's target audience, although maybe a very small cross-section, which was the basis for that comment. These kind of people also stick together (in my experience), and I was often thrown rude comments by these families for even considering university.

Before someone else calls me 'snobbish', it's not as if I have a shred of hope going to Cambridge either, haha.

Oh yes, and so I hear Cambridge are massive UMS-nazis, so I doubt the average person that actually has time to watch soaps is able to achieve the requirements they're after.

Cambridge is not accessible to everyone - have you seen how many subjects they've blacklisted? A lot of these subjects are popular and taken by the masses to which they seem to be appealing to. I for one had no idea that Media was so looked down upon before joining TSR.
Reply 30
Comp_Genius
But:
1) admissions stats concerning ratio of state:tongue:ublic schools ratio are available
2) one only needs to look at the prospectus to know that cambridge is not more expensive than other unis for study


But most people don't bother to look this up because of the preconceptions they hold about Oxbridge. This seeks to change those preconceptions or at least challenge them so that more people at least consider applying to Oxbridge.
Do Cambridge really need any more applicants? The competition is difficult enough as it is. Yes, they want the smartest 2% or whatever of the population, and yes, there are people who are in that top percentage but are discouraged from applying. But that's a tiny minority, and both Cambridge and Oxford still turn away thousands with three or four A grades. Those people who would really be suited for Oxbridge would have the ambition to overcome the stereotypes, do their own research, and apply despite any preconceptions.
I was against this because I thought it wouldn't work and that most people knew the realities of the admission system and how it is meritocratic and considers background.

Then I saw some of the posts in here:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=664649

And I now support this measure.
JocastaJackal
I think somehow they're appealing to the wrong audience by infiltrating TV soaps.


And what do you know about the kind of people who apply/get accepted to Cambridge?

I'm going into my third year and often watch Eastenders and Corrie. They've gone downhill recently, so I don't watch them nearly as much as I used to, but I watch Hollyoaks, Neighbours and Home and Away everyday. And there are quite a few people I know at uni who do too.

I hate it when people get all snobby about soaps and think that university students can't watch them.

Before someone else calls me 'snobbish', it's not as if I have a shred of hope going to Cambridge either, haha.


OK, not snobbish then...just ignorant about the type of people that apply. There are *plenty* of Cambridge applicants (successful ones too) who watch the soaps.
Reply 34
JocastaJackal
Whilst this may be true, my experience after living with seven different [foster] families who are avid fans of these soaps, is that the families themselves usually hadn't completed more than four GCSEs, and had no contacts whatsoever that may even have a shred of hope to go to somewhere like Cambridge. So this is my experience of Corrie's target audience, although maybe a very small cross-section, which was the basis for that comment. These kind of people also stick together (in my experience), and I was often thrown rude comments by these families for even considering university.

Before someone else calls me 'snobbish', it's not as if I have a shred of hope going to Cambridge either, haha.

Oh yes, and so I hear Cambridge are massive UMS-nazis, so I doubt the average person that actually has time to watch soaps is able to achieve the requirements they're after.

Cambridge is not accessible to everyone - have you seen how many subjects they've blacklisted? A lot of these subjects are popular and taken by the masses to which they seem to be appealing to. I for one had no idea that Media was so looked down upon before joining TSR.

Just because you know stupid people who watched Corrie, doesn't mean all people who watch Corrie are stupid. There are plenty of people here who love Corrie/Eastenders/Hollyoaks etc, though personally I don't see the charm (but I do love Casualty!)

There's two prongs to this argument, really. One is that by portraying Cambridge to people who might be thinking of applying, a realistic view of the university (i.e. not just crusty old professors in gowns going punting) is going to be very welcoming. Secondly, people who have no ambition to go to university, let alone Oxbridge, such as the ones you describe, may at least see that the people there are "normal" and not be so discouraging to those around them who do want to try.

I think it's an unusual strategy, but if done well could certainly be useful!
Jigglypuff
And what do you know about the kind of people who apply/get accepted to Cambridge?

I'm going into my third year and often watch Eastenders and Corrie. They've gone downhill recently, so I don't watch them nearly as much as I used to, but I watch Hollyoaks, Neighbours and Home and Away everyday. And there are quite a few people I know at uni who do too.

I hate it when people get all snobby about soaps and think that university students can't watch them.

(Rant over)


I'm not saying ALL university students can't watch them, but my brother for example who's being prepped for Oxbridge hardly even has time to watch TV or even read a book that isn't intended for work, so I assumed this amount of work was the norm to get into a university like Cambridge.

Maybe there are people who can successfully get into Cambridge without cutting themselves away from the real world like this - I just haven't met them.

Oxbridge is in a totally different league from most universities, is what I'm saying.
Reply 36
to defend JocastaJackal:
I'm pretty sure that the % of people who watch soaps at oxbridge is lower than the national average (this is just a guess, dont have any statistics) so in a way he/she may have a point. of course there are alot of very clever people who enjoy soaps like Jigglypuff so maybe the idea isnt bad, it will surely make a small difference as some potential applicants may not have applied if they hadnt seen it in a soap (doubt itll be very many tbh). what it really could do is change the attitude of the parents/grandparents, as these surely influence the people making the decision whether to apply. I would have thought that that would be the largest viewergroup so the idea may not be bad. they also mentioned top gear. I think alot of potential applicants watch it.
Good bloke
It doesn't matter much, does it? The admission tutors use whatever methods they choose. The applicant that doesn't like it need not apply.

Have you thought of joining the Widening Access team? :p:
Anyway, as an avid soap fan, my two cents is this:

From an access point of view, Eastenders hasn't really been doing a very good job with its recent storyline about Oxbridge. Luckily I'm already at Cambridge, but were I two years younger and about to apply I doubt Eastenders would do very much to convince me. The guy applying for Medicine at Cambridge has a habit of cutting up rats at the kitchen table (where, I hasten to add, his mother cooks curry as part of her new Indian takeaway business which was shut down for hygiene reasons). The girl is slightly more normal, but still typically geeky. I don't think the storyline is going to encourage people to apply, to be honest. That said, it won't *discourage* people to apply, as anyone who applies is intelligent enough to know it is fictitious. It's just a bit of entertainment, I don't think it should be done for serious access purposes.
Reply 39
JocastaJackal
I'm not saying ALL university students can't watch them, but my brother for example who's being prepped for Oxbridge hardly even has time to watch TV or even read a book that isn't intended for work, so I assumed this amount of work was the norm to get into a university like Cambridge.

Maybe there are people who can successfully get into Cambridge without cutting themselves away from the real world like this - I just haven't met them.

Oxbridge is in a totally different league from most universities, is what I'm saying.

er, no.

and if your brother's working that hard just to get in, he's doomed to fail in life.