oxbridge applications company - unethical?

I just think they're a rip-off. They're not telling you anything you couldn't find out for free elsewhere, and not giving you any interview practice you couldn't sort out for free. They're perfectly entitled to run their company, but frankly I wouldn't bother spending all that money on them.

I agree. The people they get to do the interviews aren't always particularly well-qualified -- their current pay rate for interviewers is around £7 an hour so they aren't likely to get the best people. With a bit of effort you can find better people to do your mock interviews (for example Oxbridge post-grads), although usually you would still have to pay them (but not nearly as much as you'd pay this company!).

However I don't really see why this company in particular seems so controversial. Many other tutorial companies and a fair number of schools (both state and independent) provide Oxbridge advice and training. All the Oxbridge Applications is doing is being high-profile about it, and charging a bit more.

Actually, I think they use Oxbridge undergrads and grads doing the mock interviews

Though as statistics show, they work. Plus isn't it free if you don't get a place? A no-win, no-fee type thing?

Though as statistics show, they work. Plus isn't it free if you don't get a place? A no-win, no-fee type thing?

... independent consultants to teach students how to cope with interview technique prior to their Oxbridge interviews, for example.

but don't you agree that consultants don't make a big difference. I mean if you are good enough to get in... you'll get an offer. But how does stuff like 'oxbridge applications' and stuff actually help, apart from giving you confidence ( and this is only good if you are shy). Most of what they teach you is comon sense like don't swear, don't twitsch, etc. And anyway, the interviewers are not thickos, and can spot a 'well trained person'.

I donno...confusing talk in here

that's not what they teach in their interview training. they try and kickstart your lateral thinking, and ability to argue, explain, etc

If you don't have the ability to do that to begin with they're not going to be able to train it into you. The interviewers aim to try to get the best out of you; they help you through lateral thinking stuff, but if you have the ability you'll pick up on what they're getting at in the interview, without training.

The way I see it, they can't tell you what questions you're going to be asked - every interview is different - so the only thing it's good for is to practise talking to a stranger. Which you could do easily - get a friend of your parents, no matter whom as long as you don't know them, to 'interview' you. It doesn't even have to be about your subject, it could be a mock job interview. Alternatively if you have teachers you don't know, get them to do it even if you know them it can help you. I don't see that it's necessary to go to Oxbridge Applications and spend all that money, I really don't.

On re-reading that post, I'd like to make clear that the first line is NOT meant to imply that you lot are idiots.

Of course you don't have to go to Oxbridge Applications, and no it won't work complete wonders for you and turn idiots into suave, confident interviewees. But it will give a moderate amount of help, help that a lot of people are willing to pay for. Leave them be.

As for what exactly it can do - no, of course they can't predict what questions you'll be asked. But there's a lot more to having a good interview than knowing the answers to the questions. Not everyone will immediately realise to lead the interviewer through the salient points of their thinking, or how to relate back to things they've read at key points.

As an aside, the bit about helping you choose a course is obviously for the tiny minority that are genuinely flexible. It's not like they say, "no, Medicine is far too competitive, apply for Classics" - more along the lines of "if you're only mildly interested in the language aspect, straight Law is considerably easier to get into than Law with German Law, and you can keep up your language skills via other means".

But anyway, I'm going to reiterate something that's very important here. The vast majority of you dissing them have not used them. Of the one and a half thousand people that do use them each year, however, the satisfaction rate is extremely high indeed. Last year they received a grand total of TWO complaints. Oxbridge themselves don't deliver to those standards!