Rejected from Oxford, should I reapply?

Its true that people certainly do get in when they reapply to Oxbridge. However, consider this is it really worth turning down offer from Imperial and UCL because you are gonna reapply to Oxford?

I dont know about the rest of your application but seriously what if you take the year out and get rejected again by Oxford? You'll be more depressed about it than you are now. Believe Oxbridge despite being elite uni's are not the end of the world, there are other good uni's out there.

My advice: Select one of your offers and apply to American uni's next year. In this way you'll be at uni so you wont be wasting a year. Plus there is no gurantee if you'll make it to Harvard or Yale cause they're incredibly competitve uni's.

Goodluck!

I applied for Biological Sciences at Warwick, Bristol, Imperial, UCL and Oxford.

I was recently rejected from Oxford (after what I thought was a very strong interview) but got in everywhere else. My first choice would be either UCL or Imperial.

My question is, I quite desperately wanted to go to Oxford, and I felt I was very close to getting it (maybe I wasn't, but I get that impression).

So my idea was this - take a gap year, and take the American SATS, and apply to Oxford, Harvard, Yale, Imperial and UCL. My questions are these:

1) Seeing that I've already got into Imperial and UCL, will taking a year off and reapplying to them reduce my chances (as in they think 'we can't trust him to come' so they reject me)?

2) Can I apply to both Harvard and Yale? With 10 A*s at GCSE and four As at AS-level, I think my current grades should be a start. I'm aiming for 2-4 A*s for A-level (in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and English), and the rest As.

3) Does Oxford take into account the fact you've reapplied? I've heard countless stories of people reapplying to Oxford/Cambridge and getting in, but that's no evidence to go on...

Should this be something I do? The way I see it, reapplying to UCL and Imperial will put me in the same position I am now (should I get in); reapplying to Oxford gives me another shot at the university I really want to go to; and since I'm of American descent, the prestige of Harvard/Yale would be equivalent to Oxford for me.

I applied for Biological Sciences at Warwick, Bristol, Imperial, UCL and Oxford.

I was recently rejected from Oxford (after what I thought was a very strong interview) but got in everywhere else. My first choice would be either UCL or Imperial.

My question is, I quite desperately wanted to go to Oxford, and I felt I was very close to getting it (maybe I wasn't, but I get that impression).

So my idea was this - take a gap year, and take the American SATS, and apply to Oxford, Harvard, Yale, Imperial and UCL. My questions are these:

1) Seeing that I've already got into Imperial and UCL, will taking a year off and reapplying to them reduce my chances (as in they think 'we can't trust him to come' so they reject me)?

2) Can I apply to both Harvard and Yale? With 10 A*s at GCSE and four As at AS-level, I think my current grades should be a start. I'm aiming for 2-4 A*s for A-level (in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and English), and the rest As.

3) Does Oxford take into account the fact you've reapplied? I've heard countless stories of people reapplying to Oxford/Cambridge and getting in, but that's no evidence to go on...

Should this be something I do? The way I see it, reapplying to UCL and Imperial will put me in the same position I am now (should I get in); reapplying to Oxford gives me another shot at the university I really want to go to; and since I'm of American descent, the prestige of Harvard/Yale would be equivalent to Oxford for me.

Seems like a waste to me,
Though rather than declining your offers you could ask to be deferred so you can have a gap year
Though you will have to make something up about why you are now deciding to take a year out
Oh and remember.. if you reapply for next year you will be effected by the tuition fee rise, and there will be no guarentee of getting an offer next year

You still have time to apply to Harvard, Yale etc. The deadline is 31st December, 2010. One can apply on line.

That won't work - you can't hold a deferred offer and apply for a course.

Firstly, sorry to hear you didn't get into Oxford. If it's any consolation I've been there before.

You have offers from some very good places and personally out of Imperial, UCL, Bristol and Warwick I would probably plump for Imperial as in many respects it's one of the strongest institutes in the world for the sciences and in some respects stronger than Oxford.

I'm not going to patronise you by saying "Oh how can you turn down Imperial just to reapply for Oxford". Ultimately that's your decision to make and you have to weigh up the pros and cons.

I would consider the following:

1) Given the pressure for places at university, it would be a risky strategy to decline your offers for the sake re-applying to Oxford. You previous application record will be on the UCAS system and if you do happen to reapply to Oxford and or Imperial etc. they will know about your previous applications. This would be more of an issues for places other Oxford e.g. if you were to decline offers this year from UCL and Imperial for the sake of reapplying to Oxford and also happened to reapply to UCL and Imperial, chances are they (UCL and Imperial) would decline your application given that you had been previously made an ofer and rejected them.

2) Have you received any feedback as to why Oxford rejected you? If not then try to obtain over the next few weeks or in the new year and sit down and reflect on what went right or wrong. Off the top of my head I can't remember if they ask for a written test for Biological Sciences. If you were to reapply to Oxford then I would strongly advise you to apply to a different college. Academically there doesn't seem to be any problems so my hunch would be it boiled down to your interview performance and even if it did go well, it was probably a case of somebody else performed better on the day.

3) If it's the Oxbridge bonus that you're after as opposed to soley going to Oxford, perhaps consider applying to Cambridge?

4) Without knowing much about the American system I couldn't advise you on that. However, as it's a seperate process to the UCAS system, it could be possible for to make an application to places like Harvard and Yale whilst enrolling on a programme here in the UK e.g. at Imperial. The logic being that if you were to get an offer you could withdraw from Imperial and wait until you start in the States or worst case scenario if you didn't get an offer to study abroad, then you could continue what you're doing in the UK not having lost anything (except however much money you spent on the applications/SAT entry forms etc).


Personally I would say put Imperial as your first choice, get the grades and don't look back. Imperial and UCL aren't exactly second rate institutions and in some world rankings rank higher than Oxford so it's not like they don't have a world-class pedigree.

3) If it's the Oxbridge bonus that you're after as opposed to soley going to Oxford, perhaps consider applying to Cambridge?

So based on your guys' experience, for science how is Imperial compared to Oxford in the real world?

I think like many Oxford rejects. You got attached to the university.

Don't worry I know how it feels.

But trust me when I say it's not worth it. Speaking to people who did Biosci and medicine at oxford and imperial and reapplied to oxford. I am telling you it's not worth it. Heck if I'm being honest Oxbridge unis are on decline. It seems London are topping them

AND A VERY IMPORTANT THING

London Unis have the BEST facilities.
Oxford have Good facilities but place an emphasis onto more of teaching you stuff.

I applied for Biological Sciences at Warwick, Bristol, Imperial, UCL and Oxford.

I was recently rejected from Oxford (after what I thought was a very strong interview) but got in everywhere else. My first choice would be either UCL or Imperial.

My question is, I quite desperately wanted to go to Oxford, and I felt I was very close to getting it (maybe I wasn't, but I get that impression).

So my idea was this - take a gap year, and take the American SATS, and apply to Oxford, Harvard, Yale, Imperial and UCL. My questions are these:

1) Seeing that I've already got into Imperial and UCL, will taking a year off and reapplying to them reduce my chances (as in they think 'we can't trust him to come' so they reject me)?

2) Can I apply to both Harvard and Yale? With 10 A*s at GCSE and four As at AS-level, I think my current grades should be a start. I'm aiming for 2-4 A*s for A-level (in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and English), and the rest As.

3) Does Oxford take into account the fact you've reapplied? I've heard countless stories of people reapplying to Oxford/Cambridge and getting in, but that's no evidence to go on...

Should this be something I do? The way I see it, reapplying to UCL and Imperial will put me in the same position I am now (should I get in); reapplying to Oxford gives me another shot at the university I really want to go to; and since I'm of American descent, the prestige of Harvard/Yale would be equivalent to Oxford for me.

You may firm your offer with Imperial now. Then in July 2011 you may re-apply to Oxford or Cambridge and in the meantime join Imperial in October 2011. However, if you get an offer from Oxford by the end of December, 2011 you may quit Imperial, take a gap year and join Oxford in October 2012. But if you didn't get in Oxford then you may continue with Imperial. This way you will not be idle in case you didn't get into Oxford.