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Do universities like head boy/girls?

Ive applied for the position of head girl this year and im starting to rethink my application.

Is it true that oxbridge dont care about head girls/boys and treat their application the same as other candidates.

I intend to go to oxford university in 2012 (im currently in year12) and i thought being able to write that i am head girl would give my ucas statement the extra edge - but after talking to the current head girl - ive been told that being head girl is a waste of effort and a chance for the school to dump all the chores that need doing on you.

is this true? do unis really not care about head girls and boys? could i potentially be sacrificing my grades on becoming head girl???!!!

ive spoken to the teacher in charge - but i belived her opinion would be biased and it was. She just wants a quartet that will do all the school's dirty work.

PLEASE REPLY ANYONE!

btw....my current predicted AS grades are AAAB, in maths physics history and economics. I intend on dropping history next year.

Reply 1

Jack.O

It's hard to give a concrete yes or no, given that it's not something that you'll find a university-wide stance on. It's certainly not going to hurt your chances (assuming you're not mentioning it in every third sentence of your PS), but not every admissions tutor is going to be enthused by it.

If you're really not sure what the role involves at your school, it might be best to leave it. But I suspect it's not as bad as your predecessor was making out. I'd say find out some more information before making a decision.

Good luck with your application!

Reply 2

faber niger

I shouldn't imagine that they'd care too much about popularity contests, but you can put it down anyway, it certainly won't harm your chances. You're better off focusing on your grades if it's a zero-sum choice.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 3

Aivicore

Well they certainly won't have anything against it, but I wouldn't really recommend it.
It's a nice thing to put on UCAS, but it depends on the university how they treat it.

The heads are normally chosen in a glorified popularity contest, and it's basically a chance for the teachers to dump a load of menial tasks on you!
Two of my best friends are head boy and girl, and countless times I recall helping them out with the joys of:
1. Putting things in envelopes
2. Passing on really boring messages
3. Having to dress extra smart "as an example".

But who knows, you might like stapling things...

Reply 4

dbmag9

Original post by kirino1

Do universities like head, boys/girls?

Fix'd.

Reply 5

Kerny

They care about your grades.

Reply 6

Callipygian

My school didnt have head boys/girls or even prefects... I doubt they place much emphasis on it.

Reply 7

Joinedup

They absolutely hate people who keep starting duplicate threads on TSR though.

Reply 8

M1F2R3

Nobody likes a suck up.

Reply 9

gummers

I was the head boy at my school and apart from doing a few 'speaches' and showing people around the school from time to time I usually did fun things or well not fun but I don't regret doing it! I got to pick the menu for the leavers do, as well as location etc along with the head girl of course.

As far a 'special treatment' on other things in life, the Universities still offered me the same grades (although when applying for a job at Argos, the manager quite liked it). + I have a lot of work experience within the field I applied for. So if you really think it's going to effect your grades don't do it! End of the day Grades > pretty much everything else.

Reply 10

F.I

Yes its true, so don't do it. It annoys me when people are just bothered to do things because unis might like it so don't do if its just for Oxbridge :rolleyes:

Just to add, I'm Head Girl and I was rejected by Oxford.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 11

anoushka1

Ummm lets just say most of the people that applied to Oxbridge from my year who were not in the head girl team got in (27 girls out of 29 girls) whilst out of the head girl team(there are 7 of them) only 2 got in

Reply 12

Joshp

Original post by anoushka1

Jesus, what school were you at with Oxbridge eates like that?!

Reply 13

Wookie42

For what its worth, the head boy at my school was rejected by Sheffield and went to Liverpool instead. Don't think the fact that he was head boy made his application stand out that much to be honest.

Reply 14

anoushka1

Original post by Joshp

Jesus, what school were you at with Oxbridge eates like that?!

Haha its Henrietta Barnett School in London, its not private its a grammar school which probably explains why :smile:

Reply 15

daryl

Bear in mind that being head boy/girl at college will give you a better chance of being president/vice president at your student union if you decide that is the route you want to go down. No point being being a head boy or girl for any other reason though. I was the student president at my college but i doubt that my University looked at that in too much depth.

Anyways, good luck with your application! :smile:

you are going to need if if the goverment cut places!

Reply 16

maaaaaaaammm

I think that you should atleast try to be head girl if it does affect your grades maybe not but I thing a university would care atleast a bit.

Reply 17

MariaTsetse

At my school everyone was equal and ran wild and we didn't have any of this snobby prefect/head girl nonsense. We had an extremely high intake to Oxbridge/Medicine/Dentistry/Vet Med.