Oxford Applicants for 2012 Entry

Original post by anyone_can_fly

UCAS form has been SENT!

:eek:

And my reference is in the process of being written, and then it will be sent, and then I will get on to TRACK!

:eek:

Trust me, when it comes to track, you will come to hate it on your results day - nothing is more frustrating than seeing "track is currently unavailable, due to massive volume of logins". So don't get too excited about it :K:

Reply 5401

Original post by amirrozlan

Hey guys,

I'm in a bit of a dilemma here.
I got AAAA for History, Economics, Maths and Physics at AS. Now that it's A2, I've decided to drop Physics, because I found the prospect of being able to 'concentrate' more on the first three subjects very attractive indeed. I've not been going for Physics classes for a month, and it's been such a relief having three subjects.

Thing is, teachers say that having anything less than FOUR A2s would significantly downgrade my application. Like, it would significantly reduce my chances of getting an offer because apparently, having "just" 3.5 gives the admissions tutor in Oxford the impression that I'm not trying hard enough, I'm not hardworking and that I'm not willing to push myself through a bit of a challenge. I mean, I'm not completely unconvinced - even I (now pretending to be an admissions tutor) find the combination Economics, History, Maths and Physics a lot more interesting than if it didn't have Physics. Is that reasonable? :s

I can still take Physics up at this point, except that I'll have to do some serious catching up - which I'm confident I'll be able to do fine.

But give me your opinion guys - does having 4 instead of 3.5 REALLY make a difference on what the admissions tutor will make of me?

Hey, I guess it really comes down to what subject you are going to study. But from your mixture of subjects I assume that you aren't going to study anything even remotely related to Physics? If that's the case, they are not gonna consider it bad if you have 3.5 A Levels - in fact if you look around, most people will have that. If I were you I wouldn't really worry about this and instead of working for Physics, you can get on with working for your interview prep and such :-)

Reply 5402

anyone_can_fly

11

Original post by BeritV

Trust me, when it comes to track, you will come to hate it on your results day - nothing is more frustrating than seeing "track is currently unavailable, due to massive volume of logins". So don't get too excited about it :K:

I don't know - I'm Scottish, and as there are far less Scots than there are English, it may not crash on the Scottish results day (around 4 August). Although I can imagine English unis not bothering to update track for ages that day, which could be very frustrating.

I have a feeling I'm going to be one of those sad, sad people who checks track every free minute of every day. :redface:

Reply 5403

anyone_can_fly

11

Original post by fluteflute

Why is it a third to a quarter, not half?

Ah that does explain the four year uni thing. I was considering Edinburgh, but with lots of good close unis and it simply not making sense financially it's now off my shortlist.

And wow, I didn't see that TARDIS when I came to Edinburgh last year...

Sorry, I didn't notice this question! Well, the cutoff is around the end of February, which is six months after school starts. However, unis don't start til the beginning of October usually. Also, it's not a rigid cutoff like the English one - if your child was born in February, January or even December you can choose which year they go into.

There are many TARDISes in Edinburgh. Some of them have become coffee stalls now.

Reply 5404

qwertyuiop1993

Original post by BeritV

Trust me, when it comes to track, you will come to hate it on your results day - nothing is more frustrating than seeing "track is currently unavailable, due to massive volume of logins". So don't get too excited about it :K:

This.

Track failed to update on results day so it just said Durham unconditional, Oxford conditional and I panicked and thought I'd missed my offer - I had to call in.

Also, while waiting for offers I became addicted and compulsively checked it every day....

There's a reason track rhymes with crack.... :rolleyes:

Reply 5405

Original post by anyone_can_fly

I don't know - I'm Scottish, and as there are far less Scots than there are English, it may not crash on the Scottish results day (around 4 August). Although I can imagine English unis not bothering to update track for ages that day, which could be very frustrating.

I have a feeling I'm going to be one of those sad, sad people who checks track every free minute of every day. :redface:

We've all been at the "damn I didn't check track in the past 10 minutes" stage, I guess its pretty normal!

Reply 5406

Original post by qwertyuiop1993

This.

Track failed to update on results day so it just said Durham unconditional, Oxford conditional and I panicked and thought I'd missed my offer - I had to call in.

Also, while waiting for offers I became addicted and compulsively checked it every day....

There's a reason track rhymes with crack.... :rolleyes:

Tell me about it! When Oxford didn't change and Warwick did, I phoned up UCAS asking if they could tell me what the outcome for Oxford was (since so many other people did that). You know what that horrible woman told me? "Oh, I can't tell you the outcome, but it probably means you haven't quite met the offer." Well thanks I literally almost had a heart attack. Luckily in like half an hour I got a congratulations email from my college.

But yea Oxford was really mean with track updates this year.

Reply 5407

TheatreLovely

11

What kind of written work is everyone who is applying for languages sending? And does anyone know how important it is, like would they reject you without an interview on the basis of it? I was just having a mini panic...

Reply 5408

Banoffeepie16

2

Original post by TheatreLovely

What kind of written work is everyone who is applying for languages sending? And does anyone know how important it is, like would they reject you without an interview on the basis of it? I was just having a mini panic...

An essay in French, an essay in Spanish, and one in English. My French one is based on literature, my Spanish one is yet to be written but will also be on literature. The English can be a good essay about anything really :smile:

It is important, but the deadline is November 10th so you have time. It's a vital part of the admissions process.

Reply 5409

qwertyuiop1993

Original post by BeritV

Tell me about it! When Oxford didn't change and Warwick did, I phoned up UCAS asking if they could tell me what the outcome for Oxford was (since so many other people did that). You know what that horrible woman told me? "Oh, I can't tell you the outcome, but it probably means you haven't quite met the offer." Well thanks I literally almost had a heart attack. Luckily in like half an hour I got a congratulations email from my college.

But yea Oxford was really mean with track updates this year.

=0 You got a really horrible woman! I called in and the woman was really sympathetic, telling me it's really just a waiting game. Then she checked track for me and said, "I'm glad to be the one telling you that you're going to Oxford!"

May have screamed YES! down the phone :colondollar:

She seemed very nice at any rate...

Reply 5410

qwertyuiop1993

Original post by TheatreLovely

What kind of written work is everyone who is applying for languages sending? And does anyone know how important it is, like would they reject you without an interview on the basis of it? I was just having a mini panic...

I was actually just discussing this with the other language freshers at Trinity and the consensus was that it wasn't really important. Only one person had it referenced in their interview and that was because the tutor was a fan of the cellist the applicant had written about.

As long as the work isn't dire then you should be fine - though it would obviously help if you produced a stunning essay (which would be quite an achievement :smile:

)

I would guess at order of importance:
Interview performance
Grades
Grammar test
Submitted work (perhaps on par with grammar test)

Though thinking about it seeing as the grammar test has been moved forward to pre-interview it may be that they are now putting more emphasis on it to decide who not to give interviews to?

Reply 5411

Original post by qwertyuiop1993

=0 You got a really horrible woman! I called in and the woman was really sympathetic, telling me it's really just a waiting game. Then she checked track for me and said, "I'm glad to be the one telling you that you're going to Oxford!"

May have screamed YES! down the phone :colondollar:

She seemed very nice at any rate...

Yea I guess I was just unlucky. But it was so horrible seeing the whole dream crashing down. But it was for the best, once I found I'd got in, I was happier than I would have been I guess! :biggrin:

Reply 5412

Original post by RampantLion

Hey guys, I'll be applying for law this year and can't decide on which college. I've narrowed it down to either Brasenose or Magdalen. I know that it's quite unusual to like both of them because they are 2 very different colleges, but on the open day, those were the 2 that I could really see myself at, and they are both very strong for law. I'm just wondering if Magdalen is slightly harder to get into? My teacher who is head of uni applications says that all the very strong eton/harrow/winchester lot will apply to the likes of Magdalen and so it may be a bit risky. And that my school generally have more success with the smaller, more central colleges. I have 10 A*s at GCSE (please don't think Im being cocky, thats the last thing i want), and good AS' so I don't know if that should put me off going for Magdalen. But i know that Oxford is Oxford and you shouldn't agonise over college choice because at the end of the day, you could easily end up somewhere else! Any help and advice would be really appreciated though :smile:

thanks

You've answered this one for yourself already really. From what I gathered during the last year, it doesn't really matter where you apply to. If the uni likes you, they will make sure you have a shot at another college. This was my case, I originally applied elsewhere but now I'm really grateful I got reallocated to Hilda's since it's such a friendly college! So apply where you want to go, it should not affect your chances really!

Reply 5413

Albertine

7

I'm starting to freak out about the LNAT. :frown:

Reply 5414

banterbury_tales

Original post by Banoffeepie16

An essay in French, an essay in Spanish, and one in English. My French one is based on literature, my Spanish one is yet to be written but will also be on literature. The English can be a good essay about anything really :smile:

It is important, but the deadline is November 10th so you have time. It's a vital part of the admissions process.

Another French and Spanish applicant! <3

I haven't written ANY of my essays yet FML. I think I may actually start now.

Reply 5415

such_a_lady