GCSE Predictions - Oxford

According to this source, 58% of successful applicants to Oxford had 8 or more A*s at GCSE in 2008. Taking into account grade inflation and other factors, this will have most likely risen since then.

You've probably been negged for one of two reasons. Firstly, your grades are outstanding compared to what most people could hope to achieve so some people might perceive this thread as showing off (not that it is, some people are pretty unreasonable here). The second, more sensible, reason is that there are already a lot of similar threads of potential oxbridge applicants worrying about GCSE performance and all get the same response: it doesn't have to matter, as long as you perform excellently at A Level, show flair for the subject and have a natural interest.

Nope Ha I got to interview and did fairly well. In the feedback they said that I was just off being pooled, and if I had better UMS (I averaged ~ 88%) they would have given me an offer.

But I got an offer from Cardiff so I'm going to be a doc

What's 'being pooled'?

There are a limited number of spaces where if they think you deserve a place but the college is full, then they put you in the pool where other colleges can pick you up (I think it is called being 'fished'). So I was just off being pooled :/

Ohh I see - do colleges matter that much?

Not really in terms of the application. At Oxford you select a college to apply to, or make an open application (you get assigned two colleges to be interviewed at - I think), and then get assigned a random second college. So even if you mess up the first one, then you can still get an offer from the second. Additionally you could get sent to another college as well.

At Cambridge you apply to a college (or open application so get assigned one) and get interviewed. If they cannot take you (due to lack of spaces) but think you should still get in then you get pooled - sometimes this does not really happen though for hyper-competitive subjects, e.g. maths, medicine etc.

So I would say to not try to apply tactically - it generally does not work. Have a look around the colleges and find one that you adore (it's not difficult - I had three that I loved at one point :P) and then apply to that one, remember that you, if accepted, will be there for three years so you want it to be somewhere you really like

That was strikingly unhelpful, what I was looking for was some indication of my likelihood of receiving an offer assuming I have strong A's at AS with those GCSE results considered.

How can I have two negative votes? It was a direct question what was there to judge or dislike?

Ohhh I see - thanks for explaining but what do different colleges do?

They are all pretty much the same. The only real differences are in looks, e.g. some are really old-school (sorry, couldn't help myself) and others look more modern. They also vary in size, for example Trinity is quite large in terms of numbers but Corpus is quite small. To be honest, and I'm not the best source for this, the college you go to only matters in regards to that's where you live.

Oh, although some colleges are better known for some courses there really is a very small difference, in my opinion.

P.S. vary in location as well.

(Sorry this is so poorly put together but I've been doing Physics for the past 5 hours straight...)