Oxford MAT 2013/2014

Hah, so still 20 days to go.

How did you friend receive a couple of Skype interviews? With different colleges?

When can we expect to receive the decision? I am very nervous and hope to see the decision soon.

I had my computer science Skype interview today. But I solved pretty much all problems in 15 minutes. Is that a bad sign? My friend at Oxford told me the tutors want to see what you cannot solve and then teach you that in the interview. So solving all the problems actually ruined my interview? I am kinda worried. Can anyone give me some suggestions? Thx.

The tutors will have wanted to find out how you think - they can do that with you getting the answers right! They will be looking to see how you respond (including to hints) but that can be done quite quickly. If they had wanted more information they would have interviewed you for longer, or given you a second interview. It's really hard to read into how interviews went. Trying to second guess everything normally just makes people more stressed. I know it's easy for me to say, but try and sit back and relax.

How exactly do I request for my MAT score in January? By the way I asked the tutors in my interview and they said they couldn't give it to me then- I'd have to enquire further with admissions office

In January, after the offer letters have been sent out, you can request feedback on the application process by contacting the college admissions office.

(If you can bear to wait a few days, the college admissions office will appreciate it, because they will almost certainly get flooded with requests, and they've been busy constantly since the beginning of December.)

Just wondering, how can we expect to get a reply, I.e in the form of an email, telephone call, letter? Does it depend on whether someone gets an offer or not?
Also, as it's already been two weeks now, I'm guessing some have got offers already?


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It's a letter posted on January 7th which should arrive on the 8th.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk

Does it apply to all colleges?

Yes. (With the exception of Harris Manchester, I guess.)

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Great. 2 weeks to go.

I'm basically too nervous to do anything before Jan 7. I attempted to read some maths texts but I wasn't able to focus at all.

What have you been doing recently? Preparing for the IMO team selection?

No, just writing essays. Deciding to apply to American unis was rather unwise.
And I'm pretty nervous as well.

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Yeah, luck plays a big role in US college admissions.

IMO, definitely choose Oxford unless you can get into Harvard, Princeton, MIT, or Stanford. I wouldn't even choose Caltech over Oxford cuz the Caltech's core is ridiculous; you have to do chemistry, biology, geography, physics, astronomy, humanities etc ...

If MIT's course is supposed to be the more challenging out of Harvard, Princeton, MIT and Stanford - I'd rather be at Oxford. From what I've seen of MIT problem sheets and exams, their undergraduate course isn't of 'COWI' standard. Although there's no denying it has a better reputation than, at least, the WI part of COWI.

Yeah, luck plays a big role in US college admissions.

IMO, definitely choose Oxford unless you can get into Harvard, Princeton, MIT, or Stanford. I wouldn't even choose Caltech over Oxford cuz the Caltech's core is ridiculous; you have to do chemistry, biology, geography, physics, astronomy, humanities etc ...

If MIT's course is supposed to be the more challenging out of Harvard, Princeton, MIT and Stanford - I'd rather be at Oxford. From what I've seen of MIT problem sheets and exams, their undergraduate course isn't of 'COWI' standard. Although there's no denying it has a better reputation than, at least, the WI part of COWI.

The core is that broad for any American college, not just Caltech. And well, I'm VERY unlikely to got into even one among HYPSM.


COWI as in Cambridge, Oxford, Warwick, Imperial?

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If MIT's course is supposed to be the more challenging out of Harvard, Princeton, MIT and Stanford - I'd rather be at Oxford. From what I've seen of MIT problem sheets and exams, their undergraduate course isn't of 'COWI' standard. Although there's no denying it has a better reputation than, at least, the WI part of COWI.