Oxford Applicants 2016 Entry & Interview chat

Would anyone mind if I ran my personal statement past them? I'm applying for engineering at Oxford and any advice would be very useful (preferably people who already have a place at Oxford)

Balliol, BNC or Corpus Christi are my top 3 at the moment, although I change my mind almost every day

Absolutely! PM me if you want

GCSE grades: 6A*s 3As B and I have an A* in a GCSE Short Course
AS levels: History A Politics A English Literature A Philosophy B
Course: History
College: Lincoln or Balliol

I'm applying for Law at either Hertford, Balliol, Teddy Hall or Magdalene.

GCSES: 5A*s, 4As, 2Bs, 3Cs (Mitigating circumstances at comprehensive but ranked forth in Year)
AS Levels: Government and Politics: A(93%) I've just been informed that I have the highest grade in the year!!
Religious Studies: A (84%) I also got the highest in the year!!
General Studies: A (86%) It may not count but still proud!!
History: B (78%) Grade pending as I am in the process of getting it remarked!!
English Literature: D undoubtedly the shock of the day. My coursework was an A, it was my exam that let me down. I'll be dropping it anyway and I don't think I'll resit as it'll be motivation not to get too arrogant next year.

A2 Predicted grades: So far they're looking like A*A*A but with any luck I could change that to A*A*A*

Are Skype interviews are later than face to face interviews?

(For the last time I promise) let me know if you have any questions about Balliol or Law at Balliol! I should really just have multi-quoted...

How do I know if my ums scores are good enough to mention in my reference? I got 94% in maths, 92% in german, 91% in further maths and 90% in physics. should i only have it mentioned if i get 95+?

What are your predicted grades?

i don't know yet but most likely A*A*AA, with the A*s in maths and physics and the As in further maths and german. my teacher is considering predicting me an A* in german if i want it, but i don't know if i want that added pressure, especially since i'm doing 4 a-levels and i'm not particularly confident about them

I don't think putting your UMS in the reference would do any harm since it's pretty good, but obviously it probably isn't going to make a gigantic difference. It might make the predicted grades more believable though (particularly for Maths). Why do you think a predicted A* in German would add pressure, since it doesn't really mean anything? It's just an administrative thing.

I was under the impression that if I'm predicted an A* then I have to achieve it? But I suppose the A* in german will most likely not make up my offer for engineering so I may accept an A* prediction. It's just that languages are so hard to do well in and I don't want to set myself up for failure. I'd rather aim for and achieve an A than aim for an A* and achieve less (if I were doing 3 a-levels I'd have a bit more faith in myself to get an A* in german but it just doesn't seem like something I can make happen)

I was under the impression that if I'm predicted an A* then I have to achieve it? But I suppose the A* in german will most likely not make up my offer for engineering so I may accept an A* prediction. It's just that languages are so hard to do well in and I don't want to set myself up for failure. I'd rather aim for and achieve an A than aim for an A* and achieve less (if I were doing 3 a-levels I'd have a bit more faith in myself to get an A* in german but it just doesn't seem like something I can make happen)

Not really. Particularly with Oxford, departments generally have one offer that they give to everybody, regardless of what their predictions are. It is incredibly unlikely that anybody would make German part of your offer if you're applying for Physics, but I do understand where you're coming from. Go with what makes you happier, I don't think the grade you're predicted for German will really influence your application outcome (if you're lucky, you might happen to have a German professor in your interview who will chat to you in German at the end... which may or may not have happened to me!).

As long as I achieve A*s in maths and physics I'll be happy An A* in german really would make my day. English isn't my first language so German is technically my third, and to reach that level of proficiency in a third language would just be a HUGE life achievement of mine so I'll give it my all, I suppose.

You're so lucky that you got a German professor. Do you reckon he chose to interview you based on your AS choices?

I think I'll ask my teacher to go ahead and predict me a A* - it will certainly make my application look better without being too much pressure as I'll only ever be required A*s in Maths and Physics (but that's if I pass the PAT and even get to that stage so that's a whole other story).

Predictions don't work that way for Oxford, if you get an offer it will be the standard A*AA with the A* specified in Maths, Further Maths or Physics.

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Exciting! I do have quite a few questions actually! So I am slightly concerned.... my AS grades aren't screaming Oxford! But i have been predicted A*A*A will that counteract my less than stellar performance?

Moreover, I have been offered a place at the Oxford Application Day and I wondered if I would be able to visit Balliol and talk to the Law admissions tutors? How many Law students do Balliol accept? Is there a threshold prospective students must surpass in order to be granted interview?

How do Law students at Balliol enjoy the experience? When I toured around Balliol I forgot to check if we can actually sit on the grass? Can we?

I'll wait for your reply before I bombard you with more questions!

I don't think German had any significant part to play in my application but it was a nice ending to the whole interview-drama and he was a very nice man!

Hi,

So first off your AS grades are fine! I know plenty of people who've got in with AAAB at AS. The only thing is that one of the As is General Studies, which is normally counted only as a fourth subject - this will slightly detract from your application if your history mark doesn't go up, but I don't think very majorly at all (particularly when your History mark is so close to the grade boundary: make sure to have the percentage mentioned on your reference if it doesn't go up following the remark, as Oxford tutors aren't blind to the fact that 78% is a lot closer to 80% than, say, 70%). I also don't think the English literature mark will be relevant as you have scored higher in four other subjects.

Besides this, your GCSE grades are very good, when taking into account the combination of your mitigating circumstances and your place within your school year. Moreover, I believe the LNAT is pretty important relatively speaking, and, of course, your predicted grades will play a part.

If you mean the open day on 18th September, Balliol will be open and hopefully as busy as it was in July! There will be at least a couple of current law students ready to answer and all questions or concerns, as well as a subject talk (which will be your chance to ask the Law tutors any questions you may have). If you just come into the college when you arrive in Oxford, we can give you all the info you need about timetables / tours etc. We're putting a lot of effort into the open days this year, so there'll be plenty to see (and a free Balliol bag yay).

In terms of the numbers of Law students, there seem to be between 6-8 each year, which will include the occasional joint honours student (Law with French Law). As far as I (and all the lawyers know), there is no overt threshold applicants have to pass - decisions are made based on a combination of factors within your application, so I'd be surprised if there were any one immutable threshold.

The law students at Balliol have a great time. They have great tutors (I think Grant Lamond in particular is a big deal), 6-8 is a really good number for cohesiveness (without being too claustrophobic), and the Balliol Younger Society seems to put on really good events for them. I'm not a lawyer though, so I'm speaking slightly on their behalf.

You can't walk on the front quad lawn, but you can walk on all the lawns (which are pretty sizeable) in the main quad. In the summer, people have picnics and drinks and resist the porters to play frisbee on them - it's really really nice!