Help! Oxford or Cambridge??

I have no idea which of the two to apply for (if any),

Applying for: PPE (ox) HSPS (cam)

GCSE's: 2A*'s 6A's 3B's

AS Levels: AAAA

Average UMS for top 3 subjects: 88.1

I thought Cambridge was well out my league but a just saw a thread saying that some apply with an 85% average so I would like to know which one I have the highest chance with.

I also go to a VERY poor school so I don't know how much that helps.

Help Appreciated

Reply 1

Kholmes1

18

What Alevels did you do?

Reply 2

ageshallnot

21

Original post by Combo22

I have no idea which of the two to apply for (if any),

Applying for: PPE (ox) HSPS (cam)

GCSE's: 2A*'s 6A's 3B's

AS Levels: AAAA

Average UMS for top 3 subjects: 88.1

I thought Cambridge was well out my league but a just saw a thread saying that some apply with an 85% average so I would like to know which one I have the highest chance with.

I also go to a VERY poor school so I don't know how much that helps.

Help Appreciated

Yes, you might stand a shot at Cambridge. Try asking the Peterhouse admissions team on http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3572717

Reply 3

Artfanatic

12

Original post by Combo22

I have no idea which of the two to apply for (if any),

Applying for: PPE (ox) HSPS (cam)

GCSE's: 2A*'s 6A's 3B's

AS Levels: AAAA

Average UMS for top 3 subjects: 88.1

I thought Cambridge was well out my league but a just saw a thread saying that some apply with an 85% average so I would like to know which one I have the highest chance with.

I also go to a VERY poor school so I don't know how much that helps.

Help Appreciated

GCSEs play a large weighting in the admissions for Oxford. 43% of applicants were interviewed and many of them will probably have a higher proportion of A* grades to you. However, you say you go to a poor school which brings to mind the flagging system I believe they have in place. This ensures a kind of level playing field for those who have still excelled in a less privileged environment but you will have to check if you fit in for that with a quick search on Oxfords website!

Cambridge may have similar flagging to Oxford yet I am unsure exactly. Your UMS grades are certainly not bad but I think the cut of point is about 86% for most subjects to ensure when you are applying that you have a reasonable chance of interview. I think you should just weigh up some of the things I have said for each and just go for whichever floats your boat really!

Reply 4

Combo22

OP

Original post by Kholmes1

What Alevels did you do?

Maths: 93.333 UMS
Geography: 87.5 UMS
Politics: 83.3 UMS

Economics (dropping): 81 UMS

Reply 5

Combo22

OP

Original post by ageshallnot

Yes, you might stand a shot at Cambridge. Try asking the Peterhouse admissions team on http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3572717

Do you think I stand more of a chance at Cambridge than Oxford?

Reply 6

Combo22

OP

Original post by Artfanatic

GCSEs play a large weighting in the admissions for Oxford. 43% of applicants were interviewed and many of them will probably have a higher proportion of A* grades to you. However, you say you go to a poor school which brings to mind the flagging system I believe they have in place. This ensures a kind of level playing field for those who have still excelled in a less privileged environment but you will have to check if you fit in for that with a quick search on Oxfords website!

Cambridge may have similar flagging to Oxford yet I am unsure exactly. Your UMS grades are certainly not bad but I think the cut of point is about 86% for most subjects to ensure when you are applying that you have a reasonable chance of interview. I think you should just weigh up some of the things I have said for each and just go for whichever floats your boat really!

Do think my low scoring GCSE's will make an offer from Oxford very unlikely?

Reply 7

ageshallnot

21

Original post by Combo22

Do you think I stand more of a chance at Cambridge than Oxford?

Yes, for the reasons already stated.

Reply 8

Artfanatic

12

Original post by Combo22

Do think my low scoring GCSE's will make an offer from Oxford very unlikely?

They aren't really low but there will be a good proportion of applicants with 6+ A* grades yet what makes the difference between them and you possibly is that you have went to a much poorer school. It depends if you school fits into the flagging system as when you get two flags the course is strongly advised to invite you for interview.

You AS grades are more in favour for Cambridge but they are still there a bit on the low side. I am sure the average successful applicants has around 92-94% UMS average in best three but it is strongly advised to take this as the mean value so there will be outliers either side of the value!

Reply 9

Rezy

4

I would say you stand more of a chance with Cambridge. Your average UMS is more competitive than your GCSE grades compared to other applicants, which is what Cambridge look at more. Also, I'm pretty sure Cambridge interview a larger percentage of applicants meaning you'll have another chance to really impress them whereas with Oxford you're far more likely to get rejected before interview.

Reply 10

Buses

9

Honestly not much of a chance at either tbh (unexceptional UMS and low GCSEs for any school). But Cambridge more so.

Reply 11

Combo22

OP

Thanks for all your replies, would the economics course at Cam require a much higher UMS than the HSPS course? Ballpark UMS figures?

Reply 12

troubadour.

19

Original post by Combo22

I have no idea which of the two to apply for (if any),

Applying for: PPE (ox) HSPS (cam)

GCSE's: 2A*'s 6A's 3B's

AS Levels: AAAA

Average UMS for top 3 subjects: 88.1

I thought Cambridge was well out my league but a just saw a thread saying that some apply with an 85% average so I would like to know which one I have the highest chance with.

I also go to a VERY poor school so I don't know how much that helps.

Help Appreciated

There's a guy on this forum called colourtheory who's currently at Oxford studying a humanities subject. He had 2 A*s as well. Oxford uses GCSE in conjunction with performance on entrance exams/written work samples, giving equal weighting to each. As others have said, if your school was pretty poor, then you'll get some consideration for that as well. So, while it's not impossible, it does make it more difficult for you than somebody with straight A*s at GCSE and the same AS results. Depending on how well you do on the entrance exam/written samples, you may have a shot.

For Cambridge, your UMS is a little low, to be honest. You should ask the Peterhouse Admissions Tutor on the Q&A thread they're running.

Reply 13

username1865079

14

Original post by Combo22

Thanks for all your replies, would the economics course at Cam require a much higher UMS than the HSPS course? Ballpark UMS figures?

Cambridge's Economics is one of the most competitive course at Cambridge, and not having Further Maths will make your position weaker.
Cambridge interview more than 80% of applicants, but your average UMS is above the borderline of if you're invited for interview or not in normal circumstance and, if you got to a 'VERY poor' school as you said, that may also work to your advantage as they will look at your school/social background as a contextual data to compare applicants fairly.
So if you're invited to interview, you'll have a chance to convince them you're good enough for their course.

Have you read this article before? I think this gives you a good picture of how they use all the data they get from applicants to compare them fairly.

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/jan/10/how-cambridge-admissions-really-work

Help! Oxford or Cambridge??

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