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Oxford Applicants 2016 Entry & Interview chat

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Original post by kingkendrick
Re-asking 😅


Well, the major difference is that at Oxford you study Engineering Sciences, so you study all major branches of engineering for the first two years before starting to specialise in Year 3. I have also heard that the Oxford course is quite theoretical in comparison to other courses. The best way to find out more about the course is by going to the department website.

I'd caution against taking a year out for the sake of getting into Oxford though. Yes, those A Level results are brilliant but it's not the only factor in determining whether you get an offer - the PAT and interview are very important too. The risk is that you don't get in and then realise that you've wasted a year of your life when you could have been getting on with your degree at Bristol, which is also a great university. Of course if you've got an idea how you could spend this year constructively so that you wouldn't feel like it's a waste even if you didn't get in then fine, but the fact that you were intending to start at Bristol suggests that you don't have those plans in place.
Original post by Plagioclase
Well, the major difference is that at Oxford you study Engineering Sciences, so you study all major branches of engineering for the first two years before starting to specialise in Year 3. I have also heard that the Oxford course is quite theoretical in comparison to other courses. The best way to find out more about the course is by going to the department website.

I'd caution against taking a year out for the sake of getting into Oxford though. Yes, those A Level results are brilliant but it's not the only factor in determining whether you get an offer - the PAT and interview are very important too. The risk is that you don't get in and then realise that you've wasted a year of your life when you could have been getting on with your degree at Bristol, which is also a great university. Of course if you've got an idea how you could spend this year constructively so that you wouldn't feel like it's a waste even if you didn't get in then fine, but the fact that you were intending to start at Bristol suggests that you don't have those plans in place.


Thanks a lot. Theoretical in comparison to other universities such as? Yes I don't really have plans to spend it constructively, but why I'm not really against it is because I'm still 17, so more or less have a year to spare before uni. Also I remember you saying you opted for a more modern college, which one was it? Do you know if there are any colleges which are more famous for certain subjects such as engineering/economics (I know I'm applying for engineering, but I love economists!)
Original post by kingkendrick
Thanks a lot. Theoretical in comparison to other universities such as? Yes I don't really have plans to spend it constructively, but why I'm not really against it is because I'm still 17, so more or less have a year to spare before uni. Also I remember you saying you opted for a more modern college, which one was it? Do you know if there are any colleges which are more famous for certain subjects such as engineering/economics (I know I'm applying for engineering, but I love economists!)


I don't do Engineering so I honestly don't know any details but from what I've heard from people doing Engineering at Oxbridge, they say their course is more theoretical (i.e. more maths/physics intensive) than typical engineering courses. I don't know how big of a difference it is though. You might only be 17 but you still don't want to end up having nothing to do for a year, because that's just going to drive you mad!

I'm going to St. Anne's which is a fairly modern and relaxed college. Colleges don't 'specialise' in subjects - some might happen to have tutors based at the college that might be famous in a certain field but obviously this can change and it isn't going to have a massive influence on your experience anyway since all teaching is done by the department rather than the college (apart from tutorials) and anyway, later years you can get tutorials from specialists in your areas anyway.
Original post by SLMS
Hey hey guys, as a prospective med applicant I'm a little stuck on my personal statement. I sent it to 2 different people to proofread - a girl in med school in the UK and a guy from harvard but gahhh the girl says my statement is good but the guy says i should basically change everything.

So my question is: Should it be more of a factual "i got this and i achieved this and I read this and hence I would make a good doctor" or like an "i want to do medicine because..." sort of thing? Do you think Oxford would be more impressed with something more achievements based or something more philosophical?


1st year Oxford Med student here! In answer to your question, i'd honestly say somewhere between the two. You really need to emphasise your passion for a subject and your unchained desire to spend your career in that academic field. Saying this is insufficient however, you also need to demonstrate what you have to done to prove your passion is as fiery as you claim it to be. It's no good saying "Medicine is life, its all I ever want to do" and then not saying what you have done to actually nurture your passion. Probably sounds patronising and probably heard it a million times but its an important thing to nail in your PS.
In terms of tailoring your personal statement for oxford, I'd honestly not stress about it. In my honest opinion I really don't think that the PS forms an integral part of your success in the application process. Yes it will get read and yes it will be taken into 'some' consideration (tutors may go to it if you are a borderline candidate, post interview, I was told) but in my oxford application experience, hand on heart, it was merely used as a conversation starter in 1 question of many, in only 1 of my 4 interviews.

Good luck
Hi there. please can anyone answer a niggling question for me?.....My school doesn't do AS/A Levels...we do Pre-U. I've taken one of these early - in maths - and got a D2 (equivalent to A* so they say at A-Level). I've just retaken English iGCSE - and got an A. Will oxford look at my original English iGCSE mark - which was B - and rule me out? And is the A retake mark good enough for history at Oxford....For my other iGCSE's I have: 6 A*'s and 1 B....(mandarin)
Maybe they feel it would be difficult to make an aptitude test for Chemistry (that's certainly true in the case of Earth Sciences where a fair aptitude test would be practically impossible because of how broad the course is).
Original post by Plagioclase
With Earth Sciences, you've only got one compulsory subject - Maths. All students applying are going to have a scientific background but there aren't any compulsory sciences (you have to have Physics or Chemistry) so all of the scientific content would have to limited to GCSE level in order to make it accessible for everyone taking it. It's not like Physics or Chemistry where you've got a specific chunk of facts that all applicants are going to know, since only a minority of applicants have A Level Geology and they don't think particularly highly of that anyway. The entire interview experience felt very personalised, not a lot felt like "stock" questions and quite a bit of it also involved discussion around physical specimens which you can't recreate in an exam paper. I'm honestly not sure what you could put in an aptitude test for Earth Sciences.


I spent this morning reading around 70 student's reflections on their interviews, so I feel particularly qualified to comment on this... There's no doubt that the interviews in some courses (most obviously humanities) have much more 'personalisation' than those for other courses. But those same courses often have pre-interview tests - think History and English. Those tests are successful [citation needed], despite there not being a core of material all applicants know. So I don't see why the same couldn't work out for Earth Sciences. (Not that there would be much point putting much effort to making such a test, given the current applications/place ratio.)
Original post by Markman
Hi there. please can anyone answer a niggling question for me?.....My school doesn't do AS/A Levels...we do Pre-U. I've taken one of these early - in maths - and got a D2 (equivalent to A* so they say at A-Level). I've just retaken English iGCSE - and got an A. Will oxford look at my original English iGCSE mark - which was B - and rule me out? And is the A retake mark good enough for history at Oxford....For my other iGCSE's I have: 6 A*'s and 1 B....(mandarin)


Your IGCSE scores are fine and the difference between an A and a B in one subject at that level won't be the deciding factor in whether you get an offer or not.
Does anyone know whether to apply for a course at Oxford, your predicted grades need to be in line with the typical offer for your application to be considered. I know that this is the case with Brasenose but I don't know about the others.

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Original post by Azzer11
Does anyone know whether to apply for a course at Oxford, your predicted grades need to be in line with the typical offer for your application to be considered. I know that this is the case with Brasenose but I don't know about the others.

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If you apply with predicted grades that don't meet the standard offer, then they will still consider your application - but it wouldn't be particularly helpful. If you were then to receive an offer, it would be the standard one.

What predicted grades and course are you thinking of?
Original post by Azzer11
Does anyone know whether to apply for a course at Oxford, your predicted grades need to be in line with the typical offer for your application to be considered. I know that this is the case with Brasenose but I don't know about the others.

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Your predictions are one way of demonstrating to Oxford that you are able to meet the typical course offer. If the predictions are lower then what other part of your application will convince them you are up to the requirements.....? And if you have that, why doesn't your reference support it?

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Hey! Quick question- why is the percentage of ethnic minorities so low at Oxford? For anybody that's been, is it noticeable?
I've decided that I am going to apply to Oxford after a lot of deliberation. I currently live in the city so I know what the city is like, just not what the actual university is like.
I ask because I'm a black student- I just don't want to stick out like a sore thumb :lol:
Current stats:
GCSEs- 11A*s 1B
AS- AAAA
A2 predicted grades- A*A*A*A* (bio, chem, physics, maths)
Course: Medicine
College: ??? I'm considering Somerville, Keble and Brasenose at the moment but I'm not 100% sure xD
Other: UKCAT - 3200, BMAT- doing on the 4th of November D: D:
Original post by Lucilou101
If you apply with predicted grades that don't meet the standard offer, then they will still consider your application - but it wouldn't be particularly helpful. If you were then to receive an offer, it would be the standard one.

What predicted grades and course are you thinking of?


I'm looking to apply for Chemistry, which is an A*A*A offer, and I got predicted AAA which I thought was incredibly conservative. Our school do have a tendency to predict the lowest, but still realistic possible grades. I am going to appeal my Maths as I feel it should be an A*. Is it still worth applying?

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Original post by Azzer11
I'm looking to apply for Chemistry, which is an A*A*A offer, and I got predicted AAA which I thought was incredibly conservative. Our school do have a tendency to predict the lowest, but still realistic possible grades. I am going to appeal my Maths as I feel it should be an A*. Is it still worth applying?

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One of the reasons why A2 predictions aren't always considered massively, is because teachers don't always get it correct. What was your AS UMS like? If this suggests that you would be capable of meeting the requirements then it might be worth including. It's definitely worth talking to your teachers and seeing if they can change your predictions. Applying with AAA when they require A*A*A with the A*s in science/maths isn't a particularly smart move.

Saying that, pretty much everyone that applies for Chemistry is interviewed. So if you could convince them in interview of your ability and interest in the course - then they would give you the A*A*A offer and see if you made it.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Azzer11
I'm looking to apply for Chemistry, which is an A*A*A offer, and I got predicted AAA which I thought was incredibly conservative. Our school do have a tendency to predict the lowest, but still realistic possible grades. I am going to appeal my Maths as I feel it should be an A*. Is it still worth applying?

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Well as Oxford don't have a Chemistry Test it does make predictions more important I guess... Have you considered Cambridge? What are your ASs like? UMS-wise...

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Original post by Lucilou101
One of the reasons why A2 predictions aren't always considered massively, is because teachers don't always get it correct. What was your AS UMS like? If this suggests that you would be capable of meeting the requirements then it might be worth including. It's definitely worth talking to your teachers and seeing if they can change your predictions. Applying with AAA when they require A*A*A with the A*s in science/maths isn't a particularly smart move.

Saying that, pretty much everyone that applies for Chemistry is interviewed. So if you could convince them in interview of your ability and interest in the course - then they would give you the A*A*A offer and see if you made it.


Original post by jneill
Well as Oxford don't have a Chemistry Test it does make predictions more important I guess... Have you considered Cambridge? What are your ASs like? UMS-wise...

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My UMS is not impressive enough to warrant it getting a special mention. I'm in a really sticky situation now, because if I do apply for Oxford, my application has to be completed by next Wednesday. I asked BrasenoseAdm, and they said that an A*A*A prediction is a must, so I'm a bit confused now.

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Original post by Azzer11
My UMS is not impressive enough to warrant it getting a special mention. I'm in a really sticky situation now, because if I do apply for Oxford, my application has to be completed by next Wednesday. I asked BrasenoseAdm, and they said that an A*A*A prediction is a must, so I'm a bit confused now.

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Talk to your teachers and see if they'll change them. If not, then think carefully about it - do you think your application would be good enough by the 15th October?

It might be worth emailing the Director of Studies at the Chemistry faculty and explaining your situation - [email protected]

If they say it's a definite no, then obviously don't waste an application. But it might be that they'll still consider you - and then it's only one of five choices so it's worth a shot if other areas of your application are good. What were your GCSEs like?
Original post by Lucilou101
Talk to your teachers and see if they'll change them. If not, then think carefully about it - do you think your application would be good enough by the 15th October?

It might be worth emailing the Director of Studies at the Chemistry faculty and explaining your situation - [email protected]

If they say it's a definite no, then obviously don't waste an application. But it might be that they'll still consider you - and then it's only one of five choices so it's worth a shot if other areas of your application are good. What were your GCSEs like?


By all means approach the Chemistry admissions coordinator - the email to use is
[email protected]

We would just like to clarify that there is no specific Brasenose position on standard offers. Across all colleges and programmes, candidates invited to interview are usually expected to be predicted the standard offer unless there are personal or other exceptional circumstances documented in the UCAS application (usually the reference section). Where there are grounds for believing a school has made an error in predicted grades or has under-predicted, an enquiry may be made to the referee.

One reason for this is because Oxford does not make differential offers and students whose places are confirmed invariably achieve the conditional grades, unless there are exceptional circumstances affecting performance.
Original post by BrasenoseAdm


Is there a way to find out what a standard offer say, A*AA, would be in Swedish qualifications? It is quite hard to figure out whether it is worth applying to Oxford. Some universities have stated the entry requirement to be a grade point average of 19.5 for example.
Original post by Lucilou101
Talk to your teachers and see if they'll change them. If not, then think carefully about it - do you think your application would be good enough by the 15th October?

It might be worth emailing the Director of Studies at the Chemistry faculty and explaining your situation - [email protected]

If they say it's a definite no, then obviously don't waste an application. But it might be that they'll still consider you - and then it's only one of five choices so it's worth a shot if other areas of your application are good. What were your GCSEs like?


I will email the DoS and see what he says. My GCSEs were 9A* 2A, at a state comprehensive school although I now go to an independent school on a scholarship. I will speak to my teachers tomorrow and if I can get at least one A* prediction, I will have a go. Also, do you think college choice is important? I know Oxford say it doesn't make a difference, but maybe I should go for a less popular one?

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(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Azzer11
I will email the DoS and see what he says. My GCSEs were 9A* 2A, at a state comprehensive school although I know go to an independent school on a scholarship. I will speak to my teachers tomorrow and if I can get at least one A* prediction, I will have a go. Also, do you think college choice is important? I know Oxford say it doesn't make a difference, but maybe I should go for a less popular one?

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Your choice of college doesn't affect your chances of getting in at all. So just pick one you like if you do apply :smile:

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