Oxford Applicants 2016 Entry & Interview chat

We haven't got confirmation letters from the college, don't worry. Just the ones who put in an open application got allotted colleges.

Btw, guys, is there any way to know approx how many people applied to a certain college for a certain course in 2014/15? St Hilda's accepts only 6 students for engineering science every year and I kinda need to know how many people I'm up against xD

Past papers past papers past papers past papers! And all the mark schemes. They are super helpful.

Have you already tried any?

What should you do on the MLAT (in the translation section) if you don't recognize a word, or if you don't know how to translate it into the target language? Just leave it as is and show that you understand the grammar of the rest of the sentence?

Still waiting for christ church to send their acknowledgement. Stressing this out :||||

HI

I think I previously wrote this but I'm freaking out even more now since my HAT is soon and I just want to prepare my self.

So i was wondering if you could give me some advice? i applied to Oxford (pembroke college) to do history but I'm worried about my chances there. i got mostly Bs and Cs in my gcse's ( I know it's terrible ) but my ucas advisor told me that because I'm a bright student (apparently) and because my high school is one of the worst schools in manchester (only 40% got 5 A*-C's) I should give it a shot. Also my KS5 education got disturbed when my college failed their Ofsted 3 times (great stuff), my history class got canceled in December and I had to drop it. It was basically not so great. so i moved to another college and it was hectic and really depressing tbh because i know I'm capable of doing great but it just seems like perhaps it's not really meant to be but for some stupid reason I applied. I wanted to give myself a chance, it's not normal feels kinda surreal to even apply but I know as British African applicant from an estate who did not so great to say the least in her gcses I'll get rejected. But just thought you know why not really? I am estimated A*A A and i just got accepted to KCL ,UOM&Warwick which i am super pleased about but i just wanted to know my chances at oxford doing history, is it realistic ? If I do well in my HAT will they consider me? Will they even read my personal statement? I feel like withdrawing my application and applying somewhere else.

It's okay you can be honest- I just want to know.Thank you!

Finally a fellow Christ Church applicant I'm in the same situation as you. What did you apply for?

HI

I think I previously wrote this but I'm freaking out even more now since my HAT is soon and I just want to prepare my self.

So i was wondering if you could give me some advice? i applied to Oxford (pembroke college) to do history but I'm worried about my chances there. i got mostly Bs and Cs in my gcse's ( I know it's terrible ) but my ucas advisor told me that because I'm a bright student (apparently) and because my high school is one of the worst schools in manchester (only 40% got 5 A*-C's) I should give it a shot. Also my KS5 education got disturbed when my college failed their Ofsted 3 times (great stuff), my history class got canceled in December and I had to drop it. It was basically not so great. so i moved to another college and it was hectic and really depressing tbh because i know I'm capable of doing great but it just seems like perhaps it's not really meant to be but for some stupid reason I applied. I wanted to give myself a chance, it's not normal feels kinda surreal to even apply but I know as British African applicant from an estate who did not so great to say the least in her gcses I'll get rejected. But just thought you know why not really? I am estimated A*A A and i just got accepted to KCL ,UOM&Warwick which i am super pleased about but i just wanted to know my chances at oxford doing history, is it realistic ? If I do well in my HAT will they consider me? Will they even read my personal statement? I feel like withdrawing my application and applying somewhere else.

It's okay you can be honest- I just want to know.Thank you!

I know as British African applicant from an estate who did not so great to say the least in her gcses I'll get rejected. But just thought you know why not really? I am estimated A*A A and i just got accepted to KCL ,UOM&Warwick which i am super pleased about but i just wanted to know my chances at oxford doing history, is it realistic ? If I do well in my HAT will they consider me? Will they even read my personal statement? I feel like withdrawing my application and applying somewhere else.

It's okay you can be honest- I just want to know.Thank you!

Economics and Management what about you???

Yes they say it's not a test of vocabulary but primarily of grammar and thus they care much more about if you know the grammatical structure of the sentence than a word in that language. What language(s) are you applying for?

I think you're being far more pessimistic than is prudent. Granted British African students are not always well represented at Oxford but that in itself does NOT mean you have no chance. Neither does coming from an estate.

You would have done better to apply post-A2 but now that you've applied and are sitting your HAT test soon, I would say don't withdraw. Presumably your extenuating circumstances have all been explained in your school's reference and contextualised properly and you get a strong HAT score, you could still stand a chance of getting to the interview stage! Your predictions are good and your personal statement will most likely be read too. Things are treated holistically - there are no blanket rules saying only those with the 'perfect' grades get offers. It's far more nuanced than that.

Just focus on doing as well as you can do in the HAT - that's all you can realistically do right now. Don't fret and good luck

French and beginners Russian

I'm just an applicant, but I have read everywhere that Oxford takes the specific exams (HALT) into much more consideration than other aspects of your application. Having said that, I think that having bad GCSEs won't be so negative if you have good predicted grades, that will only mean that you have worked hard and improved!

Moreover, if you get invited to an interview, you'll know you have as many chances as any other student.

I personally wouldn't recommend that you withdraw your application, if you really want to go to Oxford, it's worth the shot. I wouldn't want to spend the rest of my life thinking “What if I had applied....?”.
If finally you unfortunately do not get in, it wouldn't be the end of the world either, you alredy have a few offers in good universities! And also, you'll know it before the 15 of January, which is the deadline for other unis.

Good luck and don't lose hope!!

HI

I think I previously wrote this but I'm freaking out even more now since my HAT is soon and I just want to prepare my self.

So i was wondering if you could give me some advice? i applied to Oxford (pembroke college) to do history but I'm worried about my chances there. i got mostly Bs and Cs in my gcse's ( I know it's terrible ) but my ucas advisor told me that because I'm a bright student (apparently) and because my high school is one of the worst schools in manchester (only 40% got 5 A*-C's) I should give it a shot. Also my KS5 education got disturbed when my college failed their Ofsted 3 times (great stuff), my history class got canceled in December and I had to drop it. It was basically not so great. so i moved to another college and it was hectic and really depressing tbh because i know I'm capable of doing great but it just seems like perhaps it's not really meant to be but for some stupid reason I applied. I wanted to give myself a chance, it's not normal feels kinda surreal to even apply but I know as British African applicant from an estate who did not so great to say the least in her gcses I'll get rejected. But just thought you know why not really? I am estimated A*A A and i just got accepted to KCL ,UOM&Warwick which i am super pleased about but i just wanted to know my chances at oxford doing history, is it realistic ? If I do well in my HAT will they consider me? Will they even read my personal statement? I feel like withdrawing my application and applying somewhere else.

It's okay you can be honest- I just want to know.Thank you!

Thank you , I'll give the HAT my best shot and wish for the best. When I mentioned being British African I didn't mean it's a disadvantage and I'll definitely get rejected because of it. I was just highlighting that statistically the amount of Black African students that go there is about 7-10%, so it seems like greater competition & that is what worries me.

Don't let the competition phase you. Your results and HAT score and (hopefully!) interview performance will speak for themselves and if you are deemed to be deserving of a place, they will do their best to find you one Fingers crossed for you and keep us all posted

If you get a good HAT score they will interview you. You have to go one step at a time.

They will know that you went to a difficult school for GCSE and they will make allowances. Keep your focus on the bits that you can influence. You already have good offers in the bag.