Oxford Applicants 2016 Entry & Interview chat

Thanks for this!
I checked my postcode using Acorn and apparently I'm in Category 5 (the worst one, unsurprisingly) :
"some of the most densely populated urban areas in the country and are characterised by a young, multi-ethnic population living in purpose-built blocks of flats, some of which are high rise" "high level of single parents and fewer traditional couples. Around one in five of these people might have a child who does not live with them"" low skilled occupations and incomes are low. A number of people will have two or more jobs in order to increase their income.""These neighbourhoods may also have a high number of people claiming Job Seeker's Allowance. Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance, and Housing Benefit will also provide support for some.""A relatively high proportion has noisy neighbours or considers their neighbourhood to suffer from vandalism and crime."

Hopefully this means I'm a tiny bit more likely to get an interview, as the Oxford website says "When a candidate is flagged, it is strongly recommended that they are invited to interview"? Is this reasonable to assume?
Does anybody know of a system where I could check my secondary school stats? I know it was an awful school (through experience and anecdote) but it would be really reassuring to know that Oxford is aware of this with data and evidence!

Also, I can check up to 25 postcodes on Acorn, as I've signed up, so if anybody wants me to check their postcode for them, send me a dm or something

Funny you mention this! I'm wondering how they will measure me against this, since my A-levels and GCSE's were 10 years ago. Not much has changed, my region on the Acorn scale is a 4, and mostly poor ageing pensioners. No idea how they look on that, though!

Anyone heard back from Magdalen and or law in general? 😊

I was actually quite shocked that I was a 5, as, although all of the things listed were true of my council estate, I suppose I've gotten used to it over 17 years and I don't see it as too much of an issue. Either way, I'm grateful that they do! Social mobility and all that ahah

Are you applying this year? What for and at which college? Sorry, I'm nosey!
I'm applying for Law at Brasenose, even though my chances are extremely marginal!

Ah I just got a rejection email, so guess that answers that question! I was applying for Oriental studies at Hertford, but I guess I didn't make the cut Good luck!

Ah I just got a rejection email, so guess that answers that question! I was applying for Oriental studies at Hertford, but I guess I didn't make the cut Good luck!

hey y'aaall, History at Wadham anyone?

Hi! I applied to law as well and my college (Somerville) actually emailed the dates we should expect to hear back depending on our subject (November 30 for law), which is really nice of them; now I can postpone all the anxiety until the day before. Anyway, I think next week we may have a chance to see some law interviews rolling in, so try not to stress (too much). Good luck with your application!

Thanks for this!
I checked my postcode using Acorn and apparently I'm in Category 5 (the worst one, unsurprisingly) :
"some of the most densely populated urban areas in the country and are characterised by a young, multi-ethnic population living in purpose-built blocks of flats, some of which are high rise" "high level of single parents and fewer traditional couples. Around one in five of these people might have a child who does not live with them"" low skilled occupations and incomes are low. A number of people will have two or more jobs in order to increase their income.""These neighbourhoods may also have a high number of people claiming Job Seeker's Allowance. Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance, and Housing Benefit will also provide support for some.""A relatively high proportion has noisy neighbours or considers their neighbourhood to suffer from vandalism and crime."

Hopefully this means I'm a tiny bit more likely to get an interview, as the Oxford website says "When a candidate is flagged, it is strongly recommended that they are invited to interview"? Is this reasonable to assume?
Does anybody know of a system where I could check my secondary school stats? I know it was an awful school (through experience and anecdote) but it would be really reassuring to know that Oxford is aware of this with data and evidence!

Also, I can check up to 25 postcodes on Acorn, as I've signed up, so if anybody wants me to check their postcode for them, send me a dm or something

Did they give you dates for every subject? If so, can you post them here? Because I'm assuming that other colleges will have similar dates.

I'm applying for Oriental Studies at St John's too! Have you heard anything about interviews yet?

Im also an orietal studies applicant although I'm applying at Hertford for Chinese after I got my written work receipt email, it was reaffirmed that interviews will go out no later than one week before te interview dates - for us, those dates are 9-11th December, so interviews will be sent out no later than 2nd December and probably start being handed out in the next week I haven't seen any Oriental applicants getting interviews yet so it'll be soon!

I applied for Chinese at Pembroke. Did you get any email regarding the interview?

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Do you know when Univ normally give out history and politics interviews?

As far as I'm aware, Oxford makes great efforts to ensure that GCSE grades in particular are contextualised, that is to say that the grades of an applicant are compared with the average grade profile of a student from that school.For example, if you went to a less well performing school, where the average GCSE profile comprised of C/D, and you managed to achieve to achieve A/B, then this would signal to Oxford that the particular candidate has significant potential and would be worth considering.Whereas an applicant from a high performing independent school where it was the norm to achieve 14 A*, would be a less appealing candidate if they achieved A/B (still incredibly respectable grades).This is to prevent preference being given to those who come from higher income families, and I think that the Brasenose admin would agree that Oxford places significant emphasis on the potential of a candidate, rather than simply past performance.