Oxbridge applicants/students - help me with me essay?

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Reply 20

Serine Soul

Original post by eleanorduffy98

wow congratulations!! Can I ask what you got accepted for?

Thanks for replying!

Thank you

Natural Sciences :yep:

(biological to be more specific)

No problem, feel free to ask more!

Reply 21

Doones

Original post by eleanorduffy98

Talks recently as in my area of Scotland...

I can kinda sense that you're defensive over Oxbridge, so please don't think I'm putting it down! I'm just trying to get all the facts for an argumentative essay

I'm definitely not being defensive, I just need the context of your question to give a reasonable answer...

Ok, so Scottish applicants, for Cambridge anyway, do indeed have a lower success rate than any other UK region. I dunno about Oxford.

Have a look at the regional stats in here
http://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/undergrad_admissions_statistics_2014_cycle.pdf

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(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 22

Doones

Scottish outreach by Cambridge for reference...
http://www.scotsman.com/news/education/cambridge-to-scour-scotland-for-young-scholars-1-3233822

Reply 23

eleanorduffy98

Original post by CaitlinDy

Applied for Cambridge (pays natsci) last year and was rejected post-interview, subsequent to pooling. I'm from a state school in Scotland and upon completing high school had achieved well above the asking rates for oxbridge (Asking rates A1,A1,A2 at Advanced Higher - my grades A1,A1,A1,B3 at Advanced Higher).
No hard feelings however, I'm extremely happy at St Andrews and as a result of my grades was entered directly into 2nd year physics and maths (degree will hopefully be an MPhys joint hons in theoretical physics and applied mathematics by the end of it); I now plan on achieving the grades to do postgraduate studies at either Oxford or Cambridge.

Wow those are amazing grades! Congratulations!

Do you believe that you being Scottish played a part in not getting accepted?

Thanks for replying :smile:

Reply 24

CaitlinDy

Original post by eleanorduffy98

Wow those are amazing grades! Congratulations!

Do you believe that you being Scottish played a part in not getting accepted?

Thanks for replying :smile:

It probably did - I was asked questions on the test and my two interviews related to content not yet covered at Advanced Higher so I couldn't perform well. All of my school's (very few) Oxbridge applicants have been rejected and they have all be more than capable of getting in.

That being said, there are many privately schooled Scottish applicants who receive a place. I don't think it's the university itself, I think it's the fact that as Scottish state school pupils we're geared towards Scottish universities and nobody really expects any of us to be serious about Oxbridge.

Reply 25

Colmans

Original post by eleanorduffy98

Wow those are amazing grades! Congratulations!

Do you believe that you being Scottish played a part in not getting accepted?

Thanks for replying :smile:

You will find everybody thinks there is a prejudicial reason why they were not accepted. So Scots/International think this is the reason Those at private schools think there is bias against them, likewise those at state schools. Those who are BME think this is the problem as do those from upper clases or deprived backgrounds. I could go on.
Asking people why they were rejected is pretty pointless as they rarely know what the competition is.
If you are really serious in debating the argument rather than pandering to pre-existing beliefs look at the following first.
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/jan/10/how-cambridge-admissions-really-work
http://www.cao.cam.ac.uk/admissions-research/achievable-target
http://www.cao.cam.ac.uk/admissions-research/alevels-degree-potential
http://www.cao.cam.ac.uk/admissions-research/widen-participation
http://www.cao.cam.ac.uk/behind-the-headlines/applications-local-authority
http://www.cao.cam.ac.uk/behind-the-headlines/representation-ethnic-minorities-update
https://fullfact.org/factchecks/oxford_university_admissions_race_ethnic_minorities-28794
https://medium.com/@OxUniNews/inside-the-oxford-interview-b164d50b55f4#.jl1gy2i9k
https://www.ox.ac.uk/media/global/wwwoxacuk/localsites/gazette/documents/statisticalinformation/admissionsstatistics/Admissions_Statistics_2013.pdf

Reply 26

Colmans

Original post by eleanorduffy98

Hi there

So basically, I'm doing an essay on Oxbridge candidates and applicants, and to see if there's a trend in the type of people that are accepted.

If you applied to Oxford or Cambridge, can you just tell me where you're from and whether you got accepted or not?

It'd be a massive help, thanks!

The trend is that they are the brightest and best among a group of candidates who are themselves among the brightest and the best. The typical offer holder has achieved well above their offer especially for A levels which is why the standard offer looks misleading. Outstanding candidates from every walk of life regularly get rejected and the reason is not always obvious to the outsider who was not at their interview and didn't see the other candidates.