Chemistry at Oxford

Why do some people get rejected for a Chemistry interview at Oxford? I saw on the Oxford website that 93 percent of applicants are interviewed.

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Probably not meeting the requirements (not having A-level Chemistry and A-level Maths or equivalent) and/or being very weak applicants on the basis of e.g. GCSE profile, low predicted grades, maybe in combination with only having two STEM subjects at A-level, since they indicate three is preferred.

That's a very high interview proportion for Oxford though so functionally it means they will interview anyone who applies to the course that they would/could realistically make an offer for.

Reply 2

Anonymous21324

Original post by artful_lounger

Thank you so much.
If an applicant applies with 3 A stars in maths physics and chemistry and an a star in EPQ with the GCSE
grades:
Five 8s - with grade 8 in maths, physics and chemistry
Two 7s
Three 6s
A^ in further maths GCSE
Do you think they have a chance for an interview offer for chemistry at Oxford?
Is this is a very weak GCSE profile?

Reply 3

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Anonymous21324

I think you would almost certainly be interviewed in that case tbh...

Spoiler

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 4

Anonymous21324

Original post by artful_lounger

I think you would almost certainly be interviewed in that case tbh...

Spoiler

Thank you very much, you have been most helpful!

Reply 5

17chloe

Original post by Anonymous21324

Why do some people get rejected for a Chemistry interview at Oxford? I saw on the Oxford website that 93 percent of applicants are interviewed.

as a chemistry applicant for 2021 entry, people in my cohort got rejected for chem at oxford even though they had a level predicteds of A*A*A/A* and gcse profiles of roughly 8 9s and a couple 8s etc. we speculated it might be because of their ps - the ps is really important, especially in the case of chemistry as we dont have an admissions test or have to submit written work. successful applicants in oxford generally normally have a gcse profile of about 8 8s or 9s, and so their contextualised gcse profile - along with the applicant's predicted grades for a level are very important in getting shortlisted for an interview.

Reply 6

Anonymous21324

Hi ,
Thanks for the reply.
How much work experience would you recommend for a personal statement if anybody wants a good chance at Oxford Chemistry- ( at least to get into the interview stage)?- Did oxford take into consideration the pandemic? - in terms of it being more difficult to get any work experience. How much weight do GCSEs count towards getting an interview?
Thank you

Reply 7

17chloe

Original post by Anonymous21324

hi!
getting work experience for chemistry is incredibly difficult and not many people are able to get it so i'd say get as much as you can but if you can't, it doesn't put you at a disadvantage at all. because of this, and because of the pandemic, oxford will probably expect more evidence of other super curriculars, for example the cambridge chemistry challenge/c3l6/chemistry olympiad and books (i recommend why chemical reactions happen but its so cliche and pretty much every chemistry oxford applicant will mention it in their statement lol). no one really knows but id say gcses have massive weighting seeing as we don't have an admissions test nor do we have to submit work. everyone will have the same a level predicted grades of around 2/3/4 a stars and all unis know that predicted grades are not reliable so they depend on the gcses as they are 'formal' (I'm assuming ur in y12, idk abt ur cohort tho bc ur gcses got cancelled. i was lucky enough to gain 2 work experience placements for chem and got into a couple of summer schools that i talked about on my ps (summer schools are great evidence of interest in your subject) as well as other things. feel free to ask any more qs you have abt the chem oxford admissions process; i had my interviews a couple weeks ago :smile:

Reply 8

Alexdwschocwhi

Hi, what work experience did you manage to get for chemistry?

Reply 9

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Anonymous21324

They won't expect or require work experience, as chemistry specific work experience is almost certainly not going to be available for A-level students in most cases, unless they have a lot of connections (which they do not want to privilege over other students without such connections), and of course in the middle of a pandemic it's not feasible in most cases anyway. They also don't care about any non-chemistry related work experience (or even just "experience") as they are purely interested in your academic preparation for the course and your motivation for the specific subject area. Whether you played the flute since you were 6 months old or not is irrelevant to them unless you're applying to music, for example!

Generally Oxford put more emphasis on GCSEs than Cambridge and most other universities. As there is no other pre-interview assessment or submitted work to consider, they might be a bit more important than for e.g. physics or materials science which have the PAT. However, as indicated on their website they interview over 90% of applicants for that course so I think provided you didn't abjectly fail your GCSEs overall, and you meet the subject and grade requirements from your A-levels and predictions, you have a pretty good chance of being interviewed.