It's not fair

You really do make me laugh.

Here's a story - true I believe - I heard at Magdalen:

Some rich father who had a daughter applying for a place donated a large sum of money to the college, for the construction of a squash court centre.

Magdalen built the best courts in the university - and the man's daughter didn't get a place!

J.

I would imagine that a large proportion of applicants have equally impressive credentials/past experience. It mostly rests on the interview so it really can be down to the little things. Many excellent applicants who apply for competitive courses or to competitive colleges are turned away just because there simply is not enough space for them all... At least you know you are definitely up to standard

This is in response to the post by tomhitchings...

There have been so many claims made about other universities having overtaken Oxbridge, some even go as far as to claim that other universitities are clearly superior. Thing is, it's not at all true.

I know people here tend to overstate it, however you're mistaken if you think Oxbridge rely solely on prestige. This really is not true. It's almost trendy for people to suggest this now, they usually quote figures from the RAE and the QAA, without much understanding of what they entail, and more importantly what they overlook.

What I am saying is that the reputation of the two universities is actually rather well justified. People want to go there because many of the world leading experts are there. Take a look at look at the doctoral courses there, they are the only two institutions that are able to attract, almost invariably, prize winning first class students, I think LSE is perhaps the only exception. Have a look at the Rhodes Scholars that are headed for Oxford and tell me where else you will find students of that calibre? There are only a few departments in the UK where you will come across such first rate students, very few. Although, I do accept your point that particularly at undergrad. level, very many straight A, highly capable students are found outside of Oxbridge.

I think you are mistaken. It has been said a thousand times already, I'm sorry that I have to say this again, but: GETTING GOOD GRADES DOESN'T AUTOMATICALLY GUARANTEE YOU A PLACE. Everybody who applied to Oxbridge has good grades, so they don't miss out on the "creme de la creme" only because they reject some students that have good grades. This is the differencce between the selection process of other universities and the selection process of Oxbridge; and this is the reason Oxford and Cambridge are so much better than other universities: they don't judge an applicant by what it says in his documents only (like we are doing it here - after all, we don't know these people who got 8 As at A Level and some Gold Awards). They have an interview to take a REAL LOOK at the candidate, and see whether he (and these are the three golden Cambridge criteria):
1.) Really loves his subject
2.) Has an INTERESTING mind, e.g. creative, flexible, open thinking
3.) Is teachable, i.e. nice personality, not arrogant, etc.
All these three things you can't really tell from your personal statement or from your teacher references, but these things really decide whether somebody would do well at Oxbridge or not.

I applied to Cambridge , I am gutted that I didn't get in (i got pooled but haven't heard anything yet so i'm assuming a no)and don't think it's fair. I am female, state school, 12 A* 1 A at GCSE, 4A 1 B at AS, predicted 4A at A-level. I have a part time job, my personal statement was good, I do lots in my spare time and have a busy social life. What does one need to do?!

Ah HAHA LOOOOSSEEEERRRRRRRRRR. I have 14A*, 6A's at AS levels and am predicted 6A's at A-level in further maths, maths, physics, chemistry, latin and history. I have offers to the following six universities to study astrophysics:
Cambridge
UCL
Imperial
Warwick
Bath
Bristol

No wonder you didn't get into Cambridge! I wouldn't want to mingle with mediocre people like you. Better luck next time, meanwhile I'll be thinking of you next year when I am at Emmanuel college when I'm at Cambridge with my perfect life! Wish you were here....... maybe not!

Ah HAHA LOOOOSSEEEERRRRRRRRRR. I have 14A*, 6A's at AS levels and am predicted 6A's at A-level in further maths, maths, physics, chemistry, latin and history. I have offers to the following six universities to study astrophysics:
Cambridge
UCL
Imperial
Warwick
Bath
Bristol

No wonder you didn't get into Cambridge! I wouldn't want to mingle with mediocre people like you. Better luck next time, meanwhile I'll be thinking of you next year when I am at Emmanuel college when I'm at Cambridge with my perfect life! Wish you were here....... maybe not!

You sound like a complete dickhead. I can't believe you'll be going to the same college as me.

Dickhead schmick head. Call me whatever, I'm still cleverer than you. Look forward to seeing you there and undermining you

Ah HAHA LOOOOSSEEEERRRRRRRRRR. I have 14A*, 6A's at AS levels and am predicted 6A's at A-level in further maths, maths, physics, chemistry, latin and history. I have offers to the following six universities to study astrophysics:
Cambridge
UCL
Imperial
Warwick
Bath
Bristol

No wonder you didn't get into Cambridge! I wouldn't want to mingle with mediocre people like you. Better luck next time, meanwhile I'll be thinking of you next year when I am at Emmanuel college when I'm at Cambridge with my perfect life! Wish you were here....... maybe not!

Ha! Bet you haven't got in! And if you have I'm sure your life will be made a misery with an attitude like that. Excellent. Sounds like you could do with a reality check.

Ok this is g knee us talking under a new user name and I promise to be as nice as possible. But wait..... the devil in me tells me that I am more intelligent than you. As a result of this I have secured a place in Cambridge to study astrophysics. So DON'T try and tell me that I won't get in!

Ok this is g knee us talking under a new user name and I promise to be as nice as possible. But wait..... the devil in me tells me that I am more intelligent than you. As a result of this I have secured a place in Cambridge to study astrophysics. So DON'T try and tell me that I won't get in!

I'm already in Cambridge studying natural sciences so you don't impress me, dear!

I don't impress you? I don't need to impress average folk like you as I know of plenty of people studying your course who are intellectually inferior to me. And trust me you have a long way to go before you even begin to impress me, DEAR!

Ok this is g knee us talking under a new user name and I promise to be as nice as possible. But wait..... the devil in me tells me that I am more intelligent than you. As a result of this I have secured a place in Cambridge to study astrophysics. So DON'T try and tell me that I won't get in!

Look, whatever your name is, you can't get into Cambridge for astrophysics. It's not a first year option. I don't even know if it's a 3rd year option (MadNatSci??). So I can say quite categorically that you are talking bollocks, like we didn't already know that.