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Sneaking in via the backdoor (ie not via ucas)???

Hi, say somebody got 6A's at A Level, 2x 1's or S's in STEP papers and a couple of distinctions in AEA's, but didnt apply to Oxford- would there still be a way of getting in? Would Oxford admit someone of that ability without having to wait a whole year??

Reply 1

Elles

17

your thread title made me chortle.. :redface:

anyhow, there have been people rejected from Oxford post interview with "6A's at A Level, 2x 1's or S's in STEP papers and a couple of distinctions in AEA's" type profiles - check the news site achives if you're interested in the juicy details (at least one Mathmo girl i have in mind).
So i doubt that would alone would constitute the sort of "genius" that they'd consider going outside their admissions policies for & the university doesn't enter Clearing.

in short - i doubt it (& a gap year & then unconditional offer would hardly be the end of the world? :smile:

)- but sure someone on here will have a friend's brother's sisters schoolfriend's uncle who knew someone who... :p:

Reply 2

Popa Dom

2

Elles

but sure someone on here will have a friend's brother's sisters schoolfriend's uncle who knew someone who... :p:

Yep, my mums friend from uni got in without applying, as her school wouldnt let her, so she went to oxford during the interview period and asked for an interview, which she got, and they offered her a place! However that was quite a while back, and I'm sure you wouldnt get away with it today, plus like I said she actually went to the interviews. So yeah, I'd say you're chances are pretty minimal this year.

Reply 3

Hoofbeat

14

There's a guy who use to be in OOTB who was at Notts and got rung up by Oxford during his fresher's week asking if he wanted to come to Oxford to study Biochem! I don't know the details (I seem to remember he'd applied to Cambridge for NatSci or something but didn't get in) but Oxymoron on here certainly does.

Reply 4

Splenda620

7

Sounds like urban legends to me...

PS. Spy, love the title.

Reply 5

confuddled101

As Elles said..theres always someone who someone knows!

Reply 6

futureaussiecto

13

hehe

i didnt think 1,1 or S,1 in step 2 and 3 would be average, i heard getting sa 1 in a step 3 gives you an automatic offer at cambridge (apparently).......

plus- what are the odds people dont meet their offers? This would obviously be taken into consideration with the number of offers given out yeh?

Reply 7

ProzacNation

Hoofbeat

There's a guy who use to be in OOTB who was at Notts and got rung up by Oxford during his fresher's week asking if he wanted to come to Oxford to study Biochem! I don't know the details (I seem to remember he'd applied to Cambridge for NatSci or something but didn't get in) but Oxymoron on here certainly does.

He's a friend of mine, and it's a true story.

I know that some people also get into the Halls, i.e. Greyfriars etc by ringing them up after A Level results have come through, and see if they have a place for you.

Reply 8

dragons_circle

If this is Ramanujan, it was closer to 80 years ago. And he wasn't a student, he was a self-taught clerk in India, was invited to Trinity, Cambridge by Hardy after sending off some original mathematical ideas and became a world class mathematician.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramanujan

Reply 9

Essex1985

killdog1

I recall reading about one person several years back, who got in to do mathematics. They never made an application, and their intention was not actually to apply, but they wrote some sort of mathematical/scientific theory on scrap pieces of cardboard box (he was a very poor person living in India I think, with almost no qualifications) and sent it to the university. At first the professors who received it thought it was a joke, but it turned out the guy was a mathematical genius, so they called him over to study at the uni.

The chap was from Madras and that was in about 1915.

Those days are long gone i'm afraid.

Reply 10

visesh

17

random note: I was asked if I knew who Ramanujan was at a medicine interview at Birmingham a couple of years ago. I found it rather odd...

Reply 11

Elles

17

visesh

random note: I was asked if I knew who Ramanujan was at a medicine interview at Birmingham a couple of years ago. I found it rather odd...

definitely "Ramanujan" not "Ramamanchan" (sp)?
who is entirely more medicy & amazing. :eek:

otherwise - random question!

Reply 12

kalen

8

Ramachandran! He's an absolute genius! I love his work! (kalen's random statement of the day)

Reply 13

visesh

17

ramachandran the synaesthesia guy? or the biochem dihedral angles guy? I interned at the synaesthesia guy's lab in my gap year :cool:

(and yes, i was asked about the mathmo:/ It was a strange interview, i was asked to speak in both tamil and arabic. :rolleyes:

)

Reply 14

oxymoron

7

Hoofbeat

There's a guy who use to be in OOTB who was at Notts and got rung up by Oxford during his fresher's week asking if he wanted to come to Oxford to study Biochem! I don't know the details (I seem to remember he'd applied to Cambridge for NatSci or something but didn't get in) but Oxymoron on here certainly does.

Yep, he's in the 2nd year at the moment studying biochemistry. He was rejected (through UCAS) twice from Cambridge for NatSci and then tried to get into Oxford by phoning up various departments ... no luck as expected.
Forgot about it, started at his second choice (Nottingham) and a few weeks into term (during freshers week at Oxford) got a call inviting him down for an interview at an Oxford college - they then accepted him there and then on the spot and he started immediately (going to lectures the following Monday!)

I won't give any more details as I don't know if he would want the specifics published on the internet! But suffice to say that it is not an urban myth, it actually happened for entry in 2004. It is ridiculously rare though and he was very lucky that the circumstances all worked out perfectly for him!

Reply 15

kalen

8

visesh

ramachandran the synaesthesia guy? or the biochem dihedral angles guy? I interned at the synaesthesia guy's lab in my gap year :cool:

!!!! Are you kidding??? I'm obsessed with his work! Have been working on synaesthesia for a couple of years now for projects and stuff! How is it to work with him? Did you go to San Diego (I think that's where he's working, isn't it?).

Reply 16

visesh

17

kalen

!!!! Are you kidding??? I'm obsessed with his work! Have been working on synaesthesia for a couple of years now for projects and stuff! How is it to work with him? Did you go to San Diego (I think that's where he's working, isn't it?).