Interview Feedback :(

Today I received the feedback from my [unsuccessful] interview for Trinity English in December:

'Jessica's record at GCSE is about average for this year's cohort, and her final A Level module marks are a little above average. The written work she submitted was most competent and thoughtful. She came across as intelligent and articulate in the group interview. In the solo session, she spoke fluently and intelligently, even if she was apt to generalise. She was rather slow on the word test, however. Overall, she was ranked 17/56, a creditable performance, but below the cut-off point for an offer. The competition for Pool offers was intense, so she just missed out. All in all, we would have expected a post-A level candidate to shine just a bit more.'

Trinity made 14 offers, and I was number 17th... :frown:

So now I'm feeling a bit weird. I suppose that overall it's good that I found out, and good that I did so well, but the fact that my dream was so close, yet so far, is kind of painful. Anyone else get interview feedback?

Reply 1

coldfish

12

This is why I think interview feedback is generally a bad idea. It'll either be that you almost got an offer and think "What if?" or you'll be quite far down and be disappointed.

*comforts*

Reply 2

~Bex~

14

Out of interest, what were you're GCSE results?

Reply 3

Jelkin

OP

17

I got 8 A*s and 2 As...so I was a bit surprised that they were average! It's weird, though; I didn't bother trying that hard at GCSE because I didn't think they'd matter in the long run, yet clearly Oxbridge puts some stock in them.

Thank you, coldfish - I admit that I wouldn't have been satisfied with whatever they said... :frown:

Reply 4

chocolatecheese

10

Dont be hard on yourself!!! You did really well! you have to remember how competitive Oxbridge is, and there is only a very small chance of you getting in....they told you in your feedback that they consider you to be intelligent and articulate!, so you should be very proud of yourself!

Try not to dwell on it....most people, not only in the UK but all over the world would have loved the opportunity even to have applied but didn't have the chance. So Keep smiling :hugs:

Reply 5

clueless101

I agree with everyone else!

I hate some of those ruddy cambridge rah professors- 8A*s & 2As are amazing results!

If it was meant to be, then it was meant to be....i'm sure you'll have an equally good if not better time at the uni you do decide upon :biggrin:

Reply 6

Elles

17

yeah, it's totally the fault of the ruddy rah cambridge professors that the rest of the cohort's paper qualifications rendered Jelkin's comparitively "about average" & "a little above average".
i hate them - they should lie in their feedback or not give any contextual information whatsoever.

Jelkin - i guess "I admit that I wouldn't have been satisfied with whatever they said... :frown:

" says it all really unfortunately..
was this a reapplication? any chance of one - sounds like you really were very close!
but anyhow, second what chocolatecheese said... :smile:

Reply 7

Jelkin

OP

17

I'm afraid it was a reapplication...I wish I'd got feedback last year to help me this time around, though I'm not sure if it would've made any difference!

Thanks everyone for your lovely words; I suppose it's time that I let go of the Cambridge dream :frown:

xx

Reply 8

recurring

11

I really feel for you, though the only consolation you should take, albeit scant consolation is that you gave it your best shot.

Out of interest, what was this "word test"?

Reply 9

ThornsnRoses

11

Out of interest, what were your alevel raw marks like?

Reply 10

Reading Room

9

Just imagine if you were ranked 15th... that would be so frustrating.

I'm really sorry about Oxbridge, but best of luck for the future (from a fellow English-hopeful!)

x

Reply 11

ThornsnRoses

11

why would anyone neg rep me for asking at A2s she had? :confused:

Reply 12

Christophicus

18

ThornsnRoses

why would anyone neg rep me for asking at A2s she had? :confused:

I think cos you asked for "raw marks" in my opinion. I didn't neg rep you by the way.

Reply 13

niamhw17

Originally Posted by Marcus-B
Just imagine if you were ranked 15th... that would be so frustrating.

take it from a girl who was cheerfully told she had been ranked 8th at a college which gave out 8 places, with one being taken by a deferred-entry applicant from last year.. 'frustrating' doesn't even begin!!

so at the risk of being lambasted as a dippy-skippy-lets-get-trippy hippy, one way of looking at it (and the way which has gotten me well and truly over it) is to realise that to have come so freaking close indicates that it maybe just wasn't meant to be. i've since been told, and realised myself, that oxford really isn't the place those crazy powers-that-be intended me to go to - it seems the same is true for you, and judging from the things they had to say about you, bigger and brighter things are on the horizon for you!

ps - fellow english applicant, yay!

Reply 14

bob_54321

niamhw17

take it from a girl who was cheerfully told she had been ranked 8th at a college which gave out 8 places, with one being taken by a deferred-entry applicant from last year.. 'frustrating' doesn't even begin!!

so at the risk of being lambasted as a dippy-skippy-lets-get-trippy hippy, one way of looking at it (and the way which has gotten me well and truly over it) is to realise that to have come so freaking close indicates that it maybe just wasn't meant to be. i've since been told, and realised myself, that oxford really isn't the place those crazy powers-that-be intended me to go to - it seems the same is true for you, and judging from the things they had to say about you, bigger and brighter things are on the horizon for you!

ps - fellow english applicant, yay!

thats so harsh. id definitely prefer not to know my "rank". it would either depress me because i was so close or depress me because i was rubbish, lol. i suppose you can take from it that you were very close (not that it's much consolation).

Reply 15

coldfish

12

Pfft. Go get drunk with your friends, have a little moan about how the events of the world are conspiring against you, and begin to look forward to whatever offer you have that floats your boat. My friend who got rejected from Cambridge for English last year is at Warwick now, and not only is loving it but is doing stupidly well and repeatedly getting firsts in essays.

Reply 16

Jelkin

OP

17

I hope I do that well too! I try to think 'it wasn't meant to be', but I don't really believe in fate or destiny so that's pretty hard. As far as I remember, I think my overall A level marks were:

English - 550
History - 541
Maths - 566
Music - 514

I also got 270/300 at Critical Thinking AS, 276/300 for AS Art and a distinction in AEA English, though I don't know if they count. I have no idea why you'd get neg repped!

niamhw, I really feel for you! Did you ever think of reapplying?

Oh and the word test was part of my solo interview, when my interviewer gave me a list of words and asked me to define 5 or 6. The only ones I remember were 'intuit' and 'melodrama'. There were some impossible ones on there, though! I was never really sure what it was meant to tell them about my academic potential, to be honest.

Reply 17

niamhw17

Originally posted by Jelkin
Did you ever think of reapplying?

it happened this december, so the option is still there, but i really don't think i will; i'm a big believer in destiny so if it didn't happen, i take my coming so tantalisingly, frustratingly close as a sign that it just wasn't meant to happen.

(nice job on those A Level scores, by the way!)

Reply 18

gezzar

*hugz* so close yet so far :frown:

Reply 19

Agrippina

15

niamhw17

it happened this december, so the option is still there, but i really don't think i will; i'm a big believer in destiny so if it didn't happen, i take my coming so tantalisingly, frustratingly close as a sign that it just wasn't meant to happen.

(nice job on those A Level scores, by the way!)

Maybe that means it is meant to be? I was rejected without an interview last year, which could be construed as meaning it wasn't meant to be... I reapplied and got in, with much less hope than you seem to have!

Interview Feedback :(

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