aplying to Oxbridge

I'm quite excited about taking up Oxbridge, I'm taking 4 subjects at AS and IELTS 6 ( I will take the IELTS test again on December with target 7.5 including at least 7.0 each component )
I want to get more information about Oxbridge but my friends told me that if I really want to go to Oxbridge, It would be so challenging and I must take at least 5 subject with A* each subject ??? is that true??? How about the Personal Statement and Interview.Is the entrance to Oxford or Cambridge defferent from other Uni (UCL,LSE,Durham,etc)
best wishes :-)

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1

Vian

I'm happy to say that your friends are completely wrong, as the average Oxbridge offer (which, naturally, differs by course) is A*AA. Applying for Oxbridge differs from other Uni's for several reasons, some of which include the early deadline, entrance exams and the fact that you're (generally) applying to individual colleges rather than the Unis as a whole.

You can find more information on TSR's Oxbridge wiki.

Reply 2

dragonkeeper999

Original post by Trinh Hong Khanh

Most students take 4 ASs and then continue 3 to A2. I don't know much about the IELTS, but I think it's something you just have to meet their basic requirement for :smile:

For most subjects at Oxbridge, it is perfectly fine to take the basic 4 AS levels followed by 3 A2s. The only exception is if you are doing Maths and Further Maths at A level - Further Maths is usually taken as an additional A level on top of the standard amount, since 3 A levels of which two are maths is fairly restrictive, and actually fairly easy since Further Maths makes Maths really simple. However, if you are not taking these subjects then this is not important to you :smile:

One of the most important things to consider is your choice of A level subjects - make sure you have picked all the 'required' subjects for your chosen course and preferably and 'highly recommended' or 'preferred' subjects - these subjects should give you the best preparation for the course. As a rough guide, traditional subjects like the sciences, maths, English Lit, History etc. are better than more unusual ones such as environmental studies or communication studies. However, if you have only picked 2 'traditional' subjects and your other subjects are fairly relevant to the course then you should be fine :smile:

The standard entrance requirement is A*AA for most courses - however for some it may be as high as A*A*A (Maths?) and it is fairly common for colleges to make harder (or occasionally easier) offers than the 'standard' offer. To have a good chance of getting an offer, you should probably try to be on target to exceed the basic entrance requirements - many applicants will be predicted A*A*A* or similar. However, it is still possible to get an offer with lower grades/ predicted grades - so as long as you are on track for A*AA I would say that it is worth applying.
Oxford and Cambridge have slightly different application systems and look at different things. For both, you will need to apply by the early deadline of October 15th.
Cambridge:
-Requires an additional application form, the 'SAQ' to be filled in, which asks for your individual module UMS scores (including retakes) as well as a few other questions such as how many students were in each of your classes. There is also the option to add an additional personal statement if you wish.
-Interviews take place around November time - usually you will have two interviews within a single day at your chosen college, and offers are given out in early January. Some colleges and courses required applicants to sit the 'TSA' test on the same day as their interviews. Some applicants who have not been successful will be put in the 'Winter Pool' and other colleges may chose to interview them again and/ or give them an offer in January.
-Cambridge is thought to base a lot of it's decision on your UMS grades (you should preferably have 90%+ on average to be in a good chance of getting an offer) and the interview.
Oxford:
-No additional application form
-Most courses require applicants to sit an entrance test before being selected for interview (e.g. the PAT test for Physics)
-Interviews also take place in November-ish, but you will usually be interviewed at more than one college. There is no 'Winter Pool' system. Applicants are usually required to spend several days or even a week in Oxford being interviewed by different colleges. Offers are given out in January.
-Oxford are thought to place emphasis on entrance tests, interviews, grades and GCSE results.

In terms of the personal statement, Oxbridge are mostly interested in your academic side - talk about extra reading, summer schools, taster days, masterclasses, optional lectures, competitions etc. This should take up at least 70% of your personal statement (I personally would advise more like 90%). You can mention a few particularly interesting extra-curricular activities such as volunteering or being in a national sports team, but generally the more related they are to your chosen course the better - for example volunteering at school in lunchtime workshop classes for your chosen subject.

The interviews are not as scary as everyone makes them out to be. They vary from college to college and between courses, but you will probably have two or three. They will again be mainly interested in your academic ability - for example in my Physics interview I was asked to solve several complicated physics related maths problems.

Good luck with your application!