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Oxbridge Admissions Process

Hi,

I'm quite confused about the Oxbridge Admissions process and I'm hoping you could clarify some things. I wondered, if you chose a less popular college, is it more likely that you get on that course? Does each college have a set number of places for each course and if so, how do they know which are the best candidates overall? Or does the number of places depend on per year because I talked to some students and for example, there were many students in a particular course in the year above but none for that course in their year.

Also, in an interview, who are the people who are interviewing you? Is it one person from the college and another from the course, and if so, is that person from the course emailing everyone who applies, e.g. for medicine it would be a medicine tutor and a college fellow? Any advice would be appreciated.

QuidditchFan

Reply 1

Mike_123

Original post by QuidditchFan

1) college choice doesn't really matter. At cam, for instance, there exists a winter pool where if you're good enough, you'll get a place at a different college if your first choice is oversubscribed.

2) The number of places is dependent upon the quality of applicants as well as the number. Have a look at 'cambridge undergraduate statistics' to see that this is true. A college will tend to have a range of students they take every year, but there is no set value.

3) The people interviewing you are the tutors that of that college. It's likely that these (if you get in) will be your first year supervisors. So it's an expert in that college for that subject. There could also be PhD students taking notes, or indeed college fellows.

Reply 2

QuidditchFan

Original post by Mike_123

Thank you, that has definitely clarified it! So, if there are many good applicants for a particular course, how come the colleges don't give out many more offers than the university can accommodate for that particular course? Or is there an absolute maximum on the number of applicants that the college can accept for a particular course? Also, is the whole "are you good enough for Oxford/Cambridge" based on the tutor's experience of past students and therefore subjective? Or is there an objective way that they choose applicants for each course? Just curious as to how the colleges system and application is carried out.

Reply 3

Mike_123

Original post by QuidditchFan

It's important to recognise that interviews form only part of the application system. Grades (and admissions tests) also must be strong.

I'm not sure if there's an absolute maximum, but numbers tend to be roughly the same every year. The pool exists so that if there's an excess in one college, it is evenly spread across to other colleges.

Obviously interview performance is subjective, but tutors are most likely very well trained and experienced in what makes a good student from their observations in supervisions.

Reply 4

Noble.

Original post by QuidditchFan

Usually a subject area will have a limit, but no restraints are on the different subjects within that area. For example:

A college may want 8-10 people for mathematics overall, but they won't specify how many are just straight mathematics, maths & philosophy or maths & computer science. So one year you may have an entire intake of straight mathematicians, another year you might have more than half of them doing the joint-schools.

Generally the people interviewing you are the college tutors for that subject. At Oxford they score interviews out of nine, there are certain 'criteria' people need to satisfy in the interview to get a certain score and all colleges use the same criteria - so scores are somewhat standardised.

Reply 5

QuidditchFan

Thank you both for your answers!

Reply 6

nexttime

Original post by QuidditchFan

I wondered, if you chose a less popular college, is it more likely that you get on that course? Does each college have a set number of places for each course and if so, how do they know which are the best candidates overall?

[For Oxford] As above - they co-ordinate via pooling systems. As a result of this, more than a third of candidates end up at a different college to which they applied, showing how active the system is. I'd suggest applying to the college you like the most.

Original post by QuidditchFan

Also, in an interview, who are the people who are interviewing you? Is it one person from the college and another from the course,

You are, to an extent, making a distinction that isn't there. All university lecturers and teachers are attached to a college. Everyone who teaches in college is involved with the university. The college fellows and your lecturers are most frequently the same people. Its just that most lecturers will be at a college that is not your own.

Basically: you will be interviewed by experts and teachers in the subject you are doing attached to that college.

Original post by QuidditchFan

There is a maximum. If nothing else, the lecture theatres can only seat a certain number! At Oxford, there is a fixed number of places for each subject in each year. As noble says, sometimes joint schools vary the numbers doing a particular combination. Which language linguists are doing also tends to be variable. For medicine, there will be a fixed number and the only reason they do under that is if they make an offer and someone misses that offer. A rare occurrence.

I'd be surprised if there is any substantial variation in numbers at Cambridge as suggested above. The system is very similar.