Gap Year Oxbridge Entry

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fishpaste

Basically by coming up with the goods. Having your enthusiasm for your subject just flood out of you in your personal statement and in your interview. Know why the Oxbridge course is the best course in the world.

Cheers... Really good advice.

So to sum up, what you are both saying you'd do, if you were me...!

- Apply just to Ox or Cam for deferred entry

- Take a gap year, irrespective of whether accepted or not

- If accepted for Ox or Cam, great, no need to reapply anywhere, unless haven't met the offer

- If not accepted for Ox or Cam, reapply there for immediate entry, as well as applying to other places for the 1st time, for immediate entry

...?!

Reply 21

Elles

sounds like a good plan.. although for some subjects if they make you an offer even if you ask for deferred they make their offer for the coming year..i know a few who had to scrap gap years! (but that might not be the case with E&M).

Reply 22

fishpaste

adk

Yep, quite a nice position you have yourself in there :wink:

Reply 23

adk

fishpaste

Yep, quite a nice position you have yourself in there :wink:

Surely anyone applying to a University, that is also taking a gap year, is also in that position?

...Although it seems quite good to me. Never thought of it before a few hours ago!

Reply 24

Helenia

adk

Surely anyone applying to a University, that is also taking a gap year, is also in that position?

...Although it seems quite good to me. Never thought of it before a few hours ago!

I really question whether this level of obsession over Oxbridge is good. If you're definitely going to have a gap year, and absolutely definitely want to go to Oxford over anywhere else, then maybe follow that plan. Hopefully that will then be all you need, if you get an offer first time round. But ask yourself if you really want to go through the application process twice and put yourself through all that trouble and worry again.

Reply 25

adk

Helenia

One thing I'm not, is obssessed with Oxbridge. I've stressed this all along.

I would like to go there, it is my top choice Uni, and as I'm having a gap year, I might as well have another go at applying, if I don't get a place for deferred entry. What's there to lose? The trouble and worry is surely not much to go through, for the chance of a place.

If I didn't get in, I'd be disappointed, but I wouldn't be heart broken, and I'd be VERY happy going to another Uni, such as Notts, Warwick, Bristol... or most of the others I'll be applying for.

A gap year gives you an extra year to 'play with', so I'm just thinking how to use it to my advantage, rather than to my disadvantage.

Don't you agree with that?

Reply 26

Veedy

adk

Yep.

Reply 27

Threadbare Ted

Just thought you might be interested to know that in a book I got about applying to Oxbridge - don't worry, i'm not that sad/obsessed, people give out a lot of free books at my Dad's work and that was one of them. He brought it home as a joke (I was not impressed at the time because it was just before my interview and I was feeling very touchy about what I perceived as people putting unwanted pressure on me but actually it made quite an amusing read: it has details on what GCSEs you should choose to maximise your chances of getting into Oxbridge!) - that Oxford/Cambridge actually like to get candidates who have applied to the other one first and been rejected because if you are good they think "ha Cambridge/Oxford missed out on this candidate and now we're getting them!"

Not sure how true that is but it could be useful... :smile:

Reply 28

Minta

Was that 'Oxbridge Entrance: The Real Rules' by Elfi Pallis? That book makes for an interesting read, even though it is riddled with typos and makes quite a lot of assumptions about certain things, as well as also giving incorrect info sometimes.