This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

what is academic potential?

i know this may sound a bit stupid but im really confused as to what academic potential is, i know good grades show it but how can an interview show it?
also i would like an idea of what ''poor'' gcse's are.

Reply 1

sjuthani

6

"Poor" GCSEs vary from school to school. Both Oxford and Cambridge compare your GCSEs to the average from your school to see what sort of student you are. That's partly why my friend here at Teddy Hall, without a single A* to his name, got in- because the grades he did get were miles above what anyone else in school achieved, showing independent learning and hard work.

Reply 2

michaelbenson

12

sjuthani

"Poor" GCSEs vary from school to school. Both Oxford and Cambridge compare your GCSEs to the average from your school to see what sort of student you are. That's partly why my friend here at Teddy Hall, without a single A* to his name, got in- because the grades he did get were miles above what anyone else in school achieved, showing independent learning and hard work.

I couldn’t agree more. GCSE results really should be judged relatively with how the rest of your fellow school pupils faired, that way if you performed substantially better than others at your school, but not essentially in comparison to national averages; then this still highlights a motivation and desire to learn independently; which undoubtedly all universities will be looking for.

Reply 3

thefish_uk

14

3.416

i know this may sound a bit stupid but im really confused as to what academic potential is, i know good grades show it but how can an interview show it?
also i would like an idea of what ''poor'' gcse's are.

At the interview it's to do with the way you think. They present you with a problem that's very very difficult to do with what you know already. Then they want to hear what your ideas are, and listen to the thoughts that go through your head as you consider it. Can you link stuff you know that might be relevant to this unfamiliar problem? When the interviewer suggests something, do you catch on?

Basically they are trying to see if you'd do well in the high pressure environment and get a lot out of supervisions. As well as being bright, you need to be motivated and capable of coming up with your own ideas.

Reply 4

73337

18

Hmmm, interesting, I have heard that if someone is too boring in the interview they are not to be accepted, even if they are a test machine. :confused:

Reply 5

sjuthani

6

Avogadro6.02257

Hmmm, interesting, I have heard that if someone is too boring in the interview they are not to be accepted, even if they are a test machine. :confused:

Yep. Oxbridge, believe or not, is not about passing tests. Its about intellectutal stimulation. I mentioned before that GCSEs are compared to the school average- mine disadvantaged because, despite being quite good generally, they were below average for my school. We don't get huge numbers into Oxbridge, although a fair few every year, which suggests grades play only a limited role.

Reply 6

73337

18

Thanks

I think I would give it a shot but I'll have to complete A-levels first!

Reply 7

pedy1986

13

sjuthani

Yep. Oxbridge, believe or not, is not about passing tests. Its about intellectutal stimulation. I mentioned before that GCSEs are compared to the school average- mine disadvantaged because, despite being quite good generally, they were below average for my school. We don't get huge numbers into Oxbridge, although a fair few every year, which suggests grades play only a limited role.

erm, part of oxbridge is preparing you to pass exams. Infact, as much as intellectual stimunlation is good, passing exams is just as/if not more important.

Reply 8

Wangers

16

Yes, but its about your potential to think about ideas rapidly and assess them. Why do you think Oxbridge are leading acedemic institutions worldwide? because they foster innovation. You need to pass tests yes, but that does not necessaryily lead to discoveries, advances in ideas and learning are what these institutions are about. Hence at interview they assess what you can advance from your basic knowledge. At the cutting edge of science/arts it will be the same - what can you advance to explain X phonomenon/your results?

Wangers

Reply 9

kizer

15

I think the point is that at Oxford they will expect a certain level of potential they can rely on in all their students. So they will give you problems/an essay, lectures, and a reading list, and you are expected to be good enough to go away and work through it. Tutorials iron out problems and go into more depth, but the bulk of it you have to be able to do yourself. The point of interviews is to see how good you are at thinking on your own about new problems, since that's what you'll be spending most of your time doing.

Reply 10

AlphaNumeric

10

It's the integral of academic force....

Reply 11

Speleo

7

It's the integral of academic force....

Reply 12

silver-rose

ha, ha, ha. Took me a while to get that

Reply 13

ZebraKeys

sjuthani

"Poor" GCSEs vary from school to school. Both Oxford and Cambridge compare your GCSEs to the average from your school to see what sort of student you are.

How does this happen? Do they contact your school and find out the average and do they do this for Scottish schools? I've never heard of that before you see...

Reply 14

sjuthani

6

No idea how- I think the school has to publish their A*-C pass rate anyway. Maybe inference from that?

Reply 15

shinyhappy

14

Well, I've always understood academic potential to be the ability to think, to come up with your own ideas, not just to regurgitate stuff from books.
*Looks slightly guilty, as she googles an essay title*

Reply 16

Chumbaniya

17

AlphaNumeric

It's the integral of academic force....

*groan*

Reply 17

peachmelba

8

In answer to the original question:
a) chances of getting 1st or 2:1 (probably high for all candidates except no hopers)
b) who they would like to teach (much more subjective, who suits tutorial system etc)

It's interesting that Oxbridge place such faith in the interview system to differentiate between well-qualified candidates. Studies of interviews in the context of job applications have found that predictive power of interviews is only slightly better than graphology (analysis of handwriting)!