A way for Oxbridge applicants to avoid a Durham rejection...?

spunkym0nkey

The post is there! I can't make you believe but the proof that tutors look on TSR is right in front of you.

Just because someone posted that on here does not prove the point. I choose not to believe the poster

I agree that it does depend on the admissions tutor. For that reason, one or two tutors could take the opinion that people who obviously won't pick durham as there first (or are unlikely to) will save there offers for people who are more likely to have them as firms (or at least end up at durham).

Sigh. Once again, that doesn't make any sense. How could it be better that they reject someone rather then the applicant reject them? It makes no difference either way, except that in the former case you guarantee that the applicant won't come to Durham.

How many indivauls will it take 4 it to be true? (ok perhaps a few more because we haven't gone into double figures yet but allot of indivaul senarios are proof that it happens).

Enough to be statistically relevent

Reply 41

Mattmoy_2000

9

Enough to be statistically relevent

For those who are lucky enough to not know what this means, consider it to mean "more examples than we can feasably get on TSR". Remember that TSR users are *not* a representative sample of applicants and that "perfect applicant" is extraordinarily subjective. The alternative explanation to why good candidates get rejected (which boils down to the fact that there are more good applicants than places) and the extremely good reasons that Durham would have for not rejecting people solely on the basis that they think they might have applied to a "higher" university would seem to suggest that it is not a particularly likely policy to be implemented.

Reply 42

Mattmoy_2000

For those who are lucky enough to not know what this means, consider it to mean "more examples than we can feasably get on TSR". Remember that TSR users are *not* a representative sample of applicants and that "perfect applicant" is extraordinarily subjective.

My old school is hardly representative of applicants overall. As third best state in the country, I would say that we were representative of the top few applicants; the ones you would expect to see a higher proportion of getting to Durham. Looking back at the database when I was applying, there were unfeasible amounts of top level candidates (i.e. 8A*+, all As at AS and A2) getting rejected from Bristol and Durham. Out of say, 10 or these applicants, all who applied for Oxbridge (most got in, the rest had a very good chance on paper), about 8 had been rejected by Durham. I'm not whining or bitching about this, but it does make you curious as to why Durham, when looking at the offers that they do make, rejected these candidates.

Reply 43

blablabla

2

wow..why do you really care all of you? Why is Oxbridge such a big deal in England? :eek:

don't waste your energy..I get the impression that oxbridge rejects are hurt for life, and people who do get an offer from them find it incredible that someone else in the world may not want them or worship them.. COME ON! GET OVER IT!! :rolleyes:

Reply 44

dobbs

17

Danny_777

I'm not whining or bitching about this, but it does make you curious as to why Durham, when looking at the offers that they do make, rejected these candidates.

OK yes, everyone is going on about "Well how come this person got rejected by Durham but was accepted by Oxford?!?!?"

Well are you not paying attention to all the "ayes" that are popping up. On the first page Becca asked everyone who had applied to Oxbridge and Durham, and got accepted by Durham, to say "aye". There are a LOT of "ayes" in this thread!!

So, whilst you all have "people you know" who applied to Oxbridge and Durham and got rejected by Durham...there are also people in this thread who applied to Oxbridge and Durham and got ACCEPTED by Durham. So what are we saying? Some people are rejected and some people are accepted? OMG STOP THE PRESS!! :eek:

lol...

I also agree that the thread in the Cambridge forum is crap, haha! Just because some randoms post that "My tutor is on here"...erm, well that isn't conclusive proof is it? Until an ACTUAL tutor can come on and go "Yeah I'm a tutor at Cambridge" and somehow prove it, there's no way I'm going to believe it. I simply think they have more interesting things to do than spend their time on a student website. And I think they CAN NOT go off people's posts to decide on applications - for any number of reasons (1. they can't be sure who the poster is, no matter how much information is on the post, people could have hacked into their account, etc.....2. it's unfair! not EVERY applicant is on TSR so they can't judge them fairly, that's like just looking at a few UCAS forms and then deciding on them, but accepting the rest without looking...etc etc!)

I was not an Open Applicant to Cambridge and I certainly did not sign any Confidentiality crap. It seems to me that the Cambridge lot in that forum are a bunch of gullible morons :rolleyes:

Reply 45

ukebert

13

It is evident that Cambridge people do check TSR, whether other unis do it (e.g. Durham) is another matter entirely. Personally I don't think that they'd be bothered, but it is possible.

arkbar

n, where n is an integer.

Reply 46

Mattmoy_2000

9

wow..why do you really care all of you? Why is Oxbridge such a big deal in England?

Because they're the two most respected bastions of academia in the Western world?

Reply 47

blablabla

2

true, but you're either in or you are not.the end. why all these theories?

Reply 48

This discussion is about getting into Durham, not Oxbridge

Reply 49

dobbs

OK yes, everyone is going on about "Well how come this person got rejected by Durham but was accepted by Oxford?!?!?"

Well are you not paying attention to all the "ayes" that are popping up. On the first page Becca asked everyone who had applied to Oxbridge and Durham, and got accepted by Durham, to say "aye". There are a LOT of "ayes" in this thread!!

So, whilst you all have "people you know" who applied to Oxbridge and Durham and got rejected by Durham...there are also people in this thread who applied to Oxbridge and Durham and got ACCEPTED by Durham. So what are we saying? Some people are rejected and some people are accepted? OMG STOP THE PRESS!! :eek:

lol...

Erm, that's not the main thrust of the argument. Certainly not mine anyway. And I am counting the 'ayes'; note that none of them got into Oxbridge.

What I and many others are saying is that if Durham perceives that there is a very good chance that a candidate will get into Oxbridge, they will not waste an offer on them.

Of course they don't reject every single bloody Oxbridge applicant, just the ones who they are sure will get in and choose them over Durham, i.e. Law applicants with both, as has most likely happened to those aforementioned candidates in this thread.

Reply 50

What I and many others are saying is that if Durham perceives that there is a very good chance that a candidate will get into Oxbridge, they will not waste an offer on them.

Of course they don't reject every single bloody Oxbridge applicant, just the ones who they are sure will get in and choose them over Durham, i.e. Law applicants with both, as has most likely happened to those aforementioned candidates in this thread.

Nobody is really convincing me as to WHY they would do that, it doesn't make any sense to do that. How can they ''waste'' an offer?

Reply 51

Itchynscratchy

Nobody is really convincing me as to WHY they would do that, it doesn't make any sense to do that. How can they ''waste'' an offer?

I haven't got a clue. But quite frankly, there's no reason why a candidate would be good enough for Law at Cambridge, LSE, UCL, Nottingham and Bristol (all at the same time!) and not good enough for Durham. If there really was a flaw in their application big enough to overshadow 13A* and 6As and make them not worth an offer, at least one other uni would have picked up on it. It happens rather often as well.

Reply 52

Danny_777

I haven't got a clue. But quite frankly, there's no reason why a candidate would be good enough for Law at Cambridge, LSE, UCL, Nottingham and Bristol (all at the same time!) and not good enough for Durham. If there really was a flaw in their application big enough to overshadow 13A* and 6As and make them not worth an offer, at least one other uni would have picked up on it. It happens rather often as well.

Yes there is!!! There are hundreds of reasons why that might be the case, that is the whole point. Not every Oxbridge bound person gets 6 offers, especially for courses as competitive as Law. You are jumping to conclusions with no real basis

Reply 53

Itchynscratchy

Yes there is!!! There are hundreds of reasons why that might be the case, that is the whole point. Not every Oxbridge bound person gets 6 offers, especially for courses as competitive as Law. You are jumping to conclusions with no real basis

Look, I don't want to take too strong a side here. It would be very imprudent to reject all those people who are 'dead certs' for Oxbridge, as there will always be a few who don't get it, and end up going to their second choice. However, it is fairly clear that this happens. The head of admissions at my old school mentioned this to me; after over 10 years of admissions at a top school (we had 79 Oxbridge applications this year, and 24 offers, with every previous year being similar). If anyone is likely to notice a certain trend, I would say it is her. And there is a definite trend, otherwise this thread would not exist. When one of the most Oxbridge-experienced and successful head of admissions in the country notices a trend such as this, saying "Durham and Bristol tend to reject those they think are definitely going to Oxbridge" or something along those lines, there certainly is a basis. It's not as if she's randomly conjuring figures and tables up and spouting crap.
I know not every Oxbridge person gets 6 offers, but I'm not just talking about Oxbridge level candidates, I'm talking about the best of the best in the country. When you're that good, it's pretty obvious you'll go to Cambridge or Oxford in 99.5% of cases.
There's no 'magic' criteria that only Durham pick up on outside of grades, PS and references. Durham is incredible and Law is one of their most popular courses, but kids with 5 other offers tend to fulfil most criteria for top law courses. What on earth are these people lacking!?!? If they lacked something important enough for Durham to reject some of the academically and extra-curricularly best students in the country, they wouldn't get into the other unis.
Might I ask, why do you think Durham rejects students that clearly outperform 99% of other students in all areas, and are practically faultless, without interview?
Why was I offered a place over my previously mentioned, Durham-rejected, Cantab friend (13A*, 6As, 2 AEAs, county level sportsman, loads of work exp, senior prefect, multiple prize winner every year, great guy, amazing references)??

Reply 54

Piggsil

Because you're nice. :smile:

Reply 55

Becca

Because you're nice. :smile:

Why, of course. My entire reference consisted of "Daniel is really nice."

Reply 56

--

3

spunkym0nkey

^ The confidentiality agreement only holds (on our end of the bargain) untill the end of the application process. The reason you might not have signed it (as I believe no one in the pool did [thought u were in pool but might be wrong]) is becuase it was close to the end of application process. Looking through about half of the colleges did have to sign it.

I have never signed a confidentiality agreement with Cambridge, therefore i am not bound by anything. They may not be very happy with me divulging that sort of information and it probably wouldn't help my application, but i was certainly not bound by an agreement. My original college (Clare) had no such system, didn't have any signs and the only thing we were told not to talk about was the source that we were given before one of our interviews.

Anyway, it would be stupid for Durham and universities of its ilk to reject Oxbridge applicants, if it were the case then surely the 75% of people who are unsuccessful in applying to Oxbridge would end up at universities half way down the league tables, whereas in fact they end up at Durham, Bristol, LSE, Warwick, York etc. So its crazy to assume that Durham rejects applicants based on where they've applied.

Reply 57

Jelkin

17

1.) Dobbs, I love you.

2.) People who believe that stupid theory are morons and should be shot in the face.

3.) I got a bucket of A*s and 6 As at AS and was predicted all As at A level and did 'academic' subjects and am well rounded and have grade 8 piano and a black belt at taekwon-do and a load of RYA sailing qualifications and used to do trampolining and synchronised swimming and guides and have my Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award and read a load of books and wrote about Machiavelli and Othello and Jane Austen and George Orwell and Stalin on my personal statement and wrote a play that had a six-week run and went on writing courses and am genuinely passionate about English literature and everyone at my school assumed I would get into Oxbridge because I was a dead cert and my teachers were outraged when I didn't blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah. Blah. Durham accepted me. Oxbridge didn't. Obviously there was something hidden in my application that said, "It's okay, I will get rejected. You may accept me." Perhaps the Durham admissions tutors are psychic. Or perhaps all of this is totally irrelevant. GOD.

Reply 58

tourist

9

3232

I have never signed a confidentiality agreement with Cambridge, therefore i am not bound by anything. They may not be very happy with me divulging that sort of information and it probably wouldn't help my application, but i was certainly not bound by an agreement. My original college (Clare) had no such system, didn't have any signs and the only thing we were told not to talk about was the source that we were given before one of our interviews.

At Fitz we were told "you probably don't want to tell the other applicants with interviews after you what the questions were as we're asking everyone the same questions".

They told me anyway, lovely people.

Reply 59

Piggsil