So who else is rejecting Oxford?

If that were they case, why would they have applicants stay at all? Oxford is obviously the top choice for most of its applicants, but you forget that they are competing with foreign universities as well. There are people who would take Harvard over Oxford, or would take a full grant to a top university in their home country, like Bocconi or Sciences Po. So yes, there is going to be a level of wanting to convince applicants to be 100% for Oxford, because as people are saying that do not allocate places in the same way as other universities and seem to be less flexible when people don't take their offers.

With regards the Harvard thing, I think there are very few British students who apply to foreign universities, at least on a permanent (non-exchange) basis. Perhaps we just like our own education system, I don't know, but your comment then comes down to internationals who as you say may well be applying to many world-wide and great universities. In those cases though you do not necessarily have to attend an interview. Some people can't make it across the Atlantic with flights and so on and the persuasion you talk about doesn't really apply.

We also have teams of interviewers who visit China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, North America and Singapore in October and November in order to interview candidates from these areas.

Yes I was generally referring either to Brits who are open-minded enough to consider foreign universities () or to international applicants. And they do have interviews in some foreign cities.

Just realised I essentially paraphrased Nikki12345 point

For Lowe, who hails from Manchester, England, starting college at 23 was simply the next step in a series of decisions taken to indulge his real passion: singing. He had taken a similar decision towards the end of his secondary school career when an interview at Cambridge was left in the dust as he made his first-ever trip to London to audition with the manager of the Pet Shop Boys, who was looking to put together a new band. A #7 UK single, European tour, Top of the Pops appearance and a television series later, Tom was ready to move on to something he found far more satisfying—London’s West End. After stints in Les Miserables and Cats, Tom looked west to Broadway, and coming to Harvard was one way to form a base in the US that would allow him to pursue a place in the New York spotlight.

Haha well this guy turned down Cambridge for Harvard and is now on American Idol!

http://www.harvardindependent.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=7677

If he's from Manchester, what's he doing on American Idol?

I'd be interested to know, Shady Lane, what your opinion would be of someone who rejected an offer from Harvard?

How many of you, if the rules allowed, would have applied to both Oxford and Cambridge? Most would probably do so even if it meant somebody else loosing out.

I'm in the same situation aswell. I know Oxford is proabably the sensible choice but I can't help but wonder if reputation and prestige are enough to base my decision on. If I'm honest, after open days and research etc, I far preferred Imperial to Oxford. It is only the reputation of Oxford that would make me go there, and the benefits an Oxford degree would have when I start looking for a job. I think I would be happier going to Imperial, but then I suppose you can never really tell until you go there, and I'll never know what the other univeristy would have been like. So basically, I'm stuck as to what to do too. Any advice?