Oxbridge FAQ!

Hello, allow to ask following questions. I am the student from Russia and I wish to submit the application to Oxford on English and Literature. Tell please, something about receipt to Oxford from the point of view of the foreigner... I Knowall about fuss with submission of documents, but I am excited with household questions! What attitude at a selection committee to "persons" like me? What attitude in Oxford to foreigners and whether is a lot of them there. All interests connected with training and receipt NOT Englishmen and Europeans.. In advance, I am sorry for such quantity of silly questions.

Thanks.

Hello, allow to ask following questions. I am the student from Russia and I wish to submit the application to Oxford on English and Literature. Tell please, something about receipt to Oxford from the point of view of the foreigner... I Knowall about fuss with submission of documents, but I am excited with household questions! What attitude at a selection committee to "persons" like me? What attitude in Oxford to foreigners and whether is a lot of them there. All interests connected with training and receipt NOT Englishmen and Europeans.. In advance, I am sorry for such quantity of silly questions.

Thanks.

Hello, allow to ask following questions. I am the student from Russia and I wish to submit the application to Oxford on English and Literature. Tell please, something about receipt to Oxford from the point of view of the foreigner... I Knowall about fuss with submission of documents, but I am excited with household questions! What attitude at a selection committee to "persons" like me? What attitude in Oxford to foreigners and whether is a lot of them there. All interests connected with training and receipt NOT Englishmen and Europeans.. In advance, I am sorry for such quantity of silly questions.

Thanks.

I don't think you're English is really good enough to study english lit. at oxford with.

Irony, yes?

Sorry, probably have been asked hundreds of times...

But can someone explain pooling to me?

Is it just 'Oh we like you, but not as much as the other applicants, so we will let all the other colleges know you are a good student and see if they take you, if not, tough luck.' ?

Is it a bad thing to be pooled?

Didnt realise there was a difference...
Im kinda in the early stages of research right now, so any help would be great!
I also need to decide which one to apply for.

In a nutshell, "pooling" at Oxford just means the possibility of getting into a college you didn't originally apply for (but you won't be called for extra interviews or anything - basically it's all sorted out for you and you don't really notice it). At Cambridge it's a separate part of the application process, though, and means an initial rejection by your original college, with something like a 20% chance of being accepted by another one. I wouldn't say being pooled is necessarily a bad sign per se - you could just have applied to a heavily oversubscribed college - though I suppose being pooled at Cambridge can be a bit nervewrecking because it gets people's hopes up a second time, but most of them will end up being rejected nevertheless. Although I've got no first-hand experience of it, so I wouldn't really know.

Here's some information on how the Cambridge pooling system works: link.

Is there any point in me applying?
Almost definitely yes! If you're predicted or already have AAA/AAB at A-level, you have a chance no matter your previous record. Every year people get in with supposedly 'useless' grades.

Are my grades good enough?
If you've come near the top of your school at GCSE/AS/A2, your grades are good enough for Oxbridge.

How can an admissions process be medieval when there were no admission processes in the Middle Ages?

Archaic, perhaps?

My question is: are your GCSEs and other factors such as number of A Levels only relevant in getting to the interview stage? I read on another thread that once you get to the interview stage that everyone's basically considered to be on a level playing field; is this true or will I have to do better in my interview than someone with excellent GCSEs and loads of A Levels would have to do to get in?