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Oxbridge entrance: the real rules

Hi

Are books like these any use for applying? Just wondering really as I saw them in a lubrary and wondered if they were worth a read.

Reply 1

Chumbaniya

17

k8_06

Hi

Are books like these any use for applying? Just wondering really as I saw them in a lubrary and wondered if they were worth a read.

The books has been claimed highly incorrect by Oxbridge admissions tutors and contradicts what all admissions tutors will tell you on open days. Much of what is contained in it is based on the unjustified assumption that, because a majority among sucessful applicants do certain things, these things are required to be sucessful. I would advise you not to read the book and to find out as much as you can from the universities themselves instead, because the book exaggerates the importance of extra-curricular activities when the admissions tutors are looking almost exclusively at your academic potential.

Reply 2

Mr_Deeds

13

Chumbaniya

The books has been claimed highly incorrect by Oxbridge admissions tutors and contradicts what all admissions tutors will tell you on open days. Much of what is contained in it is based on the unjustified assumption that, because a majority among sucessful applicants do certain things, these things are required to be sucessful. I would advise you not to read the book and to find out as much as you can from the universities themselves instead, because the book exaggerates the importance of extra-curricular activities when the admissions tutors are looking almost exclusively at your academic potential.

Not what I wanted to hear, I ordered this book off Amazon on Thursday: £10.99, so much for its five star rating! :frown:

looks like I'll be sending it back!

Reply 3

Drogue

19

Tbh, the things you'll find, with a bit of searching, on TSR are worth more than any of those books are. When I started tutoring people I found much of the advice I was giving and the info given to me could be found here if you're willing to search. Not perhaps in as easy to use a form, nor personalised, but still, what's on here is very useful.

Reply 4

Alexander

12

I read the book after I received my offer, just for general interest. The thing that initially really annoyed me was the frequency of factual inaccuracies: mis-spelt college names, incorrect assignment of alumni, that sort of thing -- this doesn't exactly encourage the reader to pay much attention to the actual arguments! However, if you can get over the fact that the book hasn't been proofread and that the author patently hardly knows Oxbridge, you will be able to appreciate the wealth of highly dodgy 'information' that this book provides.

Reply 5

epitome

11

More useful than any of these books are the Admissions materials the Universities provide, and...well...subject knowledge and enthusiasm. And luck.
Nothing wrong with flicking through the books, but your time would almost certainly be better spent flicking through a book or magazine related to your chosen subject. :smile:

Reply 6

gooseymcgoose

11

TSR is the best source of admissions info, including any you can pay for.

Reply 7

asar

11

I just followed every piece of advice I found on TSR. I barely knew which universities were the best in Britain when I first opened this site and, like most Mexicans, thought Cambridge was a university in America. With only the information here (albeit reading REALLY extensively) and the official websites, I got a really nice offer!

Reply 8

D-503

1

Yeah I agree that aspects of the admissions advice on the Cambridge website are rather cryptic and unhelpful, but I bought Pallis's book and it made me less confident and more uncertain about what was actually required- even the title suggests a sort of conspiracy, the REAL rules, the stuff THEY don't want you to know lol. She takes the attitude of a Marxist warrior, and her views reflect the notion that applying to Cambridge entails going to battle against an unfair and biased system, against admission tutors and the people you will be side by side with for 3 years if you do get an offer. She also perpetuates stereotypes about the colleges (I was left with the impression that my chosen college, Peterhouse, was definately either a gay bar or a rugby club). Read the book, it won't not help, but take the advice with a pinch of salt and be aware of who is talking and to whom. At the very least it is certainly socially interesting. Most useful of all is visiting and talking to a Director of Studies, who were all extremely warm and willing to help and advise. Be careful with the rubbish contained in these books and with the often dated perceptions of schools of the whole process.

Reply 9

ukgea

6

angelsarmiento

I just followed every piece of advice I found on TSR. I barely knew which universities were the best in Britain when I first opened this site and, like most Mexicans, thought Cambridge was a university in America. With only the information here (albeit reading REALLY extensively) and the official websites, I got a really nice offer!

Ditto, basically. Okay, I knew that Cambridge and Oxford were universities in England. But that was about it. Your time will be well spent just going to absolute beginning of the Oxbridge and Cambridge/Oxford (whichever applies) subforums, and reading all threads that seem relevant to your course, your college (and all the other colleges if you have trouble deciding :p:

), admissions in general, and any other aspects of cambridge life that interest you, anything else that interests you, and whatnot. (heck, just read every thread, and you'll be sure of not having missed anything!) That was what I did, really. You'll find that everything that's said is usually repeated over and over, and it sure takes long to sift through everything, but it's well worth it.

If you're looking for information about something specific, try searching. Although, in my very humble opinion, the search function is crap, but an alternative is to use google and add the site:thestudentroom.co.uk command. Works well with older threads as it seems to take a while for threads to get indexed by google.

Anyway yeah, not that I have read any oxbridge admissions books, so I won't say I can comment on them, but just don't forget there is an immense wealth of information just a few clicks away here on TSR.

Reply 10

Jerby

The book's weird. It tries to debunk the traditional Oxbridge myths while in some ways reinforcing them / replacing them with more junk. All the info was either common sense or available from the websites. Ironically the "Marxist warrior" seemed to be pulling a money-spinning operation.

Reply 11

Fafnir

9

It's amazing how much emphasis the book puts on extracurricular stuff - I've had admissions tutors tell me they stop reading personal statements after they move off the academic side of things!

Reply 12

Lex Talionis

10

My college had this book in it's library which saved me a good few £s. I wouldn't recommend this book for people who are about to apply because it talks about having the 5 Aces i.e. music, sport, leadership example, academia, part-time job. And quite frankly, if you don't have all 5 of those by the time you're applying, you wouldn't get in if the rules were like that book. It's more for parents who are raising young children who they want to go to Oxbridge.

Reply 13

tbtommyb

11

angelsarmiento

I just followed every piece of advice I found on TSR. I barely knew which universities were the best in Britain when I first opened this site and, like most Mexicans, thought Cambridge was a university in America. With only the information here (albeit reading REALLY extensively) and the official websites, I got a really nice offer!

Same here, really.

By the way, I'm going to use you so much to practice my Spanish. :wink:

I have an offer from Merton as well. :smile:

Reply 14

Jigglypuff

16

'Take your kiddies to museums from an early age or else they have no chance'
'Ask your children academic questions and push them really hard, so that they become geek freaks'
'Oxbridge professors are old-fashioned snobs'

That's basically the message of the book. Don't buy it.

She was probably right about the 5 'aces', but there is a merely a correlation between having them and getting an offer, not a causal relationship.

Reply 15

FadeToBlackout

15

Jigglypuff

She was probably right about the 5 'aces', but there is a merely a correlation between having them and getting an offer, not a causal relationship.

Exactly. People who get Cambridge offers tend to have music, and sport and so on, because they enjoy it or have been pushed into it or whatever. Having it doesn't necessarily mean an offer, just as not having them doesn't mean rejection.

I mean, in my case:

music- Nope. Not a sausage.

sport- feck no!

leadership example- sort of; not that I was any good!

academia- apparently...

part-time job- Because working behind a till in Safeway and doing a paper-round REALLY showed I was good at History... :rolleyes:

Reply 16

Turdburger

16

It was far too socialist and full of reverse-prejudice for my liking.

Reply 17

epitome

11

Solemn Wanderer

In all fairness, the universities' and colleges' admissions web pages do still leave a lot to be desired.

Yes they do.
Though I love the college system, I do think that the different information provided by each on their websites should somehow be pooled. Having done an extensive trawl through *all* the college websites (for admissions stuff, and for something else), I can safely say that it's incredibly time-consuming and, frankly, ridiculous to actually find the 'complete' picture.

I'm not sure, though, how this situation can be rectified without having to spend a tremendous amount of time and effort (and therefore money) on real change. And without a solution, I don't really feel justified in complaining and telling someone to "sort it out, dammit"! If anyone has any ideas, please let me know!
Despite some of the utter bo**ocks that's posted on TSR sometimes, it really can be one of the best resources...

Reply 18

henryt

17

May as well jump on the bandwagon - I had a small flick through just a few weeks ago in the school Library - was avoiding doing STEP questions or somesuch. Anyway - the stuff she comes out with is sometimes unbelievable. I seem to remember her saying something about how Christ Church was typically "Rah!" and advised that you avoid it if you felt suppressed/weren't moneyed. I think she said something else about owning ponies/expensive racecars, and how you'd be out of place if you didn't. And then the Torygraph review it as "A well researched guide". What is the world coming to!?

Reply 19

epitome

11

she said something else about owning ponies/expensive racecars, and how you'd be out of place if you didn't.

Gawd, darling, doncha know that all Oxbridge types own a horsey or two? Dear me, you are going to be quite out of place...

:wink:

Oxbridge entrance: the real rules

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