Oxbridge Rejection

parkerpen

in 2004 69 boys got into oxford and cambridge from eton. Even if they all went to your university that isn't hitting 75. I can't be bothered to google the other two but I imagine that there are similar statistics. The school with the highest total oxbridge admissions I believe is Hills Road Sixth Form in Cambridge (a state school). WHilst I don't think public schools have anything to worry about being slightly overzealous with the facts doesn't help your case

Woooo Hills Road! Great place. The Student Council are just absolutely awesome, especially the chairman, what a great guy.

Reply 42

redwarp

I personally thought my interviews (I had eight) were terrible, apart from my last one when I had reached the point of giving up. It wasn't all on the interviews - that plays a part, but it isn't everything. The fact that I had perfect grades (11 A*s, 4 high As at AS etc) certainly buoyed me along and in fact I was told that was a large part of the reason I was pooled to begin with - I was very strong on paper but choked in my first few interviews.

Eight interviews!? #zomg# How!? :confused:

Reply 43

WokSz

I didn't even get an interview. I got a 23 on my LNAT and was predicted AAAa at A2. Maybe my LNAT essay was really bad?

Reply 44

hamsterman

parkerpen

in 2004 69 boys got into oxford and cambridge from eton. Even if they all went to your university that isn't hitting 75. I can't be bothered to google the other two but I imagine that there are similar statistics. The school with the highest total oxbridge admissions I believe is Hills Road Sixth Form in Cambridge (a state school). WHilst I don't think public schools have anything to worry about being slightly overzealous with the facts doesn't help your case

fair play, but if you actually delve into the statistics, you realise that a large number of people going to Hills Road, have spent their entire secondary education at private shool. They have been coached for up to 10 years before they even get to Hills Road. Secondly, Hills Road is a large college and therefore the number is not important, the percentage of oxbridge places is smaller than say Eton. Thirdly the area in and around Cambridge is relatively speaking very affluent and there are a lot of very good state secondary schools.

TBH, they take the best, end of, if they didn't they wouldn't be where they are and the research that they do would get as far (surely thats a good thing?).

Reply 45

Dionysus

Interviewed at Jesus for History and Politics, rejected because one of the interviews wasn't so good (the other was fine) and GCSEs were on the weak side. I presumably did ok on the HAT and Personal Statement to be interviewed though. I'll probably reapply for an MA in a few years.

Reply 46

Dionysus

History_Boys

Is the HAT test really hard?

It's extremely random. There are some specimens here: http://www.history.ox.ac.uk/prosundergrad/applying/hat_introduction.htm

It does not require knowledge of the subject surrounding the question beyond a rudimentary general overview. Last year I think it was something about 12th Century Icelandic family relations... very strange indeed. Just do your best and see how it comes out :smile:

Reply 47

Cage

Interviewed at Jesus for History and Politics, rejected because one of the interviews wasn't so good (the other was fine) and GCSEs were on the weak side. I presumably did ok on the HAT and Personal Statement to be interviewed though. I'll probably reapply for an MA in a few years.

York is nice ;yes; Everybody I know who's been/goes there really loved it. I almost went.

Cambridge is nicer.

I am amazed by the amount of trolling we get on this forum by certain people from Cambridge. :s-smilie:

Reply 51

This sort of thread begs it..

Reply 52

tinypony

Craghyrax

This sort of thread begs it..

So? It doesn't justify it.

Reply 53

Siddhartha

So? It doesn't justify it.

Of course not. Its just expected.

I've been challenging the 'trolls', and I'm from Cam, so you get both!

Reply 54

Consie

Is it just me, or are stories of ten years preparation like serious overkill? If I entered year 7 half expected to get an Oxford offer, the majority of my school years would have been of varying amounts of pressure and having to work hard, instead of being care free and coasting, which they were. If you need that much preparation, are you really enough of a 'free thinker' to go to Oxford, really? Plus, preparation and getting in arent causal. There is still a majority chance you dont get in. Therefore, structuring your entire, or at least the latter years, of secondary/sixth form education around applying/getting into Oxford and then getting the knockback is just setting yourself up for depression. I'd never even considered the place till the end of my AS's when I realised I was pwning all my subjects and went down there to see how beautiful Oxford was.

On that HAT point, its never that hard. Hearing the subject matter being '12th century Iceland' makes you think its really hard but that's just a title. The other bit was on the communist revolution in Vietnam, which I equally knew nothing about, but the sources tell you what happened and fairly blatently convey what themes there are. The key is just clear, analytical writing. All the stuff is written in english, you can understand it, its not going to be that incomprehensible. Its just about spotting themes or chains of causality, the subject matter itself barely comes into it.

Reply 55

henryt

I think Westminster has roughly the highest percentage admissions these days - this year (I think!) it was 52% of the year gaining places, last year (I think!) it was 48%. It's of that order anyway - usually half. So any argument about Private schools being discriminated against is, in my opinion, ridiculous.

Reply 56

calcium878

18

henryt

I think Westminster has roughly the highest percentage admissions these days - this year (I think!) it was 52% of the year gaining places, last year (I think!) it was 48%. It's of that order anyway - usually half. So any argument about Private schools being discriminated against is, in my opinion, ridiculous.

I have no idea on Westminster's policy, but I hear some private schools choose which people can apply - sometimes only letting the best dozen or so, to ensure they can boast that they have an "80% success rate" or such. From these boards :wink:

Reply 57

Consie

I heard that about my local private school I applied to, but couldnt afford. I retrospectivly thought being a biff was a godsend becasue my poor GCSE's may have made them stop me from applying because they'd think I wouldnt have a chance in hell.

Reply 58

Profesh

20

ravenous_soup_dragon

Or, I was awful in the interview, fell apart, forgot the beginning of Madame Bovary and blagged Middlesex, which I had read three years previously rather than concentrating on Austen and applied to do English because I knew that I was quite good at it and was scared I would be rubbish at Law.

Whereas I didn't apply to do English precisely because I was afraid that I might not be rubbish at Law.

Reply 59

henryt