oxbridge applications before internet

I want to know that too
i am following this post

Same

Just the same as everyone else, the UCAS form was just a paper form before the internet.

Oxbridge entry hasn't been the sort of 'elitist' thing where if a father went to X College then his son was bound to get into X College since at least the 1960s.

Reply 4

filmaker

OP

17

Original post by threeportdrift

Just the same as everyone else, the UCAS form was just a paper form before the internet.

Oxbridge entry hasn't been the sort of 'elitist' thing where if a father went to X College then his son was bound to get into X College since at least the 1960s.

thats actually quite interesting, do you know if there's somewhere i could read more about this?

Original post by filmaker

thats actually quite interesting, do you know if there's somewhere i could read more about this?

Read more about what? How to fill in a paper UCAS form?

Reply 6

filmaker

OP

17

Original post by threeportdrift

Read more about what? How to fill in a paper UCAS form?

no as in read more about the father son thing or is that all there is to it

Original post by filmaker

no as in read more about the father son thing or is that all there is to it

It's just old stories, it wont be written down anywhere.

Reply 8

Original post by filmaker

does anyone know what the oxbridge applications were like before the internet was a thing? was it more for the elite than everyone who's capable? was there even an application process?
please feel free to drop any related links below
there's no particular reason im asking except late night curiosity

How old?
In olden days(before 1960?/70’s when older cantabs in my family) , they could apply both to oxford and Cambridge, unlike now.
Can’t remember exactly when, but Oxbridge joined the system of applying to universities through UCAS (it was a different name in those days) quite late and before that you had to apply to them individually and you had to sit their entrance exams (and with interviews just like now, of course).

When younger members of the family (the next generation) applied, it was very similar system to now but everything was done with paper, not electronical/digital.

Maybe @thewinelake and can tell you how things were in his days, though he’s younger than the old cantabs in my family.

There’s someone else who were at Cambridge in the old days but can’t remember his name. Something starting with ‘gre....’

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 9

Original post by vincrows

they could apply both to oxford and Cambridge, unlike now.

So when did oxbridge decided that you can only apply to one of them?

Reply 10

Original post by Heyok

So when did oxbridge decided that you can only apply to one of them?

That’s quite long time ago. Not sure exactly when but probably well before ‘70s(???) when applications to universities(not just Oxbridge) increased dramatically.
When my husband and his older brother applied (‘70s) they already had to choose either. Not sure about another member’s time who’s older.

Reply 11

Original post by vincrows

That’s quite long time ago. Not sure exactly when but probably well before ‘70s(???) when applications to universities(not just Oxbridge) increased dramatically.
When my husband and his older brother applied (‘70s) they already had to choose either. Not sure about another member’s time who’s older.

And if somebody applied to both of them in that period of time what would happen? I mean, there was no internet so nobody could check if you applied in both places.

Lol, I am such a rude person to ask so many questions

Reply 12

Doones

21

Original post by vincrows

There’s someone else who were at Cambridge in the old days but can’t remember his name. Something starting with ‘gre....’

@Gregorius :smile:

Speaking of whom - this thread might be interesting to @filmaker :
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=214179

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 13

Original post by Heyok

And if somebody applied to both of them in that period of time what would happen? I mean, there was no internet so nobody could check if you applied in both places.

Lol, I am such a rude person to ask so many questions

No idea!
I’m sure there’re some historians who research those things, so you’ll have to find them and ask. :biggrin:

Reply 14

Original post by Doonesbury

@Gregorius :smile:

Bingo!
Thanks. :smile:

Edit:
Clearly forgotten......
@Christ's Admissions &
@Peterhouse Admissions
were Cambridge undergraduates in pre-internet ages.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 15

thewinelake

17

I'm a 1985er at Cambridge and it was on UCCA form and there was an understanding you couldn't apply to both.
I was from a comprehensive school where maybe 1 person got in every year or two. Although I qualified thanks to 4th term of 6th form exam, the existence of 7th form entry was considered to give private school pupils an advantage.
Also, all universities knew who was on your list and in what order.
Just because "the Internet" didn't exist back then didn't mean that efficient communication wasn't possible. JANET was pretty well established.

Reply 16

Doones

21

Original post by Heyok

And if somebody applied to both of them in that period of time what would happen? I mean, there was no internet so nobody could check if you applied in both places.

Lol, I am such a rude person to ask so many questions

If it was in the days of UCCA (i.e. before UCAS) then your universities saw all your other choices on the standardised form, AND the order you have prioritised them. This could annoy some universities if you placed their deadly rival ahead of them :smile:

It also meant Oxford/Cambridge could see if you tried applying to the other place.

Reply 17

Original post by Doonesbury

If it was in the days of UCCA (i.e. before UCAS) then your universities saw all your other choices on the standardised form, AND the order you have prioritised them. This could annoy some universities if you placed their deadly rival ahead of them :smile:

It also meant Oxford/Cambridge could see if you tried applying to the other place.

Sounds awful.

Thanks god beause universities can not see your application in our time.

Reply 18

nulli tertius

21

Original post by filmaker

does anyone know what the oxbridge applications were like before the internet was a thing? was it more for the elite than everyone who's capable? was there even an application process?
please feel free to drop any related links below
there's no particular reason im asking except late night curiosity

Remember Oxford was admitting students for 700 years before the internet. There were a lot of changes in that time.

It is only since WWII that Oxford has stopped having periodic recruitment crises. The 1930s was particularly bad with many colleges under-subscribed. Mind you, Harrow School nearly went bust because it couldn't attract enough bums on seats.

Only with post-war student grants does funding cease to be the main issue.

A centralised admissions system with common scholarship and entrance exams was created in Oxford from 1964.

Reply 19