The Student Room Group

Reapplying to Oxford - A Successful Reapplicant's Guide

Hey there everyone,

I want to start off by saying that Oxford really isn't the be all and end all, it is not a prerequisite for academic success whatsoever and almost everyone who gets rejected from Oxford gets offers from other world class UK (or international) universities. That alone is more than enough evidence that even if you get rejected, you're still massively intelligent (I made the mistake of letting my Oxford rejection convince me I wasn't particularly intelligent for a while after and in hindsight such thinking isn't constructive and is heavily flawed).

Having said all of that, some people really do fall in love with Oxford and reckon it's worth a second attempt - if that's you, read on.

So I applied to Oxford for 2017 entry and was rejected post-interview. Like a lot of people who receive rejection it was my first experience of academic failure and given my academic strength was such a large part of my identity, I was crushed.

I considered just going to university that year but ultimately decided I wanted to give Oxford one more shot - I received my offer for PPE two days ago and couldn't be happier.

All that being said, I wanted to share what I learnt during my reapplication because I was given a myriad of, often contradictory, advice from almost everyone I knew about how to go about it, and not all of it (in my view) turned out to be correct.

So, to begin - poor GCSE's in of themself are not enough to bar your entry to Oxford.
I got 2 A*'s 7 A's and 2 B's at GCSE which are comparatively poor for Oxford applicants - this was compounded by the fact I went to fantastic state schools and come from a well off background, so contextually they were really bad (my contextual GCSE score was -1.49).

Whilst GCSE's are taken into account to a significant extent, entrance exams, interviews and A levels are all far more important.

The second thing I think is important is that you can revise for your entrance exams. I met a whole ton of applicants that made it to interview that hadn't done any of the entrance exam past papers which, in my view, is a big error. My TSA score went up by more than 15 points by the time I'd finished all the past papers - I went from a score of around 55 (too bad for even an interview) to a score of 73 which is a huge huge difference when it comes to your application.

I can't speak for other entrance exams but I know quite a few of them contain the multiple choice section of the TSA and so really are worth doing.

For those who sit the TSA in particular I also just wanted to give a bit of advice on structure for the unseen essay - you only have thirty minutes and finishing it is critical. I saw this piece of advice on TSR a while back and it helped a bunch:

P1: Argument against your view
P2: Why the argument in P1 is wrong
P3: Argument for your view
P4: Dismiss two criticisms of your view and conclude briefly.

The above structure allows for a coherent essay which answers the question and shows that not only your aware of the merits of opposing views but also that your own conclusion is justified.

Next up, smash your A levels. I initially applied with an AAA prediction but reapplied with A*A*A. This undoubtedly makes a difference - Oxford need to know you can handle and do well in exams and, particularly if you have poor GCSE's, your A levels are the best way to prove that.

When it comes to the interviews themselves there is no easy route you can follow to guaranteed success but there are a few things you can do maximise your chances:

1) Wear whatever the hell you like. During my first round of interviews I wore a shirt and jacket because I thought it mattered to look the part but I felt claustrophobic in such clothing. This time round I rocked up in my favourite Tee and ASOS jacket combination with some really old scruffy trainers. The reason that helped is because it made me more comfortable - if formal works for you rock it, but if it doesn't then don't.

2) Don't rush into answers. I initially thought fluency and 'quick thinking' were critical to getting a place so dived right in to all my answers without giving it much thought - often there is intricate details contained within texts or questions the interviewers might give you that you wouldn't notice if you were rushing - it's totally fine to ask the interviewers for 30 seconds to think before you respond.

3) Ask the interviewers for further clarity or detail if you're even slightly unsure. Quite often there might be a word you're unfamiliar with or a situation where you don't really understand what the interviewers are asking - it's far better to clear that up and then answer the question than take a gamble and potentially give an irrelevant response.

4) Intellectual dexterity and flexibility are key, but you need to strike a balance. The interviewers want to know you can change your mind in the face of compelling arguments but will also sometimes be testing your ability to defend a view - all that is to say don't change your mind at every challenge but don't dig in either; defend your opinion until you feel it's indefensible and then move on. Phrases like "now I've thought about it I would like to scrap what I just said" are absolutely fine and allow for a more fluid discussion.

5) This last piece of advice might be controversial but I do think it's the right way to go - be personable. The interviewers aren't just looking for raw intellectual firepower, they're looking for students they want to teach over the next X years. So, for example, if you see an opportunity to make a joke that you think will fly go for it - they aren't going to exclude you on the back of a bad joke but they might gloss over you if you come across as a super rigid because at the end of the day they want to find students they will enjoy teaching.

Lastly, read read read. You have no idea about what might come up in an interview, entrance exam or A2 exam but reading widely around your subject will give the best chance to show depth and breadth. One of my A2 economics papers was based almost entirely off of things I'd read by Stiglitz, Krugman and Ha-Joon Chang and it was by far my best one. You want to give yourself as much possible prior knowledge when going into an Oxford application - not because they necessarily look for prior knowledge but because being familiar with as many ideas, concepts and methods as possible will only help you when encountering new ones.

I used an almost identical personal statement second time round because I'd worked really hard on my first one and didn't think I would be able to write a better one - I changed some of my book references and made it slightly more contemporary, but if you think your first personal statement was a banger then don't feel the need to scrap it and start afresh.

Finally re the gap year side of things - if you reapply you will have only had from August-November free time post results and I don't think you need to do anything glam or exciting in that time. I didn't mention my year off whatsoever in my PS and when I was asked about it I simply said I had sought to expand my understanding of economics and philosophy by reading further around the subject.

I don't know if any of this is helpful or if its something you guys have read a thousand times - but I really didn't think I would get in this year after my interviews and am so so happy I reapplied - as I recently read on TSR;

Don't let anybody tell you it's done when it isn't.

Cheers and if anyone has any questions I'm more than happy to answer them - best of luck all.

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Original post by Radicalist
Hey there everyone,

I want to start off by saying that Oxford really isn't the be all and end all, it is not a prerequisite for academic success whatsoever and almost everyone who gets rejected from Oxford gets offers from other world class UK (or international) universities. That alone is more than enough evidence that even if you get rejected, you're still massively intelligent (I made the mistake of letting my Oxford rejection convince me I wasn't particularly intelligent for a while after and in hindsight such thinking isn't constructive and is heavily flawed).

Having said all of that, some people really do fall in love with Oxford and reckon it's worth a second attempt - if that's you, read on.

So I applied to Oxford for 2017 entry and was rejected post-interview. Like a lot of people who receive rejection it was my first experience of academic failure and given my academic strength was such a large part of my identity, I was crushed.

I considered just going to university that year but ultimately decided I wanted to give Oxford one more shot - I received my offer for PPE two days ago and couldn't be happier.

All that being said, I wanted to share what I learnt during my reapplication because I was given a myriad of, often contradictory, advice from almost everyone I knew about how to go about it, and not all of it (in my view) turned out to be correct.

So, to begin - poor GCSE's in of themself are not enough to bar your entry to Oxford.
I got 2 A*'s 7 A's and 2 B's at GCSE which are comparatively poor for Oxford applicants - this was compounded by the fact I went to fantastic state schools and come from a well off background, so contextually they were really bad (my contextual GCSE score was -1.49).

Whilst GCSE's are taken into account to a significant extent, entrance exams, interviews and A levels are all far more important.

The second thing I think is important is that you can revise for your entrance exams. I met a whole ton of applicants that made it to interview that hadn't done any of the entrance exam past papers which, in my view, is a big error. My TSA score went up by more than 15 points by the time I'd finished all the past papers - I went from a score of around 55 (too bad for even an interview) to a score of 73 which is a huge huge difference when it comes to your application.

I can't speak for other entrance exams but I know quite a few of them contain the multiple choice section of the TSA and so really are worth doing.

For those who sit the TSA in particular I also just wanted to give a bit of advice on structure for the unseen essay - you only have thirty minutes and finishing it is critical. I saw this piece of advice on TSR a while back and it helped a bunch:

P1: Argument against your view
P2: Why the argument in P1 is wrong
P3: Argument for your view
P4: Dismiss two criticisms of your view and conclude briefly.

The above structure allows for a coherent essay which answers the question and shows that not only your aware of the merits of opposing views but also that your own conclusion is justified.

Next up, smash your A levels. I initially applied with an AAA prediction but reapplied with A*A*A. This undoubtedly makes a difference - Oxford need to know you can handle and do well in exams and, particularly if you have poor GCSE's, your A levels are the best way to prove that.

When it comes to the interviews themselves there is no easy route you can follow to guaranteed success but there are a few things you can do maximise your chances:

1) Wear whatever the hell you like. During my first round of interviews I wore a shirt and jacket because I thought it mattered to look the part but I felt claustrophobic in such clothing. This time round I rocked up in my favourite Tee and ASOS jacket combination with some really old scruffy trainers. The reason that helped is because it made me more comfortable - if formal works for you rock it, but if it doesn't then don't.

2) Don't rush into answers. I initially thought fluency and 'quick thinking' were critical to getting a place so dived right in to all my answers without giving it much thought - often there is intricate details contained within texts or questions the interviewers might give you that you wouldn't notice if you were rushing - it's totally fine to ask the interviewers for 30 seconds to think before you respond.

3) Ask the interviewers for further clarity or detail if you're even slightly unsure. Quite often there might be a word you're unfamiliar with or a situation where you don't really understand what the interviewers are asking - it's far better to clear that up and then answer the question than take a gamble and potentially give an irrelevant response.

4) Intellectual dexterity and flexibility are key, but you need to strike a balance. The interviewers want to know you can change your mind in the face of compelling arguments but will also sometimes be testing your ability to defend a view - all that is to say don't change your mind at every challenge but don't dig in either; defend your opinion until you feel it's indefensible and then move on. Phrases like "now I've thought about it I would like to scrap what I just said" are absolutely fine and allow for a more fluid discussion.

5) This last piece of advice might be controversial but I do think it's the right way to go - be personable. The interviewers aren't just looking for raw intellectual firepower, they're looking for students they want to teach over the next X years. So, for example, if you see an opportunity to make a joke that you think will fly go for it - they aren't going to exclude you on the back of a bad joke but they might gloss over you if you come across as a super rigid because at the end of the day they want to find students they will enjoy teaching.

Lastly, read read read. You have no idea about what might come up in an interview, entrance exam or A2 exam but reading widely around your subject will give the best chance to show depth and breadth. One of my A2 economics papers was based almost entirely off of things I'd read by Stiglitz, Krugman and Ha-Joon Chang and it was by far my best one. You want to give yourself as much possible prior knowledge when going into an Oxford application - not because they necessarily look for prior knowledge but because being familiar with as many ideas, concepts and methods as possible will only help you when encountering new ones.

I used an almost identical personal statement second time round because I'd worked really hard on my first one and didn't think I would be able to write a better one - I changed some of my book references and made it slightly more contemporary, but if you think your first personal statement was a banger then don't feel the need to scrap it and start afresh.

Finally re the gap year side of things - if you reapply you will have only had from August-November free time post results and I don't think you need to do anything glam or exciting in that time. I didn't mention my year off whatsoever in my PS and when I was asked about it I simply said I had sought to expand my understanding of economics and philosophy by reading further around the subject.

I don't know if any of this is helpful or if its something you guys have read a thousand times - but I really didn't think I would get in this year after my interviews and am so so happy I reapplied - as I recently read on TSR;

Don't let anybody tell you it's done when it isn't.

Cheers and if anyone has any questions I'm more than happy to answer them - best of luck all.


Hi. Firstly, THANK YOU for this post.
I am an international applicant and I applied for law. I got rejected pre-interview. I obviously was so hurt. My academic ability is a huge part of my identity as well and this just shattered me. For me, studying in Oxford wasn’t just about studying in Oxford, if you know what I mean. Before I visited Oxford, I wasn’t that keen on it. Then when I went for my summer school there, I fell in love with it. The system of teaching, the life, the historical buildings, the collegiate system everything. I loved the college where I was staying and I specifically applied to it. I currently hold offers from Durham and Exeter. While I won’t take a gap year, I will definitely apply again.

I wanted to ask you apart from your grades, what else do you think doing differently helped you? For me, I think I didn’t put in the required effort.
Thank you! I really appreciate your post! I also wanted to ask- if you have any idea, what is the reapplicant success rate like?


Thank you!
Reply 2
Original post by AdvocateDevereux
Hi. Firstly, THANK YOU for this post.
I am an international applicant and I applied for law. I got rejected pre-interview. I obviously was so hurt. My academic ability is a huge part of my identity as well and this just shattered me. For me, studying in Oxford wasn’t just about studying in Oxford, if you know what I mean. Before I visited Oxford, I wasn’t that keen on it. Then when I went for my summer school there, I fell in love with it. The system of teaching, the life, the historical buildings, the collegiate system everything. I loved the college where I was staying and I specifically applied to it. I currently hold offers from Durham and Exeter. While I won’t take a gap year, I will definitely apply again.

I wanted to ask you apart from your grades, what else do you think doing differently helped you? For me, I think I didn’t put in the required effort.
Thank you! I really appreciate your post! I also wanted to ask- if you have any idea, what is the reapplicant success rate like?


Thank you!


The truth is I think just by nature of having done the whole process once you're naturally more relaxed and so do better. It is for that reason that, as far as I'm aware, the success rate for reapplicants is actually higher than normal applicants.

I think the biggest thing aside from what I wrote in my original post was that I made sure I was **** hot on my A2 syllabus' and read for around 30 minutes some subject relevant stuff before each interview. It just helped my brain get going so I could be at my best the second I walked in the room.

If you got rejected pre interview chances are your LNAT wasn't competitive enough - here is the page for practice LNAT papers. Don't just do them once or twice. Do every single one multiple times and make sure you save of them to do the night before your real thing.

In terms of interviews themselves, another great thing to do is find a teacher who is both smart and ruthless to mock interview you. I emailed my old philosophy teacher who I honestly think might be slightly sociopathic (in that his comments were always utterly brutal) and asked him to mock interview me because I knew he wouldn't spare me the truth.

Finally, it is worth being absolutely up to date on current legal affairs for both your entrance exam and your interviews. As I applied to do PPE, I made sure I read response to the budget from a range of different interest groups (Deloitte, The Labour Party, respected economists etc) and as it happens it didn't come up in my interview, but it shows passion and a dedicated mind if you can reference contemporary examples to back up points that you make.
Hi, first of all congratulations on getting in!
I have a question regarding applying to other unis - I assume that this year you didn't apply to Oxford only. If that is indeed the case then did you reapply to any universities after possibly rejecting them last year?
I'm considering reapplying but have a UCL offer. I'm afraid that if I firm it, then reject it when I get my results and reapply in the 2019 cycle they might not give me another chance. If I don't get into Oxford then I basically screwed myself over.
Do you have any experience with that? Thanks!
Reply 4
Original post by cinnamon_bun
Hi, first of all congratulations on getting in!
I have a question regarding applying to other unis - I assume that this year you didn't apply to Oxford only. If that is indeed the case then did you reapply to any universities after possibly rejecting them last year?
I'm considering reapplying but have a UCL offer. I'm afraid that if I firm it, then reject it when I get my results and reapply in the 2019 cycle they might not give me another chance. If I don't get into Oxford then I basically screwed myself over.
Do you have any experience with that? Thanks!


Well I got into York last year and this year - I'm pretty sure universities scrap application records year on year so you should be fine mate!
Original post by Radicalist
Well I got into York last year and this year - I'm pretty sure universities scrap application records year on year so you should be fine mate!


Cheers!
Reply 6
How would reapplying fare for a subject whose interviews mostly revolve around our personal statement? I applied for Oriental Studies and got rejected post-interview and both of my interviews was very personal statement based. I'm not sure how to prepare if I do reapply because quite different from my friends who applied for sciences/law because they got given problems to solve.
Reply 7
Original post by AdvocateDevereux
Hi. Firstly, THANK YOU for this post.
I am an international applicant and I applied for law. I got rejected pre-interview. I obviously was so hurt. My academic ability is a huge part of my identity as well and this just shattered me. For me, studying in Oxford wasn’t just about studying in Oxford, if you know what I mean. Before I visited Oxford, I wasn’t that keen on it. Then when I went for my summer school there, I fell in love with it. The system of teaching, the life, the historical buildings, the collegiate system everything. I loved the college where I was staying and I specifically applied to it. I currently hold offers from Durham and Exeter. While I won’t take a gap year, I will definitely apply again.

I wanted to ask you apart from your grades, what else do you think doing differently helped you? For me, I think I didn’t put in the required effort.
Thank you! I really appreciate your post! I also wanted to ask- if you have any idea, what is the reapplicant success rate like?


Thank you!


Hi,

I also got rejected from Oxford pre-interview for law and I also got an offer from Durham. You said that you won't take a gap year; did you mean that you'll accept either Durham or Exeter and apply as you are studying or what? I'm kinda in the same situation as I'd like to take the Durham offer but would also have another shot at Oxford
Original post by olah
Hi,

I also got rejected from Oxford pre-interview for law and I also got an offer from Durham. You said that you won't take a gap year; did you mean that you'll accept either Durham or Exeter and apply as you are studying or what? I'm kinda in the same situation as I'd like to take the Durham offer but would also have another shot at Oxford


Hi. Yeah, I will accept Durham and then apply again. There's no point in putting my education on hold for a year when there is no guarantee that I'll get into Oxford for 2019 entry. And if I really end up enjoying Durham (or if I get an offer from KCL), I might just apply for my masters to Oxford because as much as I would LOVE studying in Oxford if I get through, the finances may become an issue. Durham seems like a really great law school to me. Are you going to be firming it? Which are your other choices?
Reply 9
Original post by AdvocateDevereux
Hi. Yeah, I will accept Durham and then apply again. There's no point in putting my education on hold for a year when there is no guarantee that I'll get into Oxford for 2019 entry. And if I really end up enjoying Durham (or if I get an offer from KCL), I might just apply for my masters to Oxford because as much as I would LOVE studying in Oxford if I get through, the finances may become an issue. Durham seems like a really great law school to me. Are you going to be firming it? Which are your other choices?


LSE, UCL and Oxford rejected, Durham cond. and KCL hasn't answered yet. I'm currently considering my options and I was also thinking that I would firm Durham (and put KCL insurance) and apply again to Oxford for 2019. I haven't made up my mind yet as for me it would also make sense to skip 2018 entry due to the fact that we have mandatory military service. My plan was to postpone my service and go there after graduating but yeah.. not sure yet. I'm international student too so it's a bit difficult.
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by olah
LSE, UCL and Oxford rejected, Durham cond. and KCL hasn't answered yet. I'm currently considering my options and I was also thinking that I would firm Durham (and put KCL insurance) and apply again to Oxford for 2019. I haven't made up my mind yet as for me it would also make sense to skip 2018 entry due to the fact that we have mandatory military service. My plan was to postpone my service and go there after graduating but yeah.. not sure yet. I'm international student too so it's a bit difficult.



I'm waiting for KCL too. Would you say it's likely to get a KCL offer if we have a Durham offer? What do you think? I really want to go to KCL.
Original post by Radicalist
Hey there everyone,

I want to start off by saying that Oxford really isn't the be all and end all, it is not a prerequisite for academic success whatsoever and almost everyone who gets rejected from Oxford gets offers from other world class UK (or international) universities. That alone is more than enough evidence that even if you get rejected, you're still massively intelligent (I made the mistake of letting my Oxford rejection convince me I wasn't particularly intelligent for a while after and in hindsight such thinking isn't constructive and is heavily flawed).

Having said all of that, some people really do fall in love with Oxford and reckon it's worth a second attempt - if that's you, read on.

So I applied to Oxford for 2017 entry and was rejected post-interview. Like a lot of people who receive rejection it was my first experience of academic failure and given my academic strength was such a large part of my identity, I was crushed.

I considered just going to university that year but ultimately decided I wanted to give Oxford one more shot - I received my offer for PPE two days ago and couldn't be happier.

All that being said, I wanted to share what I learnt during my reapplication because I was given a myriad of, often contradictory, advice from almost everyone I knew about how to go about it, and not all of it (in my view) turned out to be correct.

So, to begin - poor GCSE's in of themself are not enough to bar your entry to Oxford.
I got 2 A*'s 7 A's and 2 B's at GCSE which are comparatively poor for Oxford applicants - this was compounded by the fact I went to fantastic state schools and come from a well off background, so contextually they were really bad (my contextual GCSE score was -1.49).

Whilst GCSE's are taken into account to a significant extent, entrance exams, interviews and A levels are all far more important.

The second thing I think is important is that you can revise for your entrance exams. I met a whole ton of applicants that made it to interview that hadn't done any of the entrance exam past papers which, in my view, is a big error. My TSA score went up by more than 15 points by the time I'd finished all the past papers - I went from a score of around 55 (too bad for even an interview) to a score of 73 which is a huge huge difference when it comes to your application.

I can't speak for other entrance exams but I know quite a few of them contain the multiple choice section of the TSA and so really are worth doing.

For those who sit the TSA in particular I also just wanted to give a bit of advice on structure for the unseen essay - you only have thirty minutes and finishing it is critical. I saw this piece of advice on TSR a while back and it helped a bunch:

P1: Argument against your view
P2: Why the argument in P1 is wrong
P3: Argument for your view
P4: Dismiss two criticisms of your view and conclude briefly.

The above structure allows for a coherent essay which answers the question and shows that not only your aware of the merits of opposing views but also that your own conclusion is justified.

Next up, smash your A levels. I initially applied with an AAA prediction but reapplied with A*A*A. This undoubtedly makes a difference - Oxford need to know you can handle and do well in exams and, particularly if you have poor GCSE's, your A levels are the best way to prove that.

When it comes to the interviews themselves there is no easy route you can follow to guaranteed success but there are a few things you can do maximise your chances:

1) Wear whatever the hell you like. During my first round of interviews I wore a shirt and jacket because I thought it mattered to look the part but I felt claustrophobic in such clothing. This time round I rocked up in my favourite Tee and ASOS jacket combination with some really old scruffy trainers. The reason that helped is because it made me more comfortable - if formal works for you rock it, but if it doesn't then don't.

2) Don't rush into answers. I initially thought fluency and 'quick thinking' were critical to getting a place so dived right in to all my answers without giving it much thought - often there is intricate details contained within texts or questions the interviewers might give you that you wouldn't notice if you were rushing - it's totally fine to ask the interviewers for 30 seconds to think before you respond.

3) Ask the interviewers for further clarity or detail if you're even slightly unsure. Quite often there might be a word you're unfamiliar with or a situation where you don't really understand what the interviewers are asking - it's far better to clear that up and then answer the question than take a gamble and potentially give an irrelevant response.

4) Intellectual dexterity and flexibility are key, but you need to strike a balance. The interviewers want to know you can change your mind in the face of compelling arguments but will also sometimes be testing your ability to defend a view - all that is to say don't change your mind at every challenge but don't dig in either; defend your opinion until you feel it's indefensible and then move on. Phrases like "now I've thought about it I would like to scrap what I just said" are absolutely fine and allow for a more fluid discussion.

5) This last piece of advice might be controversial but I do think it's the right way to go - be personable. The interviewers aren't just looking for raw intellectual firepower, they're looking for students they want to teach over the next X years. So, for example, if you see an opportunity to make a joke that you think will fly go for it - they aren't going to exclude you on the back of a bad joke but they might gloss over you if you come across as a super rigid because at the end of the day they want to find students they will enjoy teaching.

Lastly, read read read. You have no idea about what might come up in an interview, entrance exam or A2 exam but reading widely around your subject will give the best chance to show depth and breadth. One of my A2 economics papers was based almost entirely off of things I'd read by Stiglitz, Krugman and Ha-Joon Chang and it was by far my best one. You want to give yourself as much possible prior knowledge when going into an Oxford application - not because they necessarily look for prior knowledge but because being familiar with as many ideas, concepts and methods as possible will only help you when encountering new ones.

I used an almost identical personal statement second time round because I'd worked really hard on my first one and didn't think I would be able to write a better one - I changed some of my book references and made it slightly more contemporary, but if you think your first personal statement was a banger then don't feel the need to scrap it and start afresh.

Finally re the gap year side of things - if you reapply you will have only had from August-November free time post results and I don't think you need to do anything glam or exciting in that time. I didn't mention my year off whatsoever in my PS and when I was asked about it I simply said I had sought to expand my understanding of economics and philosophy by reading further around the subject.

I don't know if any of this is helpful or if its something you guys have read a thousand times - but I really didn't think I would get in this year after my interviews and am so so happy I reapplied - as I recently read on TSR;

Don't let anybody tell you it's done when it isn't.

Cheers and if anyone has any questions I'm more than happy to answer them - best of luck all.


Can I just ask how you managed the massive TSA score boost?

I got 66.6 this year and struggled to improve during practise. I was around 59 when I started.
Reply 12
Original post by AdvocateDevereux
I'm waiting for KCL too. Would you say it's likely to get a KCL offer if we have a Durham offer? What do you think? I really want to go to KCL.


No idea, since I'm not sure if KCL values PS over LNAT or vice versa. My LNAT didn't go very well (or at least UCL told me that) so it might be reject for me.
Reply 13
Original post by Kyber Ninja
Can I just ask how you managed the massive TSA score boost?

I got 66.6 this year and struggled to improve during practise. I was around 59 when I started.


I started doing them with an hours timer and set that as my goal. Obviously initially I found it impossible but setting yourself conditions much tougher than the real thing mean when you come to sit the exam again you will have 30 minutes to check for mistakes and go back to ones you skipped.

Speed is critical - so really do skip any questions you can't answer in around a minute and come back to them later.

Apart from that reading the wording of the question really carefully is paramount - every main conclusion question will likely have multiple plausible answers, but the key word is main and so you should go for the one supported by the other options. Equally, for most hinder or most help questions you can try and think about the reverse, sometimes that helps.
Hi there,
first of all, congratulations on your offer! I am currently in a situation just like you one year ago. I applied to Oxford for law for 2018 entry as an International student with a predicted IB score of 45(or the a level equivalent of A*A*A*). I was rejected post interview which means that my LNAT was probably decent but I lacked in other aspects.Because Oxford was always my dream school, I am currently debating on whether I should give it another go. However, if I do decide to give it another go, I am struggling between whether I should take a gap year or start studying at another UK university whereas applying in the October of 2018 again.
The questions I have then are as follows:
1) What did you have in mind when you decided to take a gap year solely with the intention of applying to Oxford again? This is a very tough decision for me to make and I am really afraid that if I rejected my university offers this year and apply again next year they will discriminate against me on this behalf and there is only a very very slim chance that I might be accepted by Oxford.
2) Did you make any change to your personal statement(is that required) before resubmitting your application and from where did you get your second reference?
3) If I decide against taking a gap year start studying law at another UK university, would I be seen by Oxford as having an unfair advantage over other applicants given that I will already have certain knowledge in law(I will already have learnt law for three months from September to December) and be rejected on this behalf?
I would really love it if you, or anyone else in this thread who has had experience with reapplying provide an answer to my questions as no one in my high school has ever decided to reapply and my university counselor is unable to offer me good advice due to that.
Thank you!:h:
(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 15
Original post by Beaver Nugget
Hi there,
first of all, congratulations on your offer! I am currently in a situation just like you one year ago. I applied to Oxford for law for 2018 entry as an International student with a predicted IB score of 45(or the a level equivalent of A*A*A*). I was rejected post interview which means that my LNAT was probably decent but I lacked in other aspects.Because Oxford was always my dream school, I am currently debating on whether I should give it another go. However, if I do decide to give it another go, I am struggling between whether I should take a gap year or start studying at another UK university whereas applying in the October of 2018 again.
The questions I have then are as follows:
1) What did you have in mind when you decided to take a gap year solely with the intention of applying to Oxford again? This is a very tough decision for me to make and I am really afraid that if I rejected my university offers this year and apply again next year they will discriminate against me on this behalf and there is only a very very slim chance that I might be accepted by Oxford.
2) Did you make any change to your personal statement(is that required) before resubmitting your application and from where did you get your second reference?
3) If I decide against taking a gap year start studying law at another UK university, would I be seen by Oxford as having an unfair advantage over other applicants given that I will already have certain knowledge in law(I will already have learnt law for three months from September to December) and be rejected on this behalf?
I would really love it if you, or anyone else in this thread who has had experience with reapplying provide an answer to my questions as no one in my high school has ever decided to reapply and my university counselor is unable to offer me good advice due to that.
Thank you!:h:


Hey there mate,

It looks to me like your on paper application was probably fairly impeccable - with an IB of 45 I doubt your LNAT was substandard.

In terms of answering your questions, my thoughts are:

1) Well I had in mind I wanted to get in! Not quite sure what you're asking here - but I really wouldn't worry about any other uni discriminating against you because you applied one year and then rejected the offer - if need be you can always defer an offer this year but a lot of unis scrap application records year on year so you'll be fine on that front.

2) I made very limited changes to personal statement - I changed two of the five books i mentioned because I thought they were more interesting and also changed my introduction because it was about the Labour Party and was no longer contemporary. If you think your personal statement is good though, I would only change it a tad so it looks up to date!

3) I'm not sure about that one - but I think your interview might be slightly different and they would definitely take into account that youve received some higher education at that point so may hold you to a higher standard. Still though, reapplicants have a higher success rate than first time applicants, so I say go for it!
Thank you and I wish you all the best in your future studies at Oxford!
Original post by Radicalist
Hey there mate,

It looks to me like your on paper application was probably fairly impeccable - with an IB of 45 I doubt your LNAT was substandard.

In terms of answering your questions, my thoughts are:

1) Well I had in mind I wanted to get in! Not quite sure what you're asking here - but I really wouldn't worry about any other uni discriminating against you because you applied one year and then rejected the offer - if need be you can always defer an offer this year but a lot of unis scrap application records year on year so you'll be fine on that front.

2) I made very limited changes to personal statement - I changed two of the five books i mentioned because I thought they were more interesting and also changed my introduction because it was about the Labour Party and was no longer contemporary. If you think your personal statement is good though, I would only change it a tad so it looks up to date!

3) I'm not sure about that one - but I think your interview might be slightly different and they would definitely take into account that youve received some higher education at that point so may hold you to a higher standard. Still though, reapplicants have a higher success rate than first time applicants, so I say go for it!
I want to say congratulations!
The same thing happened to me. I was rejected 2017 for Biological Sciences and was gutted. I was ill over L6 and U6 and my dad had a heart attack so I had no clue how I was going to do at A levels. Oxford was kinda my motivation for the GCSEs and AS and so I really thought I was going to screw them up. Anyway I got my results and this gives such a confidence boost because you have what you need and there is no uncertainty of you getting the grades.
I was really unsure if I was going to apply or not because it is a tough process and a very emotional process. I couldn't find anything about reapplying or anyone who had. It would have really helped to know something about it but hey.

In case anyone curious:
GCSEs: 9A* 2A 1B (English language lol)
AS: AA in Maths and Further Maths
A Level: A*A*AA (Biology, Maths, Further Maths and Chemistry) and an A* in EPQ
Reply 18
Original post by Beaver Nugget
Hi there,
first of all, congratulations on your offer! I am currently in a situation just like you one year ago. I applied to Oxford for law for 2018 entry as an International student with a predicted IB score of 45(or the a level equivalent of A*A*A*). I was rejected post interview which means that my LNAT was probably decent but I lacked in other aspects.Because Oxford was always my dream school, I am currently debating on whether I should give it another go. However, if I do decide to give it another go, I am struggling between whether I should take a gap year or start studying at another UK university whereas applying in the October of 2018 again.
The questions I have then are as follows:
1) What did you have in mind when you decided to take a gap year solely with the intention of applying to Oxford again? This is a very tough decision for me to make and I am really afraid that if I rejected my university offers this year and apply again next year they will discriminate against me on this behalf and there is only a very very slim chance that I might be accepted by Oxford.
2) Did you make any change to your personal statement(is that required) before resubmitting your application and from where did you get your second reference?
3) If I decide against taking a gap year start studying law at another UK university, would I be seen by Oxford as having an unfair advantage over other applicants given that I will already have certain knowledge in law(I will already have learnt law for three months from September to December) and be rejected on this behalf?
I would really love it if you, or anyone else in this thread who has had experience with reapplying provide an answer to my questions as no one in my high school has ever decided to reapply and my university counselor is unable to offer me good advice due to that.
Thank you!:h:


I missed the deadline and am looking forward to go to UCL for CS. Should I consider applying to Oxford after completing my first year in UCL for the 2019 entry?
Original post by gammarayes
Are you VIOLA HELEN


lol Viola Helen applied for deferred entry

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