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[OUTCOMES ONLY - No Discussion] Official 2019 Oxford Decisions Thread

EDIT 12/01/2019 - @libraerie has provided these links if you would like to fill them out and track everyone's outcomes:

Here's the link to the form you need to fill out: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...rm?usp=sf_link

Here's the link to all the responses: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing


Hello all. It's now the evening before Oxford Decisions Day 2019 and I'm sure we're all feeling nervous.

First of all, whatever your outcome, well done. If it's not the news you were hoping for, something equally good will come along - keep working hard. If it is the news you were hoping for, well done, be happy and work hard to make those grades!


Subject:
College:
Outcome:
How did you hear?
At what time approx did you hear?
How do you feel?
Anything else?

Per a user's suggestion to me, if you would like to fill out this longer format, I'm sure it would be helpful to future candidates (it's adapted from the Cambridge thread last year):

Optional
Home, EU or International (Country):
School Type (Private/State/Grammar/other):
GCSE Grades:
AS Subjects & Grades (include UMS if you have it):
A2 Predictions:
Other Qualifications
IB (with predicted score):
Other:

Reflection
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Pre- or At-Interview Admissions Assessment (e.g. MAT, PAT, HAT, TSA etc): (include what you think you scored: 1=bad, 10=excellent)
Interview Assessment: (include what you think you scored: 1=bad, 10=excellent)
Why did you chose your college?
What other universities did you apply to?
If you were accepted, what is your Insurance choice?
If you were rejected, which uni is benefiting from Oxford’s oversight?

Please leave discussions in this discussion thread or this discussion thread.


Feel free to PM me if you want me to add anything to this starting post, my inbox is always open!

See you tomorrow!

metellaest
(edited 5 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

Subject: Theology & Religion
College: Harris Manchester (Keble was my first college)
Outcome: Offer
How did you hear? Email
At what time approx did you hear? 0830
How do you feel? Happy I guess. Shocked, also. I thought my Harris interview went terrible. And I was very comfortable with my Keble one.
Anything else? No?
Reply 2
Subject: Religion and Hebrew
College: St John's
Outcome: offer!
How did you hear? Email
At what time approx did you hear? 8am
How do you feel? I can't quite believe it. Still waiting for UCAS to update and show the conditions of my offer, but right now I'm buzzing!
Anything else? As cliché as it sounds, believe in yourself. You have nothing to lose by applying.

(extra)
Home, EU or International (Country): Denmark
School Type (Private/State/Grammar/other): Private (on a scholarship)
GCSE Grades: 2 A* 4A 2B
IB (with predicted score): HL History, English, Geography. Predicted 39 with 766 in Higher Levels

Reflection
Strengths: personal statement, written work, interviews
Weaknesses: GCSE grades, admissions test
Pre- or At-Interview Admissions Assessment (e.g. MAT, PAT, HAT, TSA etc): I did the OLAT, and honestly a 3. I really mucked it up and it was way harder than the practice papers. I came out crying.
Interview Assessment: (include what you think you scored: 1=bad, 10=excellent) I had five interviews. My Hebrew faculty interview was a really good conversation and would probably give it an 8. The others were around 5-7.
Why did you chose your college? It's rich and Kingsley Amis went there!
What other universities did you apply to? Edinburgh, UCL, Durham, Bristol
If you were accepted, what is your Insurance choice? UCL I think!
Subject: Oriental Studies (Chinese)
College: University (got pooled from Balliol)
Outcome: Offer
How did you hear? Informal email from the college
At what time approx did you hear? 8:25am
How do you feel? Shocked. Ecstatic. But most of all, grateful!
Anything else? Have faith in yourself
(edited 5 years ago)
Subject: PPE
College: Corpus Christi
Outcome: offer
How did you hear? got it off ucas track but received no email yet
At what time approx did you hear? 09:12
How do you feel? aaaaaaaaa
Anything else? i love you
(edited 5 years ago)
Reply 5
Subject: Classics II and English
College: Wadham, reallocated from Brasenose
Outcome: Offer!
How did you hear? Got an email from the tutor I interviewed with before UCAS updated
At what time approx did you hear? Original email at 7:07 UK time
How do you feel? Shocked and proud. Grateful for everyone who got me here.
Home, EU or International (Country): USA
Other Qualifications: 1540 SAT, 9 5s on APs
What other universities did you apply to? Tons in the US, also St. Andrews, Edinburgh, KCL, and Exeter
If you were accepted, what is your Insurance choice? I already met the conditions of my offer, so no insurance. I will be waiting to hear back from so US schools though.
Subject: History and Politics
College: Wadham
Outcome: Rejection
How did you hear? Ucas
At what time approx did you hear? 9:05
How do you feel? Upset, currently crying while writing this lol
Anything else? I'm just dissapointed in myself because I thought I could be the start of making a change (I'm a foster kid)

Home, EU or International (Country): Home
School Type (Private/State/Grammar/other): State
GCSE Grades: 2A,s 2Bs, 2cs, 6,7,8 and a BTEC distinction and merit (probably my downfall but like I said foster kid so extenuating circumstances)
AS Subjects & Grades (include UMS if you have it): 3As
A2 Predictions: A*AA

Strengths: Personal statement, A level grades, test
Weaknesses: Probably my GCSES and interview
Pre- or At-Interview Admissions Assessment (e.g. MAT, PAT, HAT, TSA etc): I think the test went quite well like a 7/10 or something
Interview Assessment: The politics interview went awful so like overall a 5/10 maybe
Why did you chose your college? It's known to be quite liberal
What other universities did you apply to? York, Nottingham, Warwick and Southampton
If you were accepted, what is your Insurance choice? York
If you were rejected, which uni is benefiting from Oxford’s oversight? York after I consider deferring for a year or not
Reply 7
Subject: Medicine
College: Catz (applied Merton)
Outcome: Offer!
How did you hear? Email from Merton explaining I was being made an offer by catz.
At what time approx did you hear? 8:55
Reply 8
Subject:colone:
Subject: Oriental Studies - Japanese
College: Pembroke
Outcome: Rejection
How did you hear? Email
At what time approx did you hear? 9:47
How do you feel? It stings
Anything else? It hurts more than I thought. I knew that I would be rejected because of how badly my interview went so I'm honestly not surprised. I've been wanting to apply for Oxford for 4 years now and all that hoping feels stupid now. I almost feel like I haven't even read the email properly and that maybe there's still hope. I know that there isn't.

Optional
Home, EU or International (Country): Home
School Type (Private/State/Grammar/other): Private
GCSE Grades: 7A* and 3As
AS Subjects & Grades (include UMS if you have it): A
A2 Predictions: A*AA

Reflection
Strengths: I scored full marks on the surprise test they gave us in the first interview and that's about it.
Weaknesses: I cried in my second interview and was a nervous wreck throughout. Now that I think about it I think my personal statement was a serious weakness. My school said that we should include stuff linked with our A levels. With my subject that was very difficult but I did it anyway and I wrote about stuff I was interested but it wasn't what I was the most interested in. I think instead I should have written about what I was truly passionate rather than attempting to weave my A levels into my personal statement. The reason I cried in my second interview was because I knew that they would ask me about two things on my personal statement and I knew that I didn't have an adequate answer. In retrospect I should have just written about the things that I am truly passionate about and can talk for hours about.
Pre- or At-Interview Admissions Assessment (e.g. MAT, PAT, HAT, TSA etc): (include what you think you scored: 1=bad, 10=excellent) 7 I only had written work to send and after I sent it I realised that my written work had lots of grammatical errors because it was a draft of my EPQ that I forgot to check as I was so stressed.
Interview Assessment: (include what you think you scored: 1=bad, 10=excellent) 3 I did alright in the first one but the tutor didn't challenge me at all so I guess she saw little potential. The second one was awful because I cried and couldn't answer easy questions.
Why did you chose your college? I just really loved it and felt at home when I was there.
What other universities did you apply to? Durham, Leeds, SOAS and Edinburgh.
If you were rejected, which uni is benefiting from Oxford’s oversight? Leeds probably or Durham. I don't actually know. All the other universities apart from SOAS are really far and expensive from where I live so I haven't visited them.
(edited 5 years ago)
Subject: Medicine
College: St Catz (where my first 2 interviews were)
Outcome: Offer! Unconditional as I have A Levels already
How did you hear? Track, no emails yet
At what time approx did you hear? Not sure what time Track updated. I checked at 9.30ish
How do you feel? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Screamed so loudly I scared my cat away
Anything else?

Optional
Home, EU or International (Country): Home
School Type (Private/State/Grammar/other): Grammar
GCSE Grades: 10A*s
AS Subjects & Grades (include UMS if you have it): B in History, all others internal
A2 Obtained Summer 2018: A*A*A


Reflection
Strengths: Good at ethical questions, discussion questions. Some science parts, others less so! I can't say more due to confidentiality.
Weaknesses: Talking about myself, coming across as very nervous, some science parts.
Pre- or At-Interview Admissions Assessment (BMAT): Normally, my score would have been borderline to be shortlisted. However I think BMAT averages dropped this year? Which gave me a slight relative edge. I was very pleased with my 4A in the essay!
Interview Assessment: (include what you think you scored: 1=bad, 10=excellent) I had 4 interviews: first was a 3, second was a 7, third was a 6, fourth was a 6.
Why did you chose your college? Didn't want to invest too much in any one college, I liked it when I looked around, so I thought - go for it!
What other universities did you apply to? BSMS, Nottingham, Edinburgh
If you were accepted, what is your Insurance choice? BSMS (If I get an offer!)
If you were rejected, which uni is benefiting from Oxford’s oversight? BSMS (If I get an offer!)
Subject: A mathematical one
College: Trinity
Outcome: Offer
How did you hear? UCAS
At what time approx did you hear? 9:40
How do you feel? High
Anything else? how in heck

Strengths: Extra-curric, maybe interviews
Weaknesses: Probably MAT
Pre- or At-Interview Admissions Assessment (e.g. MAT, PAT, HAT, TSA etc): 5/10 average prob
Interview Assessment: 8/10, all but one interview went well
Why did you chose your college? Open app
(edited 5 years ago)
Reply 12
Subject: Oriental Studies (Arabic and Islamic Studies)
College: St John's
Outcome: Offer!
How did you hear? Email from John's
At what time approx did you hear? 9:23
How do you feel? Grateful! Am a reapplicant so today feels extra special :smile:


Home, EU or International (Country): International
School Type (Private/State/Grammar/other): Private
GCSE Grades: 9A*s 1B
IB (achieved): 41 and 776 in HL

Strengths: Was able to structure my arguments better this year (this was my main weakness in feedback last year)
Weaknesses: Wider knowledge of some obvious key areas that I probably should have known, admission test
Pre- or At-Interview Admissions Assessment (e.g. MAT, PAT, HAT, TSA etc): (include what you think you scored: 1=bad, 10=excellent) OLAT, probably a 3/10 as it was so much harder than last year and didn't get to finish the paper, alongside realising later that I got the key rules a bit mixed up
Interview Assessment: (include what you think you scored: 1=bad, 10=excellent) 7/10, found them harder than last year but I guess that's better!
Why did you chose your college? Closer to department and generally cheaper than other colleges
What other universities did you apply to? SOAS, Manchester, Edinburgh and St Andrews
If you were accepted, what is your Insurance choice? SOAS!
Subject: PPE
College: Jesus
Outcome: Rejection
How did you hear? Ucas
At what time approx did you hear? Around 9:40
How do you feel? Upset but alright!
Anything else?


Home, EU or International: USA
Other qualifications: 1540 SAT, 8 5’s on AP
Pre-interview Test: probably 7 or 8 out of 10. I couldn’t take it at my school so I was at least a bit put off by that. New environment plus more stress = lower performance
Can’t say for sure that caused my rejection though.
I mean I’m just glad I was interviewed. What an amazing experience
(edited 5 years ago)
Subject: History and English
College: Exeter
Outcome: Rejection!
How did you hear? UCAS Track Update
At what time approx did you hear? 9:30AM GMT
How do you feel? I'm alright!
Anything else? Lots of love to all the others who haven't got a place x
Reply 15
Subject: Mathematics
College: Lincoln
Outcome: Rejection
How did you hear? UCAS
At what time approx did you hear? 10AM GMT
How do you feel? Not so bad it's fine. Just a little bit disappointing me.
Subject: Economics and Management
College: Jesus
Outcome: offer
How did you hear? UCAS
At what time approx did you hear? 09:50
How do you feel? relieved:smile:
Anything else?

Home, EU or International (Country): EU
School Type (Private/State/Grammar/other): Private (on scholarship)
GCSE Grades: n/a (did my home country equivalent)
AS Subjects & Grades (include UMS if you have it): n/a
A2 Predictions: 5 A* (Maths, F. Maths, Economics, History, Physics)
Other Qualifications: SAT General (1550), SAT Mathematics II (800), SAT Physics (790)
Other:

Reflection
Strengths: probably TSA; during the interview I got questions about a concept I was interested in and I read about it quite a bit beforehand
Weaknesses: my Personal Statement was far from what I wanted it to be, and it had nothing about Management
Pre- or At-Interview Admissions Assessment (e.g. MAT, PAT, HAT, TSA etc): (include what you think you scored: 1=bad, 10=excellent) no clue; during TSA pretest I got a score around 80, and on the exam day I felt quite well about what I wrote, so there is a chance it was decent:wink:
Interview Assessment: (include what you think you scored: 1=bad, 10=excellent) 7?
Why did you chose your college? good localisation; provided accomodation for the whole duration of the course
What other universities did you apply to? LSE (rejection), UCL (offer), Warwick, Edinburgh
If you were accepted, what is your Insurance choice? Edinburgh
Subject: History
College: LMH
Outcome: offer !!!!
How did you hear?: email
At what time approx did you hear?: 11:00 (email came earlier)
How do you feel?: SHOCKED!!! I never thought that would get in
Anything else?: well done to everyone who applied regardless of the outcome
Reply 18
Subject: Fine art
College: ???
Outcome: Offer
How did you hear? UCAS
At what time approx did you hear? 9:30 am
How do you feel? Content
Anything else? IM EXCITED



Reflection
Strengths: My portfolio and interview
Weaknesses: Personal statement and GCSE grades (I had my A levels when applying tho)
Pre- or At-Interview Admissions Assessment (e.g. MAT, PAT, HAT, TSA etc): (include what you think you scored: 1=bad, 10=excellent)
Interview Assessment: (include what you think you scored: 1=bad, 10=excellent)
Why did you chose your college? I chose Teddy Hall because it was the best one for fine artists but I am not sure if I'm in there yet
What other universities did you apply to? UCL, Edinburgh, central saint martins and Goldsmiths
If you were accepted, what is your Insurance choice? I would be happy at any of my other choices apart from st Martins but I would probably choose Edinburgh of Slade
If you were rejected, which uni is benefiting from Oxford’s oversight?
Subject: PhysPhil
College: Balliol
Outcome: Conditional Offer (A*AA)
How did you hear? Direct email from the college, UCAS track updated shortly after.
At what time approx did you hear? 09:07
How do you feel? Absolutely overjoyed - all seems slightly surreal!

Home, EU or International (Country): Home
School Type (Private/State/Grammar/other): State
GCSE Grades: 10 A*s, 3 9s
AS Subjects & Grades (include UMS if you have it): Maths (A), Further Maths (A), Physics (A), German (A)
A2 Predictions: A*A*A*A (with the A in German)
Other Qualifications: EPQ (A*)

Strengths: GCSE and AS grades, personal statement, I thought my PAT was fairly good as well. I've done lots of further reading around Physics and Philosophy, so I was able to bring in ideas from that to the Philosophy interviews, which was especially useful in the formal logic question as I had seen similar arguments before.
Weaknesses: Interviews. I forgot the set up for the geometric derivation of angle addition formula for sin at the first interview, and had never learnt the derivation for Maclaurin series. But the interviewers didn't seem to mind - they either suggested another method, or explained it to me. Even when I misread a line of my working.
Pre- or At-Interview Admissions Assessment: PAT (7.5-8.5)
Interview Assessment: I had 4 interviews across 2 colleges, each being a combination of 2 subjects (of Maths, Physics or Philosophy). I felt they were really mixed in terms of how well they went, but probably on average between 6.5 and 8.5.
Why did you choose your college? It tends to (historically) accept the most PhysPhil students, and I figured it would be nicer to be part of a group of say 5, as opposed to only 1 or 2.
What other universities did you apply to? Bristol, KCL, Durham, Manchester
If you were accepted, what is your Insurance choice? Probably Bristol or KCL
(edited 5 years ago)

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