Rejected from Oxbridge for Maths

Has anyone been rejected from either Oxford or Cambridge for Mathematics and have any insight they're willing to share on why they were rejected? Also any thoughts on what one should do to prepare and when; how competitive you found it; colleges; the interview process; STEP and MAT tips - any general advice really would be great! :smile:

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 1

Interea

19

Original post by loststarsatnight

Has anyone been rejected from either Oxford or Cambridge for Mathematics and have any insight they're willing to share on why they were rejected? Also any thoughts on what one should do to prepare and when; how competitive you found it; colleges; the interview process; STEP and MAT tips - any general advice really would be great! :smile:

I shall let you know when I get my inevitable rejection on the 25th :lol:

I assume you're in year 12 thinking of applying to one of them? I'd recommend starting to have a look at which one's course/which uni in general you prefer, since that will determine how and when you need to prep for entrance exams.

Reply 2

loststarsatnight

OP

7

Love that energy and yh correct on both counts - planning on going for Cambridge at Trinity (not to jinx anything) - although I think 1) my school won't go for trinity and 2) I'm being far too overconfident for Trinity. Only going to go for Trinity if I start smashing the STEP papers.

My thinking so far is finish the maths and FM course then STEP papers and further reading. Just wanted to know what holes to try to avoid and anything to correct now.

Reply 3

ajena

10

You'll have more of a life at other unis, plus you can always reapply for your masters.

Reply 4

Interea

19

Original post by loststarsatnight

Love that energy and yh correct on both counts - planning on going for Cambridge at Trinity (not to jinx anything) - although I think 1) my school won't go for trinity and 2) I'm being far too overconfident for Trinity. Only going to go for Trinity if I start smashing the STEP papers.

My thinking so far is finish the maths and FM course then STEP papers and further reading. Just wanted to know what holes to try to avoid and anything to correct now.

Sounds like you're on track for a pretty solid application. Interviews are just using your maths knowledge and being able to clearly explain your thought process, so at some point start trying to talk through harder problems. Also graph sketching is a big one for interviews - being able to talk through what you're thinking while you sketch it is key (i.e. asymptotes, behaviour as x tends to infinity/asymptotes etc.).

Why Trinity by the way? It's always a bigger risk: you have equal opportunity of getting a place regardless of college once you've made it to interview, but Trinity is always so oversubscribed for maths that they don't have time to interview every strong candidate, so some inevitably slip through without having a chance to be interviewed and pooled. The course is the same whichever college you end up at, Trinity just has a larger maths cohort than the other colleges (and granted does tend to have the IMO medallist type students, but it's Cambridge - there are good students everywhere).

Reply 5

loststarsatnight

OP

7

I'm sorta thinking about if it's 'just' talking through harder problems, why do people fail? Surely, anyone with reasonable talent and the ability to vocalise it would then get through. I don't really understand how they differentiate between candidates before interviews and at interviews.

And Trinity as it's the best (so to speak) and I believe my mum is fond of it. Again, it's not set in stone, as I think a medium sized college suits me better, but it's only if I get 110+ on STEP papers consistently which is a long shot. I've only skimmed over STEP 1 twice in the last month at the moment, but I have around 9 months before talking about colleges.

Reply 6

Interea

19

Original post by loststarsatnight

I'm sorta thinking about if it's 'just' talking through harder problems, why do people fail? Surely, anyone with reasonable talent and the ability to vocalise it would then get through. I don't really understand how they differentiate between candidates before interviews and at interviews.

And Trinity as it's the best (so to speak) and I believe my mum is fond of it. Again, it's not set in stone, as I think a medium sized college suits me better, but it's only if I get 110+ on STEP papers consistently which is a long shot. I've only skimmed over STEP 1 twice in the last month at the moment, but I have around 9 months before talking about colleges.

They're looking for teachability in interviews, so they'll try and find something to give you that you haven't done much before to see how you deal with it - you can be an amazing mathematician, but if they don't think you'd suit a supervision teaching style then you won't get an offer. Saying that, my first interview was very standard A level content (just a few silly mistakes that were obviously just due to me being nervous), so I'm not quite sure what the point of that one was! Plus with maths they offer much more than other subjects, since there is the extra hurdle of STEP in the summer which causes many people to miss their offers.

Yes Trinity is the "best", but the difference is so tiny that it really isn't worth the extra risk unless you personally love the college (it's where you'll live for 3 or 4 years after all!). I personally stayed far away from it as I would hate being in such a massive college with so many mathmos - I like to meet a variety of people and have a community, so I picked a college that is smaller and generally more popular for humanities to get that. At the end of the day it's exactly the same course so it makes no difference, and pooling means you can end up at any of them regardless of where you applied.

Reply 7

Peter76530

15

Original post by Interea

I shall let you know when I get my inevitable rejection on the 25th :lol:

I assume you're in year 12 thinking of applying to one of them? I'd recommend starting to have a look at which one's course/which uni in general you prefer, since that will determine how and when you need to prep for entrance exams.

If it’s an inevitable rejection then why have you applied?

Original post by Peter76530

If it’s an inevitable rejection then why have you applied?

Because it’s a very competitive course so most people get rejected, but they may as well give it a go!

Reply 9

Thom4s

4

Original post by Peter76530

If it’s an inevitable rejection then why have you applied?

If you're confident about your Oxbridge application you're in the minority.

Reply 10

Thom4s

4

Original post by loststarsatnight

Has anyone been rejected from either Oxford or Cambridge for Mathematics and have any insight they're willing to share on why they were rejected? Also any thoughts on what one should do to prepare and when; how competitive you found it; colleges; the interview process; STEP and MAT tips - any general advice really would be great! :smile:

I applied to Worcester college for mathematics but got 47 on the MAT so I'm pretty sure that's why I got rejected.

Reply 11

Interea

19

Original post by Peter76530

If it’s an inevitable rejection then why have you applied?

There are interviews between when you apply and when you get the decision, one of mine went pretty badly and I'm applying on a gap year with weird circumstances so I needed them to go especially well. Also there are 5 options to fill on UCAS and you can only go to one uni, so a couple of rejections don't matter :smile:

Reply 12

Peter76530

15

Original post by Interea

There are interviews between when you apply and when you get the decision, one of mine went pretty badly and I'm applying on a gap year with weird circumstances so I needed them to go especially well. Also there are 5 options to fill on UCAS and you can only go to one uni, so a couple of rejections don't matter :smile:

Why say it’s an inevitable rejection though you factually cannot know that

Reply 13

Interea

19

Original post by Peter76530

Why say it’s an inevitable rejection though you factually cannot know that

It was just a joke, hence the laughing emoji :confused:

If you'd like a percentage chance I'd say 98% chance of rejection, I think a little exaggeration in the form of a joke is allowed when I'm that close to certain!

Reply 14

Peter76530

15

Original post by Interea

It was just a joke, hence the laughing emoji :confused:

If you'd like a percentage chance I'd say 98% chance of rejection, I think a little exaggeration in the form of a joke is allowed when I'm that close to certain!

you’re 98% certain though are you lol but ok

Rejected from Oxbridge for Maths

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