Taking a Gap Year as an Oxbridge Candidate

I'm going into Year 13 as an IB student and I'm unsure of what to do after finishing my exams. I had originally planned on applying to Cambridge to study Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic Studies but I'm worried that applying this year might be a mistake. I'm putting myself under a lot of pressure with applying to universities and I'm wondering whether I'm better off just focusing on my grades this year so I can walk away with as many points as possible. If I just worry about finishing the IB, I will probably get higher grades which will put me in a better position for applying to top tier universities like Cambridge and St Andrews. If I continue to worry about university in my final year, I could end up losing on both fronts with no offers into my chosen universities and subpar grades. A gap year could also be very beneficial to me as I'm studying French and German and I could potentially spend some time in France and Germany and become close to being fluent. Unfortunately, this idea may not be financially viable for me and I was wondering if anyone had done something similar without shelling out thousands of pounds for accommodation and a programme?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Original post by Anonymous

I'm going into Year 13 as an IB student and I'm unsure of what to do after finishing my exams. I had originally planned on applying to Cambridge to study Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic Studies but I'm worried that applying this year might be a mistake. I'm putting myself under a lot of pressure with applying to universities and I'm wondering whether I'm better off just focusing on my grades this year so I can walk away with as many points as possible. If I just worry about finishing the IB, I will probably get higher grades which will put me in a better position for applying to top tier universities like Cambridge and St Andrews. If I continue to worry about university in my final year, I could end up losing on both fronts with no offers into my chosen universities and subpar grades. A gap year could also be very beneficial to me as I'm studying French and German and I could potentially spend some time in France and Germany and become close to being fluent. Unfortunately, this idea may not be financially viable for me and I was wondering if anyone had done something similar without shelling out thousands of pounds for accommodation and a programme?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

There's no issue at all with taking a gap year and applying with confirmed grades. It's fine. Just do something useful with your year, and potentially course related (or career related, or money earning, or something else).

Reply 2

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by Anonymous

I'm going into Year 13 as an IB student and I'm unsure of what to do after finishing my exams. I had originally planned on applying to Cambridge to study Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic Studies but I'm worried that applying this year might be a mistake. I'm putting myself under a lot of pressure with applying to universities and I'm wondering whether I'm better off just focusing on my grades this year so I can walk away with as many points as possible. If I just worry about finishing the IB, I will probably get higher grades which will put me in a better position for applying to top tier universities like Cambridge and St Andrews. If I continue to worry about university in my final year, I could end up losing on both fronts with no offers into my chosen universities and subpar grades. A gap year could also be very beneficial to me as I'm studying French and German and I could potentially spend some time in France and Germany and become close to being fluent. Unfortunately, this idea may not be financially viable for me and I was wondering if anyone had done something similar without shelling out thousands of pounds for accommodation and a programme?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

As above, no issue taking a gap year. That said, what do you have to lose by throwing out an application this year if you're likely to take a gap year anyway? Worst case scenario you aren't successful and do the gap year anyway :smile:

If you are successful, you can then potentially consider asking to defer entry for a year if you wish to still do a gap year! :h:

In terms of the financial element for a gap year, you could always aim to spend ~half the gap year working, then look to go over to the country/ies in question and spend some time there (potentially also working if you can get some kind of working holiday visa or similar). There may also be schemes where there is funding to go and spend time there potentially also doing some intensive language training - I am pretty sure Germany has some stuff like that (possibly through the Goethe Institute?) that may be worth exploring.

You can also just work a bit, take a short trip over there for a holiday to practice a bit, and otherwise do other things in your gap year (if you've not done any Latin qualifications maybe look at doing a Latin course! Since that's pretty hard to avoid the importance of for ASNAC and related areas).

Taking a Gap Year as an Oxbridge Candidate

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