Reallocated Oxford College - Do I have any hope of an offer?

1

I have my interview for history at Oxford next week, but at a different college than the one I applied to. I don't really mind the fact that I was moved, I was really happy to get an invite to interview anyway, but I'm becoming really paranoid that the reason I was reallocated was because I was one of the weaker candidates to apply, so was moved.
The original college I applied to is one of the most popular, but I'm finding it hard to see any point in being interviewed if there's very little chance I could get an offer anyway because of my other stats.
Does anyone know if the reallocation process is completely random, or if only the strongest candidates get to be interviewed by the college they applied to?

Reply 1

xyz1234567

11

It depends on the subject, but on the whole weaker candidates are not reallocated, as the point is to even out the number of good candidates as well as the overall quantity of candidates, so the fact you have been suggests that you were considered a good candidate.

Reply 2

Anonymous #1

just to add to this, I topped my cohort in the admissions test and was reallocated to another college for interviews. I'd like to think that the reallocation process is somewhat random

Reply 3

chrisp1974

2

It does depend on the subject but my understanding is that colleges get to interview around 2.5 people per place. Of those they are allowed to ring-fence a certain number of home students (and separately international students) that they like the best. They remaining applicants are then reallocated across all the colleges to ensure they have an equal chance of an offer. So being reallocated is a good thing as by definition it means you have a better chance of an offer than you did before reallocation if you see what I mean.

Reply 4

Stiffy Byng

19

Back in the day, reallocation was called trumping. Colleges could poach candidates by giving them Scholarships or Exhibitions. Then as now, re allocation was a sign of a strong candidate, not a weak one.

If re allocated, treat this as a positive sign.

ISTR that, under the old system, if College A wanted candidate X, College B might trump College A by offering X an Exhibition. If College A really wanted X, College A would overtrump College B by offering X a Scholarship.

One of my dearest friends was supposed to be at John's but was trumped to Wadham. I might not have met him but for that.

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 5

JettisonTheS

5

Original post

by avs07

I have my interview for history at Oxford next week, but at a different college than the one I applied to. I don't really mind the fact that I was moved, I was really happy to get an invite to interview anyway, but I'm becoming really paranoid that the reason I was reallocated was because I was one of the weaker candidates to apply, so was moved.
The original college I applied to is one of the most popular, but I'm finding it hard to see any point in being interviewed if there's very little chance I could get an offer anyway because of my other stats.
Does anyone know if the reallocation process is completely random, or if only the strongest candidates get to be interviewed by the college they applied to?

what i see reallocation as: a second chance. you have been lucky enough to not fall through the gaps, grasp the chance and give it your all!

Reallocated Oxford College - Do I have any hope of an offer?

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