Know anyone who should've gotten into Oxbridge but didn't?

Or probably shouldn't have gotten in, but did?

Edit: Please don't cite good grades as a reason why someone should've gotten in. I mean people who were refused an offer who actually had (in your opinion) a serious, consistent ability in the subject, has read very widely etc.

Reply 1

numb3rb0y

15

I have a friend who got into Imperial but got rejected from Oxford, even though his final results were actually better than several other people from our school who got in to the same course.

Apparently he was led mercilessly at interview, though.

Reply 2

SuicideCommando

16

Definitely.
He got 5 A's at A-Level.

Reply 3

Bandit Queen

I know someone who is reallllly clever and she eventually got an offer from Cambridge, but missed her offer by 3 UMS marks! :frown:

I felt soo bad for her on Results Day, especially when it seemed like everyone else had done amazing.

Reply 4

A Stranger in Moscow

12

Yeah a couple.

Reply 5

seanyboy501

There are loads of them.. it's probably a mixture of everything for the reason why they didn't get in. They probably get loads of people with like 4 As for A level. But I doubt all of them had brilliant Personal statements, performed amazingly at interview etc...

Reply 6

rockrunride

19

Yeah, me.

Reply 7

Efreisone

OP

seanyboy501

There are loads of them.. it's probably a mixture of everything for the reason why they didn't get in. They probably get loads of people with like 4 As for A level. But I doubt all of them had brilliant Personal statements, performed amazingly at interview etc...

I know having AAAA is really nothing special anymore. I mean people who are genuinely talented and passionate about their subject, but perhaps just had an unlucky interview or something

Reply 8

didgeridoo12uk

16

just gettin 4 or 5A's doesnt mean you SHOULD get into oxbridge, if so then thousands of extra people a year probably SHOULD get into oxbridge.

alot of its how you perform at interview, if they think they can teach you etc

Reply 9

her0n

11

A really good friend of mine SO should have got into Oxford. She failed at the interview, most likely because she's really shy and laid back.

Lovely person, extremely smart. Straight A student :smile:

I think Oxbridge look for clever, confident-on-the-verge-of-gobby allrounders who devote every last minute of their spare time to volunteer work and 6 different sports ??

Reply 10

bubbles50

1

A guy in the year above got 5As and rejected from Cambridge after interview (before he got his results though, but he also got 6As at AS) He went to Bath instead and loves it, but still something must have gone wrong in the interview.

Reply 11

im so academic

15

tbh, anyone that has the aptitude to go to Oxbridge should've gone in. The fact is there aren't many places and people miss their offers sometimes...

Reply 12

Efreisone

OP

her0n

A really good friend of mine SO should have got into Oxford. She failed at the interview, most likely because she's really shy and laid back.

Lovely person, extremely smart. Straight A student :smile:

I think Oxbridge look for clever, confident-on-the-verge-of-gobby allrounders who devote every last minute of their spare time to volunteer work and 6 different sports ??

Of course not. That's the US

Reply 13

Ugly Duckling

Well... I know everyone hates these kinds of topics, but actually I do know someone who I thought was at least going to be interviewed... My best friend is going to achieve a 1.0 Abitur, which is pretty much the ne plus ultra. He is bilingual (actually even trilingual), among the top ten middle-distance runners (19 and under) in Germany, very well-rounded and whatnot.
I'm not saying he should have gotten in, but I was convinced he would get an interview, because I have yet to meet someone as intelligent and versatile as him :wink:

But you really can't count on that anymore. I'm sure his PS and reference were perfect, but maybe he did lousy in the LNAT...

Reply 14

accelerator

3

Me Me Me !!!! I got ABBb but those idiots still won't accept me!! :no:

I wanna go there !!!!

Reply 15

Lell

16

I know loads of people who should have got in..(I'm at Durham).

Reply 16

Kittten

12

Ugly Duckling

Well... I know everyone hates these kinds of topics, but actually I do know someone who I thought was at least going to be interviewed... My best friend is going to achieve a 1.0 Abitur, which is pretty much the ne plus ultra. He is bilingual (actually even trilingual), among the top ten middle-distance runners (19 and under) in Germany, very well-rounded and whatnot.
I'm not saying he should have gotten in, but I was convinced he would get an interview, because I have yet to meet someone as intelligent and versatile as him :wink:

But you really can't count on that anymore. I'm sure his PS and reference were perfect, but maybe he did lousy in the LNAT...

I think getting in with abitur is really really difficult. I considered staying in Germany to do abitur but decided to come homw and do IB because abitur isn't really ideal for getting into UK unis. Maybe your friend didn't have the same sort of back up for his PS as schools give in the UK? or maybe the referance just didn't know the right things to say. I'm not sure running is really very important (they usually don't care about sports) but the languages and 1,0 should have got at least an interview!

Reply 17

will1989

her0n

A really good friend of mine SO should have got into Oxford. She failed at the interview, most likely because she's really shy and laid back.

Lovely person, extremely smart. Straight A student :smile:

I think Oxbridge look for clever, confident-on-the-verge-of-gobby allrounders who devote every last minute of their spare time to volunteer work and 6 different sports ??

they don't care about that

Reply 18

Jigglypuff

16

her0n

A really good friend of mine SO should have got into Oxford. She failed at the interview, most likely because she's really shy and laid back.

Lovely person, extremely smart. Straight A student :smile:

I think Oxbridge look for clever, confident-on-the-verge-of-gobby allrounders who devote every last minute of their spare time to volunteer work and 6 different sports ??

...or not.

Reply 19

khil

15

Efreisone

I know having AAAA is really nothing special anymore. I mean people who are genuinely talented and passionate about their subject, but perhaps just had an unlucky interview or something

Yeh know what you mean.

Anyway, my friend - got an offer, but missed it because she didn't get what she needed in her STEP :frown:

This is for Cambridge.

Another, incidentally my ex, got rejected from Oxford for History. He came 4th in his year (of roughly 200 people) and graduated with a first, and was offered an MA scholarship and a grant, and now recommended to apply for research assistant and PhD scholarship :yep:

Oxford: FAIL.

A friend of mine got lucky actually - she got an offer from Oxford, missed her offer by one grade but that's really our school messing her up (she had 4 teachers for French in one year in her A2's). In the end Oxford held a meeting and basically took her anyway :biggrin:

To be fair, she was going there to study English, and she had full marks in English at A-Level.

Know anyone who should've gotten into Oxbridge but didn't?

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