Oxford rejection

2

Yesterday i had my email for interview, telling me i hadn't received one for Biochemistry at Lincoln college. However i cant think of any obvious reason why they wouldnt even invite me-
999999887 at gcse (top 10 in year)
A* Bio A* Chem A* Geography A* EPQ. (Maybe because i don't have maths- but i made it very obvious i was teaching myself the maths using the book THEY rec to first years)
Supercurricular
UNIQ residential
Linacre summer school
EPQ on ageing
YouTube videos which led me to write an essay on petos paradox
Peterhouse kelvin competition on bacteria
Biochem science communication prize on prions
Read "the catalyst" on RNA
Breeding my own flock of sheep- living on a farm with lots of biology
mentioned soil microbes and productivity and also reading "entangled life" on fungi
Leeds university work experience
Nancy rothwell prize for specimen drawings (shortlisted)
I had several oxford biochemists read through my ps and tell me that they were confident id get a spot. I would love to understand the sudden rejection as id put so much work in.

Reply 1

LittleFire10

14

Original post

by Abcde8

Yesterday i had my email for interview, telling me i hadn't received one for Biochemistry at Lincoln college. However i cant think of any obvious reason why they wouldnt even invite me-
999999887 at gcse (top 10 in year)
A* Bio A* Chem A* Geography A* EPQ. (Maybe because i don't have maths- but i made it very obvious i was teaching myself the maths using the book THEY rec to first years)
Supercurricular
UNIQ residential
Linacre summer school
EPQ on ageing
YouTube videos which led me to write an essay on petos paradox
Peterhouse kelvin competition on bacteria
Biochem science communication prize on prions
Read "the catalyst" on RNA
Breeding my own flock of sheep- living on a farm with lots of biology
mentioned soil microbes and productivity and also reading "entangled life" on fungi
Leeds university work experience
Nancy rothwell prize for specimen drawings (shortlisted)
I had several oxford biochemists read through my ps and tell me that they were confident id get a spot. I would love to understand the sudden rejection as id put so much work in.

It looks like you do loads of relevant supercurriculars which is amazing! But are you sure you properly explained what skills you learned from each one etc rather than just listing them? Ultimately no one on here is going to know what was going through the admissions officers head, so it’s best not to dwell on it and don’t let it affect your confidence! There were probably so many high calibre candidates that applied for the few places.

Reply 2

Abcde8

OP

2

Original post

by LittleFire10

It looks like you do loads of relevant supercurriculars which is amazing! But are you sure you properly explained what skills you learned from each one etc rather than just listing them? Ultimately no one on here is going to know what was going through the admissions officers head, so it’s best not to dwell on it and don’t let it affect your confidence! There were probably so many high calibre candidates that applied for the few places.

My PS was pretty much checked by everyone at oxbridge Biochem I could grapple to feedback on it so id hope it was fairly good- my thing is the people i did UNIQ with who have similar gcses have been offered interviews but i havent- the only difference is they take maths.

Reply 3

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

I suspect the lack of maths (or in a pinch, a third STEM subject) is the issue. Self-teaching maths is something that is hard for them to validate your mathematical abilities against relative to a formal moderated qualification like an A-level.

That said you have a lot of stuff mentioned, it is generally better to write analytically about a smaller number of topics than more superficially on a wider number. Also some seem somewhat less relevant than others - I think for example sheep husbandry is very tenuously relevant here.

Also bear in mind students may not necessarily be that experienced at spotting issues or weaknesses in PSes compared to admissions tutors or people who read them regularly.

However again, I do think lack of maths is likely to have made your application weaker,.

Reply 4

Stiffy Byng

19

Original post

by Abcde8

Yesterday i had my email for interview, telling me i hadn't received one for Biochemistry at Lincoln college. However i cant think of any obvious reason why they wouldnt even invite me-
999999887 at gcse (top 10 in year)
A* Bio A* Chem A* Geography A* EPQ. (Maybe because i don't have maths- but i made it very obvious i was teaching myself the maths using the book THEY rec to first years)
Supercurricular
UNIQ residential
Linacre summer school
EPQ on ageing
YouTube videos which led me to write an essay on petos paradox
Peterhouse kelvin competition on bacteria
Biochem science communication prize on prions
Read "the catalyst" on RNA
Breeding my own flock of sheep- living on a farm with lots of biology
mentioned soil microbes and productivity and also reading "entangled life" on fungi
Leeds university work experience
Nancy rothwell prize for specimen drawings (shortlisted)
I had several oxford biochemists read through my ps and tell me that they were confident id get a spot. I would love to understand the sudden rejection as id put so much work in.

I am sorry that you have received a disappointing outcome.

It is probable that other applications looked stronger than yours, to those assessing the applications.

The entry process is not a tick the box exercise of heaping one achievement on another, in which the applicant with the highest pile of achievements always obtains an offer. It might perhaps be that your application gave the impression, rightly or wrongly, that you might not be as teachable within the tutorial system as other applicants might be.

Being blunt, I detect a sense of entitlement in how you describe your application. Tutors may have detected an assumption of entitlement in your applcation, and, if they did, that would be a possible turn off. Oxford doesn't owe anyone an interview.

Please don't be downhearted. You will most likely obtain offers from other good universities and can do well at whichever university you join. You could of course have another go at Oxford or Cambridge next year, but it would be best only to do that if you can fill a gap year with fun and useful activities.

Good luck!

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 5

username7679367

12

Original post

by Abcde8

My PS was pretty much checked by everyone at oxbridge Biochem I could grapple to feedback on it so id hope it was fairly good- my thing is the people i did UNIQ with who have similar gcses have been offered interviews but i havent- the only difference is they take maths.

I think you may have answered your own question.

Oxford rejection

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