Rejected from Oxford Theology and Religion

I applied this year to Oxford for Theology and Religion with A* A* A and B in Russian. My personal statement was filled with all the theology I read over the summer and my views of it. I had worked at a bishops office, I enter several theology essay competitions. I had compete a Mooc on Luther and liberty I had been selected for a trip to the Old Bailey. My written work was my English course work which received 25/25. I now I’m kinda ranting and this is probably quite big headed and childish of me, but I can’t understand why I got rejected, if 47% of applicants get in ( I didn’t even get an interview). Was there a mistake? I’ve been feeling so worthless after being rejected. Does anyone have any ideas why I was rejected.

Reply 1

Anonymous #2

Did you check your PS for grammatical errors ? This rant is full of them and it’s only a couple of lines long.
That apart, you are competing against the best of the best. So although it’s 47% of students ( your statistics not mine) who are made an offer, it’s not 47% of your classmates, but rather 47% of the country’s best students.
You are bound to be accepted elsewhere so put it behind you and move on.

Reply 2

xyz1234567

11

Ultimately no one on here can say as we don’t know who else applied and how they compared to you. The webpage says they interview around 69% of applicants, so while that is higher than some courses, a good number of people don’t get to interview stage, not necessarily because they are bad applicants but because they are squeezed out by stronger ones. As the poster above says, to get a place you have to be in the top 36% (which is the actual statistic from the admissions page, not 47%) not of a random group but out of the field of very able and well qualified candidates who are passionate about this subject.

I can’t give any real suggestions but I notice you don’t mention your GCSEs - could they make you less competitive than other candidates? Especially when viewed in context of your school?

Also, the score your written work got for A level course work isn’t really relevant to how highly it was rated by Oxford tutors. A level marking is largely about ticking the right boxes to get the right number of points. If you look on the Oxford course website they list the criteria they are assessing written work by which are much more holistic. Again, that’s not to say that your written work wasn’t excellent (maybe it was) but I don’t think you can extrapolate just because it got a certain mark at school that it must be strong enough (in the field if all applicants) to get you an interview. Most people applying will be getting top marks on their school work and Oxford is looking for more than that.

You can request feedback but won’t get it till after this admissions cycle has finished. I am sorry you are feeling worthless. There are lots of other amazing unis out there and with such great predictions you still have great options.

Reply 3

Anonymous #3

Original post

by Anonymous

I applied this year to Oxford for Theology and Religion with A* A* A and B in Russian. My personal statement was filled with all the theology I read over the summer and my views of it. I had worked at a bishops office, I enter several theology essay competitions. I had compete a Mooc on Luther and liberty I had been selected for a trip to the Old Bailey. My written work was my English course work which received 25/25. I now I’m kinda ranting and this is probably quite big headed and childish of me, but I can’t understand why I got rejected, if 47% of applicants get in ( I didn’t even get an interview). Was there a mistake? I’ve been feeling so worthless after being rejected. Does anyone have any ideas why I was rejected.

The most likely cause was your B in Russian as it doesn’t meet the entry requirements. Xx

Reply 4

Anonymous #4

Original post

by Anonymous

I applied this year to Oxford for Theology and Religion with A* A* A and B in Russian. My personal statement was filled with all the theology I read over the summer and my views of it. I had worked at a bishops office, I enter several theology essay competitions. I had compete a Mooc on Luther and liberty I had been selected for a trip to the Old Bailey. My written work was my English course work which received 25/25. I now I’m kinda ranting and this is probably quite big headed and childish of me, but I can’t understand why I got rejected, if 47% of applicants get in ( I didn’t even get an interview). Was there a mistake? I’ve been feeling so worthless after being rejected. Does anyone have any ideas why I was rejected.

You got a B. It doesn’t matter how many A*s/As you have because anything lower than an A means immediate rejection, even if you got 3 A*s and 1 B. It’s brutal. It had nothing to do with anything else but your B grade. You should still be super proud of yourself though, as your grades and extra activities are impressive! Oxford is just super harsh and demands no less than an A - no matter how many A levels you take!

Reply 5

Stiffy Byng

19

Original post

by Anonymous

I applied this year to Oxford for Theology and Religion with A* A* A and B in Russian. My personal statement was filled with all the theology I read over the summer and my views of it. I had worked at a bishops office, I enter several theology essay competitions. I had compete a Mooc on Luther and liberty I had been selected for a trip to the Old Bailey. My written work was my English course work which received 25/25. I now I’m kinda ranting and this is probably quite big headed and childish of me, but I can’t understand why I got rejected, if 47% of applicants get in ( I didn’t even get an interview). Was there a mistake? I’ve been feeling so worthless after being rejected. Does anyone have any ideas why I was rejected.

Taking four A levels was a mistake. You only needed three. Taking a fourth weakened your application. Oxford itself advises applicants for most subjects to take three A levels.

Working in a Bishop's office has little or no relevance to a degree in theology, and would make no difference to the application. The Old Bailey trip was irrelevant to your application.

I second the point made above that errors in grammar and punctuation, if present in your application as they are in your opening post, would not have been helpful.

I am sorry for your disappointment but, as others say, you will be fine at another university.

"For many are called but few are chosen" (Matthew 22.14).

Rejected from Oxford Theology and Religion

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