Received an Open Offer for History at Oxford, informed by St Edmunds' Hall
Does anyone know if this means there is a greater chance of ending up at the college that informs you of this decision, or can it literally be any college?
Reply 1
pretty sure its whichever college has "free" places in case of people missing their offer; if nobody misses their offer, you are guaranteed a place at st edmunds hall
Reply 2
Original post
by treepoop8888pretty sure its whichever college has "free" places in case of people missing their offer; if nobody misses their offer, you are guaranteed a place at st edmunds hall
This is correct.
Reply 3
Original post
by AnonymousDoes anyone know if this means there is a greater chance of ending up at the college that informs you of this decision, or can it literally be any college?
got an open offer for st edmund hall asw!!
Reply 4
It is a slightly greater chance of ending up at that college compared to any specific other one, as underwriting the place means they get first dibs on you.
Basically if someone misses their offer at Teddy Hall, they get priority over other colleges and so will take you.
If no one misses grades at Teddy Hall but there are spaces elsewhere you will go to a different college.
If (this is hugely unlikely) no offer holder misses their grades at any college Teddy Hall will take you. Scenario 3 won’t realistically happen because someone always misses their grades, but scenarios 1 and 2 are both possible.
Basically if someone misses their offer at Teddy Hall, they get priority over other colleges and so will take you.
If no one misses grades at Teddy Hall but there are spaces elsewhere you will go to a different college.
If (this is hugely unlikely) no offer holder misses their grades at any college Teddy Hall will take you. Scenario 3 won’t realistically happen because someone always misses their grades, but scenarios 1 and 2 are both possible.
Reply 5
Original post
by xyz1234567It is a slightly greater chance of ending up at that college compared to any specific other one, as underwriting the place means they get first dibs on you.
Basically if someone misses their offer at Teddy Hall, they get priority over other colleges and so will take you.
If no one misses grades at Teddy Hall but there are spaces elsewhere you will go to a different college.
If (this is hugely unlikely) no offer holder misses their grades at any college Teddy Hall will take you. Scenario 3 won’t realistically happen because someone always misses their grades, but scenarios 1 and 2 are both possible.
Basically if someone misses their offer at Teddy Hall, they get priority over other colleges and so will take you.
If no one misses grades at Teddy Hall but there are spaces elsewhere you will go to a different college.
If (this is hugely unlikely) no offer holder misses their grades at any college Teddy Hall will take you. Scenario 3 won’t realistically happen because someone always misses their grades, but scenarios 1 and 2 are both possible.
Why would someone always miss their grades? I thought Oxford was supposed to be giving offers to the best people, so why would they give an offer to someone who ends up missing their offer when they rejected someone who ended up meeting the offer?
Reply 6
Because A level predictions are highly unreliable and often optimistic. Statistically a high proportion of predicted A levels won’t be met. A study from 2020 looking at 3 years of data across all university applicants found that only 16% of applicants’ predictions are accurate and 75% of applicants do less well than predicted.
The gap between prediction and reality is less bad at Oxford than in the sector more widely, partly because Oxford does a lot of extra tests and assessments and partly because Oxford applicants are, as you say, already high achieving and often predicted higher grades than their offer conditions (so they can afford to slip a bit). But even so if Oxford colleges are making hundreds of offers, statistically some people will miss their grades. Oxford could just leave those places unfilled but given there are more talented applicants than places available, it is a shame not to fill them and that is the purpose of the open offer scheme.
The basic problem is that having people apply to university before they have their grades is a stupid system but there is no political will to change it.
The gap between prediction and reality is less bad at Oxford than in the sector more widely, partly because Oxford does a lot of extra tests and assessments and partly because Oxford applicants are, as you say, already high achieving and often predicted higher grades than their offer conditions (so they can afford to slip a bit). But even so if Oxford colleges are making hundreds of offers, statistically some people will miss their grades. Oxford could just leave those places unfilled but given there are more talented applicants than places available, it is a shame not to fill them and that is the purpose of the open offer scheme.
The basic problem is that having people apply to university before they have their grades is a stupid system but there is no political will to change it.
Reply 7
Original post
by xyz1234567Because A level predictions are highly unreliable and often optimistic. Statistically a high proportion of predicted A levels won’t be met. A study from 2020 looking at 3 years of data across all university applicants found that only 16% of applicants’ predictions are accurate and 75% of applicants do less well than predicted.
The gap between prediction and reality is less bad at Oxford than in the sector more widely, partly because Oxford does a lot of extra tests and assessments and partly because Oxford applicants are, as you say, already high achieving and often predicted higher grades than their offer conditions (so they can afford to slip a bit). But even so if Oxford colleges are making hundreds of offers, statistically some people will miss their grades. Oxford could just leave those places unfilled but given there are more talented applicants than places available, it is a shame not to fill them and that is the purpose of the open offer scheme.
The basic problem is that having people apply to university before they have their grades is a stupid system but there is no political will to change it.
The gap between prediction and reality is less bad at Oxford than in the sector more widely, partly because Oxford does a lot of extra tests and assessments and partly because Oxford applicants are, as you say, already high achieving and often predicted higher grades than their offer conditions (so they can afford to slip a bit). But even so if Oxford colleges are making hundreds of offers, statistically some people will miss their grades. Oxford could just leave those places unfilled but given there are more talented applicants than places available, it is a shame not to fill them and that is the purpose of the open offer scheme.
The basic problem is that having people apply to university before they have their grades is a stupid system but there is no political will to change it.
Reply 8
Because the open offer scheme is effectively same thing. You could equally well ask “why doesn’t Cambridge have an open offer scheme?” The two universities have taken slightly different approaches to the same issue and the outcome is basically the same.
Personally I prefer the Oxford system because I think the August reconsideration pool makes it hard for people to move on and get excited about their other uni options; at least with Oxford you know in January whether Oxford is on the cards or not.
Personally I prefer the Oxford system because I think the August reconsideration pool makes it hard for people to move on and get excited about their other uni options; at least with Oxford you know in January whether Oxford is on the cards or not.
(edited 1 month ago)
Reply 9
Original post
by AnonymousSo why doesn’t Oxford have an August Reconsideration Pool like Cambridge does?
There a huge difference between the two. Cambs reconsideration is for rejected candidates, whereas an open offer from Oxford is an offer, not a rejection.
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