If a person gets in to Oxbridge they are obviously not thick! Moreover, gcse/as grades that are not A's does not mean a person is 'thick'.................But i know of a guy called Edward Hughes who went to Cambridge and had mostly Cs at GCSE. A/S were not around when went. You can read his story if you buy Tony Buzan's 'Use your head' book, it is a true story, he went on to work as a strategic thinker........(Prince Charles went to Cam...he got 2Cs at Alevel i believe...correct me if i am wrong)

Reply 4

Juwel

I've heard of someone who got in with Bs because they were given an Organ Scholarship, apparently they have Grade 8 in Piano. Whyyyyyy??? I thought it was about academic excellence and potential! Though this person is supposedly not thick (yeah right, A-Levels take such a battering for being easy and not distinguishing the excellent from the half-decent, and he gets in to Cambridge on Bs!)...

Reply 5

Ralfskini

Bhaal85

for what course? how?

Architeture at sidney sussex. The answer to 'how?' is that he is very intelligent and was a strong candidate.

Reply 6

timmio

i find it ironic how they say the selection process is fair, when rahaydenuk got 6 full Grade A's at A-Level and was rejected. unbeleivable, then a guy with ABC gets in. yep, fab system.
and dont talk bollox about potential, coz a guy who gets 6 A's will show his capability far more than an ABC. end of the day, if you get ABC, then you aint gonna magicly be cleverer than rahaydenuk in an interview.

that is scandolous, and if i was rahaydenuk i would take cambridge to court.

Reply 7

aliel

timmio

who is rahaydenuk? and what happened?

Reply 8

Juwel

timmio

Why??? Cambridge is not the be all and end all! In fact it has its downsides, how are you going to get a decent job (besides common room barman) to fund your studies while there? And the people! Stereotypes or not a lot of them are "toffs" and head-in-the-clouds people, not my sort. A uni in a major city would help me meet the sort of people I want, get money, and enjoy myself. Having said all that no degree beats a Cambridge degree.

Reply 9

Helenia

ZJuwelH

You need a lot more than just Grade 8 piano to be an organ scholar! Half the college here has grade 8 something or other; the organ scholar himself is truly phenomenal. There are only 2 per college though (i.e. overall less than one per year), so it's not like there are loads getting in that way. The organ scholar thing is slightly different as well - they're working there as a way to get a foot on the musical ladder, which for them is probably more important than the degree.

I have a friend who got into Oxford to do Geology with ABBC, but again, she wasn't thick.

Reply 10

DamianHolt

believe me, there are a surprising number of THICK people at Oxford. Surprisingly enough, nearly all of them happen to be stunningly beautiful girls, who end up retaking their first year or changing to an easy subject.

Reply 11

aliel

DamianHolt

......

Reply 12

Unregistered

timmio

who are the thickest people you know who got into oxbridge? (GCSE/AS GRADES)

i know someone who got in with BBB (AAB offer) simply because they said she was one of the best interview candidates they'd had for years.

interview, interview, interview people! grades *are* irrelevent!

Reply 13

timmio

rah

true, end of the day, its all about the liaison

Reply 14

Nylex

aliel

who is rahaydenuk? and what happened?

He's one of the moderators. He got all As in his A Levels and didn't get into Cambridge and he's going to Imperial now. I don't see what the problem is, he didn't get in to Cambridge but he's still going to a good university. There's no need for saying he should take them to court, people with straight As get rejected all the time. It's not just about grades for Oxbridge (nothing against Richard though). As long as he's happy at IC, then that's all that matters.

Reply 15

J.S.

rah

I agree with the gist of it, although of course grades are most certainly nor IRrelevant (aside from the exceptional circumstances where you are given an unconditional offer before your A levels have been completed).

Reply 16

rIcHrD

I'm the thickest person I know of so far... :P

But really, depends what you call 'thick'. Fallibility? Stupidity? Grades? IQ-test scores? Intelligence in their subject? Musical 'intelligence'? Chess ability?... The list is endless, and I think that in itself makes a better point....

From my own experience, I've seen people I consider smarter than myself not get into oxbridge. Then again, Oxbridge isn't MENSA and IQ isn't intelligence.

Reply 17

Unregistered

rIcHrD

what did they ask you at interview? what grades did u get at gcse? ive applied and im so scared im going to get nervous at this interview any sample questions?

Reply 18

rIcHrD

My interviews were quite interesing... for medicine. 1st interview was assessing my character, so that was just a 15 minute chat (very relaxed, no tension, quite straightforward) about why I want to do medicine, how I'd balance between two different diseases with limited money, etc.

The second interview had the potential to go very badly wrong, but I coped ok. It was basically a barage of subsequent, neverending questions about the topics I'd put down (genetics, prions and can't remember the third) + AS biology topics. Then a question about malaria which I got wrong, but it was ok - they told me the answer and it wasn't something I'd really come across properly. Then the rest were just questions requiring regurgitation of AS bio facts + a bit of simple reasoning. "What is sign, what is a symptom?", etc, with a good amount of guidance depending on how stuck you are.

By thick, I wasn't really referring to my grades; they're ok but not great. I got 8 A*s, an A and a B at GCSE.

Reply 19

Stewie

Someone at Oxford doing Oriental Studies: No A*'s (All A's and a few B's at GCSE), C's and D's at AS Level and was given an offer....made the AAB grades in the end, but once said "Yeah, I pray...right....but I don't believe in God"

Makes you lose faith in humanity.......