I don't get this - uni competitiveness

I was just reading in the university guides the no of applicants for a place in some of the unis.

And i've noticed what i thought were the most competitive unis, have less people applying per place, than the non competitive.

e.g. for oxford there are 6 ppl applyging for a place where manchester has 9 :confused:

Reply 1

Crazy_Pooch

Pyropink

I was just reading in the university guides the no of applicants for a place in some of the unis.

And i've noticed what i thought were the most competitive unis, have less people applying per place, than the non competitive.

e.g. for oxford there are 6 ppl applyging for a place where manchester has 9 :confused:

That's because the chances of someone getting into Manchester are greater than getting into Oxford. Not many people will be a good enough candidate for Oxford relative to the amount good enough for Manchester.

Reply 2

Pyropink

OP

1

Crazy_Pooch

That's because the chances of someone getting into Manchester are greater than getting into Oxford. Not many people will be a good enough candidate for Oxford relative to the amount good enough for Manchester.

hmm, like out of those 9 ppl only 4 are really smart where as those 6 ppl in oxford 5 are really smart?

Reply 3

Flying Cookie

19

Well there are 9 people with BBB competing for a place at Manchester, but at Oxford you have 4 people with AAA, so obviously the competition is actually higher. The only reason Man gets more applicants is that it has more places and it's more accessible.

Reply 4

epoch

7

Pyropink

hmm, like out of those 9 ppl only 4 are really smart where as those 6 ppl in oxford 5 are really smart?

Kind of missing the point. Manchester as well as other universities have a good reputation but not extreme grade requirements hence alot of people apply to them a) because they really want to go to a large well respected university or b) if they are applying for somewhere even harder to get in they put it as an insurance.

Reply 5

lowrax

1

It often depends on the popularity of Universities, Manchester for example is very popular because it's known to have a good student atmosphere and big city attractions.
Also, with places like Oxford everyone knows how difficult they are to get into and perhaps there's the shame aspect of applying to a brilliant university and not getting in.
Varies a great deal depending on the course you're looking at as well, Oxford isn't necessarily best for all subjects.

Reply 6

ily_em

17

Pyropink

I was just reading in the university guides the no of applicants for a place in some of the unis.

And i've noticed what i thought were the most competitive unis, have less people applying per place, than the non competitive.

e.g. for oxford there are 6 ppl applyging for a place where manchester has 9 :confused:

One thing to remember is that Oxford/ Cambridge make only slightly more than one offer per place. Most people will get the AAA grades required and they wouldn't turn it down if offered a place. However, at Manchester they will have to make many more offers per place (maybe 2 or 3?? not sure exactly though ) as people are more likely to put it as an insurance/ decide to go to another university that has offered them a place. So the ratio of actual offers is probably similar for both Unis. Do you get what I mean? I didn't explain it very well :s-smilie:

Reply 7

qgujxj39

17

Bear in mind many people applying to Manchester will have it as a second/third/fourth/fifth choice, so they might get an offer and end up going somewhere else. This is unlikely for Oxford, where the vast majority of offer holders will put it as their Firm choice.

Reply 8

Pyropink

OP

1

ily_em

One thing to remember is that Oxford/ Cambridge make only slightly more than one offer per place. Most people will get the AAA grades required and they wouldn't turn it down if offered a place. However, at Manchester they will have to make many more offers per place (maybe 2 or 3?? not sure exactly though ) as people are more likely to put it as an insurance/ decide to go to another university that has offered them a place. So the ratio of actual offers is probably similar for both Unis. Do you get what I mean? I didn't explain it very well :s-smilie:

ahh yeah, i get you, you explained that well :smile:

Reply 9

Deadalot

Also you can only apply to one of Oxford or Cambridge, If they lifted that restriction Oxford and Cambridge would probably get almost twice as many applicants per place. There would also be an element of self-selection going on as well. The number of offers they give per place is irrelevant, it just means that the odds aren't as bad as they initially seem.