Oxbridge Admissions - Profiles

Application

University: Oxford

College (if made an open application, allocated college): Blackfriars

Course: Mathematics

Year in (not for!) which you applied: 2006

Final outcome: rejected

Applicant

Qualification: A-levels

When did you apply in terms of your qualification? pre-qualification

Are you a home/EU/overseas applicant? home

What is your country of origin? United Kingdom

What type of school/college do/did you attend? Independent - selective

GCSE or a similar equivalent taken: yes (9 A*,1 A)

A-levels

A2: Chemistry (A at AS (279 UMS); predicted A; gained NA at A2)

A2: French (A at AS (251 UMS); predicted A; gained NA at A2)

A2: General Studies (A at AS; predicted A; gained A at A2)

A2: Mathematics (A at AS (295 UMS); predicted A; gained NA at A2)

A2: Mathematics (Further) (A at AS (286 UMS); predicted A; gained NA at A2)

A2: Physics (A at AS (286 UMS); predicted A; gained NA at A2)

Cambridge STEP Maths

STEP II (predicted NA; gained NA)

STEP III (predicted NA; gained NA)

Further Mathematics was taken without the aid of my school.

Other universities

Have you applied to other universities you consider very close, 'on par' or even better than oxbridge? (Ivies, Sorbonne, LSE..others for different subjects) yes

Have you received offer(s) from them? yes

Decisions about the application

For what reasons did you apply to Oxbridge?

I thought I would enjoy studying there and it's one of the best for my chosen subject.

How did you decide between Oxford and Cambridge?

From advice from others, I didn't visit Cambridge just Oxford.

Why did you choose this course?

I've always known I wanted to study it.

Why did you choose this college/make an open application?

Went on an open day and really liked the atmosphere.

Preparation

Did your school/college give you any extra tuition or help prior to your interview or application? yes

A few practice interviews and feedback with a retired teacher.

Do you have any advice for future applicants in terms of preparation?

Be enthusiastic, and be prepared for the entrance exams.

Interview

Did you have to sit any pre-interview exams (LNAT/BMAT/..)? no

Did you have to submit any written work prior to the interview? no

Did you have to take any exams as part of your interview(s)? yes

A two hour paper sat in College on the core maths syllabus.

How was/were in general your interview(s)?

Over very quickly - about 10/15 minutes long. Asked some questions and worked through them with them.

What questions were you asked during your interview(s)?

Sketch a graph of logx and deduce from it which was bigger, e^pi or pi^e.
Asked to draw a graph with some inequalities (in both interviews).
Asked to elaborate in things I'd read about and mentioned in my personal statement and also about "myself".

What did you wear to your interview(s), and why?

Black skirt, jumper - I was comfortable in them but they weren't overly casual.

Impressions

What was your general impression of the college that you applied to/any others you visited?

Nice, realxed and quite a close atmosphere.

If seen, please describe the college accommodation eg. size of rooms, facilities.

Good, it was a large room.

How was the food provided by the college?

Good.

How did you find the tutors in the college?

I was told the room to go to for my interview - only contact I had.

Generally, what were the college students like (from what you saw of them)?

Friendly, relaxed - typical university students.

Final stage

Please describe your feelings during the time you waited for the decision.

Panic, impatience!

Please describe what happened when you received the letter/the call telling you whether you had a place or not.

Very upset for quite a while - hit me quite hard.

Looking back

If you were to re-live that year of your life again, would you still apply?

Not sure, I'm glad that I'm now applying Post A-level I'm glad I'm not going to that College/Uni this year.

What advice do you have for potential applicants based on your experiences?

Do check out all the potential universities - go to the open days, spend some time looking around and decide what you really want. Don't realise too late that you wish you'd applied elsewhere!

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