The Oxbridge Guide

[dessskris]

I think you should tell your school about that, not tell the uni. maybe your school can postpone the exam for you or something.

[Cynthia]

Yes, Ox probably won't move your interviews I'm afraid, but your school should be willing to compromise. PS. Greetings from here - I arrived yesterday and it's great.

[dessskris]

the Oxford application form is not required anymore but for some courses you may be required to take tests or submit written work.

is your school a UCAS centre? I told you before right? if you're applying individually it's a whole different story. ask your school for their buzzword first. if they don't have, let us know and we will explain how this thing is done.

submitting an open application is completely fine although many people don't recommend it for some reasons.

[Loeszie.]

I am applying to Spanish and Linguistics at Oxford. I have to sit the Modern Languages and Linguistics Aptitude Test (two 30 minute tests) on the 2nd of November. I'm now busy practicing Spanish, and I hope I will get through the test and that I will be invited for an interview!

Anyone else applying to this course?

[papillotant]

Hi there,

I know it's probably getting panicky, but has Oxford got in touch with anyone? Or is it just me and Magdalen that there is still nothing while my friend was sent her invitation to Cambridge law on Friday?

Thanks in advance for any info on that. Cynthia: you doing psychology?

[dessskris]

Hi there,

I know it's probably getting panicky, but has Oxford got in touch with anyone? Or is it just me and Magdalen that there is still nothing while my friend was sent her invitation to Cambridge law on Friday?

Thanks in advance for any info on that. Cynthia: you doing psychology?

yeah some colleges have been inviting some people for interview! join our facebook group! http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_230229913676420

[papillotant]

Eh, I really wish I was already sent some info from them.

[dessskris]

any advice on preparing for the interview, anyone?

should I ask my school for a mock interview? is it worth it?

[Hazel16]

My school apparently only does predictions after mock exams which take place in March of the second year. I want to apply to Cambridge. Is that a problem? Do predicted grades have to be provided earlier? I think they do, but I'm really not sure how it works. I'm only in my first year so I have time, but I want to make sure that there won't be any problems later.

Edited December 13, 2011 by Hazel16

[Arrowhead]

My school apparently only does predictions after mock exams which take place in March of the second year. I want to apply to Cambridge. Is that a problem? Do predicted grades have to be provided earlier? I think they do, but I'm really not sure how it works. I'm only in my first year so I have time, but I want to make sure that there won't be any problems later.

I suggest you tell your school as soon as you get back to school in your second year of the iB that you plan on applying to Cambridge and that the deadline for applications is October 15th. They will accommodate you and send out your predicted scores in advance. It's not going to be that hard to organise. My school was similar to yours in this regard, I had everything done for in earlier because of my application to Oxford.

Cheers,

Arrowhead.

[Loeszie.]

My school apparently only does predictions after mock exams which take place in March of the second year. I want to apply to Cambridge. Is that a problem? Do predicted grades have to be provided earlier? I think they do, but I'm really not sure how it works. I'm only in my first year so I have time, but I want to make sure that there won't be any problems later.

I suggest you tell your school as soon as you get back to school in your second year of the iB that you plan on applying to Cambridge and that the deadline for applications is October 15th. They will accommodate you and send out your predicted scores in advance. It's not going to be that hard to organise. My school was similar to yours in this regard, I had everything done for in earlier because of my application to Oxford.

Cheers,

Arrowhead.

Do you have a careers advisor (someone who helps you with uni applications) at your school? At my school, only the people that needed them for uni applications were given predicted grades until now. The careers advisor was the one who contacted all the teachers to ask for predicted grades. It shouldn't be a problem to get predicted grades ealier for uni applications. If you have good teachers they will be able to give you fairly accurate predicted grades at the beginning of the second year of IB, since they've known you for a year.

[Hazel16]

My school apparently only does predictions after mock exams which take place in March of the second year. I want to apply to Cambridge. Is that a problem? Do predicted grades have to be provided earlier? I think they do, but I'm really not sure how it works. I'm only in my first year so I have time, but I want to make sure that there won't be any problems later.

I suggest you tell your school as soon as you get back to school in your second year of the iB that you plan on applying to Cambridge and that the deadline for applications is October 15th. They will accommodate you and send out your predicted scores in advance. It's not going to be that hard to organise. My school was similar to yours in this regard, I had everything done for in earlier because of my application to Oxford.

Cheers,

Arrowhead.

Do you have a careers advisor (someone who helps you with uni applications) at your school? At my school, only the people that needed them for uni applications were given predicted grades until now. The careers advisor was the one who contacted all the teachers to ask for predicted grades. It shouldn't be a problem to get predicted grades ealier for uni applications. If you have good teachers they will be able to give you fairly accurate predicted grades at the beginning of the second year of IB, since they've known you for a year.

Yup, we do someone like that at our school ("careers advisor"). About the teachers being good... Well, I'm not so sure about that, but I don't have a choice

[Loeszie.]

Yup, we do someone like that at our school ("careers advisor"). About the teachers being good... Well, I'm not so sure about that, but I don't have a choice

I'm sure it'll be okay then! He or she is there to help you. My careers advisors has helped me through the entire process and I don't know what I would've done without her (but she studied Spanish at uni too so I guess I was lucky).

[Tony Stark]

Hey guys, I'm at high school in Australia and hoping to apply to Oxford to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics. I was wondering as to how the interview process works for international students. I've heard that sometimes individuals receive their letter inviting them to an interview as little as a week before the start of the interview process - do international students get more advance warning? Not even remotely close to simple to travel to the UK on a week's notice. I've also heard that some colleges may interview international candidates over phone or Skype, and was wondering how common this was and to what extent it might disadvantage me? Seems doubtless that it wouldn't help my case, but how likely would it be to truly screw me over?

[dessskris]

Hey guys, I'm at high school in Australia and hoping to apply to Oxford to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics. I was wondering as to how the interview process works for international students. I've heard that sometimes individuals receive their letter inviting them to an interview as little as a week before the start of the interview process - do international students get more advance warning? Not even remotely close to simple to travel to the UK on a week's notice. I've also heard that some colleges may interview international candidates over phone or Skype, and was wondering how common this was and to what extent it might disadvantage me? Seems doubtless that it wouldn't help my case, but how likely would it be to truly screw me over?

awesome, to which college? I applied to Oxford too and had skype interviews too.

let me put this to you: having skype interviews will not disadvantage you at any rate at all! well, in terms of your chances that is. but of course you're disadvantaged in a sense that you miss the free food, meeting people applying for the same course as you, looking around the buildings... but seriously, it will not hurt your chances at all!!

I'm sure that skype interviews are really common for international applicants. only a few would actually travel to Oxford for it. I'm not saying there's no internationals flying all the way through, but most would do a skype interview.

it's true that some colleges will only tell you one week in advance of the interview and so you will not have enough time to prepare for a visa, but some colleges might inform you 2 weeks in advance of the interview or even before. only some colleges though. most colleges will ask international applicants whether they prefer a remote interview or they can make it to Oxford, so they would not mind if you can't fly there.

[Tony Stark]

awesome, to which college? I applied to Oxford too and had skype interviews too.

Cool, how'd it go? And I've no clue haha, I did visit Oxford once but didn't have too much time to look around and really think about it. Will probably end up making an open application.

it's true that some colleges will only tell you one week in advance of the interview and so you will not have enough time to prepare for a visa, but some colleges might inform you 2 weeks in advance of the interview or even before. only some colleges though. most colleges will ask international applicants whether they prefer a remote interview or they can make it to Oxford, so they would not mind if you can't fly there.

I don't even need to apply for a Visa, being an Australian Citizen I can ask for permission to enter the UK upon arrival at Heathrow. However, I can't imagine it would be easy to find such a short-notice flight to the UK during Christmas Holiday season.

[dessskris]

Cool, how'd it go? And I've no clue haha, I did visit Oxford once but didn't have too much time to look around and really think about it. Will probably end up making an open application.

my first interview was 50% great 50% messed up. my second interview was really great but there was a technical problem on their side, they got disconnected so it was kinda awkward but it's fine

let me tell you, don't make an open application! you might regret it you know. try to see which colleges offer PPE, then think what kind of college you would like to live in. read the prospectus. for example, would you like to stay there over holidays? would you like to stay in the college for the whole duration of your course? wouldn't you want a library open 24h? would you prefer a big college or a small college? and other stuff.

I don't even need to apply for a Visa, being an Australian Citizen I can ask for permission to enter the UK upon arrival at Heathrow. However, I can't imagine it would be easy to find such a short-notice flight to the UK during Christmas Holiday season.

oh okay that's great then! well the interviews will be around the second week of December so it's not Xmas break yet, but maybe you're right.. I remember someone asked their college for earlier notice but still the college only informed them one week before the interview, so they didn't fly to Ox in the end.

good luck with your application! just post if you have any question and some ppl will help you

[Tony Stark]

Well the interviews have got me nervous, but there's a lot of other stuff (cough, about 15 IAs, 12 exams, EE and ToK) I need to do before I worry about that.

would you like to stay there over holidays? would you like to stay in the college for the whole duration of your course? wouldn't you want a library open 24h? would you prefer a big college or a small college? and other stuff.

Hmmm. Sometimes/perhaps, probably, yes and big, respectively. Decent sporting facilities would be good, too. Considering being without a car while there, close to the town centre would be beneficial. But there's so many, and it seems so distant, it's impossible to really decide. Thing most likely to influence my decision would be the accomodation itself, considering how long I'd be living in it and the sizeable portion of my time I'd spend there, but without having an opportunity to visit and take a look at the rooms it's tough.

Edited February 3, 2012 by Saurav Das

[dessskris]

Well the interviews have got me nervous, but there's a lot of other stuff (cough, about 15 IAs, 12 exams, EE and ToK) I need to do before I worry about that.

Hmmm. Sometimes/perhaps, probably, yes and big, respectively. Decent sporting facilities would be good, too. Considering being without a car while there, close to the town centre would be beneficial. But there's so many, and it seems so distant, it's impossible to really decide. Thing most likely to influence my decision would be the accomodation itself, considering how long I'd be living in it and the sizeable portion of my time I'd spend there, but without having an opportunity to visit and take a look at the rooms it's tough.

you are right but surely you don't wanna get into a college that doesn't give you what you want, right? all the necessary info is on their website and prospectus. I suggest you to look into Univ, Brasenose, Magdalen and Christ Church. I've gathered some info about the colleges here --> http://www.4shared.com/file/p44GgUpr/Oxford_Colleges_Offering_PPE.html so I hope it helps. good luck!

[Tony Stark]

you are right but surely you don't wanna get into a college that doesn't give you what you want, right? all the necessary info is on their website and prospectus. I suggest you to look into Univ, Brasenose, Magdalen and Christ Church. I've gathered some info about the colleges here --> http://www.4shared.com/file/p44GgUpr/Oxford_Colleges_Offering_PPE.html so I hope it helps. good luck!

****, thanks for all that. Yeah, those are some of the names I've heard most frequently. Wouldn't it hurt my chances to apply to those more popular colleges, though? And what led you to choose Oriel, if you don't mind me asking?

well the interviews will be around the second week of December so it's not Xmas break yet

Christmas break for Australian High School commences from early in the first week of December, even earlier for year 12 students, so it's pretty busy at the airports.

my first interview was 50% great 50% messed up. my second interview was really great but there was a technical problem on their side, they got disconnected so it was kinda awkward but it's fine

Hey, if you got a 39 conditional offer, you must've killed it . Any tips?

Also, any Aussies/Victorians here know places that host TSAs? My school's careers counselor has no clue on anything international, she didn't even know what UCAS was until a friend of mine in the year above me told her about it :/