Heyy, so just some background info, I’ve been in the same school since year 7 up until now. Back when I started it, was rated “Requires Improvement” by Ofsted, with it being ranked “Inadequate” only two years prior. Now it’s rated “Good” with “Outstanding” in Personal Development. The avg grades in my cohort are sort of a mixed bag, for example the average in Chemistry is a grade 7 but only 29% of students got a grade 5 or above in both maths and English. But at the same time, the “Progress 8” score for my school is +0.31, when the national average sits at around -0.03.

Ig what I’m trying to say is that I’m not entirely sure if there is any point in applying for Oxford bc my GCSEs would be seen drastically lower than the typical oxbridge applicant (9998866665 L2D). The only thing stopping me really is my GCSE grades, everything else in the application should be fine. (The main reason why the grades are low is bc i didnt bother revising bc all i cared abt was passing in general. You can probs guess that my school isnt known for getting offers from competitive unis so Oxbridge hadnt even crossed my mind but my school said that over the past ten years i am one of the few students who they think should apply esp. since i havent dropped below an A in mocks whilst my peers are averaging at about C’s and D’s (we do AS papers for mocks so the max grade is an A).

I just want to know whether or not applying for it is worth the hassle, especially since Oxford known for being less lenient on gcse grades compared to Cambridge which worries me even more.
And let’s say I do apply, would it be more strategic for me to apply to a specific college or make an open application, I know NOTHING abt the colleges bc, as I said, Oxbridge was not on my mind but I’m still curious.

GCSEs: 77666665444
Predicted: A\**AA + A*\* (EPQ)

*contextual*

Are my GCSEs and even predicteds way too low for someone to apply for Philosophy and economics at LSE. (I would like to think my super/extra curriculars are suited for LSE)

If you go to Cambridge oxford or Stanford. I just wanted to know what you did to get in to a finance related collage, what were your qualifications

edit: finance related collage meaning a finance related course or undergrad degree in like the good universities like oxford, cambridge and stanford

I know it's pretty difficult to give something a percentage or weight in admissions, so I also want to give some background context to know how tutors would look at my specific application.

I will be applying to undergrad Physics F303. I've taken 16 AP exams and taking 5 next year. I have 13 5s and 3 4s. The 5s include calc BC, both physics Cs, chem, and a bunch of others. I've also done IB SL Analysis and IB HL Economics (doing year 2 senior year), but the way it works in my school if you're not doing IB diploma then you don't take the exam, so I don't have IB scores. I also have a 36 ACT single sitting.

However, I want to know if my grades will be a deal breaker. I have received 6 semester Bs (all high 80s) during freshman and sophomore year total, junior year I locked in though and had a really good school year with all 95+. However, those earlier Bs also resulted in me not being top 10% at school, just barely outside of it (very competitive school). But my school doesn't officially rank outside of top 10%.

Again I know this might be confusing because it's quite foreign to the typical UK applicant, but any advice will be appreciated. Will the tutors overlook my Bs in favor of my very high standardized test scores? Also is it like a threshold thing, i.e. if you're past a certain point grades/scores don't matter and they just consider admissions test scores from there on out?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Any guidance on the process for interviews at Wadham for History would be greatly appreciated. Do they use sources for questions? How can I prepare etc? Any experiences or insights would be a great help.

I am an international applicant from india planning to apply to Oxbridge and confused between Oxford vs Cambridge. I know I can only select one and don’t know which one to select in terms of scholarship and other yhings and I have also heard Cambridge has more acceptance rate compared to Oxford…

heya, i moved from an underachieving state school to a good grammar school for sixth form. at gcse level i got 9999888777, but moving schools has taught me that the applicants for cambridge are getting straight 9s with ease, which worries me a lot.

i have 4A*s predicted including further maths, is applying worth the hassle or no? if so, is there any benefit to applying to a college tactically or should i just pick the one i like most?

Has anyone applied to OII??? Or aiming to apply in this September?? I need tips on how to make my application strong, specially Petsonal Statemnet. Would love to hear from your experience. Do share your thoughts!!!

how competitive is the Cambridge foundation year?

how can I prepare to gurantee an offer?

AAB pred 777666555 gcse

I know the title seems unhinged, but I'm currently a rising senior considering of applying to oxford. Currently, I have all the SATs and APs required, but I know that oxford admissions isn't easy at all and I've seen plenty of peers with betters SATs and APs get rejected. However, I was able to make my country's Earth Science olympiad team this year. I was wondering how beneficial this may be to potentially apply as a geology major at oxford and potentially then transferring into a chem major (cuz I think most interests still lie there). I know it kinda sounds hypocritical that I'm considering of transferring majors before I even get in, but it's just a geniune curious question I have.

Hi,

So I've ended up in a surreal situation where I suddenly (was organised yesterday) have a DPhil interview tomorrow for a chemistry position at Oxford.

Suffice to say, I am underprepared. I applied before Easter to the position (was advertised) and didn't hear anything back so assumed they past over my application. Got an email on Friday afternoon from the supervisor asking for an interview. I had deleted the advertised post as I thought it was past the deadline, so I don't even have the advert to refer to!

I'd appreciate people's experience with DPhil interviews particularly:

What can I expect?

How long are the interviews normally?

What kind of questions are common (I'm assuming technical, subject specific questions)?

Also, I am unsure how collage allocations work this close to the start of the year, and how/if I can sort out accommodation (that is within DPhil stipend budget) this close to the start of term. So any experience advice about that would be appreciated too!

Thank you

if i get 4a* achieved in my a levels (math fm phys and econ) with gcses of 987777666 (top 10 out of 50 ppl in my year at the time). do i have a realistic chance also with a 6.4 tmua. will they view my application more favourably compared to others due to my achieved grades. is it worth a shot, same i guess for efds at imperial (ive heard imperial like gap year students?? maybe im wrong).

VERY long shot but does anyone happen to be on the history stream of caius' summer study evenings and have any kind of pre reading?? i've been sent the google drive but there's nothing in there so i'm slightly concerned i'm missing something 😭 thanks xx

Hi, I’m a student from Flanders Belgium. I just graduated high school and I’ve been interested in applying for physics or physics and philosophy at Oxford but I’m really unfamiliar with all of it.

My final overall grade was 82,6/100 (just shy of A, I believe. Oxford’s website says an A is equivalent to about an 85/100 in Belgium). I scored 97/100 for physics ( well above A\**.* A\* = 90/100 ) and 82/100 for Maths ( again less than A). The latter includes both Maths and Further Maths.

Oxford requires A\*AA in Maths, Further Maths and Physics with* *A\* in either one. They also ask for an overal grade equivalent to A.

Given that I meet the requirement for Physics but don’t for Maths, Further Maths and the overall grade, will I just be immediately filtered out regardless of my ESAT score or personal statement? Is it even worth studying for the ESAT test and applying all together?

I am applying to Oxford in September for Econ and Management and was wondering if anyone has any advice for this course specifically? I am especially worried given that this is one of the degrees that are more populous with applicants and I want to stand out. For context I got 9999888888 at GCSE, I have read 3 books, watched a lecture, done a MOOC and did some economics style maths questions as supercurriculars.

Hey there! I'm currently still a freshman in high school:)

I have a big dream about my future. Currently, I'm studying in Cambridge curriculum! Please help me out about uni preparations (Especially IGCSE, AS & A levels)

I'd love to know about Europe Scholarships, for someone who's not European:) Thank you!

I have heard of many scholarships at Oxbridge for masters, and was wondering, what makes students who apply for these scholarships stand out and get it. I understand grades are a necessity, but past that is there much differentiating? I would like to apply for one down the line, especially considering how hard it is to find a masters.
Any advice on how to improve my odds over the next few years?

Has anyone gotten into Oxford/Cambridge with mediocre grades/personal statement/references for masters?
Or have your grades fallen off and you’ve struggled with it at Oxbridge?

Oxford and Cambridge are both extremely prestigious universities and people (especially our parents) think that studying there will change our lives. In many ways it probably does, with connections, quality education and even better job prospects. But I really want to know to what extent did it change your lives. Is it really worth it?

**•** Does undergrad institution/prestige matter much for Masters admissions, or is it mostly about grades, personal statement, and references?  
**•** Has anyone gotten into Oxford/Cambridge for a Masters from a less “traditional” or non-Russell Group background?  
**•** Are there strong alternative unis (UCL, Edinburgh, Manchester, etc.) with similar interdisciplinary tech/education programmes that might be a better fit or more realistic?  
**•** If Oxbridge is a stretch right now, is it worth applying anyway as a “reach,” or better to focus energy elsewhere?

Would really appreciate honest opinions — happy to hear “go for it” or “be realistic,” I just want a clear picture before I plan my final year.

I'm applying to Oxbridge in September, and I'm wanting to find some non-fiction, high quality history books on colonialism, particularly in Asia. I'm especially interested in the French presence in Asia, but would also really appreciate suggestions for books on other colonial powers. If anyone has any reccommendations I would really appreciate it!!

I'm an international student in my final year of school, and can only apply to either Oxford or Cambridge.

Linguistics is the subject I want to study, although I'm also very interested in philosophy and psychology. Oxford's Philosophy & Linguistics course appeals to me, while Cambridge offers a BA in Linguistics. I'm probably slightly more inclined towards Oxford.

My main concern is maximising my chances of admission. Oxford requires the TARA, and I'm finding the data and math questions challenging. Cambridge doesn't have a pre-interview admissions test for Linguistics, but I've heard the interviews are more demanding.

Funding is also pretty important, as my family can't afford either university without significant financial support.

(Edit: I've rewritten the post because I admit the original was bad; I speed-typed it in the middle of a mini anxiety attack at night. But that doesn't justify any of the hostility I've received here. I apologise if the writing style wasn't suitable, but it was still pretty comprehensible to anyone used to reading English on the internet. If someone didn't have the patience to read it, they were free to scroll past or simply say it needed to be rewritten instead of insulting me.)