Helping prep son for Oxbridge application

PM

Help! My youngest wants to apply for Oxbridge, he got the grades this summer for GCSE's but I know he will need to work hard if he wants to apply for Oxford or Cambridge - Can anyone help me with how I can help prep him ready for apply and things he could do now?

He loves maths and wants to go into finance/banking but isn't sure yet what subject.

Plans_all_plans

Hi, have you googled 'oxbridge applications'? There is a host of information about this online.

In terms of personal experiences, I had a friend who went to be interviewed at Oxford (if I remember rightly) and apparently he was interviewed while the dons ate a three course meal in front of him! It really threw him!

ETA: for banking/finance, something like Maths or Economics would be helpful, but I believe they take students from a number of disciplines in some firms. I'd also be getting him to google some big firms in the field he thinks he wants to go into to see what their graduate entry requirements are. Also, a first/2.1 from a good uni (top 10 in the subject and well regarded red brick uni) would also help. Don't think that Oxbridge is the be all and end all, as it could really stress him out.

peachyprice

I would speak to the school first off.

Every year our school has someone in from either Cambridge or Oxford to speak about the entry process and they also arrange a viewing day for parents/children to have a look around.

Have a word to see if this will happen at your school.

CH27

His 6th form college should have information & they will have had others going through the experience.

Kay_Peel

He's probably looking at things the wrong way.

Let's say, for instance, that he's interested in law (my degree). He has to start with the contents of the course. He might find that Oxbridge offer less interesting modules than say, another University that offers close links with employers, projects, skills training and so forth. Horses for courses.

If he just likes the idea of Oxbridge (Brideshead re-visited and all that!) then choose an obscure course where there is likely to be less competition for places and avoid the ones like English, Maths, History, Geography, Law, Medicine, Dentistry and Languages etc. After University he's going to have to train for a career anyway - so it doesn't really matter if he's going to study Agriculture-with-Urdu.

To gain a place at Oxbridge (or any University, or to get the job that you want) you have to have the X-factor - something that distinguishes you from your peers. It can be an interest, or voluntary/part-time work, or something that shows that you are a rounded and interesting individual, and worth calling for an interview.

I've got young friends you have graduated from Oxbridge over the past few years and I have to say that the experience had more negatives than positives for them. The workloads were over-powering. They felt under extreme pressure just to keep up. They haven't found the jobs that they hoped for and are still working in bars and warehouses. Only one found it a breeze - and she did nothing else, in term-times and holidays, but stay in her room writing essays and reading for four years. She says that she wouldn't have got through the work otherwise. What a waste.

So tell your son to develop his interests outside the academic world, do some paid work and grow over the next couple of years. Only choose to study at Oxbridge if the course beats all others into a cocked hat. If it's still for you then get used to working under pressure. And Good Luck!

lostinrates

Kay_Peel wrote: »

I've got young friends you have graduated from Oxbridge over the past few years and I have to say that the experience had more negatives than positives for them. The workloads were over-powering. They felt under extreme pressure just to keep up. They haven't found the jobs that they hoped for and are still working in bars and warehouses. Only one found it a breeze - and she did nothing else, in term-times and holidays, but stay in her room writing essays and reading for four years. She says that she wouldn't have got through the work otherwise. What a waste.

And then a contrary experience...my DH and siblings in law all went to oxford, and his father taught there for many years and is a visiting professor now. As a result as a family there is a very strong link and experience of several Oxford Colleges and a lot of family stuff is inextricably linked with one college or another.

Dh found His undergrad degree at oxford LESS demanding in time and pressure than his Law conversion! But it is a very different atmosphere, and ability to drive oneself and really to be a bit of a polymath..even if not directly related to your course...is quite important to benefit from the wider experience.


Where I would concurr totally, is that employment afterwards, especially in chosen field, can be a bit pants.....and I think its no surprise people drift into postgraduate courses. In our twenties dh and I were at the careers service for dh's benefit and we looked up employment figures for his matriculation year and on the face of it they weren't that bad percentage wise...but not all were in great, or even good jobs. A lot of Oxbridge graduates are working bars, restaurants and tutoring kids after school....its not necessarily a golden ticket...but very little is, and its a wonderful place to study and to maximise potential.


I think some careers advice...looking at what employers in the environment want is time well worth it....summer schemes, associated experience.

Tish_P

Good luck to your son! Great to see someone with ambition. My advice:
1. Make it about the subject and the course, not the place. Oxbridge colleges (it's the colleges who choose students, not departments) are like any others in that they want bright enthusiastic students with a love and understanding of their subject. Encourage him to read about maths, economics, statistics, physics or whatever fires him up.
2. Make sure he doesn't start to think going anywhere else is some kind of failure. Many other universities in the UK offer world class courses in mathematical subjects. (edited to add: and a lot of world class students are rejected from Oxbridge essentially by the luck of the draw; nothing he can do will 100% ensure a place.)
3. The Oxbridge applications process starts a lot earlier than UCAS and you can only apply to one of the two so be sure you know the timetable and have made the important decisions in time.

Nicki

I went to Cambridge and absolutely loved it. I don't have any negative memories of my time there and don't feel I worked stupidly hard to keep up, though I did obviously study hard while there I also enjoyed a great social life, and got a good degree at the end.

As Tish says, it is the college who chooses the students, not the faculty, though you would be interviewed by a college member in the subject you choose to read. So competition is less tough for the less fashionable colleges. If your son is at state school, it is also worth seeing which colleges have a better track record for taking state school applicants, as some of the colleges have very close links with some of the public schools leaving less places there for outsiders.

To get an interview he will need a good reference from school, and decent grades and outside interests. It is definitely worth speaking to the school now about what they can do to support him through the application process.

If he gets to interview, it is standard practice to be asked a tough theoretical question to which there is no right answer. The object isn't to see whether you know the answer, but how you go about analyzing the question and applying your existing knowledge to the problem. Anyone who panics and cant answer is unlikely to get an offer. Those who keep a cool head and give a sensible albeit wrong answer will do quite well.

As for Oxbridge graduates working in bars afterwards, I am quite sure some do. I suspect at least as many, if not more, graduates from other universities do too, or are unemployed. An Oxbridge guarantee isn't a guarantee of a decent job, because nothing can do that, but I've never heard of it positively holding someone back from their chosen career! If he wants it, he should go for it. It will be an unforgettable experience.

Savvy_Sue

And another vote for choosing the 'best' course for you, rather than the 'best' university.

DS2 and DS3 applied for Cambridge and Oxford respectively, and didn't get in. Neither has regretted it, because they're still at first class universities for their chosen subjects.

neverdespairgirl

Kay_Peel wrote: »

I've got young friends you have graduated from Oxbridge over the past few years and I have to say that the experience had more negatives than positives for them. The workloads were over-powering. They felt under extreme pressure just to keep up. They haven't found the jobs that they hoped for and are still working in bars and warehouses. Only one found it a breeze - and she did nothing else, in term-times and holidays, but stay in her room writing essays and reading for four years. She says that she wouldn't have got through the work otherwise. What a waste.

My friends and relatives didn't have that experience - my best mate did history at Cambridge, and loved it. She also studied Czech and Russian part-time, played rugby, and rowed. She is, however, super-bright, and got a first.

My brother-in-law did science at Oxford, and then decided to become a doctor, and is nearing the end of his post-grad medicine course, also at Oxford, but a different college.

It's a tough procedure - I went to a London uni for undergrad, and then applied for a post-grad course at Oxford (BCL, a masters in law). The interview process was pretty tough, and hard work. I did get a place, but decided to stay in London for my masters because OH was in London, and I've not regretted that at all.

Emmzi

my heart sinks when I interview an Oxbridge graduate. Such sense of entitlement, no sense of reality, and "hilarious" stories about punting with Jonty and Tim...

Ok, a generalisation, there is the odd one from the real world, but if he doesn't want to be a spy, a redbrick would do just as well!