Oxbridge query/advice

Dave said:
Don't know what you mean about lying either - believe it or not people do turn down Oxbridge! My decision was based on my experience, and the course content itsel
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I thought I'd made this fairly obvious. A quick search revealed:

Dave said:
Oxford/Cambridge were usually a 40-42, with 7,7,7 or 7,7,6 in Higher Levels when I applied. I got turned down even though I got 7 in all of my higher levels, and I did 4 subjects at HL instead of 3. (did English A1 & French A1 as my standard levels :p )
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Dave said:
I applied for Engineering, (Magdalen College, Oxford) and they wanted 7 in Maths & Physics and 6 in a second science subject. I got turned down after the interview stage.
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Dave said:
drdimmer said:
I applied to Cambridge to read Engineering. Answer back in Thursdays letter was a resounding 'no'.
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Same happened to me a couple of years ago (Engineering at Oxford)
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(highlights added for your convenience). Which seems to contradict your claim:
Dave said:
Incidentally I passed the interview but ended up turning Oxford down because of the experience,
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stockhausen said:
As everyone else has said - differentiate yourself and don't waste your time going to Oxford, Cambridge is where it's at.

Cambridge want "special" people. Sport may or may not be good, depending on who interviews you. Some interviewers may feel that interest in a sport will distract from your studies, some will feel that it makes you a broader individual - especially if you are interested in the same sport as they are/were.

Really know your subject and have a genuine interest in it. You will be questioned by one or more people who really know their stuff, they will not expect you to be able to answer all their questions but they will expect you to be able to show that you can think for yourself.

Whatever anyone says, you probably can't prepare for an a Cambridge interview or reliably predict how it will run. They don't want to "catch you out" but they are looking for individuals with the very highest potential and a determination to succeed.

As a final point, if you do get to Cambridge, you have to be prepared to work INCREDIBLY hard. Whatever anyone may say, or films may suggest, you will have to study very hard for many hours, often stuck in a lonely room - unless you row or play rugby at international level ;)
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100% agree with this comment - I personally think the interviews are there to demonstrate how well rounded you are (outside of your chosen subject) while the application form ensures only the academically gifted get the chance to interview.

I wouldnt say you can prepare for the interviews or what you could expect in the CompSci interviews but Id hope the questions would be there to allow you to demonstrate the application of your knowledge and I guess you might be asked some CompSci questions (when I did mine only a couple of questions were specific to Medicine - hell I was debating with one regards how poor Windows 95 was and the crock that was the Millenium Bug) but it could be a broad base of subjects...

Definitely get interests outside of your chosen discipline (Im sorry but harking on about building PCs just doesnt give the right impressions). Also read up about your chosen college, you may end up being interviewed by an old-time fellow and you knowing about the college, its achievements or quirks (like how good the gardens are or something) might be enough to make him remember you. Also read up on who your interviewers are, how they are attached to the college and what work/research they are undertaking...

Last 3 cliched pieces of advice are to be yourself - the interviewers will try their best to help you become at ease (remember this isnt a normal thing for them to do either, so it works both ways); try and talk to them as an intellectual equal and that Oxbridge isnt the be all and end all if you dont get in (or even if ypu do - consider their offer wisely with others - other Unis my not have the prestige but may have a course tailored to you).

Also ensure you are presentable but with perhaps a bit of individuality - dont go too mad though (I wore a boring navy suit but wore a muted yellow shirt and navy tie with it for example)

Uni days are great wherever you are - I just had the worst of both worlds (like minstadave - kudos btw mate) - Cambridge and Medicine :p:(;)

EDIT: 2 points I forgot to mention are that summer internships are really very useful (a lot of CompScis and Engineers went to IBM pre-Uni) and could prove career-making down the line and that some colleges maybe more over-subscribed than others for your chosen disclipine (so more competition - I was at Pembroke which had quite a few medic applicants - I think I beat about 7ppl to my place at interview level)
ps3ud0 :cool:
 
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ps3ud0 said:
100% agree with this comment - I personally think the interviews are there to demonstrate how well rounded you are (outside of your chosen subject) while the application form ensures only the academically gifted get the chance to interview.
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This is just false, false, false. Pretty much everyone who applies is getting or is predicted top grades. The A-Level system being what it is, a student needn't have any particular aptitude for a subject to gain a top grade.

At Cambridge at least, almost everyone is interviewed - only those who are clearly below the mark get refused interview (i.e predicted bad grades, bad AS Levels, mediocre references). The main purpose of the interview is to find, from all those with AAAAA..... grades, those students who are the ones likely to excel in their subject area and have the ability to pass the Tripos exams. The college entrance exams also help.

:)
 
Erm re-read what I said? When did I infer that academically gifted meant just top grades? The interviews definitely arent there just to
decide who will excel in a subject - though I guess the theoretical subjects may have different requirements to what I experienced.

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
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Most of what needs to be said already has now, I can only go as far as agreeing with all those from Cambridge but i am assured Oxford is much the same. Basically, know your stuff and be interested and interesting. Perhaps read up on your interviewers before the interview, and be prepared to answer, Why Cambridge? Why this College? Why this course?
 
Ill guess we will have to agree to disagree - my interview had very little to do with academics and more on thought-provoking questions and human interaction. Its been a long time so maybe my memorys going :p...

Also it was my opinion I stated not a fact ;)

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
ps3ud0 said:
Ill guess we will have to agree to disagree - my interview had very little to do with academics and more on thought-provoking questions and human interaction. Its been a long time so maybe my memorys going :p...

Also it was my opinion I stated not a fact ;)

ps3ud0 :cool:
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Hey, no problem. I just think that potential applicants get all manner of information over the net, and much of it is completely false, so I often feel compelled to intervene. Speaking as an interviewer, I know that all we look for in applicants is academic ability. I'd assume your interviewers were the same, although in the arts subjects it's possibly not quite so obvious that's what the interviewers are doing.
 
When was Medicine an art subject :eek:. Though Population Sciences was :p...

Made me smile :D...

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
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Haven't read the whole thread, but some tidbits of advice would be:

- High, high grades at GCSE, but more importantly, A-level/IB. You need to be predicted very high IB grades. Everyone else applying will be.
- Superb extracurricular activities which have some relation to your degree. Something that you are almost sure is unique.
- You need to be able to communicate very well in an interview and be able to cope with the pressure. Too many people pin high hopes on Cambridge but fall apart in the interview.
- Your Personal Statement needs to be written very well. It's easy to get it checked over and over, plus you have plenty of time to write it. Weed out anything unnecessary, whilst the remainder should be precise and relevant. Avoid sweeping statements and bragging. They may test your truthfulness with regards to your PS in the interview. The interviewers will be very capable of flagging you up on absolutely anything you write.
- Pick your college carefully. Statistics on their own are interesting but you must consider the unobserved factor of the calibre of applicants. Top colleges tend to get 'better' applicants. However, competition statistically may increase at weaker colleges for the very reason that people believe they're weak. You also need to like the college; if you get in, you're spending 3/4 years living there and travelling from there to lectures on a daily basis.
- Hard work. Get used to it now. Not many people drop out, but many struggle, suffer and ultimately underperform. The workload requires active management.

Hope some of these things can be of use, although I imagine most has already been said.
 
Well I might be able to offer some insight as I read Computer Science at Cambridge...

I applied/was interviewed for Natural Sciences (and switched to CompSci after my first year). The best advice I can give is just to read around your subject, as they want to see that you're actually interested in your subject and are able to think for yourself.

I had two interviews, one subject based, one general, and it's pretty hard to prepare for them in terms of 'what questions will they ask. They are looking more at the way you think rather than if you get the right answer straight away.

In terms of the course, it's education, not training. You'll learn enough Java to get by (all 3 years have some Java/Java based programming theory component). ML is a 'functional programming language' (read: not used outside academia).

Oxbridge will always open doors, people probably unduly rate it over other universities, even though there are probably people who would have thrived there but didn't make it.
 
For the record Oxford CompSci is regarded as a better course than the Cambridge one, with IBM supporting the Oxford side as opposed to M$ for the Cambridge side.
Having said that, you gotta decide if you want nothing but theory, because it will bore you to death :(
 
rypt said:
For the record Oxford CompSci is regarded as a better course than the Cambridge one, with IBM supporting the Oxford side as opposed to M$ for the Cambridge side.
Having said that, you gotta decide if you want nothing but theory, because it will bore you to death :(
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Unfortunately for most people that has pretty much devalued (all?) your response(s) Im afraid...

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
As a current cambridge undergraduate i say come here, oxford sucks!:p

Aside from the automatic comment above, the compsci course does involve a lot of coding and theory so if it is what you want to do then great, just lerning the basic syntax of Java, Matlab, C, C#, C++ (the C's are all fairly similar) etc will help a great deal, though you dont have to have a perfect complete knowledge, just somethign to show/trick them into thinking that you are commited to the course.

I'm a 2nd year engineering student and i've done two of the above in my course!

Its good to show you are a balanced person by mentioning extra curicular stuff in your personal statement, but the descision is usally made on how you perform in the interview.

They dont want you to know everything, they are interested in how you tackle the problems thrown at you, and how you think, also if you dont know say so!

You can also be 'pooled' - around christmas, you get a letter saying either -heres your offer, sorry no, or you are in the january pool, please wait for a college to contact you (at this poitn depending what other colleges have done there is still a very good chance you will get in)

Back on the ox/cam thing, oxford is a proper city compared to the parts of cambridge you'd generally see (the town centre), the area that the university is in, is more of a large village!
Unless you go to girton or homerton colleges, you are essentially 5 mins walk from anywhere you need to go!

I'll talk to one of my mates and see if he has any advice, he switched from natsci/compsci to straight physics though, so he can only give an outline of the 1st year course.
 
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