Oxbridge Applications

Depending on what course you choose to apply for, there are 4 steps to the process of applying for Oxbridge. They are: 1) Aptitude Tests, 2) Submission of Written Work, 3) UCAS Applications and 4) Interviews. There is a difference however to the experience of the domestic candidate and the international applicant in applying for Oxbridge. Typically the domestic application process follows out exactly as above from 1 to 4, however in some cases (I think up to 75%) the applicants may not be contacted for the interview as they have been deemed to not meet the exacting mystery requirements of Oxbridge from the previous 3 stages.

For international applicants however the process is different because you are given the opportunity to have international interviews conducted in your home country (at least the less obscure ones). These international interviews are conducted usually around October, but this varies from country to country. Take note that in order to be interviewed internationally you need to submit a form (and £50 fees I think through credit card) in advance to apply for the interview – deadlines were 20th September for Cambridge and 15th October for Oxford (these dates may vary from year to year). Note this means your applications need to reach them by that date. Employing a courier service is highly recommended.

For the Oxford application form for international interviews for the 2009 entry a summarised version of the personal statement was required. This means that interested applicants must also have written and edited their personal statements far earlier than just the 15th October UCAS Oxbridge application deadline. Another thing requested by Oxbridge international interview applications is a testimonal from a tutor, and do remember it’s polite to give them a few days to sit on the testimonial and let them consider what to write.

During application you can choose to apply Open or choose a specific college. If you’re like me and have never visited either college/have no specific target college you’re better off applying Open rather than choosing a random college. In an open application you are randomly assigned by computer to colleges that have empty places. For those who prefer applying college specific the rankings of individual colleges might prove useful: Tompkins Table for Cambridge and Norrington Table for Oxford.

For most of the part Oxbridge applications are pretty straightforward and guided. Those who need to take aptituide tests will usually recieve prompting and information from the admission officers of the colleges you’ve been assigned to, same goes for requests for submission of written work. It’s also far easier to do if you’re applying with a group of friends so you can all help and remind each other about the application process and share courier fees (total approximiate cost per use of courier – S$60).

Links wise if you’re ambitious enough to apply for Oxbridge, I trust that you’ll be clever enough to do your own googling and research for links (because they’ve disappeared from the internet as I type this) when application season rolls about again. Here are 2 links that I found useful during my application, a blog by the Oxford director of undergraduate admissions and podoxford. There’s also podcasts by the Cambridge admissions office.

At the end of the day it’s important to remember that for every 5 people who apply, only 1 place is available. This stat get worse in the more popular courses too. Getting a rejection from them is not the end of the world, in fact it’s pretty common. In my opinion they have a rather dodgy way of selecting applicants too. They took in my school’s greatest EQ-less braggart and rejected 4 friends who scored better than that braggart in the IB exams with a 45, a 44 and two 43s respectively. On retrospect it’s far better to be rejected and far far away from the braggart then be stuck with him for the next 3 years of my life – so there! It was a blessing in disguise, oho.