Chance me for Oxford PPE

Chance Me / Match Me
41

Acceptance rates vary so much by subject (classics has a 42% acceptance rate!)- in part simply a function of the number of places v number of applicants. Joint subjects are typically tougher b/c both/all subjects have to agree on the applicant. The overall success rate for both arts & sciences is 18%, but these were the courses that had admit rates of 15% or below last year:

Sciences:
*Maths + Stats- 12.8%,
EEM, Medicine- 10%

Arts:
Law, History of Art- 15%
*PPE, History + Politics- 14%
*History + Econ- 13%
*Physics + Philosophy- 11%
*Law + Law Studies Europe- 10%
*History + English- 8%
*Econ + Management- 7%

*= joint subjects

I know three current Oxford historians who wanted to do HisPol, but were persuaded by their schools to apply for straight history, b/c of the much higher admit rate (last year 24% v 14%; in the year that they applied it turned out to be 26% v 11%).

42

“Guys stop trashing my motivations to make a lot of money. I am a good liar too, I understand how to feed left leaning academics the **** they require.” From Post #27

I wonder how this kind of attitude / motivation impact the acceptance rate?

43

I am going to get the CollegeBoard to delete the score. Then I am going to call UCAS, and try to get a statement in writing from them that since I no longer have access to the score and cannot verify that I ever took this test, so I do not have to submit it.

The alternative would be to explain my situation to Oxford, but I feel this is riskier.

Does anyone know of any bad stories of an American applying to Oxford who withheld their AP score. Of course there are bad stories about withholding a score since UCAS contacts the British exam board- but specifically for Americans for APs? UCAS does not seem to have a good relationship with the CollegeBoard.
Does anyone have any better ideas?

44

Tell the truth, and stop trying to play games?

45

@Crispin226, let me get this straight: you are going to (1) try to delete a score so that it is not on your College Board record, and (2) contact the British board and ask them for a letter stating that you do not have to submit a score that you don’t want them to know ever existed? Umm, isn’t that a big red flag? It’s sort of like the 18 minute gap on the Watergate tapes.

46

I have set up an anonymous gmail by which I can contact the CollegeBoard and UCAS, so there should be no red flags.

If I can get an email from a UCAS representative saying that I do not have to submit a score which I no longer have access to, I can use that to challenge a potential expulsion in the 1% chance they ever find out about it by contacting my school.

47

I am beginning to think this thread is a prank.

48

It’s not.

I’m just trying to do rational cost benefit analysis.

49

The official instructions from UCAS specifically say,

“You must enter all your qualifications – whether you have the result (even any that were ungraded) or you’re still awaiting exams and results.”
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/apply-and-track/filling-your-application

And you have to sign this declaration:
http://help.ucas.com/contract12/index.html

which among other things says:

“If we, or a university or college, have any reason to believe that you or your referee have:
left out any information, including any qualifications you have completed, qualifications with an unsuccessful grade or qualifications for which you are still awaiting results,
given false or misleading information,
supplied a personal statement, or parts of a personal statement, that you have not written yourself,
we may take any necessary steps to check with you and other parties whether it is accurate or complete.
We have the right to cancel your application without giving you your application fee back, if we determine or (having carried out any necessary checks) or have reasonable belief that your application contains false information or you have not written your personal statement yourself.
If you have any reason to believe that information we have about you is not accurate or complete, you must tell us.”

It seems unlikely that they will drop this requirement in an e-mail to you.

50

"Dear UCAS,

I am an American in my first year at a top 10-15 U.S. university applying for admission to Oxford’s PPE program for the fall of 2016, in order to maximize my Wall Street recruitment chances and earning potential. I have a stellar record, except for a 1 on the AP calculus BC exam a long time ago that I took before I had taken calculus, so I have had that score deleted from my CollegeBoard transcript. It no longer exists. I would like written assurance that you will not request me to submit that no-longer-existent score, as that would pose an ethical and metaphysical quandary, and I am not applying in Philosophy.

Sincerely,

Anonymous226"

51

“Rational cost benefit analysis”

LOL.

Oh, to be 18 years old again, and so clueless.

52

@NickFlynn -It’s quite rational, if OP is looking at it from a utilitarian point of view.

Utilitarianism seeks to ensure total pleasure. I’m assuming from OP’s posts here that it’s safe to say our initial premise is that he’s the best thing since sliced bread. Meaning he knows what to do with money better than anyone else. Ergo he should have control over as much of it as possible. And since utilitarianism holds that the means are irrelevant as long as the end justifies them, it’s quite rational for OP to believe that there’s nothing wrong with breaking all sorts of ethical boundaries to get into Oxford.

On the off chance that OP’s self-image is slightly more modest than it would appear, what he’s contemplating is completely unethical and rather foolhardy and generally augurs extremely well for a lucrative career working alongside the Gordon Gekkos of today. I suppose saying this makes me a left-leaning academic with an anti-market bias, but living through two major bubbles created by Wall Street before age 10 tends to do that.

@Crispin226 -I haven’t the faintest idea why you say that UCAS doesn’t have a good relationship with the College Board, but they’re professionals and I’m going to assume they are capable of communicating to verify an applicant’s scores, since test scores are the entirety of the College Board’s purpose.

If the anonymous gmail is meant to hide your identity from UCAS and the College Board, I’d love to know what you’ll write in your e-mail to UCAS.

"Dear UCAS,

I am writing to tell you that a student (whose name I shall not reveal) has cancelled an AP score and therefore cannot verify that he ever took the test. Kindly absolve this student from sending that AP score, as he is no longer able to access it. Thanks in advance.

Best,
john.doe.randomguy@gmail.com"

"Dear Mr. Randomguy,

We thank you for your interest in applying to the UK. Unfortunately, as we do not know the name of the student in question, we are unable to make any special provisions. Furthermore, our rules and regulations state quite clearly that all qualifications must be submitted through UCAS, and so such provisions would be proscribed in any case. We wish you the best of luck in your college search process.

Yours sincerely,
UCAS customer service."

53

Also I am going to tell UCAS that I forgot about the score and since it is no longer on my collegeboard and I took it a year ago I cannot recall it.

Stay tuned for their response. I am calling them tomorrow!

54

@NickFlynn @renaissancedad @collegemom3717 -OP has, in theory, called UCAS by now. If that is indeed the case, the lack of any post here on the subject speaks volumes.

@Crispin226 -Anything to report? Did UCAS reconsider their longstanding policy?

55

My guess is that some hedge fun recruiter has read through this thread and noted the OP’s excellent qualifications, and he is already working on Wall Street.

56

@Crispin226 I am not telling you to commit fraud, I am saying that had you not had that 1 1 on Calc BC your Stats would be over the Oxford minimum qualifications.
@NotVerySmart I am not sure that I agree with you about the Oxford minimum qualifications. What is true is that a predicted 38 on your IB is very far from a guarantee from a place at Oxford. However, the minimum qualifications at Oxford are set low because Oxford does not care that much about subjects irrelevant to your course. In our school at least, the students who get accepted to Oxbridge are not students that have predicted 45s, but students with 40-42s who are exceptional at their subject (shown through interview/admissions tests)

57

@Hiiamint
While that may be true for some subjects, such as math-one of my friends was told by the admissions officer for our region that, with a 7 in further math, Cambridge would take him with 39 points-these are rare exceptions. Our school’s successful Oxbridge applicants have never had IB scores below 40-and in most cases will apply with a predicted 42 or 43.

58

I don’t understand why op wants to attend Oxford if it’s to work on Wall Street. Op would be better off at any target or semi target, unless he can get a work permit for the UK and wants to work in the City first.

59

@MYOS1634, I agree, and said so earlier in the thread. Much of what the OP seems to want doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

60

I don’t think UCAS answer the phone over the weekend. OP prob won’t be able to reach them until Monday.