Oxford/Cambridge

Ghostt
Sat, 27 Nov 2010 17:00:17 +0000

You can only apply to only one of the two universities.

Yes, they are made up of many colleges. On your UCAS application you will be asked to put down a college (or a ‘campus,’ as UCAS lovingly calls them), but you can also make an open application. If you choose that option, a college will be assigned to you automatically. This doesn’t affect your chances of being accepted.

In fact, your choice of college is irrelevant. Acceptance rates are pretty much the same across all colleges. This is so because if you are deemed a worthy candidate, but the college you applied to already has too many of those, you will be pooled to another college. This can happen at any stage: before the interview, at the interview (you may be interviewed at more than one college), or after the interview (in which case you may be accepted to a college you’ve never heard of before).

The two universities put a lot of weight on their own entrance exams. This depends on your course (major), of course, but generally, Cambridge will ask you to sit a test at the interview, while Oxford will ask you to sit a test before the interview (at your school, for example; you’ll have to ask your counselor to contact the university and arrange that). You may also be asked to submit a writing sample, if you’re applying for subjects like History.

The interviews are conducted by the tutors and professors who will be teaching you. They are effectively choosing their future students on their own. I don’t know about Cambridge–I think they invite more people for interview than Oxford–but at Oxford, around two-thirds of all applicants get an interview. Some subjects are much more competitive than others, but in general, the acceptance rate among interviewees is slightly lower than 30%.

That’s all I can think of right now.

Also, I’ve been invited for interview at Oxford next week! Wish me luck :)