Oxbridge reject Puns

This time last year (Y13) i got rejected from oxford university; i got an unconditional offer to study biomedical sciences and got AAC in a level. My close friend got rejected from oxford but got an offer from LSE on a course with 20 places. My best friend got rejected from cambridge (despite being crazy smart, interesting and interactive in her interview) and then got AAA in her a levels. Only one out of 12 got an offer from oxbridge and then didnt get the grades to be accepted. Im telling you this because you can be successful without oxbridge. Yes youre entitled to feel upset but dont let it eat you. As well not everyone given an offer from oxbridge make it. Yes it may have been your dream to go to oxbridge but its not the end of the world. There are many good universities other than oxbridge (and cost less to go to with accommodation etc). And you can always apply for a masters or transfer (or have a gap year if it really bothers you) to oxbridge later on. Chin up, focus on your a levels and do well for you. Make yourself proud. Good luck everyone for exam season.

I was once told that for every place at Oxford or Cambridge University, there are five applicants.

There are more capable students than there are places at Oxbridge, so for those who didn't make the cut, how is life working out for you? Where did your career go from there? How did getting rejected impact you?

Hey everyone, that's right, it's your typical Oxbridge reject here. I've been struggling getting over the rejection. I know it won't magically go anyway and I want to actively overcome it. To anyone who's found doing certain things helpful, I urge you to share for the benefit for all of us that are hurting. (if there are any potential imperial physicists pls dm me, i need your encouragement) I hope you're all coping well - we will get through it.

Best Wishes

Edit : Spelling

Rip the dream boiz

can we all have a little pity party please.

I got rejected from Oxford for history and economics. not the end of the world. I'll live.

my sixth form is massive though, there was like 40 people just applying to Oxford and from the people I know, all but one got an interview. It hurts I see everyone doing work in the library or whatever and I just think what makes them better than me? idk. Also doesn't help an asshole who does no work got an interview too and he didn't even have great predicteds or whatever.

So I was always 99% sure I'd get an 8, and a 9 would just be icing on the cake, but it seemed like it was a good possibility. I lost like 15 marks across all the exams from misreading questions (e.g. Sector area not arc length, y co-ords not x). I am fairly certain I would have gotten a 9 had I not made these mistakes, but oh well, I tried my best and what's done is done.

But I don't believe for a second what he said. He thinks that for a maths/ comp sci. degree at Oxbridge, his application will be disregarded without a 9.. like seriously? As someone who is considering this path, surely this can't be true, what do you think?

Preemptively making this thread so we can give each other support.

Hey guys,

I really don’t wanna take away from all the people getting their interviews, but I got my rejection a couple of days ago and it’s weighing on me pretty heavily.

I told myself that I knew what i was getting into, and that majority of applicants do get rejected, but it just hurt so much more than I thought it would.

I just don’t know how I can move on from it..

Edit: And although all my friends have been SO supportive and i’m so grateful for that, the bottom line from what ppl say to me is ‘everything happens for a reason’, or ‘you’re smart, you’ll end up somewhere great’ and whilst it’s nice to hear, i struggle to buy into it. Maybe it’s just because i’ve lost faith in myself but i used to feel like i was in control of my fate, and that if I worked hard enough, I’d get where I wanted to be.

Got rejected from Oxford on Wednesday and it’s only really started affecting me until today.

It’s such a weird emotion because I had kinda come to terms with the fact I wouldn’t get an interview after I felt I didn’t do well on the test, but I was still devastated when I found out. It’s even harder having friends who have been invited to interview and I’m ashamed to say that a large part of me wished they hadn’t (yes I’m aware of how spiteful and bitter that is).

Anyway don’t want this to turn into a therapy session but if you’re experiencing a similar situation pls go ahead and vent ur thoughts so we can all wallow in self-pity together.

Yo, I recently received my Cambridge rejection email (heart-breaking, I know) and after seeing all the disappointed posts on this subreddit about rejection I wanted to share how I've seen my rejection as a positive thing (keep in mind I did want to go to Cambridge whole-heartedly, I didn't just apply because it felt like it was expected of me).

Firstly, I acknowledged way back that my chances of getting in were miniscule, especially after practicing for the NSAA (Natural Sciences Admission Assessment). After sitting the real thing I knew the only way I would get in would be pure luck but that's besides the point. When I applied to Cambridge, I also applied to the University of Dundee. I think when you apply to Oxbridge the most important thing is having 2 or 3 other university choices that you really love just as much, maybe even more than Oxbridge. That was Dundee for me. Dundee was a choice I absolutely fell in love with. The course is so unique and, most importantly, it was my choice. Oxbridge is full of expectations (regardless of what you're applying for) and it felt like a general application but it wasn't really special to me.

If I'm being honest, the suspense waiting for the rejection/acceptance email was tougher than the actual rejection. It was simply the next step which would decide what I would need to plan from there. If I got to interview, I would have had to prepare and read-up on all the material in my personal statement as well as continue with the in-class assessments which count towards our grades (in Wales, anyway). The rejection just meant I knew what I needed to focus on rather than being led along.

Now, I can prepare better as I know my position. It helps that I already received my Dundee offer but even so, if you're applying to Oxbridge, chances are, you will get into your next choice on a conditional offer. It feels like a whole weight off my chest since I went from preparing to pull out A*A*A grades to needing ABB to get into my choice. It also helps that I now know exactly where I need to be looking to prepare my finances, book accommodation, review scholarships etc, rather than waiting and hoping on my Oxbridge application.

The worst part from now are just the pitying 'aw well, lots of people apply there, don't feel bad' talks you get from your teachers and/or family members haha. But after a few days of disappointment, confusion and questioning, it really does begin to disappear and you'll be able to see ahead of yourself

Just got my Oxford rejection for biology!

My stats are:

College - Worcester

GCSEs - 9999988877

Predicted A-Levels - A*A*A*A

Bit confused why you have to wait so long for feedback, but I'm happy the wait is over :)

Is it more important for oxbridge to find the right person than to find just any person with good grades

I got AAAA* chem,physics,further - math would I be rejected to do maths if I apply first time this year?

Does anyone have experience with changing the entry point from first year to second year, for Edinburgh? I sort of messed up during application and I want to know if it's possible to email them and asking for change? I've already got an offer, but I'm willing to let them change the offer conditions.

Hey A2C,

I've done something similar to this in previous years, so I figured I'd drop back in and help out the next batch of you that are starting your college journeys.

I'm a US/Canada admissions officer at a Top 20 university in the United Kingdom, so it's literally my job to help students in North America learn about options in the UK and guide them through the application process.

Applications from the US in particular are exploding right now (up 60% nationally), so hopefully this advice can help you figure out why - and how to make a competitive application.

Apologies in advance for the wall of text that is coming - but hopefully it's all useful stuff. Feel free to ask any q's, and I'll do my best to get back to you as soon as my work day allows me to.

Disclaimer: I will be speaking generally about UK admissions. Not everything I say will be applicable to every university (looking at you, Oxbridge) - but should be fairly accurate for most.

Why are so many US students applying to the UK?

I'm sure I don't need to tell any of you, but the US college application process can be a bit overwhelming. In the UK, it's a simplified process, based on academic merit and transparent entry requirements. Costs are much lower at the top end, and comparable at the lower end of the rankings, even for international students. Plus, things like international experience, universal healthcare, private dorm rooms and all that... but onto the details.

Students are limited to applying to only 5 universities/programs - so acceptance rates are much higher as students only apply to schools they stand a good chance of getting in to. We also don't publish acceptance rates, because we don't take pride in rejecting people.

The United Kingdom

Geography lesson time - The UK is made up of 4 constituent nations (for now anyway...) - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. All four have distinct regional personalities, and each has excellent universities. Many US students think that the UK is made up of Oxbridge, London and St. Andrew's. Like the US, there are colleges for students of widely varying academic ability and financial means - please don't think that college is inaccessible to you because of perceptions of your grades and bank account.

UK college structure

The UK has two main college systems: Scotland - 4 year degrees, similar to US model. 2 years of mixed curriculum, followed by 2 years of 'declared major'.

England, Wales, Northern Ireland - 3 ye

I've gotten offers from UCL, Warwick and B'Ham (rejected by Oxford and Imperial :( ) for Physics. I'm more than happy with the offers I've got, but my parents are insistent on going to Oxbridge (idk man they Indian).

So my question is, if I get 4 A*s is there a process similar to clearing where you can apply to courses at Oxbridge etc. or are those courses far too oversubscribed?

Hello boys and girls,

I’ve been a lurker here for a while now (which is very strange considering I’ve never once thought of studying in the States) and this sub has given me endless entertainment for the past couple months of boredom. As a way or giving back, I’d thought it’d be fun to write up a guide on applying to the UK, given that I haven’t seen anyone give tips on UK Uni apps yet and I thought it will be helpful for current juniors who have begun to research and look into different schools (at least I think they have?).

For context, I’m an international student from Asia who is going to be matriculating into LSE this September, so I was as confused as many of you are/will be when I first applied to the UK. Nevertheless, I thought it would be useful to leverage my experience and share whatever I’ve learnt regarding the process for internationals applying to the UK.

UK vs US Unis

Let’s start with the basics, what are the differences between the UK and US schools and who should apply? Well, to start most bachelor’s degrees take 3 years to get in the UK as compared to the 4 years in the US. An exception to this rule at Scottish universities (e.g. St. Andrew’s), which follow a similar 4-year structure as most US schools and Medicine/Dentistry, which is 5-6 years. More importantly though, course flexibility is very different in the UK as compared to the US – For most schools in the UK, when you apply for a school in the UK you apply to the major directly and it is very difficult to change courses once you’re in. In my opinion, this is the main difference between schools in the UK and US – you must be sure of what you want to do and that you will be happy doing it for the next 3 years before you apply to UK. Furthermore, in the UK, you can apply to study courses like law and medicine directly for your undergrad degree (though you may have to check your country’s eligibility to practice using a degree in the UK). Some courses (Oxford MEng, for example) even allow you to obtain a master’s at the end of the course, although most of these courses are more than 3 years.

This means that If you are uncertain of what you want to study, I would advise against studying in the UK. The rigidity of the UK undergrad degrees means that only students who are certain of and passionate about a certain field of study (i.e. their major) should apply.

Choosing your courses

Applying to UK schools is done via the UCAS portal. You go to t

Between the ages of 11-16, the most popular kid in school would make my life a living nightmare.

Academically gifted, popular with girls and guys, a real teacher's pet, he could do no wrong in their eyes.

He would taunt me daily, as we were sat alphabetically next to one another, punch me when the teacher wasn't looking. Take my school report card before it was handed out to the pupils and broadcast and laugh at my grades. At one point, he took my school bag and threw the entire contents onto the school fields. He could still do nothing wrong.

He then took his own life. Some say because he got rejected from Oxbridge, others say over a girl.

Years later, I bumped into the principal whilst out shopping, who asked me if I had heard of his death. My reply, "I piss on his grave," and recounted everything I had gone through.

I didn't do well in school, but I earned a university degree as a mature student (In the UK, studying over age of 21 constitutes a mature student) with a good GPA equivalent, graduating with full honours. I then found a job I enjoy. I'm still here, even though I get pretty depressed about stuff sometimes.

Ask me anything you like.

UPDATE 1: Quite surprised by the pockets of conversation this post led to. I've received kind words of empathy and support and constructive ways in which I can move on from this. Thank you.

On the other front, I have been called names like "man-child", told that I am pathetic and bitter and that I ought to get over an event that took place many years ago, or that children will be children. Sorry, but you people were not there. This happened daily. Even at that young age, I contemplated suicide. I had no-one to turn to, and the teachers failed me miserably. But for those of you who have spewed hate to me, and DM'd me that I should be dead, or with comments such as "oh, maybe they just didn't like you, and weren't really your friends," who are YOU to question me, unless you have been there? You were not there, and you are no different than my abuser all those years ago. If you get a chance between your breakfast cereal and Saturday morning cartoons, I advise you to read some of my replies to those I have replied to, for a full and contextual narrative of my experiences.

Hi all! I'm about to go to uni this autumn and would like to know if the rough mental trajectory I have for myself is at all realistic and feasible.

Having been rejected from Oxbridge I'm most likely going to be heading to St Andrews. With that in mind, is it still realistic for me to aim for entry into fintech after graduating? Looking at JPM, Goldman Sachs and the like. I understand that Oxbridge grads certainly have an edge but it'd be good to know how much this sets me back.

However, I'm aware that experience trumps all so I'm looking forward to when that doesn't matter haha but as far as getting my foot through the door, I hope I'm going to be alright?

Also, I quite like the idea of doing a Master's, but is this a worthwhile endeavour for someone going into software engineering? Especially since I have no intention of heading into academia.

Apologies that the question is so UK specific but any help at all would be greatly appreciated!

People who received rejections today, first off well done on applying and doing interviews! That takes courage I don't have..

Anyway what are your guys next steps? What other unis are you firming or will anyone be taking a gap year to try again for 2022?

Much of this thread is dominated by information on US applications and that's expected given most of the students on here will be most focused on domestic applications. Coming from the UK, I applied to exclusively British Universities: LSE, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Durham, and St Andrews (I would have applied to the US in a gap year after my A level exams if I did not get a university I wanted) and I thought it could be beneficial for me to share my experience. Feel free to drop a pm if you want any advice or help :)

Here in the UK, you apply for a specific subject. In England, you pretty much have to take that course and stick with it for all three years. In Scotland, you do it along with two other subjects for two years, then specialize in one for two more years. I applied for History at all of my universities apart from one slightly niche course at Cambridge, but your experience of the admissions process will be pretty similar regardless of subject (apart from Medicine, Veterinary Sciences, Teaching, and other courses where every university interviews. I only had to do an interview for one of my applications).

So I applied to UCAS on October 15th, 2020. Personal Statement, References, Grades, other info, all put in, sent off. I must add that since you are applying to a subject, your Personal Statement must be far more subject-oriented and you only have 4,000 characters, so it must be concise, yet you still need to stand out. I'm happy to give PS advice if anyone wants it, I just didn't put it on this post because of spacing.

Now, we wait.

And wait, and wait, and, oh, it's December and I've got an email from LSE! Let's have a look.

'UPDATE ON YOUR APPLICATION' - so this is the decision, huh? Let's have a look!

'Your application may take a little bit longer, we've had delays due to the delayed UCAS deadline and COVID-19'

Cool, I'll wait again.

Much of your experience applying to the UK will be like this. To varying degrees, the Universities do try their best to communicate with you, as do UCAS themselves (I must add that the UCAS system itself was efficient and easy to manage). This can be a bit nerve-wracking at times, but it's just how it works - most universities do not have a decision day, so offers and rejections can come at any time.

I kept waiting. My girlfriend already had her top 2 (Imperial and UCL), and most of my friends at least had one offer, some even from the likes of Oxford and Durham. Not hearing anything was probably one

Hello everyone! I got into Imperial College London for MSc in Pure Mathematics. I was heartbroken when Oxbridge and ETH rejected me and I didn't know if I could even get into the MSc program this year. I was super stressed and there were days when I just felt incapable. The pandemic, has nevertheless, made it worse. Two weeks ago, I got accepted to NUS for MSc in Mathematics by coursework, and today... I made it to Imperial! I am on cloud 9. I remember a 13-year-old me, seeing Oxbridge, MIT, and Imperial and just wishing to study there. Thank you all for sticking! All the best to all of you.

Demographics

• Gender: Male
• Race/Ethnicity: Indian
• Residence: India (international student)
• Income Bracket: Middle class
• Type of School: Private school in Mumbai, about a quarter of the class applies outside India
• Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): None lmao

Intended Major(s): Physics + math/CS

Academics

• GPA (UW/W): 9th-83.5% (grade deflation), 10th-97.3%, 11th-92%, 12th predicted-97%
• Rank (or percentile): school doesn't rank but I'd estimate top 5-10/469
• # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: Syllabus is just CBSE (national board in India).
• Senior Year Course Load: Math, Physics, Chemistry, CS, English + Physics: Light and Heat, Math: MV Differential Calculus Stanford ULO courses

Standardized Testing

List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.

• SAT 1530(770RW, 760M) (surprised that I got more in English)
• ACT: N/A
• SAT II: N/A
• AP/IB: Calculus BC (5), Physics C Mechanics (5)
• Other (ex. IELTS, TOEFL, etc.): Duolingo English Test-130 composite

Extracurriculars/Activities

1. CS program at well known tech company - developed project over 4 months with team of 3 others. (senior year)
2. Co author of physics paper on quantum mechanical squeezed states with professor at t20 US university. Will be published in American Journal of Physics. It passed the peer review just after decisions came out. (senior year)
3. Speedcubing practice/competing/organized a competition (all 4 years, my most consistent EC). Also a bunch of national level awards and national records.
4. Alpha tester for QM book same professor as in #2. (senior year)
5. Recreational coding - taught myself python ML, C++ OOP, Wolfram Language and did random projects (junior and senior year)
6. Piano classes - Grade 5 Piano and Theory of Music distinction. Learnt for nearly 7 years but stopped in senior year.
7. School Speedcubing club founder/leader- Weekly meetings/practice hangout sessions, nothing too significant
8. School journalism club writer - Wrote science articles, nothing too significant (Junior and senior year)
9. Unofficial study under phd student at IIT bombay - learnt mostly about nanotechnology stuff, slowed down a lot after corona (junior and senior year)
10. MIT OCW Quantum Mechanics courses - threw this in because I had space to fill

Awards/Honors

Definitely my weakest section in terms of academic awards

1. International summer camp - EC#1 was a follow up from this

Just got rejected from Cambridge :/ didn’t even get an interview nor been pooled (this makes it even more disappointing) I had 9999999988A* at GCSE (the two 8s in essay subjects and I applied natural sciences so hoped it wouldn’t matter) and A*s predicted in a-level maths, further maths, physics, chemistry and EPQ. I tried so hard :(( everything I’ve been working towards for the past few years down the drain

of course my school is not an ivy, but its the best private uni at my country with great education & resources for 1/10th of the us uni’s intl. fee + great year-long study abroad programs with oxbridge, ivy, UC, etc. that the school tuition covers for! i’m so excited i can screamm!!!!!

after being rejected from my dream uni last week, i cried and thought i was a failure,,,,remember, life will always figure out its way.

p.s. congrats to all of u! you worked so hard to get here. wishing u the best for the next four years <3

so i’m planning on applying for history and international relations at KCL and have it be my firm. however, i’ve been really put off by the general opinion of Kings. is it really that bad in terms of prestige? the course i’m after is A*AA, which surely indicated that the course isn’t just a second choice for people who weren’t smart enough to get into oxbridge. Will my job and career prospects be put off by me attending Kings?

For some context,

I am going to apply to Oxford and Imperial for Engineering-Oxford for Engineering Science and Imperial for Mechanical Engineering.

Oxford being the course I primarily want.

Im in Year 12 and I am studying A Level: Maths, Physics and Chemistry with EPQ

We have not completed much of EPQ, so I will not have lost much time to the EPQ.

Do you suggest I drop my EPQ and pick up Further Maths now (March of Yr 12) so that I make my application as competitive as possible-of course as long as I can get predicted an A minimum.

I find AS Maths easy and have bought the AS further maths books-I will start independent learning AS once I decide-and then do exams on AS content in September after summer to get my predicted grade for FM if I decide to take it.

Should I do my 3 subjects and EPQ whilst focusing of the Admission test for Oxford-PAT?

I feel that not doing FM is such a big disadvantage when I see people getting rejected with 4A* who apply to Oxbridge/Imperial, whilst I will only have 3A*.

I believe that I can maintain A* in my other subjects whilst taking on FM.

What do you guys think I should do?

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just got rejected from oxford for maths.

is it weird that i'm not even disappointed? like... i was once obsessed with getting into oxford. i guess i pretty much accepted that oxford is way above my league after i finished the MAT.

to those who got shortlisted for an interview, congrats! to those who got rejected, helloooo! please allow me to join your club.

Are you an unhooked junior with a 1450+ SAT, decent ECs and a GPA >3.7?

Or are you an international student who needs a full ride and also wants to get into a top university, but you're afraid you'll be rejected from every T20 because of need aware admissions and the fact that need-blind Ivies have a sub 5% acceptance rate?

This guide is dedicated to you guys. US college admissions is a game of chance, which means that while some of us get lucky, the majority of us get stuck with schools that are either too expensive or relatively 'mediocre' schools which we never expected we'd have to go to after working our butts off for 4 years.

In this guide, I'm going to introduce an equally prestigious university with a 20-30% acceptance rate that you're pretty much guaranteed to get into if you have decent stats. You don't even have to have good ECs; all you need is to ace your 100% academically oriented admissions assessment and interview.

Note that in this guide I define T30 as 'top 30 schools globally' and not 'top 30 schools within the US', because quite frankly US schools aren't the be-all end-all and some US T30s aren't even T50 globally.

1)The University of Tokyo's PEAK programme

UTokyo is arguably the most prestigious Asian university outside of Seoul National University, and it consistently ranks within the top 30 schools globally. The PEAK Programme is taught entirely in English, and you can choose between the Environmental Science major or the Japan in East Asia (JEA) major. Environmental Science is fairly self-explanatory; as for the JEA course, it's pretty much what you'd do in the US. You spend the first 2 years taking generic liberal arts classes and getting a feel for what you like, and in the latter 2 years you take specialised classes based upon your preferences. The course might be titled 'Japan in East Asia', but you'll also be able to take humanities and social science courses that aren't specifically about Japan such as politics, economics, international relations etc. which will be massively helpful if you plan on applying for more industry-oriented grad school programmes.

Getting in is fairly easy, because the course is undersubscribed and few people outside of Asia even know it exists. If you have the stats outlined at the beginning of this post it should be almost a guarantee that you get in.

If you have a typical Ivy League applicant profile (think 1550+ SAT, 3.9+ GPA, 43-45 predicted IB score, 7 - 12 A*s at IGCSE le

So this is mainly for juniors who frequent this site now that the process is over. A disclaimer of sorts is that this is all my opinion and results may vary based on applicant strength. This is mainly tailored to those of you who have great stats (especially AP scores) but don’t think you’ll fare well for US admissions. (Perhaps it’s your EC’s, you can’t write flowery essays, or your white/Asian and aren’t legacy or don’t play a sport) Essentially this is for the normal people with good stats who are in a hyper competitive district that drags down class rank or that doesn’t have 10 national awards. Apply to UK universities. UK universities aren’t test optional and the only thing they care about is if you are good at what you do, and if you can demonstrate that in a personal statement. The great ones are obviously oxford, Cambridge, LSE, and imperial college london. After that I start to question if it’s better than my local state school, but places like Durham, St Andrew’s, Edinburgh, and UCL are also known. Admissions overall in the UK works differently than the US. I think it’s a much better process generally speaking. The fees aren’t crazy, I.e you can apply to the maximum number of schools the UK allows you to apply to (5 schools) for less than it costs for you to apply to one in the US. You also only write one 4000 character (~650 word) personal statement that should focus purely on things related to academics and your course of study. So writing about a book, lecture, or class and analyzing it is fine for instance. Talking about research is also fine as long as it is something related to your topic of study. Again you have one personal statement for all of your schools, so make sure you’re either applying to similar programs or if not that it works for multiple. Their typical offer is 5 5’s on AP exams for US students. If you have not achieved this, but are taking courses to they’ll subject your offer to getting a 5 on those exams. Since most of the people I know from the states have done like 10+ AP exams and have scored 5’s on most of them these conditions are easy to fulfill. The reason I’m saying all of this is because in the US I applied to 20 schools and got into 2, one of which is my state school that I was automatically admitted into. My stats were that I had a 1520 sat 790 math, 730 English, 800 on math 2 and us history subject tests, 16 AP exams throughout my 3 years of HS, and 12 5’s on those exams. I also was ranked 14/13xx so I was ab

Well after so many days of dropping comments here for people who were rejected from Oxford it’s my turn HAHA yup burnt my bread for PPE @ balliol and it was pretty expected the moment I left the exam venue after my TSA so I don’t feel exceptionally sad or anything knowing that Oxford was a last minute decision on my part and DESPITE THAT still applying to Oxford though I knew I wasn’t cut out for it! If anything I just wanna say to everyone else in the same state as me, good on you for having unfounded courage even if you held reservations at the start of applying!

Honestly the copy-paste letter sounds as half hearted as it can be HAHA but I get it they are busy with the people they offered interviews to don’t mind me HAHA but when I opened the letter I really didn’t feel much except for “oh. okay then.”

In general if there’s anything I feel bad about is:

1. I wasted my parents’ money on test fees which are hella expensive in a time of covid.
2. I wasted my own UCAS options lol should have just went for another safe-bet university.
3. I wasted so much of other people’s time trying to get their opinion on whether I should apply for Oxford or not.

Honestly for myself Oxford was just to boost my ego - nothing more nothing less. I never felt like I needed to go to Oxford because I loved the school but just wanted to have a feel-good effect of saying “yea I’m from Oxford” so maybe the slice of burnt bread isn’t that bad for me. I do feel sad though - who wouldn’t after a rejection? I do genuinely feel a tiny bit of sadness. Nevertheless, I’m thankful for the process ngl I enjoyed practicing for the TSA quite a fair bit bc it really pushed me and exposed me to a lot of new things! I’m proud to wear the Oxford reject label knowing that I had the courage to go for something I knew was beyond me because I don’t like conceding defeat without even trying so cheer up my fellow Oxford rejects and GO GET MORE BREAD🔥

Background:

Indian male; applied to study mathematics at Fitz.

Decision: rejected

"Stats":

A Level predicted: A*A*A*A* in math (received scores, 96 A*) , fm, physics and chem. C in AS english (predicted)

AS Scores: Physics (88 a), Chem (86 a), Math (95 a), Further Math (a, no exam since corona)

GCSE: A*AAAAAB including additional math. B in english.

I thought the interviews went well, except the first one...they asked me to prove that the harmonic series is divergent and i spotted that integrating 1/x and 1/x+1 would do the trick. idk what happened :/

just thought this would be a good place to post to get feedback on lacking areas, and for prospective applicants to see when theyre procrastinating xD

It's all feeling a little raw and emotional right now. But I felt it would be a useful point of conversation to gain some perspective, voice some concerns and start a discussion.

This has been my third round of applying to PhD’s, and it has honestly been the hardest one yet. Partly due to everything that has been going on. This year I applied to 30 (yes, Thirty!) UK PhD programmes. Various Wellcome Trust, BHF, MRC, iCASE among other individual projects and studentships. Granted I haven’t heard back from all of them yet, but so far it has been an overwhelming rejection. Not even getting an interview. Just a straight-up “if you haven’t heard from us by X date, you have been unsuccessful” and they don’t even have the decency to tell you why.

Just to throw things back, my first round of applications would have been around 2015. I had a 1st in my BSc of Biomedical sciences and was just finishing up my MSc. in Tissue Engineering for Regenerative medicine (I ended up getting a Merit). Both pretty broad degrees content-wise, but I felt this would be enough to serve as a foundation that I could delve into any specific speciality that I wanted. Stem cells, neuroscience, pharmacy, molecular bio etc. To top that off, I also had two solid research projects under my belt and 3rd name on a paper. So safe to say I felt better equipped than most PhD students I had come across. I applied to 5 programmes that year (UCL, Kings, Edinburgh, Warwick and Southampton). Made sure to have my professor, supervisor and postdocs check over my application and it was golden…2 interviews but no offers. Admittedly at this point, my view on a PhD was just that it was the natural thing to do. I enjoyed doing research and wanted to do more. But hadn’t given much thought as to how it would play out in terms of career, impact, and goals.

I didn’t want to do a PhD with my previous professor, just because I wanted to explore more of what was out there. My university wasn’t a research-intensive uni. I felt I had big ideas and wanted to work on impactful, bleeding-edge science at the big uni's! So, I ended up getting a job as a medical lab tech at the NHS. Nothing too exciting and was pretty much the same day in day out for a year. But hey it paid the bills. Then got another job as a lab tech within an academic lab for another year. But more research-focused so moving in the right direction. I was pretty keen to get involved in more of the research going on so I dedicated a lot of my free

if the big universities take GCSEs into account i want to make sure mine are good and not just the minimum needed for my A level subjects

I am planning to reject my current firm and insurance choice unis for another shot at oxbridge but I am afraid of hurting my chances with my firm/insurance choice unis next time around.

1.) Would they even know it's the same person reapplying?2.) If yes to (1.), would I be assessed differently due to my previous actions?3.) Feel free to share your/a friend's personal experience who was in the same position :D

Thank you for any replies!

how do uk colleges just spring decisions on you omg this shit isn't fair