Oxford Magdalen rejection letter

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yello

back and brave
Location
France
I found this interesting....

"I spent my entire time there laughing at how seriously everything was being taken."

I wonder how she would have responded if they hadn't taken her seriously? Where did she think she was applying to?

If she has that attitude, I'm not sure anywhere will offer her a place. Good luck in clearing.
 

martint235

Dog on a bike
Location
Welling
My understanding back in the 80s was that Oxbridge invited you to sit their exams based on expected A level grades. However once you passed the entrance exam, your actual grades no longer mattered
 

Flying_Monkey

Recyclist
Location
Odawa
I know that if you put Oxford as second choice or lower you won't be considered.
I doubti f Cambs would be an exception to this rule.

I put Oxford as my second choice to SOAS. On the basis of the interview, they offered me 2Es, whereas SOAS wanted 2As and a B. Being a lazy person, I took the offer from Oxford. In retrospect, it may have been the wrong option.
 

ASC1951

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
Well... "expected grades" innit, which translates to a teacher basically underwriting their uberswots.
Ah, right. Not the natural meaning of "have hit their grades", if I may make so bold...

It was all a lot more straightforward in my day, even for us state school types in our raggedy britches. Apply to one College, sit Entrance Exam, go back for interview, get Scholarship, turn up 22 months later with tin trunk and gown. :smile:
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
I found this interesting....



I wonder how she would have responded if they hadn't taken her seriously? Where did she think she was applying to?

If she has that attitude, I'm not sure anywhere will offer her a place. Good luck in clearing.

Yes, my thoughts too. If it hadn't occured to her beforehand that Oxford was a place of tradition and seriousness, then she's really not that bright.

A serious case of inverted snobbery I think.
 

Archie_tect

De Skieven Architek... aka Penfold + Horace
Location
Northumberland
I put Oxford as my second choice to SOAS. On the basis of the interview, they offered me 2Es, whereas SOAS wanted 2As and a B. Being a lazy person, I took the offer from Oxford. In retrospect, it may have been the wrong option.

Master A_T got an offer of 2Es to study French- it wasn't a good idea as it took away the need to work hard.
 

Maz

Guru
Could have been but I am mostly certain it was Cambridge and not Cambridgeshire.
It was Cambridge, not Cambridgeshire. My wife just told me. She is from there, and she is never wrong.
 

Maz

Guru
Progressive!

Sorry, not being schooled in the UK, I don't know what that means. So I feel sure that the first meaning that springs to my mind is the wrong one.
A-levels are graded. The highest grade is a grade A (75%+?), the lowest pass is an E (20-25%?). No idea if those % are accurate, but I'm sure you get the idea..so the uni was saying to flying_monkey 'you get 2 E grades and we will offer you a place here'.
 

PK99

Legendary Member
Location
SW19
A-levels are graded. The highest grade is a grade A (75%+?), the lowest pass is an E (20-25%?). No idea if those % are accurate, but I'm sure you get the idea..so the uni was saying to flying_monkey 'you get 2 E grades and we will offer you a place here'.

A different spin, they were saying "We want you so much and are confident in your ability to do well, just pass the minimum criterion and you are in"

I got a "minimum matriculation" (2E's) from Manchester to read Physics in 1974 and got ABBB
 

Canrider

Guru
Yes, my thoughts too. If it hadn't occured to her beforehand that Oxford was a place of tradition and seriousness, then she's really not that bright.

A serious case of inverted snobbery I think.
More like 'people around me taking it all too seriously', like watching kids going 'If I don't get into Mauudlin I'll DIiieE!, or whatever...
 

Flying_Monkey

Recyclist
Location
Odawa
A-levels are graded. The highest grade is a grade A (75%+?), the lowest pass is an E (20-25%?). No idea if those % are accurate, but I'm sure you get the idea..so the uni was saying to flying_monkey 'you get 2 E grades and we will offer you a place here'.

Or basically, we don't much care what you get, you can come. Basically, I argued with the interviewers and wasn't thrown by the whole good cop, bad cop thing they were doing.
 
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