Random Raves 3 Happiness and Joy!

[nonconformist]

Why?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Because I felt like doing an extra year of sixth form, and I was "what the hell".
And I also thought it might be a good idea to get me into a better uni and all, seeing as I went to a deprived school.

 

[Mise]

Because I felt like doing an extra year of sixth form, and I was "what the hell".
And I also thought it might be a good idea to get me into a better uni and all, seeing as I went to a deprived school.

You mean depraved, I'm sure.

 

[nonconformist]

Well, more deprived, it stopped being depraved after I left.

 

[Mise]

Well, more deprived, it stopped being depraved after I left.

Deprived of your depravity

 

[Rossiya]

Are you counting General Studies as an A2? If not, then why in god's name would anyone do 5 A-levels????

I got 4 A's at A-level and didn't get into Cambridge. So no

5 A Levels not counting Critical Thinking. My year did not do General Studies.

How come you didn't get into Cambridge with 4 As?

 

[nonconformist]

Because Cambridge applications are so hard you have to go to frikking Eton to get in.

Mise, you didn't miss that much. I workd in Cambridge with students for a while, and the town has one nightclub and some expensive old men pubs.

 

[Rossiya]

Why is Cambridge so hard? Do you mean "so hard" as in much harder than Oxford?

 

[nonconformist]

Yeah, Cambridge actually has higher standards that Oxford these days I believe.

Cambridge is hard because they primarily want to keep anyone who isn't private schooled with bags of dosh out, so they can produce some sort of inbred utopia of rugby playing and gay bashing.

Just to prove an example, I went to a scheme which is pretty unique in the country where the sixth forms of three state schools plus the local college combined to provide as many subjects as possible, but they remained fairly bad schools. I did A-levels, therefore, with about 700+ other people. One single person was accepted into Oxbridge.

The local private boys' school got a crapload more than us

 

[Rossiya]

Yeah, Cambridge actually has higher standards that Oxford these days I believe.

Cambridge is hard because they primarily want to keep anyone who isn't private schooled with bags of dosh out, so they can produce some sort of inbred utopia of rugby playing and gay bashing.

Yes, I found from even looking at the courses they offer that they are somewhat antiquated and perhaps backward in a way.

 

[nonconformist]

I edited a bit

but seriously, we used to say we could tell who went to Oxford if you glimpsed them briefly in the streets of Oxford (they really stayed in their own little private areas away from us plebs) by the posh accents, loud overbearing annoying voices, silly hairdos, knitted wool jumpers, corduroy trousers etc.
It's true as well.

The best story was an Oxford guy who got on the local bus service where one of my mates ws riding, asnd asked for
"A dual admission, please"
and the driver was "you what?"

Eventually the driver managed to weedle it out of him that he wanted a return ticket

By the way, where you looking at currently?

 

[Firstlady]

I got a 100% on my sight singing quiz!!

 

[Rossiya]

I edited a bit

but seriously, we used to say we could tell who went to Oxford if you glimpsed them briefly in the streets of Oxford (they really stayed in their own little private areas away from us plebs) by the posh accents, loud overbearing annoying voices, silly hairdos, knitted wool jumpers, corduroy trousers etc.
It's true as well.

The best story was an Oxford guy who got on the local bus service where one of my mates ws riding, asnd asked for
"A dual admission, please"
and the driver was "you what?"

Eventually the driver managed to weedle it out of him that he wanted a return ticket

By the way, where you looking at currently?

Well, Oxford is my top target, as you have probably deduced, and I hope it is achievable with my predicted grades and my latest AS results - 5 As. I am also looking at Bristol, Warwick and UCL. The UCAS process has just started, as you probably would assume, so my target universities could change.

 

[Catharsis]

Oxbridge sneers at your A-Levels. They look at your four As at A-Level and give a little derisive laugh like this: 'ha' and then they pass you three or four extra-special OXBRIDGE tests, only one of which is actually on the subject you're applying to do, which you're expected to get top grades on, and if you do then they might consider considering your application.

And you have to get your application in early, too, which hurts your chances at the other four universities you apply to.

 

[Rossiya]

Oxbridge sneers at your A-Levels. They look at your four As at A-Level and give a little derisive laugh like this: 'ha' and then they pass you three or four extra-special OXBRIDGE tests, only one of which is actually on the subject you're applying to do, which you're expected to get top grades on, and if you do then they might consider considering your application.

And you have to get your application in early, too, which hurts your chances at the other four universities you apply to.

Yeah, the deadline is 15th October.

And as for the tests, I was led to believe that there was only one test in the subject I am plan to do, and that it was not a particularly hard one at that. You mention these other tests they give you from other subjects. What subjects would they test you on?

 

[Mise]

Oxbridge sneers at your A-Levels. They look at your four As at A-Level and give a little derisive laugh like this: 'ha' and then they pass you three or four extra-special OXBRIDGE tests, only one of which is actually on the subject you're applying to do, which you're expected to get top grades on, and if you do then they might consider considering your application.

And you have to get your application in early, too, which hurts your chances at the other four universities you apply to.

Aye. Personally, I failed one of the interviews.

Anyway I went to Imperial, which is full of people who "didn't want to go to Oxbridge anyway." In all seriousness, I'm glad I went to Imperial, because London wins. At the end of the day, a degree is just a piece of paper with "I'm overqualified" written on it.

 

[Rossiya]

Aye. Personally, I failed one of the interviews.

Anyway I went to Imperial, which is full of people who "didn't want to go to Oxbridge anyway." In all seriousness, I'm glad I went to Imperial, because London wins. At the end of the day, a degree is just a piece of paper with "I'm overqualified" written on it.

A few questions from somebody that should have been told a lot more about the university process by his school, but has not:

Was there an interview for Imperial?
Was there a test for Imperial?
What sort of students are there at Imperial?
What field were you studying in at Imperial?
How were the living costs of London?
How are your career prospects looking?

 

[nonconformist]

Oxford now suscribe to this "new thinking" when it interviews potential students; questions like "how would you measure the volume of a cow" etc.

 

[Catharsis]

And as for the tests, I was led to believe that there was only one test in the subject I am plan to do, and that it was not a particularly hard one at that. You mention these other tests they give you from other subjects. What subjects would they test you on?

Well, I planned to apply to do Mathematics at Cambridge (but didn't in the end), and was told that as well as two extra Maths tests (one of which I still ended up doing ) I'd have to do a Politics/Philosophy/Economics test involving, IIRC, 50 multiple choice questions and an essay, and there would also be an interview involving questions renowned for being either a) trick questions designed to catch you out*, or b) questions on subjects other than the one you'd applied for (so I, as a Maths applicant, would still be expected to answer a Sociology or Chemistry question fluently).

{*One of the practice questions I did was 'How many animals did Moses take aboard the ark?' I knew the answer to this one, and wrote 'None, Noah was the one with the ark' with a smug little grin on my face, followed by a bit of waffle about the Old Testament being allegory and the size of the ark and whether Noah would have wanted living space or not.

Of course, the actual answer was: 'Moses did have an ark - the Ark of the Covenant.' }

EDIT: Crosspost with noncon. That's exactly the kind of nonsense you'll have to deal with, Rossiya.

 

[Mise]

A few questions from somebody that should have been told a lot more about the university process by his school, but has not:

Was there an interview for Imperial?
Was there a test for Imperial?
What sort of students are there at Imperial?
What field were you studying in at Imperial?
How were the living costs of London?
How are your career prospects looking?

1. Yes, but like most universities (all unis bar OxBridge, in fact), the interview was just an excuse to get you to go to the uni, check out the faculty, meet current students and entice you to go.

2. Nope. There might be now though (I applied in 2002).

3. Err, they're all geeks, and there's twice as many boys as girls. Also, the Union SUCKS. But it's London, and there's like a million universities in London, so student nights at clubs > anything Imperial has to offer social-wise.

4. Physics.

5. Food/bills/travel is not a problem, but rent is like 2-3 times what you'd be paying anywhere else in the country. It's easily the biggest money-sink...

6. Good Imperial grads have among the best job opportunities in the country, I've been told. When I joined, I was told that the average Imperial graduate salary was £20k, which was 33% higher than the UK average graduate salary. I don't know what the numbers are now. Imperial is now the 5th best university in the world, and its name ("brand") carries more weight than ever. Certainly more than Warwick or Bristol anyway

But as I kinda implied, any good degree from a good university will get you a good job.

 

[Rossiya]

Thanks for your time for answering the questions. Your answers helped.

One further question however: why do you say that you "failed" the interview for Oxbridge?