Competition from Oxford and Cambridge is great; the majority of applicants are rejected.
Oxford receives, on average, over 7 applications for each available place.
Cambridge University states that there are roughly 5 applicants per place.
As an example of grades, more than 70% of applicants and over 90% of admitted students were awarded A*AA or better, at A-level. This year, as we spoke about already, competition was even greater.
This does not stop the pain or disappointment. The workload to get to this point is huge, the time and effort put in will suddenly seem wasted and there is no appeal process to turn to. But it's not the end. Take a little time to mourn, sure, but what next?
Well, start by remembering that you got this far, and that is amazing.
And now? You have two options really, analyse your application and try again next year, or move on. Both are good options, but picking the correct option for you is important.
Moving on
If you were on the Oxbridge path, your predictions are probably pretty stellar. There are amazing Universities out there; UCL, Imperial, Kings, LSE, as central London choices just for example, all with their specialisms and incredible reputations. Preparation and experience for the Oxbridge place has put you in an even stronger position for application to other universities; embrace that. Practice interviews, university visits, school enrichment courses have all provided opportunities to grow. Take a step back and look at what your next opportunity could be.
Reapplying
Reapplying alone will not guarantee success, but a proper analysis of your application coupled with improvements where required could yield results the following year.
you will have your results at the start of the application process
you could complete an additional A Level to raise your grades
you could improve interview technique
you could gain real-world experience that improves your application
Of course, this too is no guarantee, and a year out may still lead to rejection, the odds are against you, but this is a path you may wish to take, the odds are still better than not applying at all.
Next steps
Time and thought, both with yourself and those invested in you, will help make the choice. It is a huge decision to defer and try again, and you need to be fully invested in your decision either way. We can help with that process, we can check that your application has a chance of success and advise or guide on what the next best steps would be.
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