Oxbridge Admissions - Profiles

Application

University: Oxford

College (if made an open application, allocated college): Keble

Course: Archaeology and Anthropology

Year in (not for!) which you applied: 2006

Final outcome: offer made

Applicant

Qualification: A-levels

When did you apply in terms of your qualification? pre-qualification

Are you a home/EU/overseas applicant? EU

What is your country of origin? Latvia

What type of school/college do/did you attend? Independent - selective

came to Uk when 11, stayed till 15 but left in the year i was supposed to sit GCSEs - took a year off, went back to latvia, went to a shitty school, came back for 6th form

GCSE or a similar equivalent taken: yes (3 A*)

A-levels

AS: Chemistry (A at AS)

A2: Biology (A at AS; predicted A; gained NA at A2)

A2: History of Art (A at AS; predicted A; gained NA at A2)

A2: Russian (A at AS; predicted A; gained A at A2)

A2: Spanish (A at AS; predicted A; gained NA at A2)

Advanced Extension Awards

AEA Spanish (predicted NA; gained NA)

Details about the offer

Type of offer: conditional

Specific conditions: A in Biology, A in History of Art, A in Spanish

Have you accepted the offer? yes

Have you applied to other universities you consider very close, 'on par' or even better than oxbridge? (Ivies, Sorbonne, LSE..others for different subjects) N/A

Have you met the offer? grades pending/unknown

Decisions about the application

For what reasons did you apply to Oxbridge?

the best - prestige

How did you decide between Oxford and Cambridge?

1) oxford course interested me more - u study bio anth, soc anth + arch throughout the 3 years; in cambridge u have to choose 1 to concentrate on after the first year
2) oxford's a larger city - more nighlife, etc.

Why did you choose this course?

anthropology - mix of arts + sciences (both of which i love), i also speak a few languages so that will be handy, want to go into marketing&journalism for which anthropology is an ideal base, my A-level subjects look good on an anthropology application (would be bit weird on history of art/biology course application)
archaeology - couldn't care less about it (apart from always having wanted to be lara croft which is hardly a good reason to apply for the course), but oxford doesn't teach anthropolgy separately + arch. is pretty neccessary to understand anth.

Why did you choose this college/make an open application?

big - wanted a greater diversity of people,
not in the centre of town - i'd heard those ones get more applications, so are more difficult to get into,
this college + st.hugh's are the main arch+ anth colleges,
pretty,
BUT - public school people BEWARE, it's part of some sort of government initiave which means it takes up more state school people than others, it could work against you. state school people - go for it! its awesome.

Preparation

Did your school/college give you any extra tuition or help prior to your interview or application? yes

2 mock interviews - with an RS teacher + a theology doctor from Oxford

Do you have any advice for future applicants in terms of preparation?

don't owerprepare - obviousely read shit loads, but stop a few days before the interview, don't cramm. This way u'll go into it feeling inspired + informed, not overread and nervous.

Interview

Did you have to sit any pre-interview exams (LNAT/BMAT/..)? no

Did you have to submit any written work prior to the interview? yes

sent 2 history of art essays - the best i could find

Did you have to take any exams as part of your interview(s)? no

How was/were in general your interview(s)?

2 archaeology ones - the people were nice, but it as pretty obvious i didn't care abour archaeology.
1 anthropology - left it thinking 'if they dont take me after this, its just not meant to be'. it was awesome - talked about different social aspects of a post-socialist country recently having joined the EU - Latvia. Just basically blabering on about myself, my cultural+national identity, etc.

Please comment further on any particular aspects/topics of your interview(s).

Was gived a stone tool and told to describe it. as ive never been on any digs (SO many applicants head) i just improvised, said anything that hit me, etc.

was shown 2 photos of roman settlements in egypt, asked what they told me (patterns of urbanisation)

What questions were you asked during your interview(s)?

why do we have museums?
should the british museum give the Parthenon metopes back to Greece?
If you found a vase, what would u do to extract as much information from it as possible?

What did you wear to your interview(s), and why?

black jeans-like suade trousers, black high-healed shoes, a grey long-sleeved top (with a deep cleavage as i realised JUST before the interview), pink cashmere cardy, pink+blue plain necklace of a cross. wasn't too formal - didn't want to look uptight

Impressions

What was your general impression of the college that you applied to/any others you visited?

I loved the architecture, although apparently it suffers a lot of 'architectural abuse'. quite big, didn't see any grounds (maybe they were just further away?), not too far from centre, but more so than the most. AMAZING ceiling of the didning room. creepy at night - gothic buildings!

If seen, please describe the college accommodation eg. size of rooms, facilities.

Ok - my room was pretty big

How was the food provided by the college?

good

How did you find the tutors in the college?

very nice. didn't really get to bond with them though :)

Generally, what were the college students like (from what you saw of them)?

Im from a public school, most of them were from state schools but they were great fun and we got on easily

Final stage

Please describe your feelings during the time you waited for the decision.

i'd made myself believe I wouldn't get it, so just wanted it over and done with. obviousely nervous, but i never believed id make it so...

Please describe what happened when you received the letter/the call telling you whether you had a place or not.

started histerically screaming, went out that night to celebrate

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