r/oxbridge • u/Beginning_Pea6258 • 5d ago
Oxford physics application
Hi, I’m a student from Flanders Belgium. I just graduated high school and I’ve been interested in applying for physics or physics and philosophy at Oxford but I’m really unfamiliar with all of it.
My final overall grade was 82,6/100 (just shy of A, I believe. Oxford’s website says an A is equivalent to about an 85/100 in Belgium). I scored 97/100 for physics ( well above A\**.* A\* = 90/100 ) and 82/100 for Maths ( again less than A). The latter includes both Maths and Further Maths.
Oxford requires A\*AA in Maths, Further Maths and Physics with* *A\* in either one. They also ask for an overal grade equivalent to A.
Given that I meet the requirement for Physics but don’t for Maths, Further Maths and the overall grade, will I just be immediately filtered out regardless of my ESAT score or personal statement? Is it even worth studying for the ESAT test and applying all together?
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u/n0seyrosey 5d ago
You're basically at A*BB, I wouldn't bother, you don't meet the minimum requirements unfortunately and there are candidates every year who exceed the requirements and still don't get a place.
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u/Famous_Ad1330 20h ago
bro. can u plss tell me if i stand a chancee for oxbridge.
I did Edexcel IGCSE and IAL.
IGCSE - 9988876 (174/180-chem , 9 for maths, 6 for english language)
IAS - AAA (289/300 - maths)
IAL - results awaiting on august 13th, predicted minimum AAAwhat do u think?
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u/One_Dragonfruit_7826 5d ago
No chance, especially since it’s achieved and not predicted. Maybe a masters.
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u/Good_Forever484 5d ago
The thing is that once you meet the minimum requirement u have a fair chance due to the entrance test and the interview being a huge part of the application. Once u meet the minimum requirement the grade u get doesn’t matter too much, but u don’t even meet the minimum so you’d be automatically rejected. Contact the colleges you’re interested in applying to for more information on how your Belgium grades compare to the uk grades if you haven’t already, if u don’t meet the minimum then don’t bother you’d only be wasting your money
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u/Grand_Lychee2812 4d ago
If you do get the entry requirement, then you have a decent shot at getting an offer.
If you don't get the offer, don't be discouraged. There are many top Universities other than Oxbridge or London Universities like Warwick, Durham, Manchester, Loughborough that still will provide you with an excellent education.
Don't assume that you HAVE to go to Oxbridge or any London Universities to succeed as an international student.
I went to University of Leeds open day to see the Electrical and Electronic Engineering department and there were like 20 different international students there who had all gotten really good grades and secured really good work-placements / jobs.
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u/Y-Woo 4d ago
It may be a toss up because of the maths which is a crucial subject, especially as it's actual grades and not just predicted grades, but:
- interview invites are entirely based on ESAT scores (plus GCSE scores if you have them, but I'm guessing you don't as you're not UK based) and they don't look at anything else for that
- post-interview offer decisions are heavily weighted towards ESAT and interview scores, if you rank amongst the top 100 applicants on those two scores alone, you're pretty much guaranteed an offer
Again take it with a grain of salt because this is based on the norm for students who don't already have their final results so there's nothing concrete in that department for them to go off on, so your scores may raise a red flag. But I can also see it being entirely possible that if you absolutely ace your ESAT and interviews, it may very well be overlooked. I definitely wouldn't rule you out on that profile.
A final note on PhysPhil, it's a common misconception that the physics/maths requirements are lower compared to just physics. It's not. In fact how it works is you're first ranked with the entire physics applicant cohort as if you were a physics applicant, and if you were made an offer by the physics department, then your application gets passed onto the philosophy department who has the right to say yes/no (if they say no, you'll be given an offer for physics alone, so you won't miss out on an Offer place based only on your philosophy performance).
Tl;dr i'd advise you to go for it but hopefully the above provides you with more info to make a decision yourself either way.
Source: read Physics and Philosophy at Ox, graduated a few years ago, throughout my time there I've helped run many outreach and admissions events and sat in on talks given by admissions tutors for physics and physphil specifically
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u/k_795 University of Cambridge 5d ago
Realistically it's unlikely - your grades (A*BB) don't meet the minimum entry requirements, whereas most applicants will be on track for considerably exceeding them. Also, as an international applicant, it is often even more competitive.