Oxbridge Admissions Tutoring- Uniadmissions, Medicmind etc.
Discussion
Hi,
We have started looking into how worthy would it be to get our son help with admission into medical university, Oxbridge included.
We have come across a company called Uniadmissions that we got rather excited about but after long conversations have started feeling confused and conflicted rather than convinced we should go ahead and spend a significant amount of money with them - we were quoted £6,500 for a course of 2 and a half years, Head start programme in Year 11 and Premium Programme in Year 12 and towards the application process.
Our son is currently in year 10, academically very able and achieving (top 5% in his year group) but we are aware that getting a place in a top medical university or even Oxbridge is difficult and would love to support him but not sure how. None of these companies is endorsed by official organisations and there is all sorts of feedback online.
Has anyone been through the whole process of choosing a medical university, deciding whether to try Oxbridge and how did you approach it?
Has anyone used an Admissions tutoring company, if yes - which one and why?
Thank you in advance!
We have started looking into how worthy would it be to get our son help with admission into medical university, Oxbridge included.
We have come across a company called Uniadmissions that we got rather excited about but after long conversations have started feeling confused and conflicted rather than convinced we should go ahead and spend a significant amount of money with them - we were quoted £6,500 for a course of 2 and a half years, Head start programme in Year 11 and Premium Programme in Year 12 and towards the application process.
Our son is currently in year 10, academically very able and achieving (top 5% in his year group) but we are aware that getting a place in a top medical university or even Oxbridge is difficult and would love to support him but not sure how. None of these companies is endorsed by official organisations and there is all sorts of feedback online.
Has anyone been through the whole process of choosing a medical university, deciding whether to try Oxbridge and how did you approach it?
Has anyone used an Admissions tutoring company, if yes - which one and why?
Thank you in advance!
I considered Medicine too long ago for my experience to be useful except your post did raise a couple of questions that might help:
- did you or others in the family go to university, and so can share that experience with him?
- Does your son want a career in Medicine or do you? Just asking as it's not a career choice just because you're smart, it's very much a vocation. I very much believe he should already be demonstrating a strong passion and the soft skills required of a medical professional, not just be the top of all his subjects. What is his motivation for Medicine?
- Has he had any experience or spoken to a variety of medical professionals? For instance at 15-17 I spent several weeks work experience at a GPs, in a Pharmacy and (amazingly) a week at a hospital including time in A&E and Operating Theatres (opportunities I sought out myself, without any contacts in the profession, though I imagine these wouldn't all be possible today).
- Has he visited any Universities and their cities? I had offers from Bristol, Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle but only one gave me a good feeling like I could belong there, which I think is really important. It could be the city where they live and spend the rest of their career.
FWIW I didn't apply to Oxford or Cambridge. Outstanding universities, for sure, but I would not have fit in with many of the type of students that go there, and that is a really important consideration. University is so much more than the degree.
- What do you feel might be lacking from your son's application that these advisors might be able to assist with? Does your son have many achievements from outside of school that demonstrate his wider non-academic skills?
- What's his number two 'fall-back' career choice?
BTW - I wish him ever success!
- did you or others in the family go to university, and so can share that experience with him?
- Does your son want a career in Medicine or do you? Just asking as it's not a career choice just because you're smart, it's very much a vocation. I very much believe he should already be demonstrating a strong passion and the soft skills required of a medical professional, not just be the top of all his subjects. What is his motivation for Medicine?
- Has he had any experience or spoken to a variety of medical professionals? For instance at 15-17 I spent several weeks work experience at a GPs, in a Pharmacy and (amazingly) a week at a hospital including time in A&E and Operating Theatres (opportunities I sought out myself, without any contacts in the profession, though I imagine these wouldn't all be possible today).
- Has he visited any Universities and their cities? I had offers from Bristol, Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle but only one gave me a good feeling like I could belong there, which I think is really important. It could be the city where they live and spend the rest of their career.
FWIW I didn't apply to Oxford or Cambridge. Outstanding universities, for sure, but I would not have fit in with many of the type of students that go there, and that is a really important consideration. University is so much more than the degree.
- What do you feel might be lacking from your son's application that these advisors might be able to assist with? Does your son have many achievements from outside of school that demonstrate his wider non-academic skills?
- What's his number two 'fall-back' career choice?
BTW - I wish him ever success!
The organisation that can help to get your child into a good university is called a school.
Run a thousand miles from the sort of company that you mention. They are shysters who are selling snake oil.
Talk to your child and talk to your child's teachers about a plan for university admission. Talk also to the universities themselves.
Look at this -
https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/virt...
Run a thousand miles from the sort of company that you mention. They are shysters who are selling snake oil.
Talk to your child and talk to your child's teachers about a plan for university admission. Talk also to the universities themselves.
Look at this -
https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/virt...
NewNameNeeded said:
...
FWIW I didn't apply to Oxford or Cambridge. Outstanding universities, for sure, but I would not have fit in with many of the type of students that go there, and that is a really important consideration. University is so much more than the degree...
You may perhaps have done yourself a disservice there. Oxbridge is not all Boris Johnsons, and you can in any event ignore the Boris Johnsons while you are there. The point that I am trying to make is that stereotypes can be unhelpful, and people should not be deterred from applying to Oxbridge by stereotyping. FWIW I didn't apply to Oxford or Cambridge. Outstanding universities, for sure, but I would not have fit in with many of the type of students that go there, and that is a really important consideration. University is so much more than the degree...
I reiterate - talk to the universities themselves. They want to help. They are not fortresses, whose gates must be stormed.
Example -
https://www.wadham.ox.ac.uk/alumni/access-to-excel...
https://www.wadham.ox.ac.uk/docs/A2EBrochurev2Oct1...
https://www.wadham.ox.ac.uk/why-choose-wadham
https://www.wadham.ox.ac.uk/visit-us
In 1980, none of my family had ever been to any university. My parents were immigrants. My dad worked in car factories (initially on the tools, later in an office). My mum worked in admin for the local authority. My parents, my school, and I, did some stuff, and you may guess why I have chosen some web pages of the particular college linked to above; but there are of course dozens of Oxbridge colleges, and lots of great universities, not just Oxbridge
Good luck to your son. I admire those who have the vocation to be doctors (and it absolutely has to be a strong and deep vocation). My bro had and has the vocation and did his medical degree at Leicester. He has done so much to help so many people in his career.
For inspiration, I recommend the late, great Roy Porter's history of medicine "The Greatest Benefit to Mankind".
Example -
https://www.wadham.ox.ac.uk/alumni/access-to-excel...
https://www.wadham.ox.ac.uk/docs/A2EBrochurev2Oct1...
https://www.wadham.ox.ac.uk/why-choose-wadham
https://www.wadham.ox.ac.uk/visit-us
In 1980, none of my family had ever been to any university. My parents were immigrants. My dad worked in car factories (initially on the tools, later in an office). My mum worked in admin for the local authority. My parents, my school, and I, did some stuff, and you may guess why I have chosen some web pages of the particular college linked to above; but there are of course dozens of Oxbridge colleges, and lots of great universities, not just Oxbridge
Good luck to your son. I admire those who have the vocation to be doctors (and it absolutely has to be a strong and deep vocation). My bro had and has the vocation and did his medical degree at Leicester. He has done so much to help so many people in his career.
For inspiration, I recommend the late, great Roy Porter's history of medicine "The Greatest Benefit to Mankind".
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 12th July 07:44
Might be worth a look: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Mark
My daughter is currently four weeks away from A-Level results to determine whether she is accepted for A100 Medicine (has firmed her offers from Imperial and Southampton), so during the last two years we have gone through the process.
Entry requirements for the course are unforgiving... you need fantastic GCSE results coupled with fantastic A-Levels... on top of this you have to take the UCAT (majority of Uni's) and/or BMAT (Oxbridge, Imperial and a couple of others) admissions/aptitude tests... both you pay for yourself and you have to register by deadlines or essentially you can forget any chance of acceptance.
With regards to paying for extra tutoring... I am not a fan - £6.5k is an obscene amount, but I don't know what your personal circumstances are... there are alledgedly a lot of books on the test processes and interview preparation etc. - and some free on t'internet (on YouTube).
I think the market preys on your insecurities to persuade you into shelling out... seriously, who wouldn't want to help their kids along. Unless there is some kind of cashback guarantee (very doubtful), personally I wouldn't entertain it. Oxbridge is difficult enough to achieve an interview and the interviews are designed to test out your thought processes etc.
My daughter applied to Oxford but did not get an interview, we took a quick look at the breakdown and she was in the right ballpark...
As an indicator, one of the grading criteria was on GCSE results - she took 11 and attained 10 A* and 1A, not bad in most people's books, however that is only 90.9%, whereas many had far higher... it's tough!
Turns out that with the whole "widening participation" project (social mobility/underrepresented groups/poorer schools etc.), she outscored them, but lost out as they receive an percentage uplift on their scores!
As NewNameNeeded has mentioned, your son really needs to concentrate on his supercurricular activities (one step on from extracurricular - like football, violin etc.) and demonstrate a real commitment to the profession. For example, my daughter volunteers in the local hospital, has previously volunteered in a nursing home - and additionally attended introduction to medicine courses run in a local college, lectures at Cambridge (this year it seemed to only be open to kids from "disadvantaged" backgrounds), did a work placement at a local psychiatric hospital last summer... she had to hunt down all these things herself, but it builds confidence/experience etc. and helps padding out personal statements - at interviews it has been commented on and if you can talk coherently on what you gained from it, then all is good!
The most basic question asked at interviews is "Why medicine?", they need more than "I like helping make people better", they need to believe in your commitment - it is 5 Year course after all (6 with intercalation!).
One little point to bear in mind, is that although you have 5 choices on your desired course/uni... you can only pick 4 for the A100 course... you get a 5th, but it must be a different course. (So think carefully on Oxbridge... it may waste a life, like my daughter.. leaving you sweating it out waiting on the remaining 3!)
At the end of the day, if you take A100 Medicine you end up with the same piece of paper granting you admission to practice medicine, so in retrospect it would make sense to find a city/uni that best suits for location, facilities, finances and ultimately gut feeling.
Unsure if any of that is of use? I have rambled on and probably missed a lot... but best of luck though!
Rob
My daughter is currently four weeks away from A-Level results to determine whether she is accepted for A100 Medicine (has firmed her offers from Imperial and Southampton), so during the last two years we have gone through the process.
Entry requirements for the course are unforgiving... you need fantastic GCSE results coupled with fantastic A-Levels... on top of this you have to take the UCAT (majority of Uni's) and/or BMAT (Oxbridge, Imperial and a couple of others) admissions/aptitude tests... both you pay for yourself and you have to register by deadlines or essentially you can forget any chance of acceptance.
With regards to paying for extra tutoring... I am not a fan - £6.5k is an obscene amount, but I don't know what your personal circumstances are... there are alledgedly a lot of books on the test processes and interview preparation etc. - and some free on t'internet (on YouTube).
I think the market preys on your insecurities to persuade you into shelling out... seriously, who wouldn't want to help their kids along. Unless there is some kind of cashback guarantee (very doubtful), personally I wouldn't entertain it. Oxbridge is difficult enough to achieve an interview and the interviews are designed to test out your thought processes etc.
My daughter applied to Oxford but did not get an interview, we took a quick look at the breakdown and she was in the right ballpark...
As an indicator, one of the grading criteria was on GCSE results - she took 11 and attained 10 A* and 1A, not bad in most people's books, however that is only 90.9%, whereas many had far higher... it's tough!
Turns out that with the whole "widening participation" project (social mobility/underrepresented groups/poorer schools etc.), she outscored them, but lost out as they receive an percentage uplift on their scores!
As NewNameNeeded has mentioned, your son really needs to concentrate on his supercurricular activities (one step on from extracurricular - like football, violin etc.) and demonstrate a real commitment to the profession. For example, my daughter volunteers in the local hospital, has previously volunteered in a nursing home - and additionally attended introduction to medicine courses run in a local college, lectures at Cambridge (this year it seemed to only be open to kids from "disadvantaged" backgrounds), did a work placement at a local psychiatric hospital last summer... she had to hunt down all these things herself, but it builds confidence/experience etc. and helps padding out personal statements - at interviews it has been commented on and if you can talk coherently on what you gained from it, then all is good!
The most basic question asked at interviews is "Why medicine?", they need more than "I like helping make people better", they need to believe in your commitment - it is 5 Year course after all (6 with intercalation!).
One little point to bear in mind, is that although you have 5 choices on your desired course/uni... you can only pick 4 for the A100 course... you get a 5th, but it must be a different course. (So think carefully on Oxbridge... it may waste a life, like my daughter.. leaving you sweating it out waiting on the remaining 3!)
At the end of the day, if you take A100 Medicine you end up with the same piece of paper granting you admission to practice medicine, so in retrospect it would make sense to find a city/uni that best suits for location, facilities, finances and ultimately gut feeling.
Unsure if any of that is of use? I have rambled on and probably missed a lot... but best of luck though!
Rob
Breadvan72 said:
NewNameNeeded said:
...
FWIW I didn't apply to Oxford or Cambridge. Outstanding universities, for sure, but I would not have fit in with many of the type of students that go there, and that is a really important consideration. University is so much more than the degree...
You may perhaps have done yourself a disservice there. Oxbridge is not all Boris Johnsons, and you can in any event ignore the Boris Johnsons while you are there. The point that I am trying to make is that stereotypes can be unhelpful, and people should not be deterred from applying to Oxbridge by stereotyping. FWIW I didn't apply to Oxford or Cambridge. Outstanding universities, for sure, but I would not have fit in with many of the type of students that go there, and that is a really important consideration. University is so much more than the degree...
I am not sure that I understand your point about values and culture. The values and culture on offer from Oxbridge are the values and culture of the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution. The same ought surely to be true of any university worthy of the name, and as far as I know is true of every major research-led university in the UK.
Some great advice above £6500 is astronomical avoid at all costs check out stepMaths.co.uk for a comparison. Admissions tests are only 1 hurdle to overcome and some kids do need additional coaching ask his school what they are going to provide him with? His personal statement and interview are far tougher to get right than passing the admissions test he will need a passion for Medicine to get into oxbridge they want the best of the best not just clever kids they are all clever.
Best of luck to him.
Best of luck to him.
Breadvan72 said:
I am not sure that I understand your point about values and culture. The values and culture on offer from Oxbridge are the values and culture of the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution. The same ought surely to be true of any university worthy of the name, and as far as I know is true of every major research-led university in the UK.
Probably not explaining myself very well. Have you lived in different parts of the UK? Different cities? My point was that living in Cambridge might be very different to living in Manchester or Leeds or Sheffield. And some people will prefer the former, and some the later. They offer different opportunities and experiences based on their geographies, histories, employment opportunities, demographics, etc. Finding the environment in which you will thrive whilst you learn is more important than the name of the institution, in my eyes.OK, now I get you. I have lived in Birmingham, Oxford, London, Dublin, and briefly in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and spent weeks at a time working in Manchester, Leeds, and Sheffield. I do not know Bristol at all well, or Norwich, or the East Midland and south coast cities.
One of the things that I like about Oxford as a student town is that it is a real city, with industry, shopping, social problems, and what not, and not just a university town. I am very far from knocking Cambridge, which is a fine place with a great university, but the city is somewhat dominated by its university (and the related tech businesses) in a way that Oxford isn't quite (although of course the university is a huge presence in Oxford, and employs more people than BMW Cowley does) . Manchester, Nottingham, and of course London are huuuuuuge student cities, but I suppose that the students may be more noticeable in Nottingham because it is not as vast as Manchester and London are.
OP, do not neglect Edinburgh and Glasgow - great cities to live in with great universities.
One of the things that I like about Oxford as a student town is that it is a real city, with industry, shopping, social problems, and what not, and not just a university town. I am very far from knocking Cambridge, which is a fine place with a great university, but the city is somewhat dominated by its university (and the related tech businesses) in a way that Oxford isn't quite (although of course the university is a huge presence in Oxford, and employs more people than BMW Cowley does) . Manchester, Nottingham, and of course London are huuuuuuge student cities, but I suppose that the students may be more noticeable in Nottingham because it is not as vast as Manchester and London are.
OP, do not neglect Edinburgh and Glasgow - great cities to live in with great universities.
markbigears said:
Hi,
We have started looking into how worthy would it be to get our son help with admission into medical university, Oxbridge included.
We have come across a company called Uniadmissions that we got rather excited about but after long conversations have started feeling confused and conflicted rather than convinced we should go ahead and spend a significant amount of money with them - we were quoted £6,500 for a course of 2 and a half years, Head start programme in Year 11 and Premium Programme in Year 12 and towards the application process.
Our son is currently in year 10, academically very able and achieving (top 5% in his year group) but we are aware that getting a place in a top medical university or even Oxbridge is difficult and would love to support him but not sure how. None of these companies is endorsed by official organisations and there is all sorts of feedback online.
Has anyone been through the whole process of choosing a medical university, deciding whether to try Oxbridge and how did you approach it?
Has anyone used an Admissions tutoring company, if yes - which one and why?
Thank you in advance!
OP - I'm going to go against the grain here and say that I would have paid if my son had let me. Annoyingly he wouldn't let me (and he's very headstrong!) He did the Maths test and was called down for interview (which was a 2 day thing IIRC) and then sadly he didn't get an offer. We went to Durham, Manchester, ICL, UCL and Oxford and (quite probably confirmation bias) for me Oxford just seemed on a different level. We have started looking into how worthy would it be to get our son help with admission into medical university, Oxbridge included.
We have come across a company called Uniadmissions that we got rather excited about but after long conversations have started feeling confused and conflicted rather than convinced we should go ahead and spend a significant amount of money with them - we were quoted £6,500 for a course of 2 and a half years, Head start programme in Year 11 and Premium Programme in Year 12 and towards the application process.
Our son is currently in year 10, academically very able and achieving (top 5% in his year group) but we are aware that getting a place in a top medical university or even Oxbridge is difficult and would love to support him but not sure how. None of these companies is endorsed by official organisations and there is all sorts of feedback online.
Has anyone been through the whole process of choosing a medical university, deciding whether to try Oxbridge and how did you approach it?
Has anyone used an Admissions tutoring company, if yes - which one and why?
Thank you in advance!
But pay for what? These companies are selling a product that they have invented, to feed on the anxieties of parents, and a product which has no real testability or, as far as I can see, much credibility.
You can buy extra tuition if need be, for much less than 6500, but nobody can cram their way into Oxbridge, UCL, LSE, KCL etc. The Admissions Tutors at such places are looking for the sparkle of brilliance. They can spot the crammed candidate, and the one with the faked-up "interesting" CV.
The system is not perfect, and so some of the wrong people get in and some of the right people don't get in. It is best, however, not to fixate on just two or three universities, because there are several good ones.
I reiterate that the best people to liaise with are the school and the universities themselves, and (it may go without saying) the child should take the lead, and the decisions should focus on what the child wants (with, of course, guidance from the adults). I do not see any value in buying "consultancy" or whatever it is that the 6500 quid company is selling.
You can buy extra tuition if need be, for much less than 6500, but nobody can cram their way into Oxbridge, UCL, LSE, KCL etc. The Admissions Tutors at such places are looking for the sparkle of brilliance. They can spot the crammed candidate, and the one with the faked-up "interesting" CV.
The system is not perfect, and so some of the wrong people get in and some of the right people don't get in. It is best, however, not to fixate on just two or three universities, because there are several good ones.
I reiterate that the best people to liaise with are the school and the universities themselves, and (it may go without saying) the child should take the lead, and the decisions should focus on what the child wants (with, of course, guidance from the adults). I do not see any value in buying "consultancy" or whatever it is that the 6500 quid company is selling.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 13th July 18:08
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 13th July 18:11
From The UniAdmissions website -
"Every tutor is a current student or alumni of some of the best Universities in the country."
That sentence contains a basic mistake in Latin grammar, which produces a sentence that is ungrammatical in English. The word alumni is the plural of the word alumnus (feminine - alumna).
Unimportant? On PH, maybe, but, in the context of Oxbridge entrance, accuracy matters.
See also -
"Over the last decade, competition for these most sought after places has been steadily increasing, which has led to the introduction of new measures, such as admissions test."
Barely grammatical (why is test used in the singular form?), and wretchedly bad style.
OP, save that £6500 for other things!
"Every tutor is a current student or alumni of some of the best Universities in the country."
That sentence contains a basic mistake in Latin grammar, which produces a sentence that is ungrammatical in English. The word alumni is the plural of the word alumnus (feminine - alumna).
Unimportant? On PH, maybe, but, in the context of Oxbridge entrance, accuracy matters.
See also -
"Over the last decade, competition for these most sought after places has been steadily increasing, which has led to the introduction of new measures, such as admissions test."
Barely grammatical (why is test used in the singular form?), and wretchedly bad style.
OP, save that £6500 for other things!
Hi all, thank you very much for all your replies!
We are sensible people that believe that our son should 1. Study medicine if he's got a true calling and conviction for it, we are perfectly aware how hard it is. 2. Not because he is our boy, but he truly is a superbly intelligent and ridiculously hard working young adult. He started saying he wants to study medicine 12 years ago when I (his mother) survived cancer by miracle. 12 years later, we're almost convinced that he wants this to be his path in life. 3. He is quietly ambitious but very sensible. And so are we. The priority here is that he makes the right choice, whether Oxbridge is even a consideration is unclear yet. 4. No medics in the family, we feel rather lost to help him with advice, £6,500 is a ridiculous amount of money, however if we somehow were convinced that he will benefit from reliable expert help and advice to achieve his dream, of which we feel he is worthy, we would do our best to support him in anyway like most committed parents would.
This whole thing feels a little bit like the entrance exams for Grammar Schools (he goes to one). You know your child is capable of sitting the 11+ and passsing it but you can't help him with mock papers yourself, everyone else is tutored, so you get a tutor being scared that if you don't he'll end up with unfair advantage and jeopardise his chances of passing.
Thank you all so very much once again and please, keep the good advice coming.
We are sensible people that believe that our son should 1. Study medicine if he's got a true calling and conviction for it, we are perfectly aware how hard it is. 2. Not because he is our boy, but he truly is a superbly intelligent and ridiculously hard working young adult. He started saying he wants to study medicine 12 years ago when I (his mother) survived cancer by miracle. 12 years later, we're almost convinced that he wants this to be his path in life. 3. He is quietly ambitious but very sensible. And so are we. The priority here is that he makes the right choice, whether Oxbridge is even a consideration is unclear yet. 4. No medics in the family, we feel rather lost to help him with advice, £6,500 is a ridiculous amount of money, however if we somehow were convinced that he will benefit from reliable expert help and advice to achieve his dream, of which we feel he is worthy, we would do our best to support him in anyway like most committed parents would.
This whole thing feels a little bit like the entrance exams for Grammar Schools (he goes to one). You know your child is capable of sitting the 11+ and passsing it but you can't help him with mock papers yourself, everyone else is tutored, so you get a tutor being scared that if you don't he'll end up with unfair advantage and jeopardise his chances of passing.
Thank you all so very much once again and please, keep the good advice coming.
A few words of encouragement -
1. Aim high! Be realistic, but still aim high. OK, I am not selling you the corny "If you wish it it will happen" line, but sensible, well informed aiming high is worth doing.
2. Do not worry about having no doctors in the family. Anyone with the right skills and attitude can qualify. Family connections can add confidence and help a bit, but the days of getting hired as a doctor, lawyer, and so on because of your family are over (this is not true in journalism, the arts, politics, or some parts of the finance world). My brother was the first doctor in our family. I was the first lawyer in our family. My brother and I were the first in our family to go to university. Now lots of our cousins have been to universities ranging from the shiny to the local. I was the first in our family to go to Oxford, and since then my nephew and two of my cousins have been there (all in on merit). Move forwards!
3. I stand by my comment that the top universities are not fortresses that you have to storm or break into, and the same is true of the world of medicine. Good universities really want the best students to come to them. Good doctors really want there to be new good doctors. Contact every university that your son may be interested in. NB: universities are not keen on helicopter parenting, so the contacts will come better from your son and/or via his school. If the school is not already being pro-active about your son's university admission planning, get on to the school and make it pro active. The school's job includes helping its pupils to access universities, and most teachers are delighted when one of their pupils gets into a prestigious course at a prestigious university.
4. The Oxbridge experience is or at least should be wonderful. Living, studying, and socialising in an Oxbridge college is, for those who like it (and most but not all do) a truly memorable experience. The physical environment is beautiful. The sports and recreational facilities are unrivalled. The atmosphere of centuries of scholarship, and the love of learning, science, words, art, music, and beauty are soaked into the places. The partying is insanely fun. The academic instruction is usually World class, and the other students are often stimulating peers.
The Jewel in the Oxbridge Crown is the Tutorial System. Forget sitting in huge lectures, or seminars with ten to fifteen people in them. Bright young people get to engage on a one to one or two to one basis with people who are often World leaders in their fields on a once or twice weekly basis. The Tutorial System is as much about learning how to think, how to reason, how to argue, how to enquire, how to challenge, as it is about learning content. When it works, it is a great way to teach and to learn.
You can go there for three to five years and then move on, but you can have a lifelong association with your college if that is what you want - once a member, you're a member for life. I am not in any way diminishing the fabulousness of other universities, but if your son is a truly brilliant future doctor, then he should seriously consider training to become a doctor at Oxford or at Cambridge. I will not engage in the jokey rigmarole of slagging off Cambridge - it's a stunningly good university, and better than Oxford in some ways; but I have an emotional connection with Oxford, for obvious reasons. NB: some people really don't like Oxbridge, and wish that they had gone to Manchester or whatever - and some indeed leave and go to different types of university - we all react differently to this sort of thing.
5. So, go for it!
6. I really do not think you need the 6500 blah. Maybe buy a bit of extra tutoring as needed, but it may well be that your son's own gifts and efforts, supported by his school will be enough.
1. Aim high! Be realistic, but still aim high. OK, I am not selling you the corny "If you wish it it will happen" line, but sensible, well informed aiming high is worth doing.
2. Do not worry about having no doctors in the family. Anyone with the right skills and attitude can qualify. Family connections can add confidence and help a bit, but the days of getting hired as a doctor, lawyer, and so on because of your family are over (this is not true in journalism, the arts, politics, or some parts of the finance world). My brother was the first doctor in our family. I was the first lawyer in our family. My brother and I were the first in our family to go to university. Now lots of our cousins have been to universities ranging from the shiny to the local. I was the first in our family to go to Oxford, and since then my nephew and two of my cousins have been there (all in on merit). Move forwards!
3. I stand by my comment that the top universities are not fortresses that you have to storm or break into, and the same is true of the world of medicine. Good universities really want the best students to come to them. Good doctors really want there to be new good doctors. Contact every university that your son may be interested in. NB: universities are not keen on helicopter parenting, so the contacts will come better from your son and/or via his school. If the school is not already being pro-active about your son's university admission planning, get on to the school and make it pro active. The school's job includes helping its pupils to access universities, and most teachers are delighted when one of their pupils gets into a prestigious course at a prestigious university.
4. The Oxbridge experience is or at least should be wonderful. Living, studying, and socialising in an Oxbridge college is, for those who like it (and most but not all do) a truly memorable experience. The physical environment is beautiful. The sports and recreational facilities are unrivalled. The atmosphere of centuries of scholarship, and the love of learning, science, words, art, music, and beauty are soaked into the places. The partying is insanely fun. The academic instruction is usually World class, and the other students are often stimulating peers.
The Jewel in the Oxbridge Crown is the Tutorial System. Forget sitting in huge lectures, or seminars with ten to fifteen people in them. Bright young people get to engage on a one to one or two to one basis with people who are often World leaders in their fields on a once or twice weekly basis. The Tutorial System is as much about learning how to think, how to reason, how to argue, how to enquire, how to challenge, as it is about learning content. When it works, it is a great way to teach and to learn.
You can go there for three to five years and then move on, but you can have a lifelong association with your college if that is what you want - once a member, you're a member for life. I am not in any way diminishing the fabulousness of other universities, but if your son is a truly brilliant future doctor, then he should seriously consider training to become a doctor at Oxford or at Cambridge. I will not engage in the jokey rigmarole of slagging off Cambridge - it's a stunningly good university, and better than Oxford in some ways; but I have an emotional connection with Oxford, for obvious reasons. NB: some people really don't like Oxbridge, and wish that they had gone to Manchester or whatever - and some indeed leave and go to different types of university - we all react differently to this sort of thing.
5. So, go for it!
6. I really do not think you need the 6500 blah. Maybe buy a bit of extra tutoring as needed, but it may well be that your son's own gifts and efforts, supported by his school will be enough.
Strongly support Breadvan’s words.
There are 2 things your son can do now to materially improve his chances. None of them involve paying someone £6,500.
1. Get good GCSEs
The single easiest way to get into Oxbridge is to have a string of 9s in your GCSEs.
To be clear - nothing is guaranteed, but sure as hell its much easier applying for any academically competitive course if you have stellar academic results. If he’s in year 10 then there’s nothing more you can or should do right now than this - remember GCSEs are the last set of exam results you actually have before applying, so they really count.
Your son’s school will be best placed to help him with exams, but obviously doing all the normal ‘parent’ stuff to help him along won’t hinder!
2. Talk to the universities
University outreach teams are falling over themselves to find and help high-calibre kids from non-posh backgrounds. They will tell you everything you need to know. At this point their advice (for medicine) is likely to be:
- Make sure your son picks Chemistry, Biology and at least one of Maths/Physics for A-Level
- Minimum GCSE hurdles
When your son is in year 12 they’ll probably start talking about things like UKCAT/BMAT preparation. But that’s a long way off.
In due course, it can be helpful to find a current (or recently graduated) student from the uni and course you want to apply for. They will know better than anyone about the kinds of materials it’s helpful to learn, any good books to read, and give an unvarnished opinion of what life is really like.
There are 2 things your son can do now to materially improve his chances. None of them involve paying someone £6,500.
1. Get good GCSEs
The single easiest way to get into Oxbridge is to have a string of 9s in your GCSEs.
To be clear - nothing is guaranteed, but sure as hell its much easier applying for any academically competitive course if you have stellar academic results. If he’s in year 10 then there’s nothing more you can or should do right now than this - remember GCSEs are the last set of exam results you actually have before applying, so they really count.
Your son’s school will be best placed to help him with exams, but obviously doing all the normal ‘parent’ stuff to help him along won’t hinder!
2. Talk to the universities
University outreach teams are falling over themselves to find and help high-calibre kids from non-posh backgrounds. They will tell you everything you need to know. At this point their advice (for medicine) is likely to be:
- Make sure your son picks Chemistry, Biology and at least one of Maths/Physics for A-Level
- Minimum GCSE hurdles
When your son is in year 12 they’ll probably start talking about things like UKCAT/BMAT preparation. But that’s a long way off.
In due course, it can be helpful to find a current (or recently graduated) student from the uni and course you want to apply for. They will know better than anyone about the kinds of materials it’s helpful to learn, any good books to read, and give an unvarnished opinion of what life is really like.
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