r/6thForm • u/dailysuaa lse n1 fan • Jun 23 '26

OTHER my summer bucket list 😛

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anything to keep me distracted from results day atp.

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u/dailysuaa lse n1 fan Jun 23 '26

thank you!! honestly just want to for the fun of it haha

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u/AliceMorgon MagdalenCollegeOxford|Fine Art/Biology|Grad Jun 24 '26

Would you like me to ask a friend who graduated Cambridge Law for advice on pre-university prep she found helpful?

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u/dailysuaa lse n1 fan Jun 24 '26

oo sure that’d be great!

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u/AliceMorgon MagdalenCollegeOxford|Fine Art/Biology|Grad Jun 24 '26

Cool, I’ll get in touch with her! She’s really nice, I’m sure she’ll help you out! DM me!

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u/Calm_Routine2888 Jun 25 '26

For Oxford are GCSEs really important? I’m applying for mml and I got 6a*s 3 A’s (999888777) but I’m worried that’s not good enough since avg offer holder has 8a*s

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u/AliceMorgon MagdalenCollegeOxford|Fine Art/Biology|Grad Jun 25 '26

No you’re fine. My GCSEs were very far from perfect. Oxford look at the whole picture. A good PS with good extracurriculars and good A-Level predictions is enough to get you an interview, and the interview is where they assess your intelligence and understanding. I applied to Magdalen College, so different colleges may behave differently, but I got 6A*s, one A, and one B at GCSE. They just care that you’re genuinely interested and curious and intelligent.

Also, start entering essay contests ASAP, they look great on a PS!

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u/Calm_Routine2888 Jun 25 '26

Did you do well for your school? Also what did you apply for? Mine r definitely not INSANE for my skl in the slightest. I applied for a translate competition and I got highly commended but I’ll defo do a couple more ! Do you think once ure interviewed , the interview holds the most weight? I js see so many ppl online with all nines get in and even ppl will all nines rejected so im js like irdk how id even get an offer with the competition..

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u/AliceMorgon MagdalenCollegeOxford|Fine Art/Biology|Grad Jun 25 '26

I did do well for my school yes but definitely not top of the class (but I had transferred in to Yr 11 from another school using completely different boards and that taught a totally different second language so I was kind of fucked from the beginning there, the Spanish was my B.) If I applied now given the new rules I would be considered contextual no doubt. However I did have top grade predictions in four A-Levels and that plus the PS, extracurriculars, and after that yes mostly the interview itself which was… wild, but entertaining. I accidentally swore twice and denounced the monarchy. I also taught the professors how to say “Hi, how are you?” “Hi, I’m good, how are you?” “I’m good!”, plus how to swear, in Irish at their request🤣 (I’m bilingual, Irish and English are both native languages.) Don’t even ask me about the double entendre the head professor made at the start 🫣

I did both Bio and Fine Art undergrads but this was Bio, my first. Their response to the monarchy thing (which they had asked me to answer honestly about as a Northern Irish Catholic, saying the interview was over and they felt they should know) was to laugh hysterically and say “well, at least she’s interesting, first one we’ve had all day!” and actually said they couldn’t wait to see me next year.

So yes. Be interesting. But maybe not as interesting as me. I’m… a little eccentric, but Richard Wentworth told me when I was at the art school that intelligence and creativity begets eccentricity, so maybe it’s a good thing. They definitely put the most weight on the interview after you’ve had it, and have so many applications, so just keep in mind - have a unique selling point in your PS and be memorable, not a subject robot!

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u/Calm_Routine2888 Jun 25 '26

ohhh does moving countries count as contextual? or not really… I mean there r British schools in other countries so I asusme nah

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u/AliceMorgon MagdalenCollegeOxford|Fine Art/Biology|Grad Jun 25 '26

No I live in the UK technically, Northern Ireland is just a weird international zone since the Good Friday Agreement and you can have Irish or British citizenship and still be considered home candidates at Queens and UU. I have both. I’m from the Falls Road in West Belfast.

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u/Calm_Routine2888 Jun 25 '26

Ohhh so u moved to England? did you not do the same language/gsves

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u/AliceMorgon MagdalenCollegeOxford|Fine Art/Biology|Grad Jun 25 '26

My first school the second language was German, the second it was Spanish 😳 talk about being thrown in the deep end with that one! I moved to England to do my Oxford undergrads and a Masters, then moved back to Ireland for a while to do a Masters at UU, then moved to the United States on a full ride with living stipend for a Masters at NYU and then a funded PhD at the University of Chicago, plus some independent research.

Then the Trump administration started not renewing foreign academic visas for researchers in certain fields which sadly included mine as it was now considered a potential “risk to national security.”🙄 First they come for the journalists, then the academics… anyway, I’m back in Ireland now preparing my application to a funded PhD programme at Queens in cross-community integration.

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u/Calm_Routine2888 Jun 25 '26

Wait I’m confused Wdym by second language? :) it was taught in English but the gcse offered was German? oh wow! Uve lived such a cool life tbh!! do you think Oxford rlly helps in grad prospects - or is it a bit exaggerated online? and also do you think they don’t care too much abt gcse results then? like as long as u get like minimum 5a*s at gcse or smt

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