My Experience with the Online Oxford Admissions Process

Created: January 12, 2022

See also: [[My Experience with the Online Imperial Admissions Process]]B.

I’m writing this post because I had a lot of questions about the specifics of the Oxford online interview and admissions process, but didn’t really find much super-concrete information. For some context, I made my UCAS application on October 11th 2021 to the following universities:

  • Oxford, Mathematics and Computer Science
  • Imperial, Mathematics and Computer Science
  • UCL, Mathematics and Computer Science
  • Southampton, Computer Science with Artificial Intelligence
  • Bristol, Mathematics and Computer Science

I have now received an A*AA offer from Oxford, which I’m really happy about. More specifically, I applied to Jesus College who didn’t accept me, but instead received an “open offer” meaning I could end up at any college doing a Mathematics and Computer Science course.

Timeline

  • October 12th: Sent off UCAS application (early as Oxford/Cambridge require applications before October 15th).
  • October 13th: Received an email from “Oxford Undergraduate Options” confirming they had received my application.
  • October 27th: Received an email from Jesus College specifically saying they had received my application.
  • November 3rd: Sat the MAT (see “the MAT” below).
  • December 1st: Received an email from Jesus College inviting me to two interviews and asking me to fill out a form about technology requirements.
  • December 7th: Received two emails with dates, Miro whiteboard links and Microsoft Team invitations for specific interviews.
  • December 9th: Received an email from Worcester College inviting me to an additional interview.
  • December 10th: Received an email from Worcester College with a specific date and Microsoft Team invitation.
  • December 13th: Had my first and second interview, these two with Jesus College (see “the online interviews” below).
  • December 14th: Had my third interview, this one with Worcester College (see “the online interviews” below).
  • December 15th: Got a last-minute surprise interview with Lady Margaret Hall, with an invitation email and then another email containing specific links to the Teams meeting.
  • December 16th: Had my fourth and final interview with Lady Margaret Hall (see “the online interviews” below).
  • January 12th: Got an A*AA offer!
  • January 13th: Found out my MAT score.

So, in summary:

  • Sat the MAT, and then a month later:
  • Got invited to three interviews, two with the college I’d applied for (Jesus College) and one with an additional one (Worcester College).
  • Did these online interviews.
  • Got a surprise fourth interview from Lady Margaret Hall.
  • Did this interview.
  • Got an offer after a month of waiting.

Applying Early

Although this isn’t due to interviews being online, I had to submit my UCAS application early which meant before October 15th instead of January 26th. I’m really glad that this was the case actually, because I would definitely be rushing it at the last minute otherwise and my sixth form decided to run mock A-level exams the week before the deadline which would’ve been extra stress.

Applying early isn’t just for Oxford, it’s for Cambridge and most courses involving medicine, vet science and dentistry (or at least according to this page on UCAS).

The MAT

The MAT is the admissions test you have to sit in order to be considered for a Maths, Computer Science or a joint honours course. It’s also used by a few other universities other than Oxford (Imperial, Warwick, Durham, Bath). This was all explained in the October 13th email explaining that my application had been received, but I’d done some preparation over the summer as it was on the course requirements for the degree.

The actual test was on November 3rd and I thought it actually went pretty badly – I was hoping for a score in the mid 50s which was around my average when doing past papers. The test I had to sit was this one (mark scheme). When I received my actual feedback in January 2022, I found I’d actually gotten 66 which was a big surprise.

They release feedback every year that looks at the distribution of scores and the percentage of people who received offers, and here was 2021’s (though it doesn’t include Mathematics and Computer Science, which is what I applied for):

distribution

My friend showed me Dr Munro’s MAT livestream who is the person that coordinates the admissions process for undergraduate mathematics. My preparation for the test mainly consisted of doing as many of the past papers as I could and watching his videos where he explained questions. In one video he also explains that the test is marked in a different way to A-level tests, where the mark scheme is pretty loose and the examiners (graduate students) are told to mark ideas, not specific workings. In the actual exam, there were a few questions I couldn’t answer but I tried explaining it as well as I could anyway in hopes that I’d be given marks (which was Q6iv).

The Online Interviews

All four online interviews followed the same format, with two interviewers who would introduce themselves at the start and then move straight onto the questions. I wasn’t asked any person questions like “why do you want to study mathematics?” or “why Oxford?” and I couldn’t tell if they’d read my personal statement. I read an explanation online that one reason they aren’t interested too much in personal questions is because a lot of the time it tells them more about your socio-economic background rather than ability.

Jesus College Interviews

I had two different sets of interviewers for the two interviews I had



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