By Ella Stadler
My dream has been crushed. No other university will ever be for me. I still love Oxford! I still want to go.
So, you didn’t get the email you were hoping for, you will not be attending Oxford in 2020. But that doesn’t mean you never will!
First of all, rejection is hard, especially for those of you that put pressure on yourselves to succeed. But this does not mean you are not going to succeed again. It is upsetting and may take you a while to come to terms with it. You put a lot of effort into your application and but remember that the effort was not wasted. Think about how much you learnt!
I’m sure some of you are considering whether reapplying is the route for you and you should think about these points:
Ask for feedback. You can find out how close you were to getting in (they even rank you!). Were you so close or miles away. This information is crucial. If you were close, go for it! If not, throw yourself into your A-Levels, fall in love with that new university and come back to Oxford for a Masters! In your feedback, pin down which part of your application let you down. Was it the admissions test? By taking a gap year and reapplying you would have lots more time to prepare, so maybe it would be worth it. Stop. Okay, so you know you were close, you know what let you down, but you can’t change either of those things.
Focus on those A-Level exams, achieve your full potential and then make the decision as to whether reapplying is right for you in August.
If you achieve what the minimum requirements were, why not reapply? A gap year is a great opportunity to do what you like for a year and loads of students at Oxford who have taken gap years.
Whatever you do, remember: it’s an amazing achievement to say you were interviewed by Oxford university, be proud of yourself and use the determination to prove Oxford wrong and smash those A-Level exams!
Your Oxford dream isn’t over until you say it is.