Daughter has her heart on Oxford/Cambridge

[West Kent]

My daughter is in y9 at the moment and she has always said she would like to go to either Oxford or Cambridge to study law.

She is an avid reader and a very good writer and certainly does not hold back when putting her points accross. She loves history and I like the way her current school encourages the pupils to challenge certain parts of history and have a go at re writing it. (in context of course)

She is being prepared to take GCSE maths early and would soon have to choose the subjects for GCSE. What she is really concerned about is choosing the right combination of subjects now that would give her the best possible advantage in the future when it comes to applying to either Oxford of Cambridge.

I just wondered if anyone had any experience of the matter and would like to share it.

Thanks

[T.i.p.s.y]

I know Oxbridge is a magic ticket to open many doors, however she must research that these uni's offer the best law course, as other uni's may have a higher ranking/more kuodos with the legal world.

How many A'levels can she sit. If its three then I would suggest English, History and Maths. Law is very competitive and she will be up against students who have 5 A'levels. It's also a career which impacts your life tremendously. My friends who are lawyers work around 18 hours everday and about 12 hours on Sat and Sunday. I know they have to make their own decisions but I wouldn't want my kids being lawyers as they have no life.

Like Law, Maths is extremely competitive at Cambridge and I know of kids who have opted for Engineering and then changed to Maths after a year to give them a better chance of getting in. I'm not sure how competitive Criminology is, but that may be a route to take if it is still very competitive.

[yoyo123]

My daughter's school wanted her to apply to Oxford and even took her and 2 others up to see what it was like.

She came back unimpressed , said it was too like Hogwarts

[T.i.p.s.y]

Where did she opt for Yoyo?

[SunlampVexesEel]

My daughter is in y9 at the moment and she has always said she would like to go to either Oxford or Cambridge to study law.

And why not indeed! Someone has to.

Have a look at this...

http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergr ... rguide.pdf

Oxford is the wrong shade of blue...

Regards
SVE

[KES Parent]

For Law it doesn't really matter what A Levels you do, but for Oxford or Cambridge they should not include any that end in Studies (apart from Religious Studies). There is a Law aptitude test (LNAT) which Oxford and Cambridge as well as other high ranking universities require you to take, but no A level subject is particularly useful as it is a completely new subject to most students. The good universities also don't like Law A level, and of course the interview is the crucial deciding factor at Ox or Cam. Hope this helps.

[T.i.p.s.y]

I do think English is very important however.

[scatshouse]

West Kent, your daughter may change her mind, 13/14 is very young to decide. When the time comes she may not feel it's the right place.
My niece actually turned down a place at Cambridge (Left my brother hopping mad, still don't think he's forgiven her ). She decided to take a gap year and is now studying at Liverpool.
Turns out her (then) boyfriend was studying there and she wanted to be with him .

[Burneth]

My daughter's school wanted her to apply to Oxford and even took her and 2 others up to see what it was like.

She came back unimpressed , said it was too like Hogwarts

a year or so ago my DS would have done anything to go to a school like Hogwarts, but now it's just not cool to him...how their opinions change once they hit senior school!

[mum3]

Go on the Oxford and Cambridge websites, they are very informative and state the subjects they regard as 'soft' subjects at A level. In reality to be eligible to be considered for a place, she will need all A*s,As at GCSE to start with and then, obviously, 3 As at A level. I don't think they particularly want 5 A levels, although there will be people applying with those qualifications, but think quality rather than quantity. Pupils from my children's grammar school have been accepted with 3 As at A2 (about 25 Oxbridge successes last year).