Student sends Oxford University rejection letter for 'taking itself too seriously'
Wednesday 18 January 2012
Latest in Higher
Related articles
On Facebook
From the blogs
Asylum seekers: When the questions tell us so much more than the answers
For the last four years I've been paying my karmic dues (I would say "contributing to the big societ...
Thanks to The Sun, for enriching each of our lives
Those at the super-soaraway Sun are, yet again, making outlandish claims that they’ve changed the wo...
Ones to watch: Aiden Grimshaw to Hey Sholay
With so much new music coming out it’s difficult to keep track of what’s out there. It’s a lucky dip...
Banter Bigotry: It’s only a joke, love
Banter is a very odd thing. As an activity it provides a handy shelter for bigots to flex their ant...
A student has sent her own rejection letter to a prestigious university
criticising it for "intimidating" pupils from comprehensive school
backgrounds during the interview process.
Elly Nowell, from Winchester, Hampshire, wrote in her letter to Oxford University that using "grand formal settings" for the interviews allowed public school applicants to "flourish".
The 19-year-old, who studied at Brockenhurst College, had applied to Magdalen College to read law (jurisprudence).
Parodying a standard university rejection letter, she wrote: "I have now considered your establishment as a place to read Law (jurisprudence).
"I very much regret to inform you that I will be withdrawing my application.
"I realise you may be disappointed by this decision, but you were in competition with many fantastic universities and following your interview I am afraid you do not quite meet the standard of the universities I will be considering."
The letter continued: "While you may believe your decision to hold interviews in grand formal settings is inspiring, it allows public school applicants to flourish and intimidates state school applicants, distorting the academic potential of both."
Ms Nowell, who hopes to be accepted into University College London, told the BBC that she had felt like "the only atheist in a gigantic monastery" when she had attended the interview at Magdalen.
She said: "It was while I was at interview that I finally noticed that subjecting myself to the judgment of an institution which I fundamentally disagreed with was bizarre.
"I spent my entire time there laughing at how seriously everything was being taken."
An Oxford University spokeswoman said: "Despite what the candidate said, we would point out that the actual admissions figures speak for themselves: of the seven UK students who received offers for law and joint school courses at Magdalen, only one was from an independent school."
PA
- 1 Brazil rocked by abortion for 9-year-old rape victim
- 2 News in pictures
- 3 Four Britons face death by firing squad after 'smuggling cocaine into Bali'
- 4 Naked Miami man shot dead after being found eating another man's face
- 5 In pictures: The bewildering face of China
- 6 Principled Skinner rises above the fray
- 7 Thunderstorms and rain on the way as heatwave gives way
- 8 News International 'tried to blackmail select committee'
- 9 Postgraduate students are being used as 'slave labour'
- 10 Pope's butler: 'more arrests may follow'
- 1 Robert Fisk: Clinton's $33m raid on Pakistan shows that, in the end, hypocrisy will win
- 2 Brazil rocked by abortion for 9-year-old rape victim
- 3 It's not easy being Professor Green: The rapper, the heiress and a drama made in Chelsea...
- 4 Naked Miami man shot dead after being found eating another man's face
- 5 Principled Skinner rises above the fray
- 6 Fat? Really? Olympic hope laughs off official’s jibe – but others aren’t amused
- 7 'Hello mum, this is going to be hard for you to read ...'
- 8 Postgraduate students are being used as 'slave labour'
- 9 Coke reveals its secret: It may need to carry a cancer warning
- 10 French in uproar over oral sex anti-smoking posters
Experience the Heineken Hub
Get free wi-fi and exclusive i content while you enjoy a tasty pint of Heineken at participating pubs.
Can you imagine a career in teaching?
Be inspired to teach - let real teachers show you how rewarding the job can be.
Playing a game-changing role during the Games
Cisco is providing the solutions for London 2012's complex IT needs.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Career Services
Day In a Page
'I may be deaf, but you can still talk to me'



Comments