Okay, hi everyone I'm Lily if you didn't already know
But yeah, welcome back to my channel, obviously
this is a channel revival i did one video about a year ago and then I dipped but here we are back again I've even
Put lashes on albeit a little bit hap-hazardly. I feel like I look a bit scary like a bit
ewww scary, but anyway, I
thought I'd put lashes on I try and look nice and
film a video and
How exciting is this? I mean, it's probably not that exciting but, it's exciting to me!
So
Yeah, so without further ado, let's get into the video
today I'm going to be talking about the application process to Cambridge specifically
But obviously this can apply generally to Oxbridge,  so Oxford and Cambridge
Um, I have now finished my first year doing human social and political sciences at Cambridge
So, H-S-P-S for short and I thought now would be a good time to make a video
Detailing my experience but more my reflections and some sort of guidance on the applications process
the reason that I'm filming it at the end of  first year as opposed to
straight after, like,  when I got in, before I even started first year...  to be honest the real reason is
that i just like made one video and dipped from my channel
I just never got around to making a video
But actually the reason I'm doing it now is because I feel like I have the benefit of hindsight
I've met a lot of people from lots of different schooling backgrounds
And now I know how my experience compares and I sort built up in my head
like the patterns and basically like different experiences and how they fit into different schools
So I went to state school, just a state comprehensive school
And I'm the first generation in my family to go to university. Before I got to Cambridge
I kind of had this assumption that everyone I'd meet from a state school would have
Would be the only person from their state school that year, you know
I really kind of thought like oh
like
people
state schools only get like one or two people in every couple of years maybe,  and I mean for example, my school in the seven
years
I was there
two girls got into Oxford, and then in my year group two people got into Oxford and I got into Cambridge so three people - which is
like a massive - like I mean... it's more that one!!
So it was like quite big I mean the whole time
I'd been there no one had been to Cambridge and for quite a few years before that apparently as well
So I thought that to be honest,
I really thought that was the norm -  for every state school. as in state comprehensive
I was aware that grammar schools
You know would get a few more people and then obviously private schools would have like consistently quite a few people each year
but to be honest with you
there are quite a lot of state schools out there that get
consistently like maybe half a dozen people into Oxbridge every year or maybe even half dozen into Cambridge and
half a dozen into Oxford. so they are doing the most -  like they are really doing the thing, like great!
there's not this like homogeneous state school experience and I feel like I don't want to just sit here and make a
Video being like this is my experience. This is how you get into Cambridge like blah blah blah
I'm at Cambridge now, whatever
I don't want to do that because I feel like it varies so much from the state school to state school
And so I can't literally be like how to get to Cambridge from a state school. Boom
Here's a video I've done let's go. because it just -  I don't know. I don't feel like that'll be useful
so to be honest
This video is aimed at people who go to state comprehensive schools that really are doing it on their own
They don't have like the school
backing quite a few people, putting them through the Oxbridge process, and by doing that they get several people into Oxbridge every year like this
is aimed at people who off their own back really are applying to Oxbridge and are gonna have to do the application process, basically
It's all gonna be driven by them. You've decided you want to apply to Cambridge
You've you've got like your list of things that you need to do to meet all of those application process requirements
Now what ?
Now where do I look? I'm on my own and I need guidance, and this is kind of like who I hope this video would be basically
Detailing just a few different directions that you could look for support in
Okay, so we've established that you are doing everything yourself you're driving this application
So the first thing that I want to highlight is that it's very important that you know
when all of the deadlines for your application process are, so if you have to submit something to the college you're applying for
Make sure you submit that on time if you have to sign up for a test or something
Make sure you sign up on time
So I would highly suggest, you know making a calendar or something
with these things like as your priority because obviously
There's going to be a lot going on at that time
if you've got everything in your head
There's a chance you might miss something and I know it seems like a basic point but like trust me it's very easy to miss
these things because part of the application process to Cambridge is that it's
a multi step, holistic process and therefore if you miss one particular thing
You know, there's small things that make up the big picture, and that's why it's very important to know exactly when everything
Has to be done. Obviously you couldn't look at the website
You can always email the college or applying to the admissions office to make sure that you know exactly when things are. Don't be afraid
to ask questions because it's better that you just ask
, you just double check a date of something then you miss that date, for example.
So this brings me on to my second tip, which is that although you're going to be driving it yourself
you should be able to have someone there to support you and I would highly suggest
the subject teacher for the subject that you're applying for.
but it could also be maybe a deputy head of year, your head of year, a
careers advice member of staff. I don't know! like somebody that you have a good relationship with that you trust because
they need to back you -  they need to back you. So for example
I printed off a load of practice papers and then scanned them multiple times and gave them to multiple teachers because I thought
Oh, you know the more feedback the better. But teachers are very busy
and like, there are gonna be some teachers,  that because they're not like following your
application process,  it's just not really gonna be a priority for them. So some didn't mark them
but like my sociology teacher he was there he was backing me
He knew like what stage I was at
and I found that it was very useful just to have like one teacher who you have a good relationship with that you can trust
who is gonna basically like kind of just be there to like
get you through the process. All of those deadlines, all of those papers that you're doing, you know
it's great to be able to like go through them with somebody and I was very very lucky
that I had a teacher that was very supportive.
But at the end of the day to wrap this up because I am rambling! I'm rambling. To wrap this up, basically
Well, though you're gonna be driving this yourself like trust me. You're gonna be driving
this yourself. Have someone
who will back you, who you can basically talk through your ideas with, talk through
when your deadlines are, talk through what you might want to put in this particular piece of work that you're
submitting to your college. and
that is very beneficial.
So I would say try and find a teacher who you can trust who is going to be on your side. Definitely 100%
I would also suggest - and I feel like this point also sounds very obvious. I don't ?? Is this even useful??
I feel like I'm making zero good points.
but
I would also really suggest just using YouTube as your tool. people have made videos because they really wanted to help not only are there
not only are there Youtubers out there, but  also on the cambridge website and the cambridge youtube channel itself,
there's lots of like sort of snippets that you can watch like general guidance
and at the moment, in the times of now... these unprecedented times
the Internet, more than ever, is your friend! at the moment, you're probably aware if you're already watching this video
but there's a bunch of like college tours and subject talks all virtually uploaded to the YouTube... to the YouTube? Wow
Why do I sound like I don't use the internet? Ummm
Basically there's a basically a virtual open day going on at the moment if you if you would to sign up for webinars you can
go into the cambridge website
sign up for the webinars and subject talks have a look at different colleges YouTube channels
see if you like the feel of the college the look of the college.
Another thing that I would highly highly recommend looking into our mentoring schemes and
external programs that really aim to widen participation in Oxbridge.
So first of all,  Target Oxbridge that's specifically for black students
So if you're a black student watching this there are mentoring program will help you with your application and sort through a levels
Another one is the cambridge applicant support program. So although,
applications for this closed on the 17th of july
so like get on that if you want to. That is actually run by Cambridge University and that is a basically a support program for
people to go through the application and sort of mentor them through it. Obviously
I'm going to leave a link in the description for these things
so if you want to look into these things in more detail then please please do, but I did not take
advantage of like any sort of schemes or you know programs that I could have done and I feel like
Well, it turned out alright in the end,
but I feel like if I'd done my research and found out about these things
I definitely would have done because I could imagine that having that sort of backing of a mentor or like a group of sort of people
would definitely help with the feelings of self-doubt and sort of like
isolation when you're sort of applying for this thing on your own, without really people around you that kind of know
what the process is like if you see what I mean, so I would definitely definitely take advantage of those.
I think, well, I hope this doesn't come across sort of pessimistic or
negative in any way,
But I think it's important to note that if you're applying
to Oxbridge as a first gen to uni
student, as someone who doesn't come from the school that
consistently gets people into Oxbridge is that really, you're not going to know as much as somebody who has been surrounded by
that University/ Oxbridge kind of experience and life style from the get-go like, you know
It's not going to be embedded knowledge to you
You're gonna have to like basically learn all of the stuff as you're going and learn about like the applications process the college system
You know, there's a lot of information to take on board like,
there's a lot to take on board and there's a lot to and
especially to basically kind of be driving that yourself or going for that yourself like that's a lot, but that's okay because
basically, I hope this video has showed that you can make use of the resources around you,  and I'm not saying  this in a way that like
you know,  no matter where you're from like you can achieve!! because meritocracy,
who is she?
But basically I would say basically emphasize that like you can make use of the resources around you and you should make use of those
resources and use those tools in particular and so I think basically the main ones I've highlighted today are just self organization and self
just self driving and like
basically
Just knowing when things are happening and
keeping that in your mind and making sure that everything is ticked off your to do list to do with that and,
finding maybe once or teacher or member of staff you can trust that
you have a good relationship with
who can basically kind of just be there for you throughout the process like you can tell them
you know 'today I did this practice paper'and they'll be like 'that's really good', you know
And then I would also recommend just - the internet. all of those people that are making YouTube videos
they want to help so just like watch and consume as much content as you can
Embed this knowledge in your brain
And then also finally, please make use of external resources, groups of people that are aiming to widen participation to Cambridge
So I've mentioned a couple that's more like you can use these things and people are there to help?
Another thing that I do really want to mention is just like maintaining a passion for your subject. Like I
literally what drove me to apply and like what got me through the process was just that like burning passions I had and for
like social sociology and the social sciences and how they will interlink and just
Even talking about it now like I just love it so much and like if you keep that at your core that will drive you
that motivate you to do these things and to like, basically
use like all of these things around you because it's just
You're just so desperate to like be able to study that subject that you really you really want to do it
You know what? I mean? I think that doesn't come across too like condescending
I don't know, but like it helped me to just keep that motivation and passion that really driving everything I did but I
Hope this video has been of some use
Yeah, I mean
we'll see but
If you do have any comments or questions, honestly, please put them in the comments. I'm very jobless right now
Sorry, I will look to me right like an essay response to anything you have
I'll also link my socials if you want to -link my socials. I'm a youtuber??
link my socials?. Am i a youtuber?
Anyway, I will link my social is in the description
so please get in contact with me if you want to but yeah, I hope this video has been of some use. Thank you
so much for watching it, like subscribe and like the video if you did enjoy it and I will see you in the next one
Because I'm actually editing now I'm gonna edit I've got to download some editing software and I'm going to put this thing together.
but trust me. you are good enough. you are more than good enough.
You're a bad bitch. you should be applying. you should either all of these things like trust me
It's okay, it's ok
because all of those thoughts all of those ahh I'm not good enough I'm not doing enough and I'm never gonna be on these peoples levels
Those thoughts are doing nothing but like basically hindering you, you know
Once you embrace that level of confidence and passion it's know a bit the passion and like knowledge of your subject is enough
Like and then I feel like you'll be able to unlock your like full potential and just like storm through the application process
Yeah, I just feel like those thoughts or learners impostor syndrome thoughts. really can actually be a hinderance
'why would i say that'
