Missed My Oxford Admissions Test Registration Deadline (please help, I'm freaking out)!

Student Lounge International Students
1

Hello, I am an American student applying to the University of Oxford as an English Language and Literature undergraduate. I submitted my UCAS application, but I missed the deadline for the admissions test! I need to take the ELAT to be considered for admissions. If it helps, I am applying as an individual applicant, not through a school or center. If anyone is wondering why I missed the deadline:

  • I was very confused about how to register for the test. I was under the impression that applicants would be given a registration code AFTER they completed their UCAS application and could use that to register. I now know that is completely incorrect, but I am still quite confused on how to register.
  • I completed my application very close to the deadline because over the past few months my mental health issues have been especially bad. I am doing better now with medical help, but for several months I was unable to function properly and spent most of my time in bed. My main focus was becoming healthy, and college applications were a huge trigger for me, so I tried not to focus on them until I had improved a bit. In fact, I could have probably still registered for the admissions test today if I had not been in a psychologists appointment during the last hour before the deadline.

As you can probably understand, I am extremely frustrated with myself and right now I am distraught. I know that my chances of being accepted were extremely small, but I do not want to be rejected because of a technical issue on my part. Is there any hope for me? I know there is probably nothing I can do, but if there is any chance that I can make this work, I will act on it. The University of Oxford has been my dream school since I was 12 years old, but the year for me to apply just happened to be one of the worst years ever for me (regarding the condition of my mental health). I don’t want to give up on this dream.

2

Take a deep breath.

There’s a Covid faq on the website and Oxford states:
“If you have not managed to register for your test, Oxford will email you to explain what action you need to take. You will only receive an email if you have successfully submitted your UCAS application by our deadline of 6pm UK time on 15 October.“
So, there is a chance that this year, everything is different and you may get a second chance.

However, the way you describe your health situation actually makes a gap year sound like a good idea. Oxford is nothing but deadlines - as an English student, you may have essays due three times a week. You may not, currently, be ready to handle the pace.

You don’t have to give up on the dream. you may just have to go a year later. Lots of UK students take gap years, it’s not a big deal, you can work or spend time at a mental health facility if take classes at any university you like, they wont care. (They won’t give you credit, either). It’s not the end of the world!

3

I agree that feeling better is a priority. Oxford is unforgiving in it’s pace and intensity with it’s 8 week terms. A gap year actually sounds a good idea.

4

Tripling down on this. It is really hard to explain just how intense the pace and the pressure are at Oxford. Worse than not getting into Oxford would be getting in and then cracking under the pressure- thousands of miles from home, in an unfamiliar system.

5

Thank you for all of your advice and compassion. I understand that Oxford is one of the most rigorous universities in the entire world, but I think I am well prepared. I have been taking full semesters of college classes as well as high school classes since I was 13 years old, so I am definitely familiar with having multiple research papers and other projects simultaneously due in a week. Does anyone know when emails will be sent out to students who sent in their UCAS applications but missed the admissions test registration deadline? I have a bit of hope that I will receive an email, but I do not know how the process is proceeding.

6

OP- read carefully what folks here are telling you.
Nobody is questioning your ability to handle rigor.

But Oxford is rigor on steroids. The terms are short and compressed. The deadlines are relentless and unforgiving. You are “distraught” because of the dreams of a 12 year old. But now you are a HS senior, dealing with mental health issues, and college applications have become triggering for you. AND you are looking for an extension because you were at a mental health appointment when you needed to be focused on the deadline.

I cannot think of a more toxic stew than the one you are pining over. Get yourself healthy-- months in bed is not a sign that you are recovered, healthy, where you need to be. Oxford has been around for centuries and will still be there in a year or two when you’ve completed your treatment. And although I am not a mental health professional, I would encourage you to share your feelings about this missed deadline- distraught, for example, with your therapist.

7

I AM a mental health professional and I am in total agreement with @blossom and the other posters. I’m also British and know people who attended and currently attend Oxford. It is NOT the place for someone struggling with mental health issues, especially as you describe them. It is not just the academic demands. UK universities do not hold your hand in the way US schools do: you are expected to be an adult and take care of yourself from day one, plus negotiate a different culture, lower drinking age and strenuous academic demands.

Oxford will be there after a gap year, no one is saying don’t go, just not be in such a rush. If you are offered a place you can always defer, knowing that a place is saved for you a year later. It’s OK. You want to be in a strong, robust place to cope with what Oxford will throw at you so you can do well.

I also encourage you talk this through with your therapist, not least because you will need to set up theraputic (and medical) support in Oxford when you get there. Big hugs OP

8

@HaythamKenway - storytime for you

I applied to Oxford when I was in senior (UVIth) year of my British, highly selective all girls high school. Due to the nature of how Oxford ran their apps back in the day, you could sit their own entrance exam before Christmas, interview, and know you’d got in - and not rely on A Level results the following summer. So I had a place in hand quite early on.

Over the remainder of the year, it began to dawn on me that maybe Oxford was not the right place for me. Clearly I had excelled at the academics and I had passed the interview, but something nagged at me. I realized that the relentless pace, pressure and all consuming nature of Oxford might not be best for me. I wanted time to explore, play my sport, go to parties, take up new things, even have a part time job (not allowed at Oxbridge): all the things that make you a human being. I also knew that in the holidays I would need to get a job for spending money, and would have less time to do all the extra work that Oxford students do to catch up. This is the thing: the holidays are full of work too!

I am also very sensitive emotionally and sometimes physically. I need rest and down time, and a variety of activities. I need fresh air and I don’t thrive especially well in overly competitive environments. I used be really brutal with myself, and I knew that I didn’t need the additional pressure of Oxford on top of my own internal pressure and perfectionism.

I also realized that my friends who were going to Oxford and Cambridge were different to me. They were intellectual geniuses, who could roll out of bed, produce a history essay, defend it in front of the teacher, then go to the pub and repeat it all again the next day: no stress, no worry, no pressure.I, however, needed to STUDY!

One of my best high school friends went to Cambridge for History, which I also studied at A Level. I would go to her house to study for our A Levels: well, I would read the text books and our notes, and she would lie on her bed eating snacks, listening to the radio and wondering which boys liked her. 3 As at A Level, one Distinction at S Level later (having never, ever even sat an S Level class as the teacher was ill and the school didn’t replace her!!), and she was at Cambridge, where this behavior continued. She did well and now has some v high powered job in finance which I don’t fully understand!

My parents were confused when I told them I wanted to withdraw from my place at Oxford. Hadn’t I really wanted this? Well, I thought I had… but really I had wanted the bragging rights, the lovely buildings, the sun setting on golden stone, the history and being in an exclusive ‘club’. I didn’t want the reality, which included all of that… but also the downsides too. My high school was furious (one less Oxbridge acceptance to boast to new parents about). My friends were more chilled and understanding.

Instead, I went to St Andrews, studied different subjects (which you can do in the Scottish system), played on a sports team, had a job, volunteered, had a boyfriend, broke up with him, met my husband, went traveling around Scotland and Europe, write my dissertation… got my degree (in a subject I hadn’t studied before!) and started my adult life. I have zero regrets about my moment of very adult self awareness as a 17 year old. I think it probably saved my life.

9

Good that you have those academic and organizational skills.

But with respect, until I saw it up close I had no idea how intense the Oxbridge experience is. The standard is very high, the pace is relentless, and every week you have true experts in your field question, push and poke at your work. If it is the right place for you it is great- but if you are working on mental health issues, it is a terrible place.

You may have already read this (or similar), but here is an outline of how Balliol runs English:

https://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/english-reading-list

Like everybody else, I am not trying to discourage you from Oxford overall- but really, truly, hand on heart: your letter is the reddest of red flags. Oxford is tough enough for those who are in a really good place mental-health wise.

10

OP, you should definitely take the advice of everyone here and maybe take a gap year.

trust me, i GET how mental health can affect your life—notably academic life— as i just graduated high school last year. i had all of these ambitions with excellent grades in honors and AP classes in high school until my mental health and other medical issues overcame me and i had to leave junior year. it was honestly terrible.

looking back, i could have easily prevented it (besides the medical issues) by: seeking out help earlier, cutting back on difficult classes, and being real with myself.

you are currently in a position where if you DO get accepted to Oxford, you have the potential for your mental health to snowball even more when you get there. not only will you be in a foreign country without your family nearby for support, you will be involved in an INSANELY academic-heavy schedule that will leave very little time for yourself to recharge. yes, you are getting help now, but it usually takes months to even years for your mental issues to subside with professional help.

i know you won’t agree, but based on your mental status now, you are rushing things. there is nothing wrong with taking a gap year, your cap and gown aren’t going anywhere.

11

OP-I feel your pain for this happened to me last year when I applied to oxford as a high schooler (now I am attending US college and applying again). I did not place-they explicitly told me that it was due to the fact that I failed to seat an exam; they could not see my qualification, therefore.

I would recommend maybe applying again next year or taking a gap year then applying since it is very unlikely you would place without the required test.