In retrospect, my current medical course keeps me busy enough and that's nothing compared to what I hear cambridge is like. Saturdays.... bah! unnatural
If you get offered a place you can handle the work load and still have a great social life etc. What people forget is that oxbridge terms are only 8 weeks so its very very intense but you get plenty of holiday to recover and catch up on work you didn't do because you were you were having a life etc. Interviews - ALL they care about is how good you are at your subject and if they think they can teach you. Therefore anything non academic will be ignored so don't sweat on this. You need to show real interest in your subject (a bit of work experience is no bad thing but just trying to get a few visits to companies is good as well). Main thing is to nail your A levels - if you're doing maths and sciences you ought to be aiming for 95%+ on modules and be interested in what you want to do. I had a great time - go for it, nothing to lose.
I went to Linacre College, Oxford. It was an exhausting course; I really cant overstate how much work they'll expect of you. It is good preparation though as you'll benefit from contacts you make there, from the resources the University has available and from the name on your CV (even with subject specialisms at other universities starting to overtake the old stone buildings). The social scene is anything you want it to be, go looking and you'll find it.
Oh yes we do. I got 6, as did several of my friends. My god.. I'm at StJohns! If you have any questions, do ask. I know a few maths-compsci guys and they're nice enough.
My brother applied to Cambridge back in the 80's, had top marks at O level and A level, got rejected (probably being from a state comprehensive didn't help), went to Durham, had a great time, Physics phd, went into medical research, concentrating on brain imaging using mri scanners, has moved around the country to various universities and is now a professor at Cardiff University. Proof that Oxford/Cambridge aren't necessarily a requirement to get somewhere in the academic world. He's also living proof that you never have to leave University (he's in his mid 40's!)
I did Engineering at Cambridge (Peterhouse), finished about 5 years ago now. One thing I've really noticed in the time since I left is that I know much more generally about my subject than most others I know in the same profession - I'm not a lot better at Mechanical Engineering than the others in the same role, but as soon as we get into something like Thermodynamics or Electronics then they seem not to have a clue. But yeah, the workload is horrendous - no way you could have kept me on after my 4 years were up, and I'm convinced it nearly killed a friend of mine. You've got to really love the subject to be able to deal with it.
