Having been interviewed for a place at Magdalen College, Elly Nowell, a 19-year-old girl, sent a rejection letter to the admission commitee of the University of Oxford. The main reason mentioned was that university "did not quite meet the standard".
She was interviewed for a place at Magdalen College intending to study jurisprudence but declined the possibility of entering the univercity even before it accepted or rejected her.
In her letter, Norwell imitated the style that all universities use while writing rejection letters to applicants. She understood that professors "may be disappointed by this decision, but you were in competition with many fantastic universities". According to her, the university "did not quite meet the standard".
Elly Nowell is a student at Brockenhurst College now. She pointed out that the formal setting of the college "allowed public school applicants to flourish … and intimidates state school applicants, distorting the academic potential of both". In her interview with the BBC she told that the university keft her feeling like "the only atheist in a gigantic monastery". Extract from the letter: "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". She underlined the lack of diversity at the Brockenhurst College she was interviewed for a place at.
The respond from the university was from spokeswoman. She said that the teenager's letter was "a witty way to communicate her withdrawal. The irony is, though, that six out of the seven people offered law places at Magdalen were state-educated."
It is unknown if the university intended to accept or reject the girl. The teenager hopes to study at University College London.
