I know it's taboo, but Oxford interviews - has your child heard yet?

[Dumbledoresgirl]

I am getting a little wound up and can't discuss this at home as we have been over it several times already and ds says it is getting to him!

Has your child heard yet re getting an interview at Oxford? My son's best friend was offered an interview yesterday but my son has not heard anything yet (different college, different subject).

I have been snooping in the student room website and am wondering if certain subjects hear before others.

So, if your child has been offered an interview, which subject are they applying for?

Thanks for indulging a nervous mother!

[AtiaoftheJulii]

Some of the colleges post a list on their website of which subjects' decisions have been sent out so far. Have you looked to see if your ds's does? It varies by college and subject. So English at Balliol might be sent at a different time from English at Oriel.

[Dumbledoresgirl]

I didn't know that, thank you. I have just looked up the college and can't see any reference to that sort of information though.

[Molio]

Dumbledoresgirl I empathise completely. Last year DS3 didn't hear until the equivalent of next Monday (one week's notice of interview) which was the same as DS2 the year before (although to be fair same college same subject). And a couple of years before that DS1 didn't hear until the equivalent of next Wednesday (science subject so ten days notice). A cliche but no news is good news!

[Molio]

And yes very definitely different subjects hear at different times and the same subjects hear at different times according to college - depending on subject!

[Dumbledoresgirl]

Thank you. I know I am over-invested in this but this is probably my only chance of having a child called for interview at Oxford, and the waiting is getting to me. I am just as impatient and twitchy waiting for anything, not just this!

I have just upset myself by noting that ds's subject and his friend's are interviewing on the same day (I had hoped the friend's interview was sooner and therefore he needed to hear back sooner) but your experience of only hearing 10 days before for a science subject has cheered me up. Ds is applying for a science subject.

[Molio]

It's absolutely bloody this wait especially when you're trying to be cool. I'm hugely impatient myself, as a general rule. I remember now also that DD2 was waiting through the equivalent of this weekend (and for an arts subject) and didn't check her emails until Sunday lunchtime and then found an email which had been lying in wait for 24 hours. Just as well to check the junk mail too. I'd only fret if you find a post on TSR which suggests same subject same college invites are out (scanning TSR also whiles away time!). Best of luck for your DS.

[FordPerfect]

Still waiting here. Having looked through TSR it seems that DS's college has only just started to communicate decisions and not yet for his course. He is quite calm but I feel more edgy so empathise with everyone still waiting to hear.

[SueDunome]

ds heard on Friday. Stay positive - if he hasn't had a rejection, he is still in with a chance. Good luck.

[Dumbledoresgirl]

He's got an interview! Not with his chosen college, but that doesn't matter does it? He is reasonably happy with the college he has been reallocated to.

Gosh, the strain over the last few days! Now we just have to get through the interview.

[Molio]

Fantastic news Dumbledoresgirl! I felt your pain. They all seem to like their college whatever it turns out to be, so don't let that muddy the waters. Well done him!

[Dumbledoresgirl]

Thank you! I confess it has been a nightmare since Friday when we found out his friend had been offered an interview. I have wanted him to check his emails every half hour but had to bite my tongue as he was getting very irate with me. Which is not like him at all, so I know he was feeling the pressure too, even though he didn't admit to it.

I am happy now. Obviously I want him to be offered a place, but, for now, the interview is enough. Thanks for your words of experience and wisdom earlier - they really helped.

[VegasIsBest]

Congratulations to your son for getting this far. Hope his interview goes really well.

[Dumbledoresgirl]

Vegas - thank you.

FordPerfect - any news?

[Cherryburn]

Fantastic news Dumbledoresgirl! I really felt for you too. Luckily DD's college was one of the first to send emails for her subject so she heard she had an interview pretty swiftly. Like you, patience is not my strong point!

[Molio]

All credit to those with the required amount of patience to get calmly through the wait. As far as I'm concerned it's got remarkably little to do with Oxford and those particular stakes, and everything to do with the DC not being disappointed or dented. At least these days the outcome is announced on the same day in January, which reduces the horror of that wait a bit. Of course it was quite nice for it all to be over by Christmas, for someone with a constitution like mine.

Very best of luck to all DC going off next week or the following one - keep cool (but not too cool!) and enjoy the whole thing!

[Dumbledoresgirl]

Cherryburn, how thrilling for you. Best of luck to your dd.

Molio, any tips from your vast experience for the interview? Not just the interview itself but the whole 2 days ds has to be there. I feel safe enough now to say that he is applying for Physics. You said your ds1 had applied for a science subject - any chance it was Physics?

[Molio]

No the science one was Medicine Dumbledoresgirl so no vicarious Physics specific tips I'm afraid!

Mine have been comfortable joining in with what's on offer at the college - the pub quiz stuff and all meals etc - but also bunking off if other interviewees in their own subject got too stressy or intense.

This may not work for everyone but one thing I have done is always be available immediately after interviews for them to talk through the interviews. And/ or a sibling has been. Because these interviews can get so hyped they often think they've done extremely badly in the first one so by talking through what they were asked and what they said one can often say no that seems reasonable/ good etc you're probably still in with a chance. It's really important not to give up, because the tutors don't expect anyone to excel in each interview and each part of each interview, they just need evidence of an ability to think creatively and to engage. I guess if anyone has the opposite thing, a DC who says they nailed it and were utterly superb, it might be equally useful to be on the phone and say great, but whoa - you ain't in yet!

[Dumbledoresgirl]

So the 2 days - it can't all be interviewing, what else goes on? Are they being 'watched' all the time? Do they get to mix with current students? Ds is totally in love with the idea of formal meals, and he and his mates already do a pub quiz once a week, so it sounds like he will fit right in. That is the main anxiety really. I hate to say it, but I don't personally feel Oxford has the best Physics course or department (shhhh!!! ) but I know it has exactly the sort of student culture ds craves.

[Dumbledoresgirl]

I didn't explain properly there. I don't mean I am anxious if he will fit in. I mean I know he will fit in, and I am anxious that he will get a glimpse of this wonderful world and then have it whisked away from him if he fails to get an offer.

[FordPerfect]

Again well done to all those with interviews. Still waiting here... The latest DS can hear is Friday so it could be a long week.

[Molio]

The Physics building is going to be lovely and new though Dumbledoresgirl even if you think the course isn't all that.

I've always taken the view with mine that uni is about far, far more than the specifics of a course although I know that view would be widely contested on here, by more serious folk. If it really appeals, then he should grab it in my opinion - the course will be good enough.

[hellsbells99]

DD's friend got an interview for physics yesterday. DD still hasn't heard - I am hoping she doesn't get an interview as I feel her course is better elsewhere (sorry 😳). I also want to be able to get on with other plans before Christmas - I can't even buy tickets for a concert she is supposed to be in as I don't know if she will be here (although she said her pre-test went very bad so maybe I could get the tickets).
Good luck for those with interviews - I hope they go very well.

[HocusCrocus]

I mean I know he will fit in, and I am anxious that he will get a glimpse of this wonderful world and then have it whisked away from him if he fails to get an offer.

I know exactly what you mean DDgirl and as Molio said the hardest part is seeing them with their heart set on something (and that doesn't just go for Oxford - if he'd had his heart set on a different place I would have felt the same) and worrying about how they will feel if they don't get it. But, as DS said last year, the only sure way not to get an offer is not to apply .

Most students will have gone home but there are a lot of student helpers around who DS said were very friendly and helpful. Whether he was being or not I don't think he got the impression he was being 'watched'. I think he had a paper to read through for one of the interviews and he did take himself off to his room once with a book just for a bit of peace and quiet. My impression from him was though that they do try to make the whole time as stress free and enjoyable as possible.

Good luck to all with interviews and fingers crossed for those still waiting.

[RhodaBull]

I don't think I can be lurking around Oxford for four days waiting to jump out and surprise ds after every interview. Surely I'd look like a mad mother (or madder mother, maybe)?! Can't I be at the end of a phone line?

I winced when I forayed into TSR yesterday when I saw a person ask if there would be accommodation at a college for her mum . I know some people have travelled a long way, but book into a b&b fgs! Ds and I get on famously, but I think he'd die if I were his roomate and he'd be very cross if other people had parents in tow. I can't imagine what the college would think, either (unless you are Ruth Lawrence).

[Dumbledoresgirl]

Ha! I got cross with dh last night when he suggested he took time off work to take ds to his interview. Granted, he has something stupid like 8 days holiday leave which he has to take before Christmas, but I made it perfectly plain that ds would be taking the train to Oxford. It isn't that far from us anyway, and he has already taken a train to York for an interview there. He is a very bright boy, but has no common sense whatsoever. I thought he had managed well going to York as he actually took a taxi for the first time ever from the station to the uni as he was in danger of being late if he took a bus, but apparently it now emerges that he and dh were texting each other throughout the train journey and dh told him to get the taxi (and also, he only needed the taxi because he missed his train in the first place!)

But anyway, no, no matter what the distance, I wouldn't be looking to stay with ds during an interview. How embarrassed I feel for that girl asking for places for her mother!

My worry is, his best friend is also in Oxford at the same time, being interviewed for another subject (and another college). I do hope ds doesn't try to spend time with him instead of immersing himself in whatever Oxford offers him.