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Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Higher education

Is it fair to let people in who don’t meet the grades?

35 replies

teakwood · 14/09/2018 00:32

DD is at Oxford and worked hard at a deprived state school to get the entry requirements. She’s first in the family to get to university.

Another boy got an offer for her course but missed the grades by one grade. He had a remark and it didn’t go up. He went to a very big name famous boarding school.

There were several others she met at interview that had a similar experience and were then rejected. They went to state schools.

The boy had his school and himself pester the college for them to reconsider. His father also went to Oxford. They decided to accept him anyway.

What sort of message does this send to state school kids? That, priviliged rich people can get in when they can’t, with the same missed grades.

OP posts:

Report

NonaGrey · 14/09/2018 00:39

You DD cannot possibly know all the circumstances of this person’s admission.

Oxford interviews for a reason - it’s not all about grades.

UnrelentingFruitScoffer · 14/09/2018 00:43

OP is blatantly made up. Oxford admissions are heavily scrutinized and mainly they fall over backwards to make special allowances for people from state schools. If they did it on pure grades Oxford undergrads would be 85% from private schools instead of 45%.

RedHelenB · 14/09/2018 07:57

I agree with OP. There was a poster here who's child dropped grades, had done really well at interview, gcses etc but couldn't afford a year out to resit and reapply. Surely it's those sorts of students who need the backing if they drop a grade.

Justanothermile · 14/09/2018 08:19

We can't possibly know the full circumstances here!

And that's with a dc applying for oxbridge this year from a big standard state school.

DS has just been admitted to his university after dropping a grade. I don't know why this is so. It was at the discretion of the university.

Sunflower321 · 14/09/2018 14:38

Ridiculous op! How on earth would your dd know all the details of this boy's entrance admission?

Sunflower321 · 14/09/2018 14:40

There was a poster here who's child dropped grades, had done really well at interview, gcses etc but couldn't afford a year out to resit and reapply

He obviously didn't do that well at interview!

Rebecca36 · 14/09/2018 14:44

Universities take many things into account. There are people who do not do so well in some exams but their schoolwork has generally been outstanding. That, how they perform at interview and their IQ level is taken as being as important as exam results. Thats why some people get in and others don't.

Rebecca36 · 14/09/2018 14:46

Also why worry about others as yours was accepted and is doing well? Congratulations to her and to you, it's all good.

BookWitch · 14/09/2018 14:52

My DH missed out on a place at oxford by one grade years ago.
My late MIL pestered and pestered and even made him drive up there to pester in person (well Dh stood there while she pestered)

They didn't let him in.

DH is mortified by this memory by the way, his mum was a nightmare in lots of ways

Zerosugar · 14/09/2018 16:00

Sounds like a good mum to me!

She was only enacting, in an overt way, what thousands of influential parents do,in the way of covert string pulling, with every conceivable opportunity.

titchy · 14/09/2018 16:06

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

PipeTheFuckDown · 14/09/2018 16:10

Mature Student here. I missed the grades I needed by a fair amount. I’m starting the RG Uni next week anyway. I’m guessing my entry is due to my personal statement, my references, etc. It’s not just all about grades - the grades I did get, I got whilst solo parenting 2 children and a baby, whilst dealing with severe PND.

Sunflower321 · 14/09/2018 16:15

Op, are you a journalist?

Boyskeepswinging · 14/09/2018 16:18

In any case, it is never a good idea to make assumptions about a situation when you don't know the full story. Only the boy and the Admissions Office know that. Walk away and be thankful that your DD's place has been confirmed.

SallyOMalley · 14/09/2018 16:23

I work in University Admissions. If there was a reconsideration of offer, there must be far more to this than simply the top school and old boys' network. It just wouldn't happen on these terms.

Racecardriver · 14/09/2018 16:27

No, it sends the message that good things cone to those who keep trying. If he had given up first time around like her state school friends who rejected he would be in the same boat as them. I know someone (from a state school seeing as that matters so much to you) who just missed out on a place the medical course at a certain university. He bought a tent and lived outside the door of someone or other who had power over these things for a week. Eventually they just gave him the place.

BackforGood · 14/09/2018 16:27

You can't possibly know the circumstances of everyone that applied and those that got in / didn't get in / missed a grade etc., and what was taken into account.
Focus on supporting your dd and ignore gossip.

RiverTam · 14/09/2018 16:31

Whether this is true or not, or other things at play, I do think it highlights the fact that some parents are better placed because of their own ‘privelge’, for want of a better phrase, to get what they for their children. They have the confidence, the understanding of the system, the contacts etc to make that happen. A child from a state school who’s the first in the family or even the school to go to uni won’t have those advantages - their parents won’t know that you can do this or have the chutzpah to go for it.

dancingthroughthedark · 14/09/2018 16:41

We have the opposite experience Ds dropped a grade by a couple of marks on one subject gained on the others to A* yet was rejected , His gf at the time dropped a grade on 2 subjects and still got a place at Cambridge. Ds was at an independent, she was at a state school.

Knittedfairies · 14/09/2018 16:48

So your daughter got contact details for every person she met at interview, so she could follow their progress? Right...

Anasnake · 14/09/2018 16:50

Didn't Toby Young's dad do the same thing to get him in ?

Sunflower321 · 14/09/2018 17:31

They have the confidence, the understanding of the system, the contacts etc to make that happen.

No, confidence and contacts are not what gets you an offer from Oxbridge!

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goodbyestranger · 14/09/2018 17:40

Yes perfectly fair if he was strong enough in all the other areas of the application for the tutors to think he would still do well on the course. Exams aren't a perfect science and Oxford has a whole raft of other evidence besides A level grades on which to judge an applicant's potential.

goodbyestranger · 14/09/2018 17:42

Also are you quite sure he 'pestered'? MY DS was accepted before results day despite a missed grade so there was never any pestering required, which is the more normal way.

RiverTam · 14/09/2018 18:07

Sunflower If you read my post properly you will see that that’s not what I said. Clearly.

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