Year 12 #3: Open Days and Predicted Grades beckon

[whistl]

Yikes! The title has just hit me! It's too soon! I'm not ready!!

Thread number 2 link: https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/further_education/3443840-Year-12-2-Carols-commutes-a-few-stocking-fillers

DD is torn as well as PPE at Oxford is more awe inspiring than politics at Cambridge, but she loves the city. She is in the Cambridge HE+ scheme & has won a place on a history day there next month. Her uncle waved his alumni card and toured the colleges with her last year.

He's going to wave his Oxford alumni card on a day out next month. She finds out next week if she has a UNIQ place for their summer schools. We can't persuade him to go to Durham to wave his alumni card there, but that would give her a dose of realism.

On another note, we're driving her mad by giving her 17 Cadbury Cream Eggs in instalments today.

Are you coming to Cambridge for history day (assume its the 9/3 one)?

This talk of Oxford and Cambridge is making me smile. I was looking forward to wandering around the backs and colleges with DD2 when we visited her, then she opted for B'ham and on Sunday we got taken to the Bull Ring and to Lidl :):):). Still she is happy and having a wale of a time.

Swansea tops Brum for scenery & lava bread.

It's an HE+ history visit on 26 March.

Oratory1

Birmingham has been top of DS2's list for several months now. It could just be because it's the last place he visited, but the lab tour was better than anywhere else we've been. Nice campus, too.

Yes they seem to have really modernised in terms of both facilities and their approach whereas some others (not Cambridge) seem to be living on their reputation and a bit stuck in a rut

Impressions of Oxford Physics department:

Admissions talk was very useful; they explained the process clearly and thoroughly and showed distribution of test scores amongst applicants, interviewees and successful applicants.

Physics talk seemed to be trying to put students off: course is very maths-heavy and condensed into shorter terms.

Teaching staff were polite but a bit stand-offish.
Labs were all underground and seemed a bit dated.

Lab tours led by students who were helpful but not especially enthusiastic.

Impressions of Birmingham Physics department:

Physics / admissions talk: a bit of a sales pitch, some useful information.

Teaching staff: enthusiastic, friendly, chatted to DS2.

Labs: in a traditional building but equipment was up to date.

Lab tour: students ushered the group from one lab to the next. In each lab, a member of the teaching staff did a demonstration and then asked questions that got gradually harder, so you had to extrapolate your knowledge. DS2 loved this.

Students: helpful and friendly, enthusiastic about the university and the course.

@Stickerrocks - happy birthday! How those 17 years have flown. DS1's is coming up in a couple of weeks and it makes me quite wistful. He was born on Mother's Day early in the morning and the hospital took a special picture of him as the first baby...

In other news our house buying/selling journey was spectacularly de-railed yesterday when our buyers found out they were expecting twins! They are leaving London to be near family. Gutted is not the word as we were due to exchange next week. Back on the market today

Got an email Friday from Durham today. I signed up to be notified when the booking opens and the email just confirmed the dates and said booking would open towards the end of May for 1 and 6 July. I think DH and I will go so I might look at a Travel
Lodge / Premier Inn option now. Anyway else going?

Impressions of Southampton Physics department:

Physics / admissions talk: a bit of a sales pitch, useful information about placements and scholarships.

Teaching staff: a couple were in the foyer at the end of the lab tour; otherwise not very present / visible.

Labs: a bit scattered around the building but modern and well-equipped. Powerful telescopes on the roof.

Lab tour: led by students, some merely helpful and others very enthusiastic (we were swapped to a different group half-way through).

Not physics-related: green, leafy campus.

@sandybayley how frustrating about the buyers.

Sandy annoyed on your behalf. We have rooms booked at the PI for Durham as DH & DD will be detouring on their way home from a family visit to Edinburgh & Aberdeen. York is on 30 June, so DD is frustrated that they can't fit that one in as well.

DS2 is back. He has now decided that he wants to apply to do Natural Sciences at Cambridge. I thought this might happen.

FirstOHN

Sandy -

FirstOHN i am enjoying your reviews even if not relevant to DS's chosen subject. I look forward to his Cambridge one. Did he spend time at any particular college?

I feel put to shame by your dedication. Not being in the UK none of this is possible for us, but on the other hand, having also been an expat since the age of 4, none of it was possible for me. Nor was it available. And I'm not sure my parents were that bothered, as long as I went. Weird now, thinking about it. At the moment all I know is the youngest has her Media and graphics coursework in. Doing well in physiology. Will find out for real on 18th March.

Aiming for cambridge as aspirational but realistically RG.

How many open days are on July 6th?!

I’ve counted 3 already.

Sandy what a complete bore about your buyers. My mum is in the middle of selling her big house and buying a bijou tiny house and I am waiting for something to go wrong with one or both...

Kingscote - which are on 6th?

Dd has just signed up for open day notifications for Bristol, Edinburgh, York and Birmingham. Then she got bored and went back to bed.

It's a start though. It looks like Birmingham and York are on the same weekend so that will be hectic. She's quite keen on York as a city (despite its inferior Primark size) so that will take priority if we can't manage both.

It suddenly feels like it's getting really close!

DS2's impressions of Christ's College Cambridge:

Natural Sciences talk: informative

Teaching staff: approachable, enthusiastic

Students: extremely friendly

I can feel a spreadsheet coming in whistl. We found Cambridge the most friendly and informative of all our visits and they continued to be friendly and helpful throughiut The process.

Sorry that was meant to be TheFirst. My brain must have subconsciously connected spreadsheets and whistl

It's all getting very real now isn't it?

My DS's school give them UP TO two days off for attending Open Days. I know some are held at the weekend so we will try and aim for these mostly.

NET x