Oxbridge Entry 2015

[Roisin]

Do we have a thread already?
ds1 has decided to definitely apply to Oxford to do Biochemistry. He will probably apply to St John's.

I had no clue whatsoever when I chose universities & picked St Andrews as my firm because it looked so pretty in the prospectus . My Mum had kittens because it was so far away. My lovely Dad drove two days from the west country in a clapped out old banger to get me there. He promptly fell in love with it (because he loves all sport) and then I missed getting in by one ucca point! One! Think I started the family tendency of going to the Insurance choice....

I was also remembering my interview. My mother didn't drive and my father who spent most of my adolescence disliking me would rarely drive me anywhere. So public transport was the only option.

My teachers and my parents were both weirdly obsessed with what I should wear. I'd read about my chosen college in a magazine article, and was sure it was an alternative sort of place. It therefore felt correct to wear my favourite cheesecloth smock - this was late 1970s - and jeans. No one in my home environment agreed with me. My father in particular was nearly hysterical and followed me out of the house as I was leaving, saying it was not too late to pack a skirt.

Of the two blokes interviewing me one was wearing a track suit, and the other was wearing shades, a T shirt and denims.

Figment - it did indeed snow in December 1985. It was snowing even before we went down for the hols. It seemed that every single conversation began with the (completely untrue) received wisdom that it's completely flat between cambridge and Siberia. It also snowed when I went for my interview, in January 1985 (this was post entrance exam, we got the results from that about 3 days before xmas I think). My train got stuck somewhere ridiculous, and I was late - they were fine about it though. But I was coming from London - I certainly wouldn't be wild about DD1 doing a train journey from here to there for an interview on her own (not with the state of the trains in this part of the country). If you actually need to get somewhere by a certain time and it matters, trains round here in the depths of winter are not a good bet as I've learned to my sorrow (and my firm's expense).

Marianne - for my interview I wore what I thought was a nice dress from Camden market (it was black) with ankle boots (also black) and fishnet tights (clumpy boots and fishnets were my uniform). What I wore was probably a bit overshadowed by my hair though, which was mainly (but not entirely) very short, spiky, and blue. I looked like a punky elf. But it didn't matter, they weren't interviewing me about my appearance or my fashion sense (or lack thereof). I would hope that things were the same today - from what people say it seems maybe not, though.

It sounds like a lovely outfit!

Clothes - yes - I wore my church organist outfit - hideous long crimplene-esque brown pleated skirt with faux 1950s knitted top - basically an illustration from a Patons catalogue, all nicely set off with a pair of American tan tights and some tasteful "court shoes".

In my bag I did, however, have an alternative outfit ready for when I wasn't doing interviews, as well as (incongruously) plenty of cigarettes.

It was fine for normal purposes. It didn't really match what anyone else on the (ridiculously) early train or waiting for interviews was wearing.

I am going to Cambridge with dd not because she is incapable of going by herself and nor because I am a helicopter parent. I am going because she wants me to. I won't be going anywhere near the college - I will be using the time to do Christmas shopping and have a much needed day off work. Dd has a 4 hour gap in between two of her interviews and she wants to go to lunch with me rather than wander around by herself.

I never went to Uni. I was lined up and expected to apply when my sixth form college had a milk round with local businesses recruiting. I decided to go for a professional training contract interview in the industry I was aiming for, having been fired up by overhearing some boys saying "we stand a better chance than the girls - they won't give a training contract to a girl". Sorry to disappoint you lads! So, I went straight into professional training from sixth form college.

My best friend on the course did go to Uni, to Exeter, and we are both now partners in our respective firms.

Mrs Bartlett that seems very sensible - I'm sure that is what I would do if the interviews were all on one day and I could drive a car. Cambridge is lovely to wander around and it has a very nice John Lewis.

It does have a very nice John Lewis. I regularly pop in there to use their loos if I have time to kill before appointments when I am in Cambridge!

Well done all! Minor panic here as DD forgot to send her funding form (?) with her essay. Now it has been safely despatched and she has been reassured that there
Just the exam and interview hoops to jump through now, no timings yet so not sure about getting there, I may yet bump into you in John Lewis MrsB!!!

I'll look out for you - will you be carrying a copy of Jackie?

Don't know if dd has done a funding form - better check when she gets in.

Bizarrely I deleted a bit of my post..
She has been reassured that there won't be a flaky and disorganised black mark by her name

Yes, I'll be carrying my Jackie annual and sporting a bubble perm and blue eyeshadow

You won't be hard to miss then!

Have a lovely time in Cambridge MrsB and cathy. I would go, just think of the tea shops!

I am a faulty helicopter. My rotors whir a lot, but by the time I get to the scene everything has usually been organised.

I am so not a helicopter parent, Littleham - I haven't got time, especially since I started working full-time in the summer. Dd has actually asked me to just stop working for a moment and "do some parenting" (her words!) when I am not paying attention to her! In my defence this is my first career job for years and I am loving it but I am also doing it to save up to pay for university for dd.

Good for you - hope it goes well. I've always pretty much taken the view that people should do whatever works best.

Thank you and I agree - we are all just trying to do what is best for our dc.

So the order of the day...
Park at park & ride (prepay tickets)
Allow at least half an hour to get to uni
Dump DD
Swan off to John Lewis and make full use of the facilities
For a bit of culture head to the Museum
Be on hand around lunchtime if DD needs someone to eat with.

Sorted!!!

Parents, children and parent/child relationships vary hugely.

In my case my daughter doesn't want me there and I don't want to be there. She'll have more space to prepare herself without me. (I'd only be in the way/a potential irritant.) If there's any stage of the process that throws her, she will also have plenty of time to think it through before she returns home.

For me this year is all about letting go, managing more without each other.

It's not that there isn't closeness, but I can feel the nature of it changing.

Well, blow me down with a feather - ds has an interview at Oxford (the email was in his spam folder!!)

Quite annoyed that he has to be there for three days and that he is expected to arrive at 10am on a Monday when there is engineering work out of Paddington the previous weekend (engineering work being renowned for never over-running, not). The website said they would be there for 2 days (Tuesday and Wednesday) although some candidates might be expected on the Monday afternoon. Not impressed by their poor organisation so far.

My DD is waiting to hear if she might get an interview at Oxford. On the college website it says interviews are held during the week of 7/12. Do you think that at this late stage it's unlikely she'll get one? I was really hoping she would've heard by now - stressful!!! And do they let them know if they aren't going to be offered one? Thank you.

Have you seen en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_Day ? Full of how not to be the parent of a Cambridge interviewee

Congrats Raidne's son - more good news!

I think I just wore normal sixth form clothes to my interview, which was with three middle-aged men in suits. And then another one with an older bloke in a suit. Didn't have another one at another college because I had to go back to school early to do the BMO. (Which I think probably helped my maths-related degree application!)

Hurrah Raidne - glad he checked his spam folder!

Marianne - I agree parent/child relationships do vary and it is not a reflection on how close you are. At 17 I was much more separate from my mum than dd is from me and I certainly didn't want her to go with me for my interviews. Tomorrow we are going to a family quiz night at ds's school (he's 14) and dd and her best friend are on our team. I would never have gone to something like that with my parents at that age but dd is perfectly happy to and tbh we need their brains