SEN DD applying to Oxford

[Iamcuriousyellow]

Good morning all

I hope someone here can help me, I feel all at sea.. My DD 17 has recently had diagnosis of autism. She is very bright, her speciality is language - she wants to study French and Philosophy at New College. GCSEs not so great, but she was going through a significant period of emotional distress including anorexia and self harm, culminating in Camhs involvement and eventual diagnosis, but things have improved to the point where her AS results were AAAAC. School are going to provide a supporting statement to back up her application.

Much as I want her to aim high, and I have no doubt that she belongs in academia where her (how can I put this) quirky social style will be more accepted and less "out there" than in the outside world, does anyone know how much actual support she could expect from uni?

Also.. We are a low income family (farmy) and I'm afraid that she might find herself amongst people from a social class very much above ours. Maybe I'm prejudiced but is Oxbridge truly another world in that respect? Will she be an odd fish, more than she is already?

We're going along next Friday for the open day and I'll try to find someone to speak to about SEN provision but I hoped that someone on here might already have experience of this kind of thing. I'm a bit AS myself and would like to have as much information as possible before we go - I'm already quite anxious, as is DD.

Sorry this is long.

Oxbridge is - imo - better for low income families than the other redbricks. There are bursaries and scholarships and much more 1:1 personal support. It varies college to college, but I have heard of people having all their books bought for them by college, and in my day/my subject a £1K 'scholarship' was handed out to everyone that got a 1st in their first year exams.

I would expect that the SEN provision is totally wrapped up in the tutorial system - so pick your college carefully.

For information about what specific support is available try looking at the disability support information from the Oxford student support website. If that doesn't tell you what you want to know your best bet would be to contact them directly, I'm sure they're very used to questions like this from prospective students.

www.ox.ac.uk/students/welfare/disability

I'm a current student and Oxford (and my best friend recently graduated from New having done French) and if she got in I'm sure she'd do fine. Oxford has a high number of students on the autistic spectrum and is very used to supporting them.

With regards to the income thing, please please please don't let that put you off. There really are people from all sorts of backgrounds here and noboody cares how rich you are. It's really not an issue. Oxford is the perfect place for quirky, academic people to find their niche.

Don't worry about the income, DH arrived at Oxford with 5 and quite literally, no other source of income. The college helped him. I also received a hardship grant from my Oxford college (a very posh one) - no one knew so no one was able to express any views one way or the other about it. I never felt that the staff looked down on me because of it.

Don't know specifically about support at Oxford for SEN but DH is now a professor and head of department at another uni and they will certainly engage with parents of a prospective pupil to help where help is needed. It helps if you (or better still your dd) can give an idea of what she needs as academics like dh haven't got a clue, even though they are happy to help.

Would she be OK in lectures? Would she be OK in small group tutorials? Would she be OK in 1-1 tutorials?

Thanks all so much for your kind replies. Goosey, I think the uni model, from the little I know about it, will suit her so much better than school where she can sometimes sabotage lessons by cutting to the chase so to speak and not allowing others to go through the process - I mean she is bored by having to be led to a conclusion when she has already "got it". The tutorial style I think will be perfect. What she will struggle with is self management, housekeeping, hygiene, eating sensibly, getting overwhelmed with new situations. Noise is a problem for her, also crowds of people. She needs time to decompress. Socialising generally has been very hard for her, although since diagnosis she knows her limits much better and doesn't put herself in situations she will find hard.
But what you've all said is so helpful, I feel better about next week now, so thanks again - I'll follow up the links.

Oxford is full of odd fish she'll be right at home.

More seriously, though the proportionate of private and particularly public school students is high at Oxford, there are plenty of lower middle class and (at some colleges) working class kids too. I was there just over a decade ago and found it pretty normal. I have a group of women friends from college, and 6 of 8 of us went to comps, 6 of 8 of us from the midlands / north. None of us is fancy

Agree with pp who said that Oxford has a lot of money for hard up students. This comes variously from the University and from the college you're at, so if money is a concern, a wealthier college is a good bet. New fits the bill. It's also a lovely college, big, so will have a range of students, and is both sociable and studious.

The college structure does mean a lot more pastoral care and tutors who actually know you.

My main concern would be how she copes with stress. Oxford still places your whole degree result on your finals, there's no continuous assessment. It's a lot of pressure, and becomes a real hothouse at the end of your degree. it gets to most people. Though as a linguist she would be somewhat protected from it, as most of her cohort would be finalists in their third year, when she would be abroad, and she would be a finalist in her fourth - when in my experience the remaining few (mathematicians, engineers, linguists) become quite a supportive group.

Cross post. Self management at Oxford is mostly academic. You're given a reading list and told to produce an essay a week later. Workload generally equivalent to two essays a week. How will she do with that?

The college structure makes domestic self management way easier than at most other unis - someone cleans your room (when you live in, which at New she may be able to do each of her three years in Oxford - not the case at all colleges), and you can eat a square meal every night in hall, if you get there on time.

She would be in heaven to be given a reading list and asked to produce an essay! That would be bliss.

Yes I am concerned about the final year. But I'd hope that with another few years of maturing, and settling comfortably into the environment, she would cope.

She'd do a four year course, the third year being in France. She really wants to do this, and I really want to help her along and to feel comfortable about it.

I'm looking forward to the open day now.. Thanks so much.

I'm another one saying it sounds as if it would be perfect for her.

You might call the Admissions Office to talk about it, given her circumstances. My friend worked there for several years and I know they are really keen for people to get in touch if there are particular questions to ask.

DS is due to start at Oxford this term. He has ADHD, and so far the support from the university has been really good. Last week there was a seminar-type day for all upcoming students with additional needs, which DS found incredibly helpful and reassuring. There was lots of good advice regarding accessing extra support, and a one-to-one session to go though filling out the DSLA form.

They were told that Oxford has a relatively high proportion of students on the autistic spectrum, as Handlebars said upthread, and the collegiate way of life suits them very well.

Best of luck to your DD, wherever she chooses to go.

In my first post, proportion, not proportionate. I must not post in the dead of the American night. Reference to three years living in was first, second and fourth. That's worth asking about in college - provision living in or out varies, and sounds as though it would make a particular difference to your DD. Though New is one of the best equipped to house all its students.

Enjoy the open day!

Provision for. I give up. I do have a degree, I promise.

Hi, I'm an Oxford admissions tutor - in modern languages, no less! - so I've nc'ed for this. People have given excellent advice on this thread, and I don't have much to add apart from affirming what they've said.

PLEASE don't worry about Oxford being too posh for your daughter. Tutors are working hard to dispel that myth. Loads of tutors and loads of students (though admittedly not as many as I would wish!) are from comps. There is also evidence to suggest that students from state schools outperform students from independent schools once they arrive at university; see for example
www.theguardian.com/education/2013/jun/16/accesstouniversity-private-schools

About SEN provision, I was going to link you to the same webpage that Overthehandlebars linked to, for the Disability Advisory Service. A related webpage - www.ox.ac.uk/students/welfare/disability/study - mentions the option of Specialist mentoring and 'buddy' support for students with autism spectrum disorders / Asperger syndrome.

Oxford is full of clever, quirky students, so your DD would be right at home, as rootypig said. It's good that she would be going in with a diagnosis already in hand, as then she will be able to receive good support from the start. She should definitely let her tutors know about her SEN so that the college can offer the maximum support possible.

My only concern, which also echoes what rootypig said, is that the high stress environment of Oxford is not always a good place for students who are vulnerable to eating disorders and the like. But hopefully this disadvantage is balanced or even outweighed by the fact that there is so much nurturing and one-on-one support available. As a college tutor, I see my role as a pastoral as well as an academic one.

Finally, New is a wonderful place to do the French/philosophy combo, but encourage your DD not to set her heart too much on a particular college. As one of the better-known colleges, New gets an unusually high number of applications, and every year passes on a number of applications at random to other colleges. This is standard practice so that the applications are better 'evened out' across the colleges. And even if she is summoned to interview at New, other colleges might ask to interview her too. All the colleges are good and in my time here, I have never heard any student regret the fact that they ended up at one college rather than another.

Bon courage to your DD and have fun at Open Day!

Stuffed to the rafters with students with aspergers, particularly all those brilliant science boys and computer programmers.

My daughter was told by her school there was an Oxbridge college that was good for or specialised in students with special needs - she's a bit dyslexic. She did not choose to apply in the end (and may well have not got in anyway) and went to Bristol and is now a city lawyer but I do remember the school saying that. Do pick the college carefully. If the school is no help do a lot of research.

Good luck to your DD. Mine wants to go as well but to read history and she is just going through the assessment process at the moment. Only difference is she is 8

Open day, thank you so much
And Greengrow, and Five!