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Higher education

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

Original poster

Oxbridge 2015 #2

999 replies

Molio · 27/11/2014 19:14

Continuing Roisin's thread.

I've even succumbed to TSR, having sworn I wouldn't. Still no news here and haven't heard of news from any other source in the same subject at the same college but being very uncool tbh as the reality is that rejection after an interview would be much kinder for DS than a no ab initio. Massively cheered by a late afternoon offer from Bristol though. I thought I was chilled, I'm clearly not Grin.

Fingers crossed for everyone still waiting and hoping. It's very hard to see them disappointed, is the problem :(

OP posts:
MarianneSolong · 09/12/2014 01:35

Well here I am not sleeping because of it all. Which is utterly ridiculous. I think the insomnia is more to do with my daughter growing up, leaving home etc and the interview representing another step on the way, another rite of passage. Plus I'm remembering a lot about my own late teens, university days.

My daughter gets the coach tomorrow afternoon - or this afternoon actually given it's very early Wednesday - for interviews on Thursday morning.

cathyandclaire · 09/12/2014 08:34

Hope you got some sleep Marianne. . Dd is in the dragons' den now...ugh, it's going to be a loooong morning.

MarianneSolong · 09/12/2014 08:42

So deranged in the early hours I got my days wrong. Today is of course Tuesday. Interviews on Wednesday. Hope all goes well candc.

We shall keep busy and get on with our lives!

Littleham · 09/12/2014 09:57

Good luck to your dd's Marianne and cathy. Can't sleep either Marianne. Sad

AtiaoftheJulii · 09/12/2014 10:45

Well, I managed to snap at dd this morning whilst walking to the station with her. But we texted when she got to Oxford and was on the bus, so I think we're ok. Her suitcase is half full of books and a towel went in at the last minute ...

Marianne sending comfort in the form of Cake and Flowers. I have found that dd going into sixth form and thinking about uni had brought back loads of memories too, in a way that the kids being lower down the school just hadn't. It's such an exciting/turbulent time! Planning for the future ... but they still want/need so much support. It's demanding.

MarianneSolong · 09/12/2014 10:52

Thanks for the cake and flowers. I am working away at home, before going out to work. Daughter not at school - wanted to study here for the morning.

Am currently obsessed by the issue of coats. It is absolutely freezing and Daughters' favourite coat is, in my opnion, two sizes too small and makes her looks like Alice in Wonderland (the bit where she eats or drinks something and grows) and does not button up. I do not want her to go wearing the Alice coat!!

I did ask what she was planning to wear and think her chosen skirt passes the Sofa Test - but by the narrowest of margins!!

cathyandclaire · 09/12/2014 11:06

Lol at the coat issue...it's a mum thing! DD had packed a thin leather jacket to put on for the journey (she went straight from school) but I intercepted with a warm coat. It's a bit of a walk from the station and a couple of waits on windy platforms, they need to wrap up!!

DD has had her interviews and is heading into the exam, the second interview was OK, she said she started a bit hesitantly and was rather stumbly in the first one but warmed up later. Not crying or upset though, so feel that's a result tbh, anything else is a bonus.

Figmentofmyimagination · 09/12/2014 13:01

Lol re coat. New coat from miss selfridge was the main upside of this "interview business", as far as DD is concerned. I've hated the whole thing tbh - I suspect it matters to me more than it does her - in a bizarre way like getting a second chance - the vicarious achievement of seeing someone I love study something they enjoy instead of something they "ought" to study as a route out of poverty and boredom. She is undoubtedly more balanced and resilient than I could ever be, and I suppose that's an achievement in itself.

Raidne · 09/12/2014 17:52

Decorhate and YogaCats, glad to hear I will have some company next week! Ds will be there Mon to Wed.

Roisin · 09/12/2014 17:59

ds was very disappointed with his second interview, which he says was horrendous! But all in all he enjoyed the visit experience and he's back home now.

AtiaoftheJulii · 09/12/2014 18:07

DD went off in a jumper and a gilet. No coat packed, no scarf, no gloves. I did ask but she said no - probably at least a bit to do with the fact that she was running late!

Her first interview sounded like the archetypal Oxbridge interview - long discussion about whether something could look blue but be made of colourless particles ... was apparently "fine" and "interesting" but also involved "floundering" and lots of thinking!

Then language (aptitude) interview - went fine, with a smiley :) A more subject-specific interview in the morning I think (still at original college).

Did your daughter get off ok, Marianne?

Hope your dd's exam went well cathy - two interviews and a test in one day is pretty full on. Is she home tonight?

AtiaoftheJulii · 09/12/2014 18:11

Poor kid - don't think there's anything to be concluded from a horrendous interview though. They will push them past the boundaries of their knowledge, so it will feel tough I guess, wherever those boundaries are! Glad the experience overall was positive. Well done to him :)

Raidne · 09/12/2014 18:21

Aw, Roisin, a horrendous interview is obligatory, isn't it? I am sure you are glad he is home.

I really want it all to be over and for ds to focus on school and his other university choices. I wish he had never gone down this path. I had no idea it would take up so much time. It is ridiculous that Oxford expects him to waste three days there.

I think ds wants it all over now too.

MarianneSolong · 09/12/2014 18:41

I was at work and my husband drove our daughter to the coach station. She became tearful briefly. Saying she had never been on a coach alone before. Why weren't we driving her like other people's parents? Also she had looked up where she was staying and did not know how to get there. (It's a building which is near the oldest bit of the college but separate.)

Husband said cheering/bracing things and she recovered her calm fairly quickly. I also texted her with some advice about how to get where she needed to go. The most recent text from herhas been asking me to look up something about le Pen and the Front National, so she has obviously regrouped.

This is about the time when she'll be getting off the coach at the other end.

I discovered via a process of elimination that she opted for the Alice in Wonderland coat....

PD6966 · 09/12/2014 19:12

DS has survived his two interviews this afternoon, seemed reasonably content with them both (although both had tricky/harsh parts) and spent 27 whole minutes happily chatting about his experience so far - felt honoured! Wink
He's decided to relax tonight before checking the board tomorrow after breakfast to see what's happening next.
Whilst it's impossible to read anything into how successful/or not the interviews were, I'm just content with him sounding upbeat, that he's enjoying his stay (three course dinners!) and is mixing with people who seem very pleasant.
Well done to all the DC and parents who have made it through the day...

Decorhate · 09/12/2014 19:12

Roisin if your ds found the questions got harder & harder that is a good sign I believe

AtiaoftheJulii · 09/12/2014 19:24

Marianne, I'm sure she will be looked after when she gets there and taken to her room, etc. DD's second interview was a faculty one, and the college had booked cabs to take them!

webwiz · 09/12/2014 19:48

Well done to those who had interviews today and lol at the Alice in Wonderland coat.

DS had to have several detailed post mortems with various English teachers today about how his interviews went which I'm a bit Hmm about as he found it stressful to keep going over it all. On the plus side though DS did a lot of preparation for his interviews so now that they are done he actually has some time on his hands to work on his neglected A levels and to kill things on the xbox

Best of luck for the next days worth of interviews and tests.

boys3 · 09/12/2014 19:55

roisin horrendous may not necessarily equate to disasterous. DS1 used similar descriptives after his interviews last year. However a week later "horrendous" had morphed into a slightly grudging "not that bad, I suppose", and by New Year a marginally upbeat "possibly ok" :) Being really pushed at interview may well be a good sign. Plus the fact he enjoyed it will hopefully spur him on be that for Oxford or elsewhere. Fingers crossed for him

HocusUcas · 09/12/2014 23:51

DS safely stowed (well dropped off outside front gate with strict instructions not to come in with him Smile )
Apparently two things close together tomorrow.

All the best to all others still doing this and good luck.

RandomFriend · 10/12/2014 00:13

Figmentofmyimagination you have articulated exactly how I feel about DD being there for interview.

DD has another two interviews tomorrow. She will be interviewed by someone who is a specialist in something that she has a passion for.

MarianneSolong · 10/12/2014 07:09

Nerves still a little shredded here. Daughter's coach arrived over an hour late and according to her text it then took her some times to find her destination. As no further messages, assume things then went rather better....

Bizarrely it's not the interviews which are causing maternal anxiety. I have a degree of faith in my daughter's intellect. (Not that this guarantees anything. It's more that I think she has a useful ability to put emotion on one side, when somebody asks her an interesting question.)

It's her slight dreaminess when it comes to more practical, everyday matters.

Roisin · 10/12/2014 07:15

Lol at the Alice in Wonderland coat!

Good luck to those at interviews this week, or preparing for next week.

Despite prep, ds1 was surprised at the level of competition and quality of candidates! His college had 17 candidates, plus 2 by skype, for 3 places! :-o. The Prof+1 were interviewing at half hourly intervals from 9 am til 6 pm! Gruelling for them too.

His interviews were purely academic: looking at how he could work out problems (science) and for one he had an article to read just beforehand and then respond to/answer questions. As expected, no-one asked anything about his personal statement, his school, his hobbies, why he applied to the college/Oxford, why he chose the subject, etc.

He would be delighted to get an offer, but doesn't think it likely.

MrsBartlet · 10/12/2014 08:59

Just dropped dd off at Emmanuel for her test. She was calm and excited all at the same time. Let's hope she is still like that afterwards!

Littleham · 10/12/2014 09:04

Dropped dd off at the college - very nice touch to have a welcoming group in Christmas hats Xmas Smile. Managed to tell her how proud we were of her & that we didn't mind where she went to university....just to enjoy the experience. Think she is a bit overwhelmed, but made the effort to go for the meal and quiz. She couldn't believe how far some people had travelled.

One interview today and one tomorrow, with lots of time to kill in between.

Thanks to the person who suggested the tapas bar for a meal. It was lovely & dh refilled my Wine glass until I calmed down. We happened to be alongside a table of people who would be interviewing at another college, so couldn't help but listen in. They seemed on edge too!