Oxbridge 2015 #2

[Molio]

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 .

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

Good luck to your Dd MrsB!
Dd said paper was weird and she has no idea if she did appallingly or brilliantly. Anyway she's glad it's over and we're not having post mortems, she thinks a place is v unlikely ( just one slot for her course) but annoyingly liked the college, town and people much more than at open day and much more than she'd expected.

I'm so relieved, she just texted me to say she had a good nights sleep, has made two friends and is happy. Thank goodness. I felt like I had led a baby lamb to the slaughterhouse last night.

3 places for 17 candidates? That is quite long odds.

Is it a very popular college? Some of the colleges attract a lot of applicants, and then some of those applicants get sent to other colleges.

My DD said that 14 applied to her college, but there were only 5 at interview on the day. However they will only offer places to deserving candidates so possibly none could be offered a place!!!

Have had reply to good morning text saying she'll be in touch when she's on the return coach.

Not sure I'll get any more info till tonight - though would agree that post mortems probably not good idea, and shall just see what - if anything 0 emerges. Discussions re quality of accommodation breakfast and lunch provided by college,, other people met etc will be of interest.

MrsBartlett My DD was at Emma on Monday, she really enjoyed herself and seems to have made some new friends. She also said the food was great. All the applicants seemed to bond at mealtimes, there was one poor girl who was so terrified that she couldn't eat anything at breakfast, it helped my DD to see there were others even more nervous than herself.
She was actually really proud of herself as she could work the coffee machine in the common room and no-one else including the engineering students could. At least if she doesn't get in she can always work in a coffee shop.

DD had two more interviews today. She said that she was given an text to read and that she had a "really interesting" discussion about the text with the interviewers. So that is encouraging.

She was also asked to do a technical exercise that she thought she made quite a few mistakes in. I don't think she could work the coffee machine, either.

It is so hard to tell anything, she'll shortly hear if she is needed tomorrow. Thank goodness I can come here and prattle on, rather than asking her all the questions I have in my mind.

Overall, she has found the whole experience very stimulating and motivating, right from the time she first went to an open day back in April. So I do recommend applying, if anyone is reading this thread to find out what it is like to have a DC apply.

One or two of my daughter's friends didn't apply because of the various hoops to jump through. Is it a shame or were they sensible?

Are any of you worried about your dc's falling in love with their college after these visits? The odds are very much against them.

I think that if someone doesn't apply to Oxbridge because of hoops, then that's probably for the best, because they wouldn't appreciate all the other hoops you have to jump through when you're there!

As for falling in love with the place - I came home from my Oxford interview feeling like I'd done my best and really enjoyed it, and that it had been such a good experience that I honestly wouldn't mind if I didn't get in. I think the process has been good for my dd, it's pushed her a bit further than the A level syllabus. And if she doesn't get in, I'm sure that by the time she has gone to a couple of offer days she'll be equally in love with somewhere else

I really hope so. Good thing she has other offer days booked.

What other hoops? My daughter's teacher made a point of saying it is just another university.

I think the teaching is more intensive and more demanding - most places don't seem to expect you to produce an essay or two a week. You have to wear ridiculous clothes to take exams (which I only recently found out that you don't at Cambridge). You may have to wear a gown to eat your dinner. Most people will be cleverer than you (possibly not, but if you've been the best in your year at school for ages, it might be a shock). There are odd traditions and funny names for things. E.g. you have collections at the beginning of every term, and I can't remember if Rector's collections were at the end of every term or just every year.

Randomfriend - yes, it is a very popular college and it's for a subject that doesn't do any pre-testing, which I would infer means they might choose to interview more. I expect the 19 interview candidates represent a much, much larger group of original applicants. They do reallocate candidates elsewhere: I think the overall rate for the subject last year at Oxford was 3 or 4 interviewees per place.

Like others here ds did very, very much enjoy the overall experience; we're trying to emphasize the positives of this! He has a couple of post-offer days booked for next year at other places to look forward to.

DS1 got back last night from Cambridge, he enjoyed the whole experience and found the 2 subject interviews really interesting. He said the test ( Nat Sci physical) was difficult & he didn't finish it but neither did the other candidates. Definetly wants to go if he gets in all we can do now is wait. He was told letters will go out on 9th Jan, fortunately lots to keep us occupied till then.

Littleham, I do worry that the further along they get, the more their hopes are built up & it will be even more disappointing if they don't get an offer. But if they can enjoy the ride and be proud that they have got an interview, that's great

Thanks, cathyandclaire and good idea not to do post mortems - what's done is done!

Yes, Littleham, very worried about that as dd is now even more besotted with Emmanuel than she was before! It all makes a rejection more painful.

Glad your dd liked Emmanuel, welshpixie. My dd is in love with it!

She said her test was ok, although she is not sure if she went down the right line with her essay. She thought her first interview was amazing as she said it was just like she was having a real supervision and she is desperate to be able to do that every week. The second interview she felt was ok but she didn't feel she got a chance to shine as it was quite short and the tutors seemed to do a lot of the talking.

All in all a very good experience and no matter what happens she has come away feeling that she gave it her best shot. I couldn't be more proud of her no matter what the outcome

Reporting back. My daughter had been ambivalent about applying and after her two interviews continues to feel highly ambivalent.

Her second interview was - as she knew in advance - with two academics from a different discipline to the one she's particularly interested in studying, and she found their questions particularly tough. The first session with the Director of Studies had gone a bit more smoothly.

She found the town quite strange, and observed there were a great many tourists even in December. She noticed how the shops were all geared towards rich people and/or tourists and that the place was much less ethnically mixed than the city where we live. She conceded that you overheard some quite interesting conversations wandering round the streets.

It had taken her some time to locate the college after arriving at the coach station at 7.30 pm, which meant she had walked around a faur bit. Her descriptions of her meanderings were quite funny. (She was never quite sure if something was an alleyway or a college entrance, and her account of the impossibility of gauging how fast bicycles were coming at her was worth listening to.)

I think she found the experience of travelling and doing everything by herself quite useful.

Because she has such high standards, I'm not sure I share her total certainty that there's absolutely no chance she will be offered a place. But it was also good to get a sense that, having visited for interview, that she didn't particularly want one. I thought her perspective on the place was very clear and calm and feel glad that at 17 (she's one of the very youngest in her year) she is able to think things through so well.

Reporting back. DDs interviews are over, and none of the candidates for her subject that she knows of are needed tomorrow. Apparently it was very tense around 5pm, with the candidates waiting to hear whether they had something to attend tomorrow or were free to leave. DD is still there because it is not possible for her to get home this evening.

She said that whole experience was very enjoyable, but very draining and stressful. Even though there was only one thing each day, the whole day was taken up thinking about that. She really, really likes it and would love to be offered a place.

She met loads of people during the four days. She says that of all the people she met, she there was not one that didn't seem to deserve a place.

I am glad that she sees that the level of competition is very high. That my help if she is disappointed in January, as she will be able to take comfort from the idea that there are loads of really good candidates and - as mentioned by WordFactory, Oxford simply doesn't have places for all of them.

Right now she is alone in her room - her roommate left - and trying to get to sleep. I can't wait to have her home so that she can relax and recover and get back to her coursework.

Has anybody got an interview for Maths at Oxford today? One of my students has a Skype interview today.

Littleham, glad you enjoyed the tapas and hoped the wine dulled your senses!

Great to hear from people safely through the process. Random - your dd's experiences seem very similar to ds1. The college looked after them really well, organised lots of fun and games and getting to know each other activities; plus the setiing, environment and mostly enjoyable challenge. This has left him really wanting to go, but fairly convinced that he won't be offered a place.

Marianne, that sounds like a fairly good description of Cambridge: there are always loads of tourists and dodging bicycles is an art which takes some practice! They can be a menace. It's a shame she hasn't been won over by the experience: I guess that's an awkward position to be in.

Good luck to those who are still awaiting interviews.

Roisin it was really interesting contrasting my daughter's impressions of Cambridge with my own at exactly the same age.

I'd been seduced - metaphorically - by the place when I visited for interview. It was so different from the city I'd grown up. (A drab place in the 1970s.) The college I applied to, and ended up going to, combined architecture and a sense of history with an anti-Establishment vibe.) I had intelligent parents who supported my education, but they never talked to me about anything interesting. There were no arguments about politics or books over dinner - just my father saying what he wanted to watch on TV. I think for me Cambridge represented escape to something 'better'.

My daughter wants to study Politics and International Relations which at Cambridge can only be studied as part of a combined/multi-disciplinary course. London, where she's been offered a place, is a particularly good place to study politics - you're right in the centre of it! And I think because she likes her home city and has plenty of lively intelligent friends, and a home where we talk about all sorts of things, Cambridge doesn't represent escape to her. Or something she has to aspire to. It was presented to her as an option as she had good exam results and predictions, so she felt it was worth putting it down as her one of her options.

I hope everyone's children are doing fine, and those who have returned are settling back down to coursework etc...

Roisin, I think that wanting to go but convinced that he won't be offered a place sums it up well. That is also a very good thought and a good attitude, as it would allow a rejection to be coped with well, if it does come.

One thing that DD said, which came as a slight surprise to me, is that everyone was very, very nice and friendly. There were six interviewed at her college for her subject for just two places, yet it wasn't at all a competitive atmosphere between the candidates - stressful, yes, regarding the interviews, but not competitive.

Instead, it was supportive, with the the candidates all getting on together very well. It seems that everyone took a "we are all in this together" attitude, knowing that only two of them could receive an offer from that college.

DD said that she learned a lot from the other candidates, and that they helped her to catch up on some elements - she has followed a different course, so has a few gaps on the things that are not covered on her syllabus.

The fact that the other candidates were so nice and helpful and friendly, as well as interesting and clever, makes her want to go there even more. The fact that they are all so clever and interesting and "bright and sparkly" means that the college/university has plenty of great candidates to choose from. I think it is easier to accept a rejection if the other candidates are great.

Perhaps we should change the terms here - can anyone suggest another term for "rejection"? How about "non-offer"? or "negative offer"? I do feel that just to be there, having that experience of academia, is already an achievement. It is sort of the equivalent in sport of competing at national level, knowing that you won't win but being able to enjoy the privilege of interacting with others at that level.

I would call them all 'winners' even if they don't get an offer. Over 500 people applied for dd's subject at just this one college and only 29 got through to this stage!!! Wow, just wow....

She has also found the other students lovely & they even waited outside the interview for her as they knew she was stressed. Isn't that lovely? She found the long wait to be the most terrifying aspect.

One more interview to go today & then she finds out if she is going home.

Oh my goodness, 29/500 is amazing! How did you/she find out that number?? Honestly though, yes, if you get that far you have done brilliantly, and shouldn't be too disappointed if you're not in the final few.

My dd is having a good time - no news of a second interview yet (or a couple of hours ago when I checked she'd actually got up, lol), but she said no one else for her subject has either, except for one person who has had interviews at two other colleges!

They made a point of saying well done. Really kind & so pleased that they thought to do that.

I'm glad your dd is having a good time Atia. Hope she gets a second interview.