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 :(

*couldn't find that info anywhere

It is very confusing, I thought I had just about got my head around it when I realised it had changed this year, typical!

Checking back in before tomorrow. DS seems reasonably laid back , although he did rather amusingly say today "In one way I want to know and get it over with , in another I don't want to know so that I can pretend I'm still in with a chance. "
His mother , meanwhile has been mainly practising Not Sleeping for tonight.

Good luck all.

Good luck to those waiting to hear from Oxford tomorrow!

Another one checking in ready for tomorrow.

Having gone through the process two years ago, I just wanted to say that I feel for you all and how lucky your children are to have such caring and supportive Mums . And as an ex recruiter, talent will out even if it is not through a more traditional route . Really really hope for good news for you all . My DD was not successful but she is truly happy elsewhere and not bitter about the outcome .

Thanks, gonegrey. Good to hear that your DD is happy elsewhere.

Good luck to all waiting to hear from Oxford tomorrow and also for the Cambridge Winter pool.... everything crossed here :)

Good luck to all dc waiting for news! Remember, they are amazing.

Best of luck to all those waiting for letters from Oxford tomorrow. 2 of DS's best friends have applied to Oxford and I'm almost as nervous for them as for DS on Saturday!

Fingers crossed. Whatever happens they all have fantastic opportunities awaiting them, the world is their oyster. Oh to be 18 again and have your whole life ahead of you :)

gonegrey but I think your DD is at another very beautiful place, unless I'm muddling her with another poster's DD? DS is anticipating a no from there too. I'm with Hocus on the sleep front, mainly because I'm not sure how best to react to a rejection to help DS feel ok, even though I've had long enough to work it out because the interviews really weren't great. But then Christmas got in the way :) Anyhow, all the very best of luck to everyone else's DC tomorrow.

But what am I saying? I was thrilled he had an interview at all!

Have just sat down with dd to book a trip to York. She has chosen a lovely hotel to stay in and we have planned the afternoon around York city centre the first day and the offer holder day will be on the second day.

My thinking is that she will have something to look forward to if it is 'no' tomorrow. Tea shop heaven!

Good luck to all of you.

Am banned from opening anything / steaming open letters / holding them up against sun lit window / sneaking into e mails - so expect a late posting from me.

How unreasonable can a teenager be?

Littleham , tried to get instructions from DS - we have ended up with , if a letter comes during the day , text him. And he said - try not to treat it as a bomb . I envy your daughter in that she has been offered a place from her next choice which she loves. If DS had the same , I think I would be a great deal more relaxed, he is still waiting.

Molio, I'm with you, because I know , whatever he says , DS will be disappointed, not because he thought he did brilliantly , far from it . It is hard to find the right words between supportive and platitudes.

Gonegrey , what a lovely post. The problem is you are thinking longer term and at the moment I can't think beyond tomorrow . But, seriously , you are absolutely right. How lovely your Dd has a mum with a better perspective on things.

Again good luck to all .
Hocus.

I also want to wish all your dc's the best of luck for tomorrow & may they be happy whatever the outcome. Think my dd would find a rejection slightly easier if she already had an offer from elsewhere...

Hi, just waving at people because this has been a nice thread to be on. Will presumably hear something re Offspring's Cambridge application in the coming days. I think I am that little bit more bothered than she is - and she really doesn't seem fussed. Meanwhile she has A-level mocks, and a major domestic appliance broke on New Years Day and we won't get it replaced till February, and I've applied for a new job and the cat has taken to sleeping behind the kettle. Life goes on.

Good luck to all the Oxford people for tomorrow.

Well off to bed now. Not a single mention in our house that tomorrow is the day. Very strange. I'm pretending it's just a normal evening and DD - who knows.

Very best wishes to all for tomorrow; I'll be thrilled to hear the good news coming through...
Cannot wait to have this heavy, crushing sensation in my chest lift, one way or another! Nothing mentioned before bed tonight and I'll try my very best to read the signs correctly tomorrow before school.

Dd said on Monday that she had a rehearsal today straight after school - I said, but you might have a letter waiting! So she said she might nip home and see before going back to rehearsal as she didn't actually have to be there until 4 ...

Just came on to say good luck everybody - I remember the agony of this wait last year. Glad to hear Cambridge have changed their pool rules - that's 24 hours I do not want to relive - and longer for some.

I came to this thread randomly, to find that it's the day of results. Here's what I wish I'd known 15 years ago, when I got a rejection letter from Cambridge; a letter I snaffled from the postman, opened in secret, wept over, concealed for five days, and then announced as:

Me: So, I didn't get in.
Mum: Oh, well. Never mind.
Me: LEAVE ME ALONE. I TOLD YOU I WAS STUPID. CAMBRIDGE IS STUPID. I DIDN'T WANT TO GO. MY LIFE IS RUINED.

There isn't much a parent can say, in the face of embarrassment/disappointment/charmless petulance, but I do wish I'd known:

• this isn't the sorting hat saying 'you're Oxbridge' and 'you're not'
• there's no blood-test for potential
• ...and in the light of these limitations, choosing who gets accepted is an art, not a science. It's not that admissions tutors get it 'wrong'; they're just making pragmatic decisions based on the brief information you've provided, like someone choosing a live-in partner from a speed-dating session.

I was knocked back, reapplied to Oxford, got in, got a 1st, and went on to do postgraduate study at Cambridge (who, for the sake of a complete narrative, rejected me the first time I applied for that, too).

Years later, many of my academia friends are now on the decision-making side of undergrad applications -- which is crazy, because Oxbridge admissions tutors are godlike and omnipotent, and yet my friends are humans with fallible judgement, who've been known to get fired from WH Smiths jobs, lose their shoes at funfairs, and drink tequila from those bottles with the plastic sombrero lids.

So: good luck to everyone. (And this stirring message will probably appear multiple times, as I've just stuffed up my Mumsnet login.)

Great story LA - having had a child through the process I do think there is a lot of luck involved in addition to obvious potential.

Thanks, Hattiemattie. I think, because the outcome is yes/no, it risks seeming like a defining moment. It really, really isn't that simple.