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 :(

DD's offer is standard Cambridge A-, only doing 3 though. I've seen that Magdalene (?sp) has been handing out some quite high offers and Natsci Comp Sci and mathematicians from all colleges have had brutally high offers with gazillions of As and STEP grades.

Sorry that should be A* AA

bobs - All the info we read before dd applied to Cambridge stated that if you put 4A2s on your UCAS form then your offer could be dependant on you getting all 4 and that you couldn't drop anything which you had said you were going to do, after the interview. Dd's school tried to persuade her to carry on with French as a fourth A2, saying that she could drop it before Christmas if it was too much but she deliberately didn't start the A2 for this very reason.

AAA for medicine with the A in Chemistry for ds1.

Have heard of Cambridge NatSci offers of AAA*A

Bah, Freudian slip. AAA for medicine...

I've just looked on TSR and there are lots of 4 A Level offers, including 2 or 3 As, esp for NatSci, Maths and Computing. Also lots of the offers on TSR are specifying which subjects for the As, which obviously gives Cambridge the option in Aug to turn you down if you just miss :-o

But ds1 says this was expected; he knew this is what the Camb offers were going to be, especially for those with Maths/Further Maths.

I must admit it makes ds1's A*AA Oxford offer look very generous in comparison.

It seems the competition for maths and sciences has fuelled these high offers, not surprising given maths at Cambridge had the highest actual ums for students embarking on a course at a UK uni last year.
As most of these four A level offers appear to be for maths related degrees it is highly likely the fourth is f.maths, and it's relevance utilised by Cambridge.
Those DC doing four relevant A levels should be well prepared for their course and shouldn't feel hard done by their offers. Their fourth A level may have secured their offer. All offers must be realistic as Cambridge has teachers' predicted grades and AS ums scores.

DS's offer for History at Oxford is the standard AAA. He's only doing three A2s. But even for entry in 2010 DD2 had a generic letter from her college which gave the standard humanities Oxford offer for AAA which specified AAA but also the continuation of any fourth A level declared on the UCAS form right through to the completion of the full exam. It's obviously an irritant to some universities or colleges that applicants state on their UCAS forms that they're doing four A2s then think they can get clever and drop a subject as soon as an offer is bagged.

To funnyperson: DD2 and DD3 has a joint graduation at Magdalen in September. A really wonderful day, despite persistent drizzle, but no way would I recommend the Randolph - far too flash and a mad kind of price. There are some great places in North Oxford for a quarter of the cost: far quieter, far better, with parking, and a very pretty walk into town for the ceremony. These graduations are about family first and foremost, not other parents - the lunches are fine for that. Anyone needing a place, check out Parklands - it's fab.

Sorry bobs, don't know whether that was an auto correct or me on autopilot!

Cambridge offers definitely have more variation than Oxford. A friend's dc a couple of years ago was applying for NatSci, with maths, FM, physics and chemistry, and got asked for AAA plus A* in chemistry, which was the only one in which he hadn't already got over 98 ums for every module.

My dd's letter from her Oxford college gives her offer as being A - subject 1, A - subject 2, A - subject 3, so no room for misinterpretation

Son's Cambridge offer is AAA and they specify in which 3 subjects ( though not which one should be A). They have ignored the 4th subject he is doing which makes it tougher I suppose.

Congratulations and commiserations to all the DC. They are all lucky to have such caring parents - am loving the stuff about the exact instructions on what to do re envelopes I have DC who will be going through this next year, so watching with avid interest re sizing of envelopes!
Someone mentioned earlier about the fact that the godike Admissions staff are in fact fallible humans.
A close friend of mine who was interviewing candidates at one of the Oxbridge colleges before Xmas had a close family member die suddenly during that time. My friend was mindful of the vital importance to the candidates of this process, and none of them would have been aware of anything out of the ordinary, except that they might have been waiting round in a JCR for an interview time that suddenly moved - I know on TSR there was a lot of annoyance about the interview times being uncertain.

Hi it's my first time on this thread, sorry didn't know where else to turn too, my daughter applied for philosophy at cambridge but unfortunately received a rejection on Saturday, she received 10a* 2a in her gcse, she is currently doing the IB and predicted to get 42 points, while achieving all of this, she has been my sole carer because I am disabled, she feels like a failure, disappointment, she said I have worked so hard for 4 years and it's been for nothing, I have tried to reassure her that she is good enough and I am very proud of her, I told her that interviews can't define your whole abilities as a person and your journey has not change your only taking a different route but you will get there in the end, it's so hard as a mother to see the pain that she is going through and knowing that you can't take that pain away, i know she will be ok cause she still has that determination to succeed she just has to believe in herself again, it will take time and she will get there, sorry for going on! I have spoken with my friends and family but they truly don't understand unless you have been through it, she has offers from bristol, york and kings college London, still waiting for durham, thank you

I posted earlier about the inevitable element of subjectivity of the interviews SignoraLB, so perhaps you mean me. I also posted at the start of the thread about the difficulty of watching disappointment, when I was gearing up for just that during the long wait hoping for an interview invitation to come through. I feel so sorry for your DD HasSOsm97 - I'm certain that many, many offer holders will be aware of the fact that they got an offer in part due to luck, and that many of those rejected are at least as talented, if not more so. I do hope Durham comes through soon - I went there, it's an absolutely beautiful place to be for three years. I'm sorry I can't be more constructive :( Reading the posts which came through on the decision days, it's good to see how thoughtful so many of the DC and their friends are to each other - the webwiz doorstep presents were especially fine.

I thought Signora might be talking about HelloLA's post which made me laugh.

HasSOsm97, I'm sorry to hear how upset your daughter is. I hope she'll soon feel better about things. You've said all the right things, from the sound of it! She has three excellent offers there and must be in with a good chance of another one from Durham.

I myself, as I've mentioned before on these threads, got a Cambridge offer a million years ago and then managed not to get the grades. I do feel for the young people working towards the very high offers some of you have reported. With hindsight, I rather wish I'd taken my UCL offer instead - 2 Es - as I loved UCL so much right from my interview onwards. I could have saved myself a nasty few months, but on the other hand I suppose I learned a useful life lesson - namely, that I don't deal very well with stress. A level grades were entirely determined back then by the final exams, with no modules, no continuous assessment, no open book exams. My degree course did have an element of interim assessment and that was a big help because I went into my finals knowing what I already had in the bag.

I feel for you HasSOsm97, it is so tough on them. Your DD is clearly very bright and I am sure that with offers from the likes of Bristol, York and KCL she will do very well. Still, it is hard to see them deal with rejection and I had a very similar conversation with my own DD last night (rejected from Oxford). She has seen 5 close friends rejected from Cambridge over the w/e and the messages of comfort and support they have been sending each other has really helped. She too is waiting to hear from Durham. Good luck to them all and I hope your DD can see how well she has done already.

Oh, so sorry for your dd HasSOsm. I think that for a lot of these bright children, this can be their first real disappointment, and it can be tough. You sound so proud of her. She probably needs a bit of time to feel sorry for herself, but I'm sure she'll start looking forward to the future soon. Whatever happens, she's going to end up at a very good university

Am so sorry she is so upset, HasSOsm97. Sounds like she has a wonderfully supportive mum though, and also that she will succeed wherever she decides to go.....and she has good choices, even before Durham.

Thank you so much Mollo for your supporting and kind words, it feels so reassuring to speak to someone that does truly understand, I guess if one door shuts then another will open, I know the pain is there but it won't last and then she will be on track again into her bright future, thank you again

HasSOsm ,
Of course it is obvious even to a blind man on a galloping horse that no-one with the academic track record of your Dd , and holding the offers she does , is a failure . The Oxford and Cambridge admissions processes are so intense , however , it is easy for DCs (and indeed some parents - i.e. me ) to lose some perspective. She has not wasted the 4 years , and if she is determined that will stand her in good stead for her degree. I do hope she bounces back , she clearly has a bright future.
I do know what you mean, though, about seeing them disappointed. It is very hard.
All best wishes to her.
Hocus.

Thank you so much to everyone for all your kind words, it really reassuring to know that your not alone as a mother in all of this well-wind, it really does mean a lot, i didn't know where to turn to or what else to say, as a mother for the first time I felt helpless, but having read all your supportive words has given me hope that she will get through this and go on to achieving her goals, thank you from the bottom of my heart, congratulations to your son and daughters that received offers

the standard Cambridge science offer this year is AAA, so no-one who applied or considered applying should be surprised by high offers. There can be some variation between colleges in whether they specify the subjects for the As and over whether they include a 4th subject but even if they dont the applicant is expected to complete it. My child was told by the admission tutor that Cambridge expects its applicants to exceed their offers - sounds a bit pompous but if you look at the stats on the grades of applicants you'll see quite a lot got 3As or more when the offer was A*AA. They are demanding offers but to very bright young people who often do exceed their offers.

Hassom your daughter will soon get over this and remember that the hard work has got her offers from other good universities. She'll then decide to show them what a mistake they made by doing exceptionally well elsewhere. Wherever she goes she is likely to have a great time, make good friends and then think well I wouldn't have met these friends if I'd gone elsewhere.

You are certainly not alone HasSOsm . Also, in between the disappointment , do not forget that there are mothers with bright DCs who will be dealing with the disappointment of rejections from York , Bristol and KCL , and would swap situations with your Dd in a flash. That may not help right now , so sorry if it doesn't.
I will have everything crossed for you for the Durham decision. Have you seen the thread for those waiting? The decisions seem to come quite late. I am not sure my nerves would stand it
Hocus.

Thank you hocusucas, your completely right, I am so thankful that she received offers from other uni and feel so much for other mothers and their daughters that haven't received these offers, I can't imagine what they are going through, my daughter is the first in generations to go to uni in our family and for achieving even that makes me so proud, I didn't realise how applying for uni is so hard emotionality. Thank you for letting me know about the durham thread which I will look into, good luck as well

Hi HasOsm97. Had stopped posting on this thread until I saw your posts. Come over to the Year 13 thread, where we are talking about other universities. We can chat about York & Bristol (my dd2 has offers from both and dd1 is at Bristol and loving it) - will try to cheer you up. Think positive, your dd is clearly brilliant! How many teenagers can get 11 A* at GCSE while acting as a main carer. Stuff Cambridge!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/2274005-Starting-Year-13-number-4

DD's UCAS status has updated, exciting! Time to do the firm/insurance thing... what are everyone's plans?

DD is going for Cambridge, with Bristol as insurance (A*AA and AAA will be a long and stressful time 'til August) but also has applied/paid for a few drama schools so following up on those for experience ( or back-up I suppose although there is an infinitesimally small chance of getting a place)