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 :(

So excited for all the interviewees and parents. I bloody love Oxford and will take any excuse to visit DS. Those of you who are going down (up?) with your DC should stop for a mulled wine at the Turf Tavern... go and see the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum.. mooch round Radcliffe Square, which is, I reckon, the most 'Oxfordy' bit of Oxford. Or take one of those open top tour buses, you get a lovely view of the architecture from higher up. Take a look round some colleges the free ones...It's such a lovely city.

She is going sideways to visit Oxford.

Wishing your ds huge amounts of luck on Thursday, MadameJosephine.

Yay for good news emails Decor

Dd has to be there for noon, and her college bumf says people are welcome/encouraged (depending on which bit you read) to stay the night before. She's not, she has something she doesn't want to miss on Monday night, but her journey is only just over an hour door to door, and she's aiming to be there for about 10 am.

My DS was the only candidate for his subject who didnt get 2 interviews he only got one interview and we found out too late there had been an admin error, and he should have got at least 2 interviews like the others, but he and we were too ignorant to question it at the time, that is why I said what I said. I'm still upset about it. The system isn't infallible, that is the point.

A friend's son spent a lot of time exploring bars before his interview and didn't get in. Personally I think last minute revision or subject reading and an early night doesn't do any harm and parents at the greatest distance possible is best. DD is still friends with those she met on interview day, 5 years later!

Hope it goes well for him MadameJo Maybe being resigned to the possibility of a panic attack might mean it's less likely to happen? [fingers crossed]

I think it is very interesting how students respond in the immediate days before the interview: there are those who treat it like an exam and brush up on their subject and interview technique, there are those who go through an existentiaiist crisis about whether they are academically good enough to get through the interview or the course, there are those who go through an Orwellian crisis about social caste and whether Oxbridge is for them or ideologially sound in that respect, there are those who panic and fall apart, there are those who are convinced that their background and rowing prowess guarantee them a place, there are those finishing coursework and the lead role in the school play who arrive knackered and unprepared and wing it.....etc etc etc. Then of course there are those with mad parents. My DD and DS fell into this last category.

funny person
But how could anyone know? We would not have a clue!

Well done to your DD Decorhate. Surely if she has to be at the college by noon she won't hit the London rush hour? Noon is really civilised, it's the 10am invites which are much more of a pain. DS has been asked to come a day early, which means a four day stay.

Anyway: the race isn't always won by the swift or the battle by the strong. And as I have said before, on this thread last year, there is no point, absolutely no point not to try the hardest and give it their all as getting in is quite quite different to not getting in.

dontgotoroehampton I know, we didn't have a clue either! Only found out when it was too late. Personally I think the interview processes need to be more transparent so that people do have more of a clue. The faculties are a lot better now. For Oxford If you look on the faculty website (different from the college website) they will say what to expect and whether to expect one interview or two and any written work or tests or whatever.

Heh funny - my dd's in your penultimate category!

I think what can be difficult is questioning the system at the time but looking back all I can suggest is I think it is better to question it at the time than later when everyone has made their decisions and gone home. So basically I do think it sensible to have a disaster plan which is if there is something odd or disastrous perhaps to make sure that the dc knows you won't be cross and to ring home and home to ring school who could then ring the faculty or the college or perhaps for the DC to mention it to the helpers at the college who are usually exceptionally motivated and helpful students. I dont know if there is an appeals process if candidates feel they haven been given a fair interview for whatever reason. We never looked into it. There probably ought to be.

Oxford and Cambridge are of course sexist and racist. All the stats prove that time and time again even though interviewers as individuals are perfectly nice people. They understandably look for those they are going to get on with in tutorials. Those they have an empathy with. This is very difficult for some categories of candidates. The only advice I can give is what I would say to anyone from an ethnic minority which is imagine they are smiling at you and being nice to you the way they would smile and be nice to the others and respond to that imaginary smiling person. Don't worry if the questions are difficult because everyone gets asked difficult questions.

I'm always outraged, for example, by the way that humanities academics sometimes assume that those from ethnic minorities have no imagination or creativity. it seems to be an automatic assumption that a Chinese or Indian person will be no good at English literature or history and too 'narrow' and lacking in vision to be genuinely any good at economics or science, or that children of Asian parents are only at a medical school interview because their parents have pushed them to be there. This is prejudicial thinking which in my opinion undermines candidates from minorities and affects the attitude and demeanor and assessment of the student by the interviewer.

Even worse is the notion that foreign students are there to fund the 'home grown' team, and the home grown team in an ivory towered academics' definition, may not include children or grandchildren of immigrants.

The other thing I should say, which is important, is that those who get in get in because they are good at and interested in their subject and consistently work hard. Therefore there is no point a lazy but noisy person being upset if they don't get in.

An exceptionally well qualified (and far too emotionally invested) candidate at my DD's school wasn't given an interview in her subject (which shocked everyone) whereas she was, and so DD already views the process as pretty brutal and arbitrary - "like something out of the HungerGames". I do think just getting an interview is a much bigger deal than in my day so she should feel very proud just to have got this far. It should also be exciting. She was disappointed by the open day (I wasn't there). She didn't feel the people she met were "like her" ("blah blah ridiculous", said I, but then I'm not 17), so it is always possible that she genuinely ends up feeling after these three days, that it's not the place for her.

Emotional investment is such a subjective thing. There must be some emotional investment to provide the motivation to apply. I remember the process being lonely for the dc as friends and others at school who deserved to didn't get offers or didn't make their offer grades. I still remember the competitive nature of mothers and fathers, (which must have been there all along, only I was too introverted to notice) coming out in those pre interview weeks, and how chilling it was. I do think onine peer support like mumsnet is really helpful.

I feel uncomfortable reading your generalisations, funny. You sound bitter and I'm sorry that the interview was a negative experience for you.

I also think it very difficult indeed for North/central London. Many North London schools are at the top of the league. The students may be in a situation where a third of the sixth form deservedly apply to Oxford or Cambridge and parents may well have been to those universities, but by no means all of the students will get in, and it is a genuine lottery as they will have similar grades and experiences. This is where I really believe that resilience and a sense of self worth is important if a student is rejected.

pd6966 I'm not bitter, I wasn't talking about my interview, but about my son's interview, and I dont know much about his interview, only that he had just the one, not the two he should have had. I'm glad my comments make you feel uncomfortable, they stem from reading Sutton trust and university stats. I think there should be change and am not alone in this.

Incidentally when I was interviewed I was treated well and given offers by Cambridge and London.

Let us all try and embrace the wonderful achievement of our dc getting selected for interview in the first instance - whatever background, school, area, tenacity of parents... Let's be there for support, quietly lurking in the background

I agree. Lurking is what I do best, along with shopping for new essential interview footwear etc.

funny I understood that it wasn't your interview. I'm familiar with the Sutton Trust and their excellent work, having directly benefitted from the opportunities they provide. I'm not certain as to why you'd be glad that your generalisations made uncomfortable reading; I am aware of the BME admission stats. We all need to be positive and tenacious at this stage of the process...

The new access work that Oxford is doing with state schools is very impressive. I know that she may not end up there come January, but it has been a positive experience so far. Quite surreal, but positive.