Went to parents evening last night. DS1 should easily get in Oxford apparently?

[FreakinScaryCaaw]

He's only 3 months into year 12 so am surprised they'd know so soon?

His English teacher called him a genius. Luckily ds1 is modest and I managed to get him in the car ok as his head hadn't grown He isn't telling anyone. I have

I was secretly hoping he'd go to Durham near home so this came as a bit of a mixed blessing if I'm honest.

Have your dc/s been to Oxford? Or are they going?

His psychology teacher was heaping praise too. She said if there's a lull she knows she can go to ds1 for answers.

God it's hard though isn't it? Realising they'll be going soon I know it's for the best and has to happen but it's still tough.

incisive intellect is quite hard to fake - that is what I had in mind when I was writing above. A student could respond quite candidly with a remark that they don't have the confidence to believe is good, and hence may think they haven't done well. Whereas a more "polished" or confident candidate could have what they think is a great conversation, and the interviewers may be perceiving them as anything but bright.

Oh god, yes, random! Does anybody ever think they did well at interview?! I certainly didn't when I went through all this many moons ago! Like I said earlier, people who think they aced the interview almost certainly didn't quite get how hard the questions were. They are designed to be hard to answer (in the good sense of making you think - not trick questions!), so feeling discomfited is par for the course.

Thanks RandomFriend. Will proceed with great caution if this happens again. The document would be interesting if you have a moment to send it.

dd3 hasn't expressed an interest, so I'm going to keep very quiet, but her comprehensive has started up a link with a college. She will very likely be selected to go on the trip that sucked dd2 into the process. Am wondering whether to bin the form this time round! The thing is, she will probably get the grades but is shy, so this interview malarkey will be a problem. Zoe has confirmed that you need to ace each part of the process.

I googled the document - you need to put "Oxbridge" after the quote to field out 50 pages of other things.

It makes frightening reading! I think clearly where public/some private schools are ahead of the game is in college choice. There were veiled comments about how important college choice was and candidates should follow advice, and that no two pupils were put forward for the same course at the same college. I don't think the average state school applicant is coached to this degree. As far as I know they wander around, think somewhere looks nice or the people are friendly and put it down - no careful strategising; they wouldn't in any case have the inside knowledge.

the days of "closed scholarships" are over (where certain schools were allocated a number of places - my cousins went on these from a public school) but one wonders if they truly are when the school in the article mentions that some colleges like applicants from their school... Mind you, 30+ years ago Oxbridge people from my school were funnelled into one Oxford college.

candidates should follow advice, and that no two pupils were put forward for the same course at the same college

This made me chuckle - only two students got an interview, so no need to worry there. Doesn't it make sense to apply to the outreach college? Or am I being thick?

Any teacher saying that any pupil will easily get into Oxford must be crackers.

The only reason a college might "like" applicants from the same school is that they might trust the school's reference or ranking slightly more. Any school that thinks that their pupils are going to get special treatment or be accepted more easily because of their "special relationship" is deluded. Why would academics ever take weaker applicants for this reason?

Why would academics ever take weaker applicants for this reason?

This is a thought provoking question.

Of course they wouldn't take weaker applicants, and presumably by the final hurdle everyone is fairly stellar, but given the choice between a highly recommended person from R and an unknown... then, who knows?

Admission is no exact science and it would probably be worse if it were. People will always find a way to steal a march.

I think academics generally (which includes those at Oxbridge) have a certain amount of trust in some schools.

They trust the calibre of candidate, they trust the education that the candidate will have received, they trust the teacher reference.

That's not to say that applicants from those schools are a shoo-in, far from it.

That interview guide was prepared by Radley College, which is a public school. It isn't official guidance, so should be treated with the same caution as anybody else's guidance who isn't a current or very recent Oxbridge admisisons tutor/interviewer.

Littleham, why would you keep quiet or hide the application form? I know you were being facecious, but if she's keen, please encourage her with everything you have! Seriously, part of the whole bloody problem with Oxbridge is that most public school kids see going as their birthright, and too much of the rest of the population see it as an unattainable pie-in-the-sky idea that is too much stress and angst by half, and 'not for the likes of us'. My dad never went to university at all, let alone Oxford or Cambridge, and he never in a million years thought I would get in, and was highly sceptical of my chances. Well, I did get in, and I'm so glad I didn't listen to his negative vibes. But it was one discouragement that kids from more privileged backgrounds (and mine was middle class as can be, but not with a history of tertiary education) didn't have to deal with, and I could have done without it.

Sure, you need to be reasonably bright to go to Oxbridge, but the students are by NO means all geniuses.

Encourage your kids to apply if that's what they want - they will get an experience of education there that is very different to most other universities - and if they don't get in, that isn't a failure, it's a learning experience. That isn't some glib soundbite, it really is true!

See, all those years of top-class education and I still can't spell the word facetious...

Most of the content of the document is repeated elsewhere on the internet. I came across it because I couldn't understand something about DD's subject that was on the Oxford website and that document came up because they had simply repeated the phrase that puzzled me. But it is a very concise summary of everything that I have gleaned from spending days looking at various websites on how to apply, etc.

Littleham, if your school has an outreach college, it makes sense to apply to that college. It is about being able to trust the references, etc, or even who to contact in case more information is needed.

DD is at a school that has linked campuses. It turns out that there are two applicants from different campuses for the same subject from the same college for a very popular Cambridge course. I think the schools advisers could have coordinated better between them and advised one of the applicants to go for a different college.

Yes it is Random - listed on their 'Schools Liaison and Access' page.

I'll try to give off some positive zoe vibes if there is a next time. Practising fixed smile .

My dd is just on her way back from her Oxford interviews.... She definitely applied with the view that it was a long shot, especially for her subject, but knew she would always have regrets if she didn't try. Her GCSEs were not quite stellar enough to feel she had a good chance. And she decided to apply for one of the older colleges with most applicants. (My friend with privately educated dc's found it hard to hide her surprise that dd got an interview there - her dd is at one of the lesser-known ones, perhaps a strategic application guided by her school?)

So I would say that if your dc wants to give it a shot, why not? You never know...

Well done Decohate's dd for having done the interview - especially as it is at a very popular college!

Have only read the OP's threads so sorry if I'm making the same point as anyone else...

If he's good enough to get into Durham then he IS probably Oxbridge calibre but it will come down to numbers won't it?

And if he does end up at Durham, I know a fair few people who have been there and they've basically been able to pick their career afterwards.

Three years ago my DS was told by his teacher that he was Oxbridge material (comp). He's now in his second year at Oxford. Oxbridge wouldn't have been on our radar if the teacher hadn't brought it up. I wouldn't even have known about the early application deadline. It has been something completely outside our experience, but so, so worth it.

It's a risk, even once they have an offer, especially where A* grades are required. As DS said 'nobody will notice if X misses his grade and goes to Lancaster instead of York. But they'll all notice if I don't meet my Oxford offer'

It's scary for them to put their heads above the parapet, in a school where there aren't many Oxbridge candidates, but worth a shot :)