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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Original poster

Oxbridge 2015 #3

105 replies

Grammar · 06/08/2015 16:45

Continuing Roisin and Molio's thread, just wanted a space in the last week before results for people to post their anxieties, and hopefully, come 13th August, also post their good news about their DDs and DSs. A place for celebration and commiseration.

OP posts:

MrsBartlet · 06/08/2015 19:28

Marking my place. Let's hope there are more celebrations than commiserations!

welshpixie · 07/08/2015 09:46

Marking my place too. We are still waiting, DD did the IB and got lower than expected results, her college said just to wait, so we are assuming A'level results days could finally give her an answer. She thinks she will be rejected and is happy with her insurance, but Cambridge have not released her yet, so she can not really move on until they do so.

MrsUltracrepidarian · 07/08/2015 10:50

DS has been doing a lot of cooking this week as most of his friends are away - useful distraction...

Figmentofmyimagination · 07/08/2015 14:41

Lots of anxiety here.

HocusUcas · 07/08/2015 18:31

Welshpixie , that's hard having two dates to wait for. Good news that she is happy with her insurance though, at least you know it can't be bad news on Thursday in the sense she has an offer she is happy with in the bag. I think I have posted before that DS's insurance is the same offer as his 1st choice so just at the moment I would gladly swap places with you !

Mrs U - DS made a risotto last night. Constant stirring = distraction. We may be living off them next week.

Figment - ditto. Mainly mine. .

Anyway good luck to Grammar and Mrs B's DCs and everyone else.

AtiaoftheJulii · 08/08/2015 00:50

Was at the dentist with dd3 today, and said to the dentist that I was seeing her again on results day. She pulled a face and said she'd either be ecstatic or in tears .... yup, us too I expect. She has gcse results the week after as well - I'm trying to look on the bright side of getting both over and done with on the same day this year!

It's just horrible being so preoccupied

Original poster

Grammar · 08/08/2015 08:23

Has anyone got plans for celebration....or plans to soften the blow and to commiserate? Just thinking ahead.It's such a surreal time.

OP posts:

Molio · 08/08/2015 10:33

Trying to avoid thinking about results completely. Not having a huge amount of success. Insurance here is a higher offer than Oxford's [tactically rubbish emoticon] and I'm opting for not moving onto Plan C, other than a general idea that we'll have to try to wing it fast on clearing if results are not what's needed. I'm sure I'll be up early after a sleepless night to get news from UCAS - that's the only certainty here at the moment.

cathyandclaire · 08/08/2015 10:40

No party planning here. Just making a list of all the things we need to do if grades are missed....it's a grim time isn't it?
< orders plenty of >

AtiaoftheJulii · 08/08/2015 11:23

Probably go out for dinner. Dd1 asked if she could pick the venue if she got her firm offer - sure. "What about if I get my insurance?" "We'll go somewhere less nice." Think she wants to go to Nando's anyway, so downgrading might see us having dinner at McDonalds on Thursday!

Apparently all the clubs in town offer a one price, entry everywhere night out on results day. Some of dd's friends are going, but she's turned down the opportunity, lol.

MrsBartlet · 08/08/2015 14:54

I thought we may go out for dinner if it is good news but one of dd's friends is having a bbq so I think she will be going to that. I don't think she will want to do anything if it is bad news. Just had tears today because she doesn't think she will get the grades and she has no plan b. Roll on Thursday!

Figmentofmyimagination · 08/08/2015 15:59

My DD's plan B, such as it is, is a complete radical rethink. She's not going into clearing because she doesn't want to feel jumped into making such an important decision. We'll see on the day what her teachers say.

Fellfan · 10/08/2015 11:17

Haven't been here for a while but mounting anxiety has brought me back! Radical rethink for my DS on Thursday too if things don't work out. He turned down all other offers as felt he really hadn't done enough research into them- so much invested in Cantab application. He won't go into clearing for the same reason.

cathyandclaire · 10/08/2015 17:50

Hi all, wondering if I could pick your brains.
DD has just got a job and been waiting for the health and safety/intro day before she can start and has just been told it's on Thursday 10-4.
Nightmare!
She does NOT feel positive about getting the grades (A*AA) is particularly worried about falling to a B in one, which went badly and would mean that she could miss her insurance too.
Her course isn't done in many unis and has small numbers so clearing is probably unrealistic-if she misses she would probably e-mail Cambridge with her UMS and get one remarked if it's close.
So should she go? If she needs to resit she'll need a job but should she be doing other stuff on Thursday?

Figmentofmyimagination · 10/08/2015 17:59

Can't she tell them it's A level results day and ask to have the induction day on another day, or another start date? If it is a large enough employer they should understand. She will at least need to be on the phone on Thursday to her insurance I'd have thought. As the cap has been lifted there must be a decent chance they will take her even with a B if her other results are good?

horsemadmom · 10/08/2015 19:40

Did any of your DCs only apply to Oxbridge? DD is considering this and then, if it doesn't go her way, taking a gap year and re-appying to a different college plus back ups. Is this an insane plan?

Molio · 10/08/2015 19:59

cathy I would tell her to ring first thing tomorrow to explain the situation. A level results day is a rubbish day to be at an induction, whatever the outcome. Provided she shows complete willing to attend on any other day the employer chooses, they should be flexible. And frankly, if they're not, I wouldn't want one of mine to work for an employer like that. Thursday is a very big deal - any reasonable employer will get that.

horsemad mine have all used their five options except DS1 who used four (he was determined only to do medicine and would have reapplied rather than go the biomedical route). I'm not sure if any would have reapplied or not if they hadn't got in but I think they would all have viewed maxing out on options as testing the water anyhow, to see if other places liked their profile or not. I also think mine would have felt a bit arrogant applying only to Oxbridge, or rather would have thought other people would have thought them arrogant, so that would have been a subsidiary reason. I'm not sure it is arrogant though, as I can see an argument for not annoying other good unis by rejecting them first time round, but I'm not actually convinced they're that petty. Not sure.

AtiaoftheJulii · 10/08/2015 20:03

I think I'd think along the lines of Oxbridge being the tricky application, and you then have another 3 months to add in the others - you don't have to do else special for (most of) them, you probably won't have an interview .... for the sake of twenty quid, why not keep your options open?

boys3 · 10/08/2015 20:12

cathy worth remembering that with AS counting for 50% of the total mark in pretty much most subjects then assuming she's a pretty high UMS from the AS she has a fair bit of leeway in the A2 exams - as far as an A grade is concerned as least, A is of course purely A2 dependent. So hopefully if she can secure the A needed in of her her other subjects, even a dropping down to a C or even D in the A2 paper may well give her enough overall UMS to hit the A grade threshold in the subject where she feels she may have under performed.

DS1 was victim of some atrocious marking last year (the remark added 45 UMS to the paper which was originally marked as just scraping a D), however even before the remark his overall UMS from AS and A2 was still good enough to get an A in that subject. So your DD should certainly not give up hope. Fingers crossed for her.

Fellfan · 10/08/2015 20:55

Horsemad, this is what my DS wanted to do but school were opposed to this approach- but unable to give us satisfactory reason. So in the end he went ahead and put down 4 other choices so as to comply and not to rock the boat before they had written his reference. He was lucky enough to receive a Cambridge offer and then turned down all the others, so he has no insurance. He felt that he didn't want to be bounced into a hasty decision if he doesn't make his grades for Cantab. If he really crashes he has time to find a new first choice for 2016, if he has a near miss then he may want to reapply. He is very young in the year ( not yet 18) so not concerned at taking a gap year. And by turning down other good uni offers early in the process hopes he hasn't hacked off those departments! I'm not sure this really matters - all the advice we were given said that departments don't worry about people turning them down one year and then reapplying. But his is a minority subject where there are a relatively small number of candidates so you never know....
There are pros and cons with both approaches, but I don't think it is arrogant, just slightly unorthodox!

horsemadmom · 10/08/2015 21:17

DD is highly unorthodox! She only likes two other unis and one of them is in walking distance of our house (not healthy for the uni experience). Neither hold a candle compared to Oxon. I would bet her school will support whatever she decides and the head of her subject department will probably applaud her mad choice. Her reference is already done (as is her PS) and she has her predictions so it's just a matter of filling the form in.
Best of luck to all for Thursday! DS is distracting himself with nothing constructive.

HocusUcas · 11/08/2015 12:57

Molio,
Is the photo id sorted or has ds set off to school walking with a knotted hanky on a stick over his shoulder .

Molio · 11/08/2015 14:18

Thanks for asking Hocus. DVLA came up trumps on the speed front. We collected the £20 duplicate from the ferry port yesterday so he and his brother are all set for the flight tomorrow night.

I'm seriously nervous.

Lightbulbon · 11/08/2015 14:25

Hi has anyone on this thread applied from the Scottish system of Highers & advanced Highers?

HocusUcas · 11/08/2015 15:07

Serious nerves here too. Not helped by the knowledge that the answer is probably sitting in on a computer somewhere, just tragically not mine. At the moment our backup plan is year off and regroup. That could change when the final clearing list opens though.
Good work DVLA.

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