Oxbridge Applicants for 2017

[HamletsSister]

DS has done his exam (Oxford, History) and written his essay. Now, the waiting begins.......

Anyone else?

[sassymuffin]

Sadusername when DD had her interview the college was interviewing for different subjects on the same day, several other colleges had interviews too but I'm not sure if all of them did. Each college has its own admissions tutors so it may vary, if only slightly. I suppose it may also depend on whether the subject DOS is available on a specific date.

[doglover]

Thanks, HS. The waiting commences ..................

[Sadusername]

Thanks kua. Dd tells me that the moodle page of the college she has applied to has updated its page. It now has the dates that interviews will be held for each subject.
It advises candidates not to book travel tickets yet and to wait to hear if they have an interview!

[kua]

Good luck to your daughter, Sad. Shouldn't be too much of a wait now.

[EatonGate]

doglover, in general applicants will find out 7-10 days before those published interview dates, so the start of December for many candidates

[doglover]

Many thanks, EatonGate.

[horsemadmom]

I was last year where you are now. Sending you strength and patience with your stressed DCs.

[TheCheeseAlarm]

DS1 has an interview! Cambridge for Maths.

He is very excited. He gets to stay overnight in college which should be fun. I hope the his table manners don't form part of the admission criteria.

[CorkieD]

Well done to your DS1!

Do you mind my asking if your DS1 has done a lot of extracurricular math? Were predicted A-level results the deciding factor?

[Sadusername]

I won't be sharing with dd that some candidates already have interviews. But congrats to your DS cheese. Which college is this for?

[HamletsSister]

Brilliant news. Well done to your son.

I have a pupil waiting to hear from Cambridge so would be interested to know when others get interviews / rejections. Although my main purpose for starting this thread was DS who has to wait 2 weeks for Oxford.

[goodbyestranger]

The colleges handing out history invites at Oxford do so over what seems to be quite a long period of time, if you're one of the last hear. DS2 and DS3 picked the last college to dish out invites - and it then asked both to come a day early too, on the grounds that they had too many to consider in the time frame allocated.

[goodbyestranger]

Well that's weird because DS has just come in saying an invite has just come through for him for Oxford - a science though, not history. I'm delighted - very unexpected indeed. He looks pleased - he's just gone off to his (outside) job in the pouring rain so that will keep him cheerier while he gets soaked.

[PennyForum]

Congrats TheCheeseAlarm.
May I ask which college? Waiting here for Maths too.

[TheCheeseAlarm]

DS's interview is at Churchill.

Congratulations to your DS, Goodbyestranger.

[Sadusername]

Kings College Cambridge have put up the dates that letters will be sent out for some subjects. Not sure if any other colleges have this on their web-site.

[deelishiS0]

Hi goodbye- which science? my son has applied to do physics

[goodbyestranger]

Not physics deelishiS0 - those seem to come out much later, around the end of November.

[HardcoreLadyType]

Re Cambridge, DD1 has a friend who has an interview date for music at Trinity. There's no pre-interview exam for music, though.

She has checked on the student room, and the college she has chosen tends to get their interview offers out around the 20th, so she's not panicking - yet!

A small comfort is, you get a definite rejection at this stage, if it's a "no", so at least you hear, either way.

[RhodaBull]

slightly edgy about accommodation booking for interview ( if ds gets one!). There is only so much accommodation in Cambridge and it might all be booked up by the time ds hears about an interview. We live quite a long way away from Cambridge - about six hour drive/mega-train journey. I had half a mind to book Travelodge for two weeks solid! (Mind you, I bet some people have done this...)

[oxcat1]

Rhoda: surely your son will get put up by the college that interviews him? I don't think they will expect him to find accommodation?

[RhodaBull]

Oxford put you up, but that's because interviews last two or three days. I was under the impression that as Cambridge only have one-day interviews, you only need be there one day. It does present a problem, though, for applicants who are travelling a long way. I do hope they offer accommodation!

I did laugh when I read on Student Room in Ask an Admissions Officer a girl asking what accommodation was provided for her and her mother . The answer was crisp, to say the least.

[GetAHaircutCarl]

DS has an interview at Cambridge. DD has not yet heard from Oxford.

[FANTINE1]

My DD is in the process of applying for a masters in law, specialising in Public and International law. She is applying to Jesus college Cambridge.
Is anyone able to shed a light on this process? Are they looking for anything in particular in the application, or does it just go on academics.
Must admit, I'm a bit clueless about the whole thing!

[asianmom]

Rhoda,
If the Open Day is anything to go by, Cambridge does offer accommodation to the student , as well as the accompanying adult. We are internationals, so for the Open Day this past summer, I traveled with DS to both Oxford and Cambridge for their Open Day. We only spend half a day in Cambridge as DS is really only interested in Oxford but I was able to book 2 separate rooms from their system. It cost a small sum for each (sorry, can't remember how much). As for Oxford, their accommodation is strictly for student ONLY, but it's free. We met a mother and daughter the next day during the free lunch offered by the college and apparently, the mom was allowed to bunk in with the kid at no extra costs. I, on the other hand, booked a separate room at a different college so as not to embarrass DS. The website to use would be Speedybooker, and an ensuite room costs around 75 pounds, which I thought was a steal.
One thing to note is that the colleges in Cambridge seem to be pretty spread out, so depending on the college your son is applying to, you may want to check out the walking distance between the hotel and the interview location.