Oxbridge Applicants for 2017

[HamletsSister]

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

Anyone else?

[Nomoreworkathome]

Having been through this awful process last year I thought I would add my two pennies worth. My DD was interviewed, pooled and then rejected. It was difficult for the first couple of days but at the time she was holding an offer from UCL and it sort of took the shine off that as UCL is a fantastic university in it's own right. Fast forward a year and she is over the moon with the chance to go to UCL (she is on a gap year) She is so excited and really looking forward to it. The Oxbridge process can feel brutal but the fact these kids made it to the interview stage is an accomplishment in itself. My DD now feels that it was fate as she is super excited about living in London and enjoying all that UCL has to offer. So to those whose DC didn't make it..... they are going to be just fine

[Carriemac]

does anyone now what date first years will actually start at oxford october 2017?

[horsemadmom]

The Oxford website has a raft of info for incoming students. Includes term dates and timings for what happens before then.
Your DC will probably get their reading list by April.

[goodbyestranger]

No you can't tell the exact date Carriemac because different colleges have different lengths of induction, and they're all pretty inflexible about the date of arrival.

Mine all got reading lists after results horsemadmom perhaps English is different.

[Resideria]

I emailed my dd's college to ask what date she should arrive, and received an instant reply. We'll be travelling from Scotland to drop her off and wanted to book a hotel well in advance, hence the need to know.

[horsemadmom]

1st week starts 8th October. Freshers begins a week before. Last year, we dropped off on one off on the 2nd or 3rd. English has a veeeery long reading list but, DD's friends in other subjects had substantial ones too. Only one of her mates didn't get one until after results- she called in a panic and was told to scroll back through a month of spam to find it had been sent.

[goodbyestranger]

Well what I mean is, you can't tell from the full term dates on the website working back, because certain colleges have a shorter freshers' week, particularly those clustered together because they need to stagger arrivals. If you have a pressing need to know then any college will tell you ahead, I'm sure. I've never needed to ask, I just assume the Sunday or Monday or Tuesday and wait until I'm told!

[boys3]

if Oxford is anything like Cambridge then I think you'll find that freshers few days is a more accurate description :)

[mygrandchildrenrock]

You will be given a very precise day and time to arrive, and only if you are on a list of exempt professions (working in a school is one!) are you allowed to arrive on a different day. My son's year had to arrive at 2 pm on a Monday, but I wouldn't have been able to get that day off work, he checked and he was on the list to arrive on Sunday at 2 pm because of my job!
When he went back after Christmas he had to be back by the Thursday of week 0 (weeks are numbered from 0) which meant he had to go back at the weekend because of work. There is little flexibility!

[ErrolTheDragon]

DD's just got the details of her applicants' college visit, which is in a couple of weeks time - is anyone else doing one?

[user1469682920]

Yes there is a lunch for offer holders in a couple of weeks. Very exciting and we weren't expecting it. Also an offers holders Facebook for the college. It is lovely but the downside is it will make the let down even harder if she doesn't get the grades having visited and met potential college mates etc

[Carriemac]

I'm panicking that DD wont make her offer grades as one subject went really badly in her mocks. Her offer is AAA, i think she will get A A B or C . do they ever get in on lower/different grade to oxford?

[mousymary]

I think they do occasionally - depends on which subject slips and if the others are really good grades.

However, doing badly in a mock is a good thing! Much, much better than doing well and resting on your laurels. There is still time to focus in on what went wrong and mug up on any weak areas.

[Carriemac]

she is working hard, i think the coursework is taking so much time that the non coursework subject has slipped. Just nervous for her as she was so chuffed to get an offer

[mousymary]

There's still time left! Just keep the food service going and don't ask, "How are you getting on?" or in fact say anything. I was dismayed every time I passed ds's bedroom and saw he was watching Netflix or surfing instead of doing revision. In fact a few times I couldn't help doing the "you only get one chance" speech, which went down really well - not!

[goodbyestranger]

Yes sometimes. It will help if she did well in her LNAT and generally how strong she was within the interview cohort Carriemac. But a bad mock is nothing to worry about, lots of kids have bad mocks.

[Carriemac]

she did really well in her LNAT so hopefully that might sway things.

[sadusername2]

At least one did from my daughter's school got in with AAB last year. So it happens.

[ChaosTrulyReigns]

Very tense here.



DD thought her exams were very challenging.

Ho hum


About 12 hours to go.

[FreedaDonkey]

Good luck Chaos

[ErrolTheDragon]

DD is in, Cambridge engineering.

[DimsieMaitland]

DD has her place for History at Cambridge. So relieved and happy for her!

[ReinettePompadour]

Congratulations to those who got their places.

[TheCheeseAlarm]

DS has his place for Maths at Cambridge confirmed.

[Carriemac]

The DTS got identical grades and are off to their firm choices Oxford and leeds. so relieved and so grateful for all the support on this thread this year :)