Oxbridge applicants 2018 part 2

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Hopefully this is in time!

Sorry Dancing are you Oxford or Cambridge??

Well done Goodbye

We've been there Hardwick. DD had to repeat LVI. All was well in the end but It's v tough. . Warm wishes to you both and I hope someone's looking after you too.

DS was Oxford - small business type envelope - quite thin - an acceptance. He was at school and I had promised I would not open it until he phoned. I did, I am afraid hold it up to the light and try to see through the window - but nothing . Between it arriving and him phoning I mainly practiced my " Oh you've got other offers and this isn't the end of the world" type voice.

Best wishes to your DD Hardwick.

I have a good friend whose son is waiting for news re a place at cambridge shortly. But he has other fantastic offers , Durham , LSE and UCL amongst them , so truly - given he chose them , he will end up somewhere he really likes. But I see why ( because my Ds did it) the one envelope / email on a specific date or a couple of dates is a bit nerve wracking.

Good luck to all

I have only just found this thread, so very late to the party, but it's nice to find some other people in the same position. I have been lurking on Student Room but I am too old to consider posting there. Ds1 applied for music at Worcester (bad choice I think as everyone else also applied there) so he got reallocated to LMH. He was interviewed twice at LMH and Keble and felt it went well. However he had a stinking cold the whole time he was there and his room was a bit dismal and although he liked LMH in general, he's a bit spoilt too used to his home comforts and I think it put him off a bit. So like everyone we are waiting for the result next week. However he also has offers from Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff and for the Joint Course between Manchester Uni and RNCM so he definitely has options. I would love to hear from anyone with experience of music at Oxford as if he does get an offer he's going to have to decide what he really wants to do.

Hi Saker my DD is applying for music too. Hi interviewed at St Anne's even though she applied to Oriel. She was also
Interviewed by St Peter's. Her other choices are completely different from your DS. York, Nottingham, Bristol and Kings. Really don't know how the Oxford interview went. She loved it though even though her room was freezing!

Hubble - she is Oxford.

Marmiteloversunite, good luck to your DD. It does seem like half of them were reallocated and I know they say it doesn't matter in the end. What is her instrument? Ds1 plays the piano but it is composition that is his thing really and would be his principal study at RNCM.

Saker her main instrument is voice but she also plays piano and violin. DD also loves composition and the actual history of music. She is heading more that way than actual performance. Most of the time when she talks about music I have no idea what she is on about! She just loves it.

Ahh, it's so nice to see, DS1 is the same and I think the tutorial system at Oxford would suit that as it gives them the chance to really talk about music to someone who knows more. I hope that would come across in the interviews . Well we will see what next week brings.

Does anyone know if Oxford always give the standard conditional offer to everyone for a particular course? So in the case of Music would everyone get AAA as an offer or is there any variation? I imagine extreme extenuating circumstances or a school known to be performing well below average might affect it, but I also wondered if they vary at all depending on how much they want someone? I suppose they have the pick so they probably don't need to.

I don't know but I know people who have had offers at AAA. DS did IB and I didn't hear of an offer of less than 42 points. Certainly other uni's vary. DD was offered ABB from Edinburgh last year whereas friends were offered AAB/AAA.

We are hoping she will get a Cambridge offer this time round with 3A* and grade 8 voice. Not studying music btw. Oxford rejected her last year but her predictions were AAA (top whack). She had been ill for three years but recovered for U6 and just motored from there.

I hope she gets the offer Raindrops, it sounds like she might well do. Does the grade 8 voice count even if you are not applying for music?

So do I saker. It's equivalent to another A* as she got a distinction >preens< and her College and subject are associated to choral but she didn't want to take that route because she sings for singings sake hence she chose not to do beyond the RSCM bronze. But she's very quiet and not very confident except when she sings "Cabaret" to a large audience or I'd Give My Life for You! But then she's playing a part not herself she says.

Bugger this parenting lark eh.

If you think undergrad is bad DS and DH are going through and debating intellectual points re his Oxford Masters application. I have retired to a quiet environment.

Saker, seems that Oxford does give out standard conditional offers to successful applicants, while Cambridge gives different offers. This is also one of the reasons my DS picked Oxford instead of Cambridge. As his Oxbridge advisor told him that Cambridge will give harsh CO such as straight A*!

Yup Risotto I believe oxford standard IB offer is 38 whereas Cambridge is 41/42

Yes User. For DS’ course, I think Imperial gives same/tougher CO than Oxford!
Oxford standard offer for his course is AAA, Imperial gave him the same CO, while the other three offers are alll AAA. As DS has pocketed one A for Math already, it means technically all offers mean the same to him! Ie he has to obtain AA for Phy and Chem!

Anybody else practising their sanguine 'Never mind' face or would that be just me?

yup Hubble and practising my 'the other university is amazing' speech in my head. But the day of the results it will be too soon for that for dd, it will be big hugs and acknowledging her upset. I know that she would be gutted and I wouldn't want to minimize that.

Yes you are right Kitten. Being upset must be allowed.

That's a very good point Kitten and Hubble.
I've been practising things I can say to make her feel better (other universities are fab too etc . . ) but actually perhaps allowing them to be sad and disappointed is more important initially.

Same here, DD will be gutted if it's bad news next week and I think it's important to acknowledge that. We've identified all the reasons why it won't be the end of the world by any means, but I won't be reminding her of that on the day unless she asks for it.

DD has an offer from Durham! So relieved, and it's lower than expected too! (AAA - she was expecting them to want at least one star) Phew!

Well done Lobster DD. That is fantastic news.