Oxbridge applicants 2018 part 2

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Hopefully this is in time!

[HingleMcCringleberry]

Lift, not live.

[marmiteloversunite]

Hubble I hope your DS has a better day today.* Good luck to all for interviews today.*

[marmiteloversunite]

Damnation I've gone Bold again!!

[itinerant]

Yes good luck Hubble DS, and hugs for you

[PandaG]

Daffodils - he's applied for engineering at Clarke (electronic engineering everywhere else). First interview at 10...

[PandaG]

Wonder if our boys will meet Kaisers ? I've got an essay to write myself today...and 18 for dinner. Better get on with it!

[horsemadmom]

Marmite- DD1 is now in her 2nd year at Oxford but the interview trauma is still fresh (for me!). Almost every candidate is interviewed at two -or more- colleges. If they aren't, it either means that they did stratospherically well or disastrously badly. Interviewing at another college is meant to filter out any bias (interviewer at college 1 might just not like DC) and/or confirm the opinion of college 1. Also, if DC seemed to underperform due to nerves, it can be a 2nd chance to show true potential. There is also a form of horse trading throughout the process known as importing/exporting. It ensures that strong candidates get places no matter which college they directly applied to. The Cambridge system does this with pools.
DD1 had 3 interviews in her college and then was kept hanging around for 2 days (she was there for 4 days total)before being sent to another college for a weirdly perfunctory seeming interview. This was, we learned, a standardisation interview.
Best of luck to all DCs!

[toomanytolist]

PandaG that was DD yesterday - same college, same interview time, same subject! Lots of luck to your DS. In the end DD really couldn't tell how well or otherwise she had done

[Maladicta]

Dd's heading to Cambridge with dh this afternoon, first on the agenda: French reading at 9.05 tomorrow.

Have no idea how she'll do, she's had a general French interview at school in which the teacher couldn't find any errors but it depends so much on her state of mind!

[fiftyval]

Good luck to everyone's dc. DD has just finished the first of 2 interviews at Downing today. Having asked her at application stage which topics have been covered at school, the first interview comprised topics she hasn't covered yet. Hopefully they are assessing her approach to problem solving etc (Nat Sci). Her school have done only one practice interview with her (only had 5 school days between notification and travelling up).She is at a totally non selective comp so I hope they take that into account.

[inchyrablue]

I'm sure the data must be available somewhere, but I would be really interested to know what % of DC from non-selective state schools and colleges apply/make it to interview/receive an offer. I think the state v's private figures are published, but I don't think they filter out the selective and super selective state schools. DD's biggest concern seems to be that "everyone" will be super posh/rich and super brainy. (Obviously I realise this isn't the full picture!).

[AtiaoftheJulii]

They (Oxford at least) definitely have separate stats for comps and grammars. I don't have time now, but if no one has found them by this evening, I'll find them.

[AtiaoftheJulii]

Btw, dd's housemates this year (there are 7 of them) are from the whole spectrum of schools, from Eton to crappy comp

[HostofDaffodils]

That seems to be three sets of stats inchy

I suppose the problem is a much larger one of inequality, which even several sets of data can't analyse. How would you compare the chances of

a) a state/non-selectively educated 18 year old applicant from a low income and/or troubled background, who went to a school in a deprived rural area where there'd been a lot of changes in leadership

against

b) a state/non-selectively educated 18 year old applicant with professional, cultured, affluent parents and a stable home life educated in a school that Ofsted has described as outstanding.

[fiftyval]

Agreed Inchy - and also need to filter out the faith comps who are 'selective by the back door '. Our town has one which loves to claim it's comp status but has a free school meal percentage at a quarter of the levels in the other schools.Anecdotally, tuition is rife too so much of its 'success ' is down to families who can afford tuition.
If DD gets an offer it will be down to her ability and hard work. Plus parental support which has necessitated much time in cafes. I find myself assessing other middle aged ladies wondering if they are combining xmas shopping with interviews.

[HingleMcCringleberry]

inchy there will be some super posh people, some super rich people, and by and large all will be pretty brainy (although some will be spectacularly lacking in common sense!) Equally, there will be people without posh accents, and on bursaries and hardship funds. You'll end up rubbing shoulders with everyone, and find your crowd based on shared interests and attitudes, rather than background. I found Oxford pretty diverse, especially after being at an all boys school in the south!

[inchyrablue]

Indeed, I'm mainly curious, it isn't a bee in my bonnet.

DD is fortunate and goes to a very good comp. They've only had a sixth form for a two sets of leavers, and have managed to get a couple to Oxbridge both times. I would hope that the sort of data the universities are supplied with in order to give contextual offers would support those from the really dire schools, or with challenges elsewhere.

I'm procrastinating, so really should get back to work...

[inchyrablue]

Yes Hingle that is exactly what we have told DD. She of course hears none of it.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

I don’t think the comp/grammar/independent/selective school data is quite as easy to interpret as it seems to appear from published stats.

Dd has gone from a comp where it was a real celebration if a student got an oxbridge place that year, to a selective state sixth form. I don’t know if that sort of thing would ever be shown in the data?

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Hubble, Warwick is a brilliant place. If it helps to mentally write that in at the moment as being the probable place, that’s good, as long as it doesn’t mean that you are feeling too disheartened. None of us really know where our dc are going to end up.

Does everyone find out on the same day? dd finds out on 10th January I think.

[HingleMcCringleberry]

Slow down Hubble, slow down. It's not a given your DS has crashed out. As others have said, candidates are not always the best judge of their own performance. At least he is managing his own expectations, but no need to dismiss the idea of Oxford just yet. I understand you've found Warwick has excellent provision for your son, but I'm sure Oxford could also be prevailed upon.

You had mentioned that his diagnosis came too late to include on the application. I am wondering if it's worth getting in touch with Univ's Senior Tutor to talk with him about it (he's broadly in charge of admissions), if you think it would have had any bearing on his performance in interviews, but on the other hand you might feel this is a little interfering. Not sure.

[HostofDaffodils]

You had mentioned that his diagnosis came too late to include on the application. I am wondering if it's worth getting in touch with Univ's Senior Tutor to talk with him about it (he's broadly in charge of admissions), if you think it would have had any bearing on his performance in interviews, but on the other hand you might feel this is a little interfering. Not sure.

My stepson almost certainly has a a degree of high-functioning autism, but does not want any formal diagnosis. As they embark on student life, they are entering adulthood. So it's really their call about how much they want to disclose and how much they want to access specialist support. Once a student has a place, a parent can communicate with the university about their concerns. But it's a tricky one because of data protection, confidentiality etc - essentially they'll receive information but not tell you anything. My hunch is that a parent's disclosure immediately after their child's interview by a parent of something that hasn't been officially diagnosed, isn't in the relevant UCAS stuff/application form or wasn't flagged up immediately after the original invitation to inverview is unlikely to help.

For what it's worth my stepson has had some bumpy times, but is now doing work he enjoys and has a lovely girlfriend.

[YippeeTeenager]

So DD has had her two interviews this morning and survived. She’s meeting a friend now who has interviews tomorrow so hopefully that will serve as a handy decompression chamber. No feedback yet except that they were nice to her. I’ve been wandering around trying to do Christmas shopping and failing miserably. I think they should provide a crèche for anxious mums with mulled wine, mince pies and some company!

[Hubble25]

I'm not so disappointed Kitten as feeling guilty that I didn't get his diagnosis as a child because if you look in the red Oxford guidance notes for interviews it says what they do and how they word the questions for autistic candidates. I always thought because he was so high functioning it would be okay but it seems I was wrong.
Still life goes on and there are good times ahead for all of them I am sure.