Oxbridge applicants 2018 part 2

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Hopefully this is in time!

Girton, cambridge

hollybolly this time a year ago dd was very upset having been rejected by Oxford. Fast forward, stellar A'Levels, change of subject, far more mature. It's a journey of steps along the way. for your dd.

This thread might help. www.thestudentroom.co.uk/university/student/girton-college-cambridge

I studied at Cambridge and my daughter is a student there now. On a recent visit to the town I did find the streets quite claustrophobic - visitors pile in and there really is something to be said for being a little bit away from the tourist hub. The cycling distances are nothing really. Students in Manchester, Leeds, London etc will live much further away from where the teaching is.

Congratulations to your daughter rose

Holly dessert is always good.

Hubble, you've raised a laugh from DD, thank you.

thanks. She’s still very gutted but loves her second choice, Bristol, which has a fantastic engineering department.

Rose gold leaf my daughter has been pooled to Murray Edwards which like Girton (I think) is all girls. All girls wouldn’t have been her first choice but she has read up on it and everything we’ve read is positive. We are not there yet though- just a small matter of yet another interview on Saturday!! Does anyone have any experience of all girls colleges? Good or bad I’d be interested to hear. She’s at an all girls school atm and I must admit I share her apprehension. Does anyone else have any experience of being in the pool and having another interview? Just would love to know how long after interview we’ll hear. Not sure I can carry on feeling this stressed for much longer!!!

DS had a whole gaggle of mates at Bristol and they had a wonderful time. Everyone knew everyone there with one of DS's friends sandwiched in halls between ds's bf from primary and dd's bf's brother . Also a lovely city. I go sometimes to meet my bf from school who now lives in the west country.

good luck luckye. Girton is now mixed. Heard on grapevine that Murray Edwards is very supportive.

I don't belong here at all (DS in year 9 so nowhere near this) but many of my family went to Girton and my sister and her DH met there. (Mum and Granny also went there and my dad was at Corpus). It is a bit out of the middle of Cambridge but from what they've said and I've seen from visiting it is nice. And sister got married there.

I was rejected from Cambridge (think I was pooled and unwanted) but I'm not sure I ever really wanted to go; just felt I ought to try given my family history.

I am ex girton, the only downside is it’s a cycle ride from town ( upside of that is no need for the gym !)
Otherwise it’s fab, very mixed, lovely old building, great rooms, indoor pool, croquet lawn, sports pitches, lovely grounds in summer that aren’t full of tourists.
I never regretted choosing it.

Papaya, my son is at Bristol and loves it. It’s a fab town and a great uni.

Holly, we were in your position last year. Dd confirmed her second choice and decided to wait till results day and then decide. When she got the results she hoped for, she pulled out of ucas and then reapplied.this year she had an unconditional offer straight off from same uni so hadn’t lost anything.
Was much less stressful this year, not trying to do Cambridge exam at same time as mocks and D of E etc, not being so stressed that just the thought of interview caused a melt down.
Our thoughts were it’s only a year, if it’s what you want, give it a shot.

Congrats to all with offers and commiserations to those without, especially marmitelover's daughter who I was rooting for. Glad to hear she has other good options though.

Thank you fifthtimelucky! Feeling proud of her resilience. Must have done something right. (Haven't told her I was blubbing this afternoon over all of your kind comments).

So mocks tomorrow......yay!

Bet we all sleep better tonight!

))marmite and m's dd(( it will all be ok.

On an entertaining note MIL (83, former deputy head) has just let dh know that she's run up and down the drive to tell the local families of dh's school friends that dd is going to Cambridge. DH is 56. He has his head in his hands. I don't know whether to laugh or cry

Thank you Nearly, I hope some DC who have received a setback today go on to read the supportive comments and experiences of those who have already gone through it, this has certainly helped DD to realise she still has many options open to her.

Raindrops and nearlyoldenough, thanks for your thoughts on Bristol, that’s good to know. I loved the place lots and had long chats with the engineering professors when we were there. My daughter gets stressed easily and I think the Cambridge atmosphere would be too much for her, too intense, so it’s probably a good thing that she’s headed to Bristol

Think we are heading towards Bristol too Papaya. DD liked it from the start. Great to have other good options.

Really well done to all of the DCs that got offers today and thanks to all of you for the support. I am going to pop over to the year 13 thread and make friends.

I'm back... Had to go to work!

Commiserations to those who didn't get what they wanted today. It's really really hard at the time, even if there are other excellent options out there (almost certainly better for some young people). Thinking of the disappointed ones today and of those supporting them through it.

Luckye: my DD's offer is from Murray Edwards. It was her first choice and she absolutely loved it. She felt a bit overwhelmed by some of the more ancient colleges and just didn't feel that she'd fit in there at all. She was also actively keen to go to a women's college, though if your DD isn't so keen she should remember that a lot of her teaching will be dictated by the subject rather than the college anyway. I don't think DD could put her finger on what exactly it was about M. Edwards that she liked, it just felt comfortable, and she said that the people there were lovely: when she went back for her interview some of them remembered her from the Open Day, for example. I hope your DD loves it, and that the interview goes well.

Bristol is a fabulous place :)

Raindrops, that's hilarious

I think the end of a long period of tension is hitting home, it's a shame there are more exams tomorrow. dd could do with a day off with a book and a duvet tbh to recompose herself. It's been a bit overwhelming.

Didn't Mel and Sue formally of Bake Off bith go to Murray Edwards?

DD got an offer which is just amazing, we’re all in a state of shock really! The joy has been very much tempered by concern for friends who haven’t had such good news today. It’s such a cruel process and there’s no hiding place at school to digest the news privately.

Huge congratulations to all with offers today and heartfelt hugs to those who have just missed out. What a week!

Yes kitten we are all in need of a good night's sleep in this house - has been a gruelling few months and a tense week.

Commiserations to the unsuccessful applicants and congratulations to the successful ones. DD's friend got his offer today, but a lot of the other Oxbridge applicants at their school who were considered dead certs didn't.

I had a brows of the student room Oxford forums earlier today and it seems that STEM students find it a lot harder than students studying humanities subjects (from the posts written there). There seem to be fewer contact hours with humanities than with sciences as well.

I know that in DD's friend's case he will love his course (history) because he is a history nerd. Also he can basically study just about any period you like within reason. I can't see this happening with any of the science subjects or medicine for example.

I am happy to be corrected though.

Congratulation to all of your DCs who got in and commiseration to those who did not receive an offer.
I am a teacher and today has been a mixed day with unexpected offers and disappointment for pupils who we were almost certain would get in but didn't. I go through this every year and it is not nice at all. I have had to choose some very careful wording in the email to a couple of pupils tonight. Hope they will get better soon.
Like someone said above, there is no hiding place because everyone will know about it so they will need the support on how to deal with that.