Oxbridge applicants 2018 part 3

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Looks like we need a new thread.

By which I really mean open as an option. It isn't an option and for those extra days before full term starts there's a quite hefty daily charge.

Oh well, he will find out for himself then. Thank you.

Does this apply to every college? Said friend is adamant that he can stay as long as he likes at no extra cost. Surely there won't be any catering? Is St Catz different?

goodbye - I must say we have been watching because it is funny . I think Dh read in the Times approx 37,000 applicants to Oxbridge this year vs approx 80,000 to Love Island , but the average Oxbridge graduate will earn 850k over a lifetime whereas a canny Love Island finalist can earn circa £2m over the next 3 - 5 years . The Times article tongue in cheek said if you are offered a place at Oxbridge or on Love Island the numbers tell you to take Love Island.

Ds has taken the rather less glamorous route of GDL rather than a very large and luxurious villa in Spain. We shall see how it pans out.

Lonerica - if he has spoken to the accommodation people and they say he can then he can. Most central & good rooms are used for e.g. conferences over the holidays. Not sure where the Catz accommodation is. But not saying he is wrong if he has checked. DS could not stay in his room and could not leave anything in it for the first two years. Last year , a house , college owned but a house , he could leave things in his room so possibly he could have stayed there , don't know. Anyway the main thing is if said friend has checked with the college accommodation dept and they say yes - then that is the answer. I'd be surprised if no cost but the college will have the definitive answer to all of this. All best.

If the Catz bursar has said yes then that's fine, obviously, although it sounded as though he hadn't asked and just assumed. It would be massively unusual though. Obviously if he's intending to rent a house then that's quite different. But that would be unusual in first year too. The general rule is that they boot you out of college and even in your finals year lots of colleges move you to the shittier rooms to free up the nice third year rooms for conferences.

I think he has just assumed that the year's college fees cover all year and not just term time. Anyway, he will find out if he manages to get in. His offer is pending on results (in which I am confident he will do well)

IME college fees cover 8 weeks per term and you pay extra if you want to come up early/leave late
In December all the rooms will be needed for interviewees and the rest of the time they tend to be used for conferences/visitors. My college could only let us stay longer when we were in college houses in the 3rd year and even then we didn’t get to stay over the summer

That might depend on which university and/or college as dds hopeful one allows time before and after, so it sums to about 10 weeks of residency for each term if they wish.

My DD happened to mention today that her first year accommodation was a 30 week rent whereas next year will be 39. The '8 week term' thing is a bit of a myth in practice- that's 'full term' when they all have to be there and when lectures and labs take place. But that's only 3/4 of the 30 week 'whole term' when they can be there for private study and in some cases other stuff. (Cambridge- I'm assuming oxford similar?) DDs mocks were before the Lent 'full term', and she's had supervisions after 'full term'. A lot of other unis seem to let undergrads go after their summer exams - not at Cambridge. (Though part of the time after is the now-misnamed May week). Don't assume if your DCs do make their oxbridge grades they'll be home for more than half the year!

So, if that wasn't clear... the commonest arrangement at Cambridge is a 30 week contract which I assume covers Term (whole not just Full)

It's a humanities subject, not science, so no labs.

Ok well if he is just assuming: he's doing History you said Lonicera so he may need to go back on the Thursday before full term begins for Collections, and he can get free B&B if he does Open Days etc, and other than that he may get extra days at a price but there's no guarantee. DS3 was at a college where they were told to be out for definite by 10am on the Saturday of the last week of term, for no discernible reason (also haha, from where we live, assuming a normal wake up time and breakfast etc which I prefer), and that there was no way no how that they could return before the Thursday of 0th week ie three days before the start of full term. If I was this boy's parent I would be very troubled that he wanted to leave and never come back. That's the real issue.

DD can have a longer accommodation contract than the standard if she chooses but just took the standard in her first year. She does go up as early as possible and stay until they throw her out though as she says the libraries are quieter out of full term.

This is the only place I can tell anyone this as IRL it would be regarded as unseemly boasting, but DD got a letter this week confirming she has been awarded a college prize for her first year results. Financially it's tiny (will just about cover 1 large book on her subject) but it's going to look fab on her CV when she applies for her Master's. Am so proud of her. (And to think that this time last year she was convinced she hadn't made the Cambridge grades. She had - and then some!)

Well done to your dd Ann. How fab!

Congratulations to your DD, you should be rightly proud of her. It's nice to hear that this process turns out so well for some students.👍

If I was this boy's parent I would be very troubled that he wanted to leave and never come back. That's the real issue.

Blimey, the poor lad may just not fancy packing up and carting everything back and forth six times a year? Or be hoping to get a job there during the vacations? We actively encouraged DS1 to go for a whole academic year accommodation contract (not Oxbridge btw) on the grounds of convenience alone - I certainly didn't fancy having to make the 330 mile round trip by car more often than was strictly necessary. Doesn't mean that we don't love him dearly and / or expect him never to darken our doorstep again. But this was an 18 year old taking the first step on his adult journey, not an 8 year old off for his first term at boarding school.

Well results day is almost here. I can't believe how quickly the past few weeks have gone - I thought they were going to drag. I've kept Thursday and Friday completed clear in case DS needs to find a place through clearing and we need to be on the phone for hours. Good luck everyone. 🤞

Time has done weird quick slow things here. Are you staying up til midnight on wednesday STEP?

Is that what time the STEP results are out? I just assumed they were published on Thursday morning along with A levels. DS says that STEP 3 was so dreadful he's dismissed all thoughts of Cambridge so we might as well go to bed early and get a good night's sleep! He's still not stressed though - oh to live in his happy, laid-back world!👦

STEPmum18 sounds like your DS has a wonderfully balanced perspective on things - wishing him and ALL the 'Step-ers' the best with those results. Total respect to them all having completed that extra hurdle, whatever the outcome!

First result back here tomorrow (CIE Biology) - we had the same with ASs being received in 2 batches last year, but still feels a little odd. DD on way back from music festival so sounding chilled but I know the nerves will kick in tonight.

Good luck everyone xxx

MarchingFrogs at Oxbridge those contracts don't exist at Oxbridge and while it may be useful to pay over the holidays at other unis to avoid emptying rooms, it's exceptionally unusual to stay up in Oxford over all the holidays in first year. Only those with serious problems at home ever seem to try to do this (and it is possible, by way of crashing in the privately rented houses of second years). I would be horrified if any of my DC had ever done that.

--at Oxbridge-

Strike through fail.

They're exhausted after the end of each term too Marching Frogs, and badly in need of a rest and a few weeks' change of scene.

Well yes Marching DS was Oxford - no option to stay over holidays. And pretty much spent the first few days of holidays snoozing in front of films or computer games.

If having a year round housing contract is important to a DC then that needs to be part of the decision. At DS's college overseas students could have some storage space so didn't have to lug everything to and fro each term. ( As time has gone on , Ds's overseas friend seems to leave more and more stuff in our tiny house - his suitcase is nearly as big as our spare room )

All best wishes to those looking at STEP. Never had to deal with it myself but nonetheless , good luck to all & fingers crossed