Oxbridge Applicants 2019

[evenstrangerthings]

The 2018 Oxbridge Applicants Thread was started at the end of August last year, but with many students now sitting internal school exams rather than public AS exams, many will have Year 12 results in hand and some will be starting to prepare for applications to Oxford or Cambridge University.

Let's support each other in supporting our kids through this process, which may involve extra exams, multi-day interviews and extra application statements.

Do feel free to join the thread, even if your DC is on the fence about making an Oxbridge application. It would also be great to hear from those who have been through the Oxbridge process before!

From what I read on previous threads seems like for oxford, because of the variable number of days the process takes it's definitely a good idea for them to make their own way back if not both ways. Cambridge gets it all done in one day so just whatever makes most logistical sense. IIRC there was the option of the candidate spending the night before in college-

Yes, ds in fact stayed three days (and nights) and didn’t know in advance what his interview schedule was. With the Oxford pooling system, you could get sent to several colleges; it’s all worked out at the time. Of course you might only be there for an hour - but then you get into the drama of Was I sent home because I was fantastic or because I was spectacularly crap?! [sweating emoticon]

I dropped ds off and then he came home on the train. I think that’s what nearly everyone did. It’s a well-trodden path to the station - short walk from town.

Btw applicants are accompanied to other colleges where they might have an interview. They don’t have to bumble around on their own.

My Dd applied to Cambridge and so was only required for the day. However, we live a long way away and so Dd enquiries about a room the night before which she was offered. I am pretty sure they organised and paid for her fares up, but my memory is a little hazy now.

IIRC DD and DH just stayed in a hotel one night. He's alway up for museums etc, a day wandering round Cambridge isn't exactly a hardship if you have the time.

Justanothermile, in terms of being around, that is a decision for you and your DD:

For your part (obviously the candidate too, but you get my point) there is lots of waiting around. So if you have time to kill, and don't need to be anywhere, then you can mooch round the city, or drink a lot of coffee somewhere.

Then on her side, is she the sort of person who would appreciate downloading with you over a spot of dinner before heading back into college for a sleep? It would not have helped me to have either of my parents around, but I'm sure we'd have been sitting in sullen/depressed silence, picking at food, before I moped off, if they had been.

Equally if it's a long journey home, your DD might appreciate the company, or might wsih to be alone with her thoughts, to rehash the perfect answer they should have given, for the 23rd time.

I'm sure you already have, but take a look at the December posts at last year's threads, and see if you can spot your DD among the candidates, and what the parents were up to. Would it have been useful for you to be around post potential meltdown, to pick your child up? Or would it have just further distressed her?

I would lean to the side that most on this thread have 'I'm only a phone call away, and have a safe train journey back!' but for some candidates they'd probably be delighted to see their parents after such a nerve-wracking experience.

Thanks again. I've started reading last years threads, but there's very many posts and we are late to the party, so to speak, as Oxbridge really only come onto the radar in the summer. I might have lurked a little otherwise and been more aware of how things work.

DD is cool either way, she says. She could potentially be down from the Sunday to Wednesday (maximum time frame shown on the Oxford website), which would make things tricky anyway for me from a practical POV, but the idea of a few days peace and quiet exploring the city by myself does selfishly appeal, not that it's about me!

Her choice of course.

I'll pop back for any cambridge interview stuff I can help with.

We did go up for the day for dds interview as it's a long train journey and not so far in the car.
Watching her hesitantly walk through the college gate will be an abiding memory, a bit like watching her walk down the road for her first day at secondary.

Bear in mind that it's really cold at that time of year and nervous hanging around the coffee shops, shops etc can seem to take forever. I thought we would get loads of Christmas shopping done, but I couldn't focus.

She really appreciated having someone to meet at the end of a long stressful day in the dark.

I think someone put a link up to a website that was good for MAT practicing, but I can't find it. Does anyone know what it was?

Dd1's put her application in, but was having a bit of a wobble yesterday over the MAT. They do classes for MAT/STEP and she said that all the boys seem to just storm through the paper easily, one of the girls does the same, then there's a couple of girls who are struggling and she feels in the middle. I do note this is her perception not necessarily the reality.

They seem to do little actual teaching in it; mostly just giving them a paper and letting them get on. But because she's in the middle the ones doing better are not wanting to discuss with her when she's struggling on a question, and the ones doing worse can't help.

Her teacher is not good on answering questions and if she asks has either said "well if you can't do that then you shouldn't be here" or in one case just taken the questions away and told her to do some easier work, so her confidence has been knocked by this teacher (who then waxed lyrical over her at parents' evening )

For those wondering over the interviews, I had a wonderful time. We had a great chap who stayed up as maths rep who organised all sorts of things for us. I wouldn't have wanted to go and meet up with parents.
The only person I knew whose parent came with them to the interviews came from Aberdeen and so was a bit of a long trek for him.
Going to Burger King at 1am was a somewhat unusual experience at the time
Although when we were playing cards at a similar time one night and the porter came in and put a notice up where one of us had an interview at 8:30am the next morning, caused a bit of consternation. (the chap got in btw!)

I'm afraid I can't help re the link to the website Witchend, I'm sorry your daughter is having a wobble, but would echo your own thoughts that she could be simply perceiving that the other students to be coping better than she might be. The reality might not be so. I can see why her confidence might be knocked by the teachers reaction though.

DD's application is in, she's still quite chilled about the whole thing, but doesn't have specific tests to stress about.

At the Oxbridge talk this week, the student ambassadors also suggested that the interview period was also a really lovely time, with all the candidates getting on well and the atmosphere being friendly and supportive.

@Witchend the MAT thread on the Student Room has lots of good links and is a good place to ask MAT specific questions www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5384022

Her MAT prep group sounds like it's making the whole process into a negative experience. Could she team up with any of the friendlier students and share questions/form a study partnership/group outside of this formal group?

The MAT is only one part of the application process and there's still time to get lots of practice in.

I think @OhYouBadBadKitten has a mathsy DD who is now at Cambridge. Perhaps she can offer advice on tackling test prep in a class of boasty boys?

Thanks both of you.
I think it is partially her perception, she's a perfectionist so doesn't like not being able to do it!

She's a moderator on TSR so has been using that.
I thought I'd seen a link here to a practice website for MAT. I may be wrong though.

Problem is the 6th form insists they do the STEP/MAT classes and she's quite shy especially when asking people for a favour. And she sees it as a favour because to her mind everyone else is doing better!
Unfortunately there aren't any doing the STEP/MAT that she feels that she knows well enough to help, although I'm sure there are plenty who wouldn't mind-and she certainly wouldn't mind if someone asked her.

She knows that it's a hit and miss to getting in, but she would like to get to interview. I've no idea whether she's good enough. She says when she does a MAT paper it varies between being really good and not so good!
But she also has found that it's hard to do a whole paper and see how well you're doing as the teacher has given them topic papers in the past, so often she's come across some of the questions before in every whole paper she's done.

The teacher has been like this since the beginning with her. She'd had, I think 3 or 4 lessons in year 12, when dd1 asked her if she'd sign a form which was an application for a maths day for potential applicants in Oxford. She just looked at the form and said "You're not good enough to get in there". Then a couple of weeks later was telling her she had unusually good understanding... and has been like this all the way through.

This is on the oxford website re visiting, if that helps at all?

www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/visiting-and-outreach/independent-visits?wssl=1

When I was applying I wrote to the admissions officer and he showed me round.
However, depending on the college, you may get some results just asking at the lodge.

This is a very good page for MAT: drfrostmaths.com/resources/page.php?id=7

I'll also pm you...

Coleoptera. As far as I remember last year there was open day before one of finalists lunches.* I think, You can't look around college during lunch.*

How are folk progressing?

DD's application was finally sent on Monday evening, after her tutor omitted some information and it pinged back to her...

However by Tuesday afternoon she had her first offer and acknowledgement from Oxford that they were in receipt of her application and what the process will be from there.

Both are reassuring, it's good to know at least one university wants her

@Justanothermile How exciting!

DS's internal school deadline is next week so we'll do a final check of the UCAS form this weekend.

DD has finally done her personal statement. Fourth or fifth draft.

Last-minute change from Oxford to Cambridge means there is very hasty research going on re colleges. Am trying not to get too stressed about the lack of preparation and foresight...

Coleoptera this is probably too late but I don't think there's a single college where the porters won't wing a prospective applicant through to have a look around, they're incredibly helpful. If I had to guess a single exception it would be ChristChurch, but even then you're more likely than not to be welcomed, or at least allowed in free of charge.

Congrats to DT2 on the essay prize.

Sorry to hear about your daughter.

I don't think you need to worry about the interview.

We had a problem in our school in the North of Scotland with flights being cancelled last year due to poor weather (snow). Skype interviews were arranged last minute so it is certainly possible.

Good luck to you all!

I'm so sorry, what awful luck. It looks as though telephone or Skype interview is definitely possible, she might need a doctors note

www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/interviews/guidance-candidates-who-are-taken-ill