Oxbridge applications 2019 (part two).

[Justanothermile]

New thread, I hope it's okay to start one.

Good luck today for those still waiting for interview news, which includes us.

Congratulations to those already with dates.

DS is on the train on his way back from Cambridge. He says the first interview did not go well but the second one went very well. So who knows!!

Well DD had her first interview yesterday (Oxford) actually sounded like she completely aced it - but she’s not enjoying being there at all. Said the food is awful, room dark & not very nice & she can’t wait to be back in her own bed. 2 more interviews today and she’s hoping she won’t be kept until tomorrow. Good luck to everyone with interviews today!!

Which college is that Lumpy? My son is off to Trinity today.......

@Aurea she’s at St John’s & interviews today are at Worcester. On the upside she says she’s found everyone really pleasant to get along with; although she’s a night owl & up early (occasional long sleep to catch up) and they’ve all gone to bed at 8/8:30pm & got up at 8. I’m sure if she got an offer and went it’d be different as it’d be home and proper friends would be made & work would need to be done. Good luck yours!!!

Wiifit a mixed bag is usually the result in my experience. There really is no telling so now enjoy getting ready for Christmas.
Lumpy it is great she feels it went well and fingers crossed for next one.

Lumpy - Hope the interviews at Worcester goes well. I suppose she may prefer this....

@Aurea I thinks it’s been to her advantage - she’s not desperate to get in and so has relaxed and been able to enjoy the chat about the subject. When she really wants something she can sometimes get into that “over trying” scenario and can come across badly then. Time will tell 🙃🙂

I’m in Oxford having just dropped off DD. The college is full of friendly student helpers; the JCR seems to be running the whole thing. Very different from the austere experience of the late 80s! Her first interview is this afternoon and she has another one tomorrow afternoon. I’m full of dread on her behalf but fortunately this leaden feeling only came on after I’d dropped her off... Glad to be able to vent here.

I'm kind of hoping I get mixed vibes from DD also, which I think would feel realistic as I'm sure there will be questions she feels she answered well and others not so well.

We shall see next week.

Fingers crossed panttwizzler

Gah - butter fingers. I'm sure what will be will be, it's hard not to be worried.

I've told DD also to only text or phone me if she wants to. Up to her. If she'd like to forget about home and enjoy her few days, that's okay and if she want to talk, that's cool too.

Justanothermile you are a much better person than me!! Going without text messages for 3 days would have sent me over the edge. Well done you!

for you panttwizzler. If it is any consolation most, if not all the parents feel exactly the same. Deep breath!

Thanks just and hubble. She’s my eldest so it’s all new. Also I loved Oxford so it's doubly emotional. Waah.

Am looking forward to a day off work and a trip to Cambridge tomorrow .

Just noticed this thread and it brings back memories of a few years ago when DS had his interview at Cambridge for maths. He came out of it looking white and shell shocked and we had a miserable train journey home as he knew it had gone badly. He had sat a written test the night before and the interview was an extension of the test. In fact what happened was that they pushed him further and further until he reached a point where he could not answer, he interpreted that as failure. Much to his surprise he got an offer.

Sunshineonleaf, that is really interesting as it is maths my ds interviewed for yesterday at Cambridge. There was no written test and it was a single problem to work through in the interviews I wonder if it varies from college to college?

It does vary very much from college to college. dd sat a written test and they went through it in the interview.

I believe the format of the interviews does vary between colleges, wiifi (and obviously between subjects)
But I think it's usual for the interviewers to probe until they reach the limit, and certainly way beyond what the interviewee can answer easily.

sunshine - that's really very interesting, Dd isn't going for Maths but that's a great perspective.

hubble - oh I suspect that she won't be able to not phone or message, she's a sharer..😁. I just don't want her to feel like she has to face a rigorous debrief or some such ordeal; not that I ever would, but you know probably what I mean I hope.

twizzler - DS is my eldest, and went to university in October so I can appreciate your feelings. Learning the general UCAS application process was enough, never mind Oxbridge. I'm learning to adjust to him not being here, although he's less inclined to communicate anyway. Dd did the UNIQ course, and loved it, I think she'd be happy just getting a few more days of being in college and the atmosphere!

Hi all, DD arrived at her Oxford college today for her interviews having spent the night before at a friend’s house but has had nothing today (she arrived a day early as it said to arrive by 4pm today, and her journey involved 12 hours of travel on public transport so arriving by 4 in one day just wasn’t feasible!). She is now worried about the possibility of being asked to stay for an interview on Friday. We understand that the university say this -
“We recommend that you do not make arrangements which cannot easily be changed to travel home before this time, unless you have already been told that you will be free to leave before then.”
However with a 12 hour journey it isn’t financially or practically possible to not make fixed advance arrangements, so she’s leaving at 5am on Friday. Would it be unreasonable of her to specifically request to not have to stay until Friday? The school have already contributed £50 the travel so I don’t feel we can ask for anything more, but also don’t think we’re in the position to lose £30 and fork out an extra £100+.

My advice would be to wait until Thursday evening to see if her name is posted for further interviews. If it is, then she would need to discuss the financial consequences of her staying longer and see what they say. If she is pooled to another college I don't think these interviews can be given in advance.

Hopefully there will soon be a reply from goodbye or Hingle and they may take a different view.

It’s a very niche subject she’s applying for - just 6 places offered across the whole university. Does this make pooling perhaps less likely? This is what we’ll have to hope...

DD had her second interview this morning. She is now in a state and convinced she won't get in because it was harder than yesterday's and she had a coughing fit in the middle of it! On the plus side, no other colleges wanted to see her and she's now on her way home.