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.

Sorry RedHelenB, that is a scunner. Will she apply next year, or is she good with her other uni choices?

Sorry to hear about your DD RedHelenB.

I suppose that theory for the relative popularity of Oxford could have some truth in it but I doubt it has enough to explain it completely, since someone not predicted any A will be unlikely to have a strong enough application for either Oxford or Cambridge to be in the frame. I doubt many going forward for Oxford are predicted no A (I expect it's true that less Oxford students actually achieve multiple A but that's probably based on the fact that the Oxford offers do tend to allow students to 'relax' once the thing's in the bag and a fair few take advantage). Also, Oxford sets a lot of store on A at GCSE and someone with enough A* at GCSE to apply is unlikely to retreat to AAA in their three favourite subjects at A level. I should think the aptitude tests deter as many people as they encourage, so probably neutral - but the STEP as a deterrent makes absolute sense.

My DC seem to feel Cambridge is quieter and more serious and never really considered applying for that reason, although A* weren't an issue. At our school Oxford has overwhelmingly been the favourite for as long as I can remember, although the gap has closed a little in recent years.

She s going to Liverpool.hopefully which I think will suit. She said that she feels a bit relieved as the pressure of grades has fallen a bit but she would have liked the chance to talk history if she had have got an interview.

At least both twins have interviews! Oxford won't necessarily be 4 days of interviews, just that they need to be available for that time.

Found the new thread 👋🏼
Sorry to hear of the disappointment @RedHelenB. From all disappointment comes some good - there is definitely a part of me that wishes DD hadn’t applied so she doesn’t have to face the possible rejection and also have the pressure of realising the grades required - even though she’s capable of them!

Just a reminder to all to check spam - an offer for interview was found languishing late last night!

coleptera it might also be 5 days, DS was asked to go a day earlier last year and ended up doing five days at Oxford! It depends on the college.

My two history boys were asked on the invite to turn up on Monday night rather than for Wednesday morning BakeandYarn, then were e-mailed the source on the Monday morning too. It was all explained in the invite.

Very glad for DT2 Coleoptera.

Well done coleoptera for the interview. And to Runzilla too.

I'm sorry about the bad news Red, you can at least put it all to bed now and move forward. At least she tried.

I had a chance to have a look a bit further into the Oxford Statistics report goodbye, I was interested to see that the college Dd has applied for, which has a reputation at least for accepting students from a socio-economically disadvantaged background, was one of the lowest in terms of proportion of students gaining places. And conversely, the opposite is true for other colleges. The foreword sums things up pretty well I feel, and certainly reflects discussion/emotion on MN.

Still no news. Bored now.

Same here couch.

Found you ! That was me who thought I had been annoying and made everyone escape !
Just when I was searching for this thread I saw something ‘ why does veryone hate gifted children ? Well they don’t , they hate their parents haha . So I felt maybe when I said I expected him to get an interview that was bragging , but I seriously would be surprised if he didn’t . After the interview , who knows . According to our school it’s a good sign if the student thinks it went badly . Now isn’t that lovely - now you can worry either way . Congrats to who has had a yes in the meantime and sorry for those who didn’t . Still waiting here . Most of his friends applied to Cambridge and have heard back already , i think son is getting nervous ...

Oh dear - DS just sent through a screenshot of his "We are sorry" email from Oxford for Maths.

He's got offers from Bristol and Edinburgh which is still great, but he's waiting to hear from Imperial and UCL, which will likely be his top choices if they come through.

Good luck to all your DC through the rest of the process!

@Rianna still waiting here too for Oxford. Interviews are the 3rd. I’m not sure whether to think it’s bad news if we don’t hear today...although the info DD received does seem to indicate that everyone hears 7days before (Monday)...

So to hear the news @evenstrangerthings but good that you Ds has 2 offers he’s happy with! And if it’s any consolation to him (not knowing what he wants to do after his degree) my husband did Maths at Leeds uni - broke his leg and missed an entire semester but didn’t want to drop down a year....ended up with a 2:2 and still beat Oxbridge grads into graduate trainee Actuary job - 450 applied, 200 for the selection weekend and 5 jobs.

Hi Lumpy ( have to leant to tag ). For my son the interview would be the 9th ... so still a long time to go . School said rejection mails go out earlier but it doesn’t seem the case .

Oh dear evenstrangerthings, I'm very sorry to hear that.

Coleoptera no don't worry about being asked to come a day early, since it will have been on the invite, and isn't. Also, DT2 can thank his lucky stars by the sound of it that he doesn't have thirty pages of anthropology to wade through ahead of time (they'd warn him of that on the invite too). No interviews on Saturday - unheard of by any of mine doing History/ Law etc.

Thanks all and thanks @Lumpy76 that's for sharing about your husband's maths journey.

Ever - you know my husband says much the same thing . About our son he says that he doesn’t worry as he’s bright and wherever he goes he will do well . Same for your daughter !

I'm sorry to hear your news evenstrangerthings, like your DS, DD will be happy wherever she ends up, and all this will be a distant memory if things are not successful.

Glad you found us rianna, you didn't seem boastful to me.

We are still waiting, although interviews scheduled for the 9th, so hoping this is why there's no news. It's just frustrating not knowing even by which means they are sent. TSR contradicts itself, but I don't spend a lot of time scanning there, I'm never sure what's true or not!

stranger, there's nothing better in DD's view than 30 pages of anthropology to wade through.😂

coleoptera ours was quite a last minute change of plan email from the college last year, they had originally requested a Tuesday arrival and then the tutors asked if they could arrive earlier. I would be prepared to be flexible, DS was released on the Friday evening, but had to hang around and keep checking the noticeboards every hour (no technology there!) to see whether he could come home or not.

Gosh I'm surprised Bakeandyarn, about the post invite request. You'd have thought that a request to come early would be factored into the logistics by the time they'd shortlisted. The boys' e-mails both said please come 24 hours early because we've got so many strong applicants this year we want to interview extra. Great start :) Also, did your DS get interviewed at any other college? Waiting until late Friday is unusual even if you're pooled - I'm assuming this was for History but perhaps I've got that wrong.