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.

Interesting point Errol, I would still hazard a guess that, even given the inclusion of grammar schools (what's their demographic realistically?), does that still reflect the national average? However, I'm also quite strongly of the opinion that a spotlight perhaps should be shone more widely than Oxbridge. Interesting report published by The Sutton Trust today - I've only listened to the BBC radio article though and would need to read further.

DD is expecting to be at Oxford from Sunday to Wednesday, I can't see her being in any way upset or perturbed by this, it's clearly published in quite strong language, both on the website and via email.

Attia and Hubble - I completely agree! I also do not get the issue. In the invitation, my DD was told she needed to be there from Tuesday pm until Friday pm. She turned up on time and it turned out that she had nothing on until Thursday when she had two interviews. She did not make a big deal of this, instead, she used the day to go over things, meet people etc. She took it as a bit of a break to spend time in Oxford and to enjoy the uni and the city. Sometimes, you have to relax and enjoy, live a little! Not all has to be planned to the last second. These things could be a once in a lifetime opportunity, if people do not get in, this would have been their entire experience at Oxford, why not enjoy it!

Atia - apologies for misspelling your name!

Absolutely Puzzle. Hope she had a great time!

Hubble - she most definitely did. Really enjoyed the college, her room was amazing, en suite and had a lovely sitting area with a fire place and it was overlooking the quad with the decorated Christmas tree! In the last night she invited her friends (old from school and some new) over for film and snacks and they were all in awe I always tell her that experiences are what you make them to be. For my DD this stay confirmed that she’d love a place there, so we live in hope at the moment!

I really hope she gets her place Puzzled. Fingers crossed for you!

Thank you so much Hubble! I do too.

If you think about it the alternative may mean there is no time to give your DC's applications all the consideration they deserve.

I guess the alternative is however Cambridge do it - I assume that the interviewers write some sort of report about the applicants they're sending to the pool, and then colleges who want to fish some out go off those. It seems less of a palaver, and as far as I know works well enough.

No the alternative is to fully embrace the Oxford experience. You give up 3 days of your time for this wonderful opportunity and you are not called back in January for pool interviews as some are in Cambridge,

When you leave Oxford the decision has already been made. Some Cambridge applicants may have to attend pool interviews in mid January and then wait for another week or so beyond that to find out.

"When you leave Oxford the decision has already been made."

an 'As a matter of interest' question - I think until a few years ago Oxford let everyone know just before Christmas. Does anyone know why they changed it to early Jan? I'd assumed they were still making decisions until the point, but it sounds from this thread as though the die is cast by the end of next week (as more interviews then?).

C, glad to hear dt2 enjoyed the time there. I do agree with other pp that it's impossible to know how someone's done, which I know is not much help when you're trying to assess the odds! But he must on any view be a strong candidate given his performance in the essay, so nil desperandum! etc.

ds's turn this weekend. Hope he enjoys it.

Last year Cambridge and Oxford offer days were on the same day.

In recent past Cambridge would give out offers late December and those in the pool were told they were in the pool. They had an anxious wait in limbo. Not all pooled candidates need an interview before being fished.

puzzled - agreed. I also tell DD experiences are what you make them. I'm not great at being sympathetic to low level grumbling, there are much worse scenarios than being stuck in Oxford University for a day or so! It sounds like your Dd had a super time.

Coleoptera - am I right in assuming you analyse things somewhat?

DD's turn tomorrow too.

My smileys don't seem to work on the IPad but there was a MN 😁 after my comment to Coleoptera.

Errol it may well be more of a palaver and it may be that Cambridge moves more towards the palaver of Oxford, as it has done with aptitude tests. Cambridge relied very heavily on high ums in the AS grades, until the latter's demise, so arguably the interview wasn't as crucial.

I know that a bf of one of my DDs who'd selected for both Oxford and Cambridge (three at Oxford, two at Cambridge) infinitely preferred Oxford's interviewing system and rated it much more highly.

Everincreasingfrequency the business of getting out the letters before Christmas created a hugely stressed situation for all the admin teams in each college ahead of Christmas. A big ask for a lot of people trying to organise family life too.

I don't see any need for irritation either, really - it's what you sign up to and the colleges don't keep people hanging around for the hell of it. That's the minimum amount of time they feel they need to do the job as fairly as they can.

It sounds a great room Puzzledmum. I suspect her first year one may not be quite so fabulous! Fingers crossed on both scores anyway.

That should be three cycles at Oxford, two at Cambridge.

Just reading randomly here and Coleoptera, I think you could read almost anything at all into DT2's scenario. So much potential to argue for either outcome! In equal measure! I'm glad he's in good spirits. The school sat on him a bit so I can see why he went timid on college choice. That bit would irritate me.

"In recent past Cambridge would give out offers late December and those in the pool were told they were in the pool. They had an anxious wait in limbo."

Oh yes I remember that - probably the worst of all worlds for those poor students. Not just recent either, if (big if) I remember correctly - it happened several decades ago as well. I agree that waiting until Jan to tell everyone is better than that!

Yes, I can see the admin point about pre Christmas - though have numbers of applicants gone up a lot? They managed the pre Christmas notifications for many years, including when everything was posted.

It is interesting to see how popular the several day interview is here, and obviously that is a much more positive approach than mine! This Ms Gradgrind would also (in the hypothetical situation) encourage the dc to see it as a fantastic opportunity, but would secretly be irritated that they would have the stress and hassle of nearly a week of school to catch up on in what is a generally very stressful term. Obviously doesn't apply to the deeply unstressed and confident dteens who can deal with all of this without a care. Not all are so lucky! I wouldn't let on to the dteen though - Gradgrindian tendencies should be suppressed.

(No particular axe to grind here - no dc applying!)

Coleoptera - or those who were sent home were no hopers. There is no way to know. There is no point us telling you not to overthink it, as you’re not built that way, and actually I think you’ve set yourself up nicely with no expectations, so that if there is no offer, that’s fine, and if there is an offer, jubilation and surprise! Probably a healthy way to go about it. Hope things go well for DT1, even though he’s headed to the other place!

Justanothermile - best of luck to your DD for tomorrow! Hope she has a great experience!

Coleoptera - best of luck to your DT1 also! I also feel that there is room for deliberation re DT2’s experience, not necessarily all bad! It may actually be quite positive.

Goodbyestranger - the room my DD stayed at was a nice third year one. In the first year, the rooms are much smaller ( although the layout is similar, i. e living area, bedroom part, en suite) , in a “modern” block. Not my type at all, but she seems to like them as she stayed in one of them when she went for open days in June. I am sure if my DD gets an offer, the accommodation will be the least of her worries

In recent past Cambridge would give out offers late December

I'd heard it used to be Xmas eve.

I guess there are pros and cons to the two places different approach, and how you view each will vary according to each applicants's character. My understanding is that Cambridge mostly just offers pool places straight off with no further interview (its what happened to DD, maybe this is commoner on the STEM side where there's maybe more objective criteria), but the colleges may have opportunities for offer holders to visit before deciding to accept the place or not.

Evenincreasing I would think that DC applying to Oxbridge would have the ability to catch up quickly on 3 or 4 days missed schooling!! I must admit I am finding it difficult to be sympathetic on this particular issue. Maybe DC who are worried could take A level work with them if they are that concerned.