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.

[choccyp1g]

DS doesn't want me to tell family, because then he'll feel more pressured in the interview...

[Lililili]

Wiifit where do you live? Just wondering if I can help with a tutor suggestion, but only in Leeds /Huddersfield area....

choccy great that the friends both have offers and, yes, I understand the not telling people/pressure thing. My daughter has wanted to go to Cambridge for so long (originally for Maths) that everyone in the family knows and she does feel the pressure now.

[Wiifitmama]

We live in London, but thank you for the offer anyway!

Thank you to everyone for the advice about STEP. I have calmed down and think you are all correct - ds can prep for this on his own. He taught himself maths right through to GCSE (he was home ed) and has continued to teach himself through A Level, using his teachers at college more as a resource than anything else. He is totally suited to Cambridge because of this, and STEP prep will be no different. To be clear, he has not actually asked me to find help for him, I was just angry at the school and looking for what I could do to help!

I am totally on board with those kids who are using their interview days at Oxford as a break! Cambridge is only one day (no need to overnight stay for ds but they do offer it) but they are offering food - so ds is getting their early enough to partake of the lunch they are offering and looking forward to it!

[Lililili]

Wiifit Problems with school over Maths have put my DD off Maths in the end. She stopped at an AS in Further Maths after having self taught most of her A level previously. She really needed validation and support. It is great to hear your son is so motivated. I think that can be the result of good home ed. I’m sure he’ll do well. Make sure his college know how much he is having to do independently. They will see this as a positive. Well done!

[Malbecfan]

Congratulations to those whose DCs have interviews and commiserations to those that have not. Nothing new to report from here, other than this time next week I will be collecting DD1 from Cambridge as her term will have ended. Just spoken to her and she still has Chem questions and 2 essays to write before she finishes...

[Rianna]

I agree . But he might find some support on student room or whatever from other children preparing it .what these test try to do is distinguish between talent and coaching . He should be fine .

[PotteryGirl]

Clare College Cambs interview for DS. He's studying VetMed. Interview at Liverpool too, he's on the holding list for Bristol so just Edinburgh to come through. Exciting times for our babies..😍

[SpiralArchitect]

Thanks Lumpy76 and goodbyestranger

DH is driving her up on the Sunday and wants to get at least part of the way home before it gets properly dark, so it's good to know that she should be able to drop her stuff off even if her room isn't ready.

I thought it would be easier once we knew about the interview, but I'm still a complete wreck!

[Aurea]

@Coleoptera

My DS has an Law interview at Oxford soon. He also went down solo in March at age 16 for the Law Open Day. He had to stay two nights on his own at Pembroke because he travelled from the north of Scotland (solo) and the journey meant he had to stay the night before and the night after the event. He had never been to Oxford before.

He has been on a train before, but never on his own. He didn't want me to accompany him, although I would have been very happy to. No parents were at the Open Day.

He coped really well on his own. He arrived in Oxford at 8pm. Found the college on his own with his map on his phone. Checked in, then went out and got something to eat in Macdonald's.

The next morning he met others for breakfast and was guided round the college all day.

The next evening, he did the same. He found the station the next morning and arrived home safely.

It wasn't a stress to him, rather an adventure. He's now looking forward to a similar experience in a few days.

Can I gently ask if it's your DC who is worried or is it you who worries about them?

[ErrolTheDragon]

My DH took himself off to the Fitzwilliam and (I think) another museum when DD was having her interview.

From hanging around these threads for a few years now, I think for Oxford accompanying the DC there (whether by car or public transport) and then letting them find their own way back when they're done is probably the commonest approach. You know your DC best, but at this age, getting back - hopefully without time pressure - having done the journey there with you shouldn't be too bad even for a novice traveller. If the journey involves changes, maybe you can case out the platforms on your way up?

[Wiifitmama]

I won't be accompanying my ds to Cambridge. However, we are in London so it is not a far journey, he regularly takes the train by himself all over the country to meet friends, and has stayed away from home many times on his own. So for us, it is a totally different situation. I would have thought there would be a mixture of kids like my ds without parents and those whose parents come. But why not go and walk around Cambridge so you are just doing the journey with him rather than accompanying him to the college? A compromise maybe?

[Rianna]

I think most go alone . I like to bring him though . He will just sit in the car and listen to music but that’s fine . I was thinking of picking him up to hear how it went . He could easily go on his own , he’s used to travelling and knows where to go already . I’ll ask him ...
Such a shame that one of his friends got rejected :-(. It’s surprising as this friend is very good . What a stress for these kids . It’s a bit of a lottery as well I think .

[Wiifitmama]

My ds's friend who applied to the same Cambridge college as him (but not maths, NatSci) did not get an interview. He is quite upset about it as he thinks she deserves one and wanted her at the same college as him. I just think NatSci is so so competitive. When I looked at those stats posted earlier in thread, there were more than twice as many applicants for Nat Sci as for Maths! And maths had over 1500 I think. Compare that to musics (my ds2's subject of the future) which had 186 applicants!!

[Lililili]

My husband is driving DD to Cambridge and back and staying with friends. I don’t think he’ll be hanging around in the parents room though. She has travelled on the train by herself a few times, but this time we thought it best to ensure a smooth journey and support her the night before if she gets anxious, which she often does. I suppose it really depends on the DC.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

To add our experience, we did drive dd to Cambridge for her interview even though she was very used to traveling by herself. It's a fair bit quicker by car and anything we could do to avoid stress seemed like a good idea. We went for coffee, I met an mner, and we attempted some Christmas shopping. It was a cold day, but it's a nice place to hang around and you can go and get buns from fitzbillies and go to the market.

She was very chatty on the way back, then totally ran out of steam.

The park and ride is excellent for central colleges.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

I agree with roisin on STEP. Get going now if they haven't already. It's excellent prep for the interview anyway. As I said on the last thread, get them to explain what they are doing out loud to someone as they attempt a question. It's a bit of an art.

[goodbyestranger]

Wiifit the official statistics from Cambridge for the 2017 cycle show 1456 Maths applicants for 257 places (17.7% success rate); 2809 NatSci applicants for 629 places (22.4% success rate).

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Also with STEP state school candidates get invited to a STEP support day at Cambridge, dd found it very useful.

[Wiifitmama]

Thank you Ohyoubadkitten. I will mention that to ds.

Interesting about the stats. I only looked at the number of applicants, not the number of places!!

[goodbyestranger]

Not sure if the statistics show the % interviewed for both. It's possible Maths is higher since it dishes out so many additional offers and then culls through STEP. And therefore NatSci appears more competitive.

[goodbyestranger]

Well tbh Wiifitmama there's somehting about knowing you have 2808 other strong applicants up against you which makes it seem fiercer than only having to visualise 1455!

[goodbyestranger]

Or even something :)

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

My understanding is that around 80% of maths applicants get an interview at Cambridge, then about half of them get an offer and half of them pass STEP and take up a place.

[goodbyestranger]

The stats for 2017 are 1456 applicants, 532 offers, 257 successful post STEP OYBBK. If 80% were interviewed that would be 1164 so offers to almost exactly half the interviewees.