Oxbridge Applications 2019 (Part Three)

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Today is a big day for many... time for a new thread too

How do they balance the number of boys versus girls if there are all women colleges? Or is there no attempt to balance boys / girls each year?

Thank you hoccleve for sharing- that must have been awful.
Personally I think this is the worst scenario of all. I must admit I was in two minds about this whole thing; whilst it is fantastic to have an offer the pressure is on now. Will just have to keep a close eye on her.

I hope that the schools who have supported and encouraged pupils with their pplications also provide support when they don’t get an offer. Obviously parents have an important role to play but surely a few nice words of encouragement from their teachers doesn’t go amiss.

I'm not sure why boys and girls should have to 'be balanced' Little Space. Places should be offered on merit. It's only a single undergraduate college in the whole of Oxford and Cambridge - not a huge number of places in the scheme of things.

The thing about grades is that on the whole offers are lower at Oxford than elsewhere - certainly for social sciences and humanities. Arguably, after an offer in Y13, that takes pressure off. Cambridge is different of course.

Wasn't saying that they should....just wondering because I don't understand the system too well. Curiosity really.

If there was a boys only college it would hit the headlines wouldn't it?

Or can boys apply to the female college anyway?

Baytree mum it was St John's

Well St Hilda's (last female college to go mixed) managed to stay single sex for twenty years longer than Oriel (last male college to go mixed) so you may have a point :)

So it is historical?

Lots of colleges used to be single sex and most have gone mixed with one exception.

Why doesn't the last college go mixed too?

Don't know! A woman's prerogative!

Yes I would agree with what Hoccleve says about not over-sharing or assuming an offer = a place. Luckily grandparents live far away!!

As I said further back, the same happened to my dd. What went “wrong”? I would say that firstly the offer went slightly to her head. Secondly she focussed too much on needing to get an A* so probably studied harder in the two subjects in which she had the best chance of getting that grade. Which she did achieve. But overlooked that her third subject was the one she had done least well in at AS and with hindsight was the one she should have given extra attention to.

One of my DS's did the opposite - concentrated on his weakest subject and got the highest mark in the school for that but missed a grade in the subject he'd been safe in (not his Oxford subject, and fortunately they took him anyway). Basically, it can be a difficult balance. As far as people knowing goes that's tricky too. People at school always know and family ask. I never tell people gratuitously though; only if they ask.

"Yes I would agree with what Hoccleve says about not over-sharing or assuming an offer = a place."

I agree. DD's boyfriend had to deal with this when the A level grades failed to materialise.

Just out of interest Goodbye have any of yours ended up at same college?

I agree with the idea that it would be easier if people didn't know about an offer. But IME that is impossible to achieve.

Certainly it is wise never to assume that the grades will be achieved though, and also to stress the positives of the insurance offer.

The trouble with not letting anyone know is that the process in school means that everyone knows anyway. Times that by a thousand if you are the only one applying from your school. .

Absolutely Hocleve - a long time ago, but I missed my Cambridge offer. DD has already said how much she will worry about getting the grades if she does get an offer tomorrow. Still, she does very much want that offer. As for people knowing - well she has been planning the application for years and everybody knows unfortunately, so a lot of pressure!

School photos of offer holders!! Not easy to keep it quiet.

No Hubble they haven't. Two have had additional interviews at the college of a third but then both got taken by their original college.

I also narrowly missed my Cambridge offer. This was after my mum had told the entire town, my picture was in the paper - first one in x number of years to 'get in' from my school. I had a write up in the school prospectus, all sorts.
Then I didn't get in. Still went to a Russell group, still did well but never quite got over that disappointment and felt that people were laughing at me.

Oh Pootle the way you wrote that made me laugh. You poor thing!!

Re the women's colleges: bear in mind they were founded at a time when all the others were exclusively male! There are 3 women's colleges left, all in Cambridge- Newnham, Murray Edwards (used to be New Hall), and Lucy Cavendish which is for mature students only. Apparently their feeling is that there is still a place for all-female education for various reasons, although I have read that Murray Edwards might decide to go coed when and if the male:female admissions rates in Cambridge reach parity - unlike universities as a whole where women are now in the majority, they're still somewhat in the minority there (and I think oxford too?).

For historical context: women were only admitted as full members of oxford in 1920, and the formerly all-male colleges there didn't start to admit women until 1974.

Cambridge did not allow women to be full members of the university until 1948, the formerly all-male colleges started to admit women from 1972.

Oh I thought Newnham had gone over too - my mistake.