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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Oxbridge Applications 2019 (Part Three)

999 replies

windowframe · 09/01/2019 13:16

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

OP posts:
Jano69 · 14/01/2019 10:17

Baytreemum - sorry to hear you didn't get the news you were hoping for.

Malbecfan · 14/01/2019 10:28

Congratulations Jano69 and commiserations to those who didn't make it. No news here. Postman has been, nothing for DD. One of her mates has an offer for NatSci at Catz so she is pleased for him. Her college was pretty late sending out interview letters so I'm naively hoping it's the same here....

Nettleskeins · 14/01/2019 10:34

Coleoptera I have twins, one with ASD, both in first year of A levels, and I think sanity comes from giving up all attempts to "equalise". I've met many adults who talk about how much it affected them when there parents tried to make everything "fair" and downplayed their successes so as not to upset the others, and it always backfired. I feel that my twins are each successful in entirely different ways, sometimes overlapping in stealing each other's thunder sometimes just in different zones utterly. I have one sociable one, one not so sociable and I noticed that when the sociable one sees the unsociable one succeeding she is actually relieved but actually she is relieved because she knows I am less stressed, I take the weight of it daily and that is what affects her, not the comparison with her twin in itself.

I feel that it is very important to try and de-sensitise oneself as a parent and mother, because our children actually suffer a lot when when we are too upset or overjoyed by their success or failures. I know you felt in your heart of hearts that Oxford would really be the ideal place for DT2 and you wanted him to be happy so naturally it feels like a blow for him and YOU. He will be picking up on that. You actually need to set a boundary here for him to help him move forward and to reassure him. Children with ASD can be very set, and very black and white, and so you need to be very black and white about showing that you are happy for him to have attempted but not at all sad that he hasn't got in. I think just knowing your investment in his happiness is an added burden. When you can say by contrast, to a child with HFA, I know this seems difficult now, but you are going to be alright and have a great time at another university where the course will be equally demanding and suit you AND you will make friends. AND MEAN IT. And draw a line in the sand, I don't want you to continue to worry about Oxbridge, you learnt a lot from the experience and now we are booking an offer day at x uni. That is a relief for them. They have their own hopes and dreams but they are really affected by ours too.

Siblings in many families have differing results from Oxbridge, and even at two year gap the feeling of not measuring up or doing better than another sibling can be profound, but they have to manage it, or no-one would ever attempt anything and we would all end up like the Three Wise Monkeys. Yes it isn't fair, but life isn't fair and never will be.

Good luck with today but also Celebrate DT1's success if he gets it, and commiserate with him too if he fails, rather than feel relieved. And then move forward.

York is great for History BTW. My nephew went there very recently and said teaching has been really excellent. He did a MA elsewhere for location reasons and said he looked back at the teaching at York and was really struck by how good it was (in comparison to the second place)

Nettleskeins · 14/01/2019 10:41

Offer holder days also make things much more tangible. How can your dts say they hate the place when they haven't been there and only judged them by the league tables? Remind them of Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett!!!!

goodbyestranger · 14/01/2019 10:42

A really good post Netteskeins.

goodbyestranger · 14/01/2019 10:43

Or even Nettleskeins!

DrMadelineMaxwell · 14/01/2019 10:44

No news yet. Dd has a full day of lessons and mocks tomorrow so I think she's too busy to check her email.

LittleSpace · 14/01/2019 10:45

Great idea.

ds has already booked an offer day at Warwick (first choice). He is really looking forward to it. He has also been to his reserve offer day and loved it. He will still take STEP for Warwick.

cinnamontoast · 14/01/2019 10:47

Nettleskeins, I do agree with you about making everything black and white for ASD sufferers. It took me a long time to realise with my DS that wrapping things up in nuance and feelings simply didn't get through to him, so my motherly approach just wound him up further. He only really takes things on board when given a fairly brutal-sounding (to the rest of us) summary. Coleoptera, I imagine one of the difficult things for your DT is that there is now uncertainty in his future where he had believed there would be certainty. Getting my DS to acquire a new perspective on the future can be like trying to turn round an ocean liner. He thinks the world will simply bend to his expectations of what SHOULD happen.

Jano69 · 14/01/2019 10:50

Good Luck DrM and thanks again for all the pooling information which turned out to be highly relevant to DS.

OhYouBadBadKitten · 14/01/2019 11:01

I'm sorry wiifit
Not having to do step 2/3 will make things a lot less stressful.

Crossing my fingers for those who haven't heard yet.

zxcv123 · 14/01/2019 11:01

Some really lovely, thoughtful posts from others about how to approach both successes and failures. I am learning a lot, although mainly just reading in the background. Smile

Lumpy76 · 14/01/2019 11:02

@coleoptera I can empathise so much. Xxx

Lililili · 14/01/2019 11:10

DD hasn’t heard yet and has just set off for college looking very nervous.

IrmaFayLear · 14/01/2019 11:51

coleoptera - I've just read the whole thread, and I think ds had a similar experience to your ds's at his Oxford interviews. Especially the Famous Two Grumpy Women Interviewers. I am rather worried that these two Do Not Like Boys as ds had the most horrible experience. They just sat in silence and asked questions and made no replies. Ds was thrown, to say the least. Another candidate told him that they'd had a lively conversation about feminism with these two, which made ds convinced that they were on a crusade to eliminate pasty white awkward teenage boys from the university.

Ds's school did not get anyone in for History, and the Oxbridge person said they'd felt ds was a dead cert. He'd got a very high mark on his HAT test.

I think the thing to hammer home again and again is that the odds are against you. Ds was told at his interview gathering that there were 40 of them there, and they had 8 places. And they might not even choose 8.

You have to head your ds off the fixation that he is an "Oxford person" and only tutorials will suit him (and all the rest of the Oxbridge stuff). Of course everyone applying thinks that! That's why it's competitive.

Trying again is of course an option, but you have to weigh up what the mental damage might be if he is again unsuccessful and whether it would be beneficial to him to move on (and up).

Screamqueenz · 14/01/2019 11:57

Just posting for support YSS is waiting to hear.
I think I'm more nervous than he is, he had an interview on Friday at Robinson for naturalscience (having been turned down from st cats).

Malbecfan · 14/01/2019 12:02

It's a no from us. DD has just sent me a text. Best of luck to everyone still waiting, and to those with an offer, for sanity over the coming months.

ProfessorLayton1 · 14/01/2019 12:25

Dd rejected from Cambridge for Medicine..
Haven't spoken to her yet, congratulations for everyone whose DC s have had offers.

Lililili · 14/01/2019 12:38

I’m sorry Malbecfan and Prof
I hope your DC are ok
My DD hasn’t heard yet and is feeling increasingly pessimistic

GeorgeTheHippo · 14/01/2019 12:41

Poor DS was pooled but not fished. He's meeting his friends in town as they have a day off school. He seems cheerful. The next thing (in a couple of days) will be to book offer holder days at his next choices. It'll be fine.

DrMadelineMaxwell · 14/01/2019 12:44

Another no here.
A shame. But less stress for dd you g forward

York it is then. With Liverpool as an easily achieved insurance place.

bengalcat · 14/01/2019 12:48

A no here too . Received a text saying ‘I’m going to York ‘ although like many others no word from Durham yet .

DrMadelineMaxwell · 14/01/2019 12:48

As she goes forward....

Really should proofread my messaged.

AMilkyBrew · 14/01/2019 12:54

It's a no for DD. She's quite chilled about it luckily. She currently has two conditional offers, and still awaiting decision on her other two choices. Congratulations to those DC who have been offered a place, and fingers crossed for those still waiting.

bengalcat · 14/01/2019 12:54

She only needs two A’s for York .