Oxbridge Applications (Part Four)

[Aurea]

Link to previous thread -

Oxbridge Applications 2019 (Part Three) www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3474232-Oxbridge-Applications-2019-Part-Three

I see the other thread is full and am unable to find the next instalment (correct me if I'm wrong), so here it is.....

To kick things off, my DS has just firmed Trinity College, Oxford for Law (conditional AAB) and has insured Edinburgh (unconditional). He is Scottish so his qualifications are Highers/Advanced Highers. He achieved AAA in his prelims (mocks) so he's on track (fingers and toes crossed).

He went down to an Offer Holders day last weekend and had an absolute ball and met lots of lovely people. Roll on the next few months.......a small hurdle of exams first, mind.

How are everyone else's DCs doing?

Thank you

Well it’s the end of the Oxford road for DS. Two remarks brought one subject up but English remains a tantalising 0.6 UMS below the A grade, and there is no flexibility at St. John’s. Very galling when his school was adamant he has been working at A and A star all year; the grade boundaries are just so high for OCR this year they must have misjudged the standard needed. All best wishes for your DC who are starting on their Oxbridge journeys; I had a great time at Cambridge and I’m sure they will all thrive. Now we’re focusing on Edinburgh, which starts scarily soon.

@Gettingthroughtheweek we're now awaiting the final remark but aqa are proving slow . Dd also has Ed insurance but the time pressure and ongoing "hope" has really got to her and she is seriously considering asking for deferral.

Sympathies getting, that must be a blow for your ds - I think it is impossible for the dteens not to get invested in o/b places (especially with the additional application hurdles that they have to go through, and also the possible additional 'feting' that there tends to be in schools when they get the offers!).

Loads of people will have said this to you I'm sure already, but once more won't hurt - Edinburgh is a great place and excellent university, and so many students seem to have an excellent time there. The quick start may also be a good thing in some ways, as there's less time to sit around thinking about things.

No. Def not.
Never use these types of services

Thanks @SoonerthanIthought - he is looking forward to Edinburgh, and I’m sure he’ll have a great time. His school isn’t bothered either way!

Hadn't checked this thread for a while. Very sorry for getting and liz DC's experiences.

My question is this. DD hasn't heard anything from her college re when she's supposed to turn up, or about a reading list. She's had various bumf about university cards etc, and general reading materials from the faculty, but nothing from her college tutors. Have others heard these details yet?

Congrats PantTwizzler and Lililili.

DS also missed his Cambridge offer. A Star A A wasn't good enough - he was just a few marks off the second A Star needed. It was a gruelling process made worse by the fact he was put in the summer pool and wasn't rejected until 36 hours after results morning. He got straight A Stars in all his mocks but couldn't deliver in the real exams, largely due to the pressure of the Cambridge offer hanging over him.

Tears have (almost) dried and the Cambridge dream is starting to fade. He was fortunate to secure his insurance place at Durham, although the uncertainty continues as he's still waiting to be allocated a college.

Commiserations to LIZS and Getting. Part of the misery is having so few people understand how devastating it is to get so far in the process and miss the final hurdle.

Good luck to everyone on this thread looking forward to starting Oxford and Cambridge this autumn.

DS has only just received a reading list from his college today. He wasn't impressed!

As for the start date, Freshers' Week (0th week) is 6-12 October, so I expect your DD will need to arrive towards the start of that. DS' college asks them to arrive on Monday 7 October.

Oh, just read your news Jano - so sorry for your son. I think all of us whose DCs were successful know how incredibly fine the margins can be and how a bit of luck is always involved with these things.

DS' insurance was Durham too. I'm sure it will be lovely.

Oh ouch Jano, that is gruelling indeed. 36 hour wait must have been stressful for your ds (and you!). Did ds consider a remark or did school advise against?

Durham really is an amazing place (as is Edinburgh!) and I'm sure your ds will have a really good time. As I may have banged on about below I think the pre results application process can be very hard on applicants, particularly now that everything hinges on one set of exams at the end of two years. I hope ds gets a college he likes, but tbh I think that most students end up thinking theirs is the best wherever they go!

@Jano69 I am so so sorry he didn't make it and I totally do get how hard it must be. They get so invested the further along they get. I am sure Durham will be great but yes so hard.

My Dc met their offer and information is trickling through. Accommodation not allocated yet but I suspect next week.

Thanks for your kind words zxcv, Sooner and Purple. I'm sure ds will have a fabulous time at Durham and the Cambridge disappointment will become a distant memory.

PantTwizzler - I hope you get some responses soon about whether others have heard back from their colleges regarding reading lists etc.

I'm so sorry to learn of some DC's disappointments. Hopefully it will begin to soon fade with the new life that awaits.

Pantwizzler

My DS received his Oxford law reading list a week or so ago by email from his college. It wasn't compulsory, but recommended looking through a couple of books to get an idea of the course. N.B most law students won't have studied the subject before so the tutors may prefer them to start 'fresh'.

DS actually got his reading lists some way back in July with the caveat that they knew many people would not have a confirmed place till August 15th. There are loads of books on them (joint school) and it's a bit difficult as he doesn't know which to start with for the literature spec - they can't study them all at once! For one subject, there are two definite pre reads and some recommended chapters of other textbooks. He is not exactly busting a gut, in line with previous behaviour, and claims he has load of time.

Thanks for the comments. DD has plenty to get on with — language prep work from the faculty came through weeks ago — but she is procrastinating as she did with A-level revision. I’m supposed to be handing over responsibility to her at this point but I’m finding it very hard. (I did Italian ab initio; we were expected to get up to A-level standard in the summer before Oxford. I suspect Classics will be a similar whirlwind once you start.)

Oh gosh - I am sorry about those narrow misses! That happened to me. It all worked out.

How heart breaking for those who worked so hard and missed out by such tiny amounts. And how frustrating that everything turns on such tiny margins! Do any if you have words of wisdom for those coming up behind? Has it all settled down now ? I’m telling my DD to make sure she loves her insurance as much as her first choice. Easier said of course when offers are so hard to come by!

Still no word from DD's college re her start date, accommodation and reading list. She's emailed only to get an out-of-office reply, so she emailed the other address given: no response. I phoned myself today to try to get some answers out of them. No response. I called the Porters Lodge and was told that there was no one in the office because they're having a staff party -- all day!! Unbelievable!

Thanks @Jano69 , sorry to hear you are in same boat. Dd still waiting to see if request to defer is accepted. She is far more excited about the idea of taking time out to do other things out than the immediate prospect of uni life.

As for tips for those following, she is ruing taking 4 A levels and wishing an AS had been an option. Also she had invested a lot of emotional energy in the whole idea - what it might be like, what extra curricular activities she would do , course options etc which made the disappointment and transition to another uni much more difficult. However without doing so she may not have got as far as an offer.

Great emotional resilience there LIZS. I could take a page out of her book. I’m getting worse as l get older!

Commiserations LIZS. I don't know how DD would have coped with not getting in. She got in with the exact offer, no higher, so it could easily not have worked out for her. She is very lucky and I'm sorry that your DD missed out. I am trying very hard to ensure that DS (who is applying this year) is realistic about his prospects, and the fact that plenty of deserving people don't get in.

LIZS When do you get the remark back? Must be so tough waiting.

Remarks all came back by 27th - only one subject changed overall (AQA Bio) and by not enough. AQA Maths one paper went up one, another down one (or could have been an input error as scores reversed). She decided not to recall Bio paper.