Oxbridge 2020

[GinWorksForMe]

Is it too early for an Oxbridge 2020 thread? I'm feeling in need of some hand holding through this process...

DS1 is going to apply to Cambridge for Maths. Doesn't know yet whether to name a college or put in an open application, so any tips gratefully received. We have visited two (very different) colleges and been to a Maths Open Day. It's unlikely we're going to have the opportunity to visit many more colleges as their open days seem to be on Saturdays and DS1 has a paid job Saturdays and Sundays.

Anyone else applying for Oxbridge for 2020 entry and want to share the journey?

Is he tending towards Phil or PhilTh (do they call it that? grin) for his other 4 choices, kingscote? Maybe thinking about that would shed light on which of Oxford or Cambridge to choose.

Well Errol being the pain that he is, what he'd really like to do is Philosophy at Oxford, but they don't do it... So he has to pick his first choice course in his second choice city, or vice versa!

If he does choose PhilTh at Oxford, he will apply for straight Philosophy elsewhere, as the other Philosophy + Religion courses don't have quite the same content.

I thought your DS wanted to do History Kingscote or am I mixing you up with someone else?

Possibly mixing her up with me. We had a conversation by DM re history.

Ah yes OKBobble

There does need to be much more help with the cost of open days including food and accommodation.

DS got an overnight in halls (he was very impressed- it was much nicer than his own bedroom!) and one meal but we still had to pay over £200 for extra transport/ food to go to both the subject and colleges open days.

It’s contributed to us not having any family holiday this year- not even a weekend.

For those commenting on ‘posh people’/ homeless people those observations weren’t from an open day so that didn’t skew it.

It again shows what a bubble people live in that they think that it’s only the homeless people who look haggered. In some places in the uk the majority of people are out of work, in poverty and have huge adversities in their lives. Oxford, like all cities may have a few estates like that but it’s not on the scale of the most deprived areas. Where I’ve lived and worked poverty isn’t just something you see in doorways or at night it’s all the time everywhere. Every city has drunks at night, but affluent areas don’t tend to have them staggering about at lunchtime every day. And as for disabled people where we come from someone in a wheelchair is more likely to have ended up there through needing an amputation after shooting too much heroin into their thighs rather than from a skiing accident.

Oxford and Cambridge are affluent bubbles compared to the most excluded postcodes of the U.K. anyone trying to deny that is just being obtuse.

Verily1 DD stayed overnight in Magdalen at no cost and the college offered to pay transport costs for those on FSM or anyone else who gave a valid reason for needing help. Has your DS been to the main Open Day last week plus a subject day or has he been to a third one as well?

It's a bit difficult paying for open days, though. Should every university finance every person who wishes to visit? Why are Oxbridge (as usual) the targets for "not fairness"? Should St Andrews pay for people to trek up there, or to Falmouth? And to say FSM is a bit of a blunt tool; I'm sure most parents couldn't finance a tour of UK universities that might interest their dc.

Btw agree with Goodbyestranger - homeless do gravitate towards affluent areas, and particularly areas with a lot of tourists. Portland in Oregon has a huge homeless problem. It is a famously liberal city but its homeless policy has backfired as it has encouraged more to come, leading to tent cities in the most hipster areas (and unhappy hipsters).

FSM seemed to be the starting point Irma. So FSM plus anyone who could say why they felt they needed financial support seems a reasonable combination.

I'm not quite sure why Verily is insisting that no-one else ever thinks or knows about deprivation other than her.

DS has to pay about £50 for travel. I think the accommodation was free.

Oxbridge are phenomenally wealthy establishments. Why shouldn’t they do their bit and pay?

Does anyone have any advice about gap years? DD has a year in Rome lined up between school and university (so technically I should be on a yet-to-be-started Oxbridge 2021 thread). She spoke to an admissions tutor today who advised against a deferred application. Not sure what to think now.

No advice really except to say that I would like DS to do one but get a job and save up to take the sting out of the finances of studying.

I think Oxford are already doing a lot to encourage people to apply. I'm comparing the vibe at the Open Day this year, and the information available online, to what was available when I applied in 1989. I was the first from my (single parent) family to go to university and on FSM. I didn't get any help with travel costs for any open days or interviews. I can't remember now, but I expect I paid for coach travel out of the money I earnt from my Saturday job.

I do agree that both Oxford and Cambridge seem very polished and moneyed these days. There is a significant population of homeless people in Oxford (many more than in my day) but there are also more high-end shops and restaurants. The latter is even more the case in Cambridge IMO. The town centre is seriously swanky nowadays.

howwudufeel the point is that they do pay for those who need it which (taking the Magdalen aplication form as pretty standard) means those on FSM plus anyone else who makes a valid case. They shouldn't be paying people such as Verily because she'd rather spend the money on a family holiday. They absolutely do do their bit. It would help on these threads if people read the web site which might mean they mouthed off less about bubbles etc.

howwudufeel - so they should pay for unlimited numbers to visit? And overnight accommodation? This would lead to a requirement to prove one's academic credentials.

Regarding a gap year - the general feeling is that if you are asking to go a year later than your usual round, you will be taking a place from someone applying next year, so you have to be bloody good for them to reserve a space for you. There's no point saying you want a gap year if you are an aspirational applicant (ie nearly everybody!) rather than a dead cert (hardly anybody). Even more so if you are applying to very popular colleges.

One way to get a gap year is to apply post A Levels. Obviously this route has its drawbacks, one of them being not getting in!

Also, to be honest, the most cost effective way to make a uni application is to use all the various websites plus a bit of extra googling. I've said it before but at the risk of being a bore my DC only went to the Oxford Open day at nil cost for most of them (school took a bus) and £50 return train fare for the youngest. Other than that - web sites.

Also it's a bit irksome when parents complain about the cost for themselves. Perhaps it is nice to go and have together time (if for some reason that can't happen at home) but it's not for the unis to fund it. These things are a luxury for parents, not a necessity.

Someone I know has a deferred offer for PPE at Oxford, beginning 2020.

You have to be the best of the best to achieve this, as hey need to ensure that the candidate will be good enough to match the competition in the following year.

She is Scottish and would have been 17 on entry if she hadn't deferred.

Irma Absolutely. I think they could cover the cost for candidates put forward by their sixth form colleges as credible candidates.

It's good to hear your DC's experience of (not going to) open days, goodbye. I have some friends who've practically made it a hobby to go with their DC to open days, from year 11 onwards!

Goodbyestranger parents shouldn’t really be at open days never mind have their costs met!

Quite howwudufeel! But I don't see any good reason for Oxford and Cambridge to pay for the travel costs of every applicant regardless of household income - surely they need to limit payment for those prospective applicants in genuine need? They're not limiting it to those on FSM. Beyond that there are 16-19 Bursary funds available from the school end for those in need.

Thanks @Aurea - that is helpful.

Can I ask about numbers of A levels your DCs are taking? DD school usually offers 3 A Levels plus either an AS (languages/ further maths) or EPQ. Are most of the DC on here doing 4 A levels?

I know that Oxbridge offers are only for 3 A levels but looking at Unistats it seems that most people with offers must have been doing 4+ so I'm wondering if DD would be at a big disadvantage from the start if only doing 3.

The thing is the Unistats details are from 2015-17 which would have been the old style A levels and I can't work out whether this would have an impact on the number of A Levels people are doing.

Dd started on 4 and epq. She’s sat an A’s in one and dropped it, so will be sitting 3 next summer. Epq will finish in November.