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Higher education

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Original poster

Oxbridge 2020

999 replies

GinWorksForMe · 02/05/2019 14:15

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?

OP posts:
goodbyestranger · 05/05/2019 21:51

On the deed poll name change front my father changed his name from a foreign name to a British one in order to get a job (no interviews with his Polish name), and chose between Xxxxxxxx (the one he went for) and Slapper. So that was a near miss.

hobbema · 05/05/2019 22:16

goodbye, I think they must all be watching Line of Duty... ( GoT here) .. DH family friends in the Warsaw uprising .. the things people had / have to do .
I can’t imagine a famous parent cuts much mustard now? Lovely though HB is....

goodbyestranger · 05/05/2019 22:22

I've missed LoD altogether hobbema so just waiting for the BBC News. Yes my family was very directly involved in that but then so were so many Warsovians.

goodbyestranger · 05/05/2019 22:24

All Warsovians really.

Dancingdreamer · 06/05/2019 15:21

Re ab initio classics. I understand from my DD that there have been a number of complaints about the workload for classics at Oxford in the final year. I know all courses are hard but even by Oxford standards, it seems to be extreme. I think it is the worst for those studying ab initio.

Dancingdreamer · 06/05/2019 15:34

And forgot to add that my DD was pooled. I am not sure that I believe all the hype about you love the college you end up in. My DD still would have preferred her first choice college. The one she was allocated is fine but just not where she really wanted to be.

OKBobble · 06/05/2019 15:46

Dancingdreamer : do you mind disclosing where she ended up, where she applied to and why she chose that one? That is the current decision to be made!

BasiliskStare · 06/05/2019 17:09

@Dancingdreamer re "Re ab initio classics. I understand from my DD that there have been a number of complaints about the workload for classics at Oxford in the final year. I know all courses are hard but even by Oxford standards, it seems to be extreme. I think it is the worst for those studying ab initio."

A friend of Ds is doing finals in Classics at Oxford - from what I can understand there is a choice between e.g. a thesis / long essay - whatever it is called - I don't know - or more language papers. He is taking the second - & think if good at the language - less work . but this is vicarious knowledge.

His other comment was that fist year ab initio harder , ( i.e. having done Latin and Greek at school - he found first year easier - but no marks which count towards degree in this year ) . His other comment was that after 1st year those good at the subject catch up so 2nd year onwards ( of 4 yr course ) he has no advantage with school classics over those who had started ab initio and were good.

If useful to anyone e.g. @goodbyestranger @dancingdreamer and others. ( It is obviously anecdote but know the young man quite well )

BasiliskStare · 06/05/2019 17:29

Oh and @dancingdreamer - One of Ds's friends ( not Classics ) was pooled and ended up not at his first choice college - re course etc he would rather be there than at another university . He would have shaken hands on it before the application process. Not sure it would have been his favourite college , but they do have their own advantages. Also as I say - Oxford is relatively compact so all very easy to get to the centre and the slightly further away ones have advantages in big gardens etc. Well it's a choice isn't it. Ds always said the course and the university was his main thing. Over and above that - anything else ( and he did get into 1st choice) a benefit.

ErrolTheDragon · 06/05/2019 17:46

Choice of college and reaction to being pooled to one you didn't choose is going to depend on the individual. At the same time as my DD with her 'glass half full' attitude was finding the benefits to the pool offer, another DC on that year's thread was very disappointed by being offered a place at a college that I think my DD would have been thrilled with - not sure if they accepted it.

That's why I recommend encouraging them to not get too attached to their choice of college.

sandybayley · 06/05/2019 17:52

@ErrolTheDragon - I think that's good advice. I'm encouraging DS1 to make a choice on college and be prepared to offer a sensible 'reason why' if asked but be fully prepared to be interviewed elsewhere and/or pooled.

DS1 has to do the TSA. Any suggestions about how much prep and when? Summer is an opportunity to do some practice but not sure if he should delay a bit.

BasiliskStare · 06/05/2019 18:06

@ErroltheDragon "That's why I recommend encouraging them to not get too attached to their choice of college." And this Gentleman ( and - my words - Ladies) is how it is done. Smile ( that's an ironic quote btw not suggesting anything other ) DS always said he chose the course and the university first - all the colleges were absolutely fine - he would have been grateful to have been accepted at any. He was lucky to get 1st choice but knew fine well ( lots of people telling him he may not get 1st choice - school and university ) he could have ended up at another. He would have taken a pooled college with both hands.

Stickerrocks · 06/05/2019 19:28

So no October half term break for the SandyBayley or Stickerrocks families then. In the world of instant testing, It's going to be a long wait between 30 Oct and mid Jan.

ErrolTheDragon · 06/05/2019 19:38

It's going to be a long wait between 30 Oct and mid Jan.

Not if they've got interviews/applicant days/offer holder days elsewhere to fit in among their A level work! Smile-- One of the benefits of being an early application is that they may get a lot of this done sooner rather than later (apart from if they're applying to Durham-- one or two unis notorious for tardiness/inconsistency in when they send out offers)

OKBobble · 06/05/2019 19:49

Yes DS will have his HAT in October half term too.

Yes also school wants his PS prepared over summer hols for them to check over when he gets back in September so at least once the applications go in they are indeed gone! Plenty of time for History and Geography coursework then!

Kilash · 06/05/2019 19:49

At least doing aptitude tests in Oct means by the time any dc reach offer stage, it is relatively straightforward. I'm already having nightmares about ds taking STEP along with A levels and then having to wait until results day to see if the grade has been reached. I have heard that up to 40% of offer holders for Cambridge Maths meet their A level grades but miss their STEP requirement Shock

goodbyestranger · 06/05/2019 20:38

Thanks Dancingdreamer that corroborates what I've heard elsewhere too. DD4 (who I repeated it to) says they artfully left that detail out at the Open Day in March :) But it is what it is (to use a very overused phrase!) and to be honest plenty of Finals seem brutal at Oxford in subjects not divided between the penultimate year and the final year (not to underestimate the stress of subjects which are divided). On the plus side DD4 seems fairly cool with exams because going into that regime if you're anxious wouldn't be good.

On the college front the only situation in which I think my DC would have declined an offer would have been one from a PPH. For those affected (because subjects offered at the PPHs are limited) Oxford used to send round a pre interview option form to say whether you'd accept an offer or not and they all ticked 'No'. They said they'd prefer their second choice of uni to such a small collegiate environment but obviously that's another matter for individual choice. But some PPHs are tiny.

goodbyestranger · 06/05/2019 20:40

She'll have to do the CAT test on Oct 30th and we're away until the 27th so I guess she'll have to print the last test off the website and try it while we're away/ without internet.

TheFirstOHN · 06/05/2019 21:02

DS2 hopes to do the NSAA on 30 October.

sandybayley · 06/05/2019 21:09

@Stickerrocks - yes, I've resigned myself to no half term break this year. DD has GCSE mocks in November (her school do them early) so I'm resigned to a quiet half term. Or DS2 will be left to fend for himself.

@OKBobble - DS1 school has also asked for PS draft over summer holidays. They actually have a UCAS week before the end of the summer term to work on a draft and research courses.

Stickerrocks · 06/05/2019 21:16

No wonder it's a nightmare for anyone who goes to a school or college which doesn't routinely do Oxbridge applications. It must be so easy to miss a key date if at age 17/18 you just assume that your application follows the same path as every other university & the abbreviations alone would drive you to distraction.

ErrolTheDragon · 06/05/2019 21:21

Getting the PS pretty much done during the summer hols is IMO a good idea anyway.

I had to google PPHs - afaik Cambridge doesn't have anything quite like that.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanentprivatee_hall

TheFirstOHN · 06/05/2019 21:25

Oxford has published a timeline of the process for those who aren't familiar with it.

Oxbridge 2020
ErrolTheDragon · 06/05/2019 21:25

No wonder it's a nightmare for anyone who goes to a school or college which doesn't routinely do Oxbridge applications. It must be so easy to miss a key date if at age 17/18 you just assume that your application follows the same path as every other university & the abbreviations alone would drive you to distraction.

It's really not bad for anyone with a bit of nous and the Internet. The dates etc are not in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying "Beware of The Leopard".' .

ErrolTheDragon · 06/05/2019 21:27

(Didn't realise I'd copied a link to Cafe press along with my Douglas Adams quoteConfusedGrin)