Oxbridge 2020 (6)

[Justneedatemporaryname]

New thread ready for when the old one gets filled up!

Today’s Interview has been done and the feedback from DS is “ it was all fine I think it’s just hard to tell though “ followed by “ don’t think it was disaster by any means” 😃 it must be hard to judge what’s going on . he has another interview tomorrow morning . I haven’t heard anything about the etc but that’s nothing unusual 😆

Do you know what's missing on this thread - a like button. Or a 'hey don't worry it will turn out for the best' button.

Oh yes, @HugoSpritz, do!

DS home from Oxford, after 3 interviews (PPE) which he said were ok. Quite enjoyed the questions about paradoxes, as he hadn't come across those before. No questions about his PS. He said he met a girl from France and a boy from Australia at the college (anyone from here?!), and they played a lot of board games.

One PPE person was asked to do another interview for another college today but the others were let go mid-morning. He enjoyed the experience and would love a place of course! But I don't think he would reapply next year if he doesn't get an offer.

Hope everyone is getting on alright. I'm just glad it's over

Ofteninaspin
That makes sense. I'm stunned they don't have to do that with everyone as the admin must be a nightmare. I think if you see the application/acceptance stats by year you can see there's a big variation in applicants in a particular subject to a particular college. For the non-admin types among us it seems a nightmare.

DS is pretty devastated after his Oxbridge interview. He is a genuine enthusiast for his subject & as a result has amassed vast knowledge and interesting opinions. The interview touched on precisely none of that, instead posing questions that even with hindsight would be impossible to prepare for. No doubt that allows them to select the right candidates, but it was gutting for DS, especially as he was completely thrown by their questions, getting muddled and fluffing it.

He now feels betrayed and upset that all his work and passion was for nothing, at least as far as this particular university is concerned. He had never really set his heart on it, and neither had we as parents, but the experience has been an ordeal for him. I feel as a comprehensive school kid he had inadequate preparation and that had he known what to expect then he may have been able to tackle the questions with less panic at the very least.

I feel I have let him down by encouraging him to apply for something so competitive and sending him into battle without proper preparation. It's really shaken his confidence, which is largely built on being the "clever one". I know that he will end up at the right place for him, whatever that is, I just wish the experience hadn't been so bruising.

It's been cathartic for me to vent about this here ... thank you!

I do wish that if you were a definite no you could be told immediately. It would save a lot of pointless hoping and waiting.

Sergeantmajor my DD thought she was awful at interview and her heart thumped when she got a place - completely unexpected. The interviews are just hard.
Hope in time, he feels it was a challenging experience. My DD did find it painful at time. Loves it there though.

Oh @sargentmajor, that is . I do hope it doesn't put him off and it certainly doesn't mean he isn't clever. Nearly everyone gets flustered at some point in these interviews, although some are better at covering it than others!

Satgeantmajor- I assume it's a humanity and if yes, I think that's probably the point of the interview. So they can't prepare and have to think/work things out 'on the fly'.

DDs was like that too and she said there was nothing she could have done to prepare for the questions they threw at her. They didn't touch on her 'specialist interest' despite her PS making it obvious what it was. She was a bit punch-drunk after the academic interview but can def see the funny side of it.

Your DS shouldn't be too down-hearted because everyone was in the same boat (punt?), there's no way of knowing how the interviewers thought he performed nor how anyone else did.

We are all going to have to sit back, enjoy Xmas and see what happens!!

Gizmo I have no experience to offer but my gut feeling is not to mention the possible gap year just yet. See if you get an offer then negotiate?! As I say, I don't know how it works but good luck with the decision.

Sergeantmajor hope recovery is swift and no lasting damage is done. You might find it was all good, none of us really know what they are looking for or how they are finding it.

Well done to all the others who have finished or are still somewhere being interviewed/getting ready.

It'll soon be Christmas and this time next year this will all be a distant memory

Kaptain Kaveman I hope it went better than she thinks. Which college? (PM me for private angst-ridden chat about MML and C?) If she found the readings good and the assessment okay, I think it sounds really positive. I wasn't clear what they're supposed to do for their ab initio languages. On TSR it seemed like some were v familiar with the history or literature (in English) of the country, but not sure if they also want you to look at something in the language to try and tease out grammar or whatever. I guess you shouldn't post any answers to that (wasn't fishing!) as it's against the rules anyhow.
Anyway it's done. She'll be knackered and ready for a cuddle. Good luck to her and hope it's good news on 15th!

DD had her teaching interview, test and her college interview. She wasn't pooled & was free to leave as soon as she got up. She has decided this is either a good sign or she did so badly that her original college wouldn't wish her on any other one. She said she couldn't tell which. The lovely thing is that all the other candidates & her got to hang out while they waited for parents to collect or their booked trains. They have decided to all keep in touch when they are all doing their degrees.

DS says that none of his 4 interviewers gave any sign of having read his PS at all. Could it be that the PSs are used to short list for interview and then binned? Or perhaps they like to interview without any bias from the PSs and look at them afterwards?

@sergeantmajor Sorry to hear it was an unenjoyable experience for your DS.

At my DS's Cambridge History interview last year, he was horrified to be presented with a medieval cook book! They certainly like to throw the unexpected at these poor applicants.

He received a horribly high offer (A Star A Star A) but didn't make the grades in summer despite always being an A Star student. It's so hard on these young people.

Oh no. I think I will advise DD to opt for plan B this evening - a diverting podcast rather than analyse her ps for the nth time. She’s met a couple of others - doing v different subjects and they are all eating together.

@KingscoteStaff I’m my DC’s interview they did not mention the PS at all and was told by a tutor later that they do not ask candidates about PS during interviews at that college because anybody can study their PS and that doesn’t really tell them anything about a candidate.

@sergeantmajor im sorry about your DC’s experience but I think the reason they ask these seemingly random questions is precisely because they don’t want to give people who have had better/wider educations an advantage. They are more concerned with how someone thinks not what they know.

@Coleoptera I’m not surprised that you weren’t able to predict the interviewees. My DC tried that last year and only got 1/4 right. They often have PHD students instead of tutors at my DC’s college. However honestly it is very hard to know whether the interviewer will ‘vibe’ with your son just be searching them up online. I hope his next interview goes well. Also I’m guessing it’s sheer lack of time which makes the interviews so short. Even though they cut down so much before interviews, they still have a huge volume to interview. I’m guessing when you interviewed years ago the overall intake of Oxford was lower than it is now meaning less interviews and therefore time for longer interviews.

Sergentmajor sorry cross posted - that sounds awful. He can still claim to be the clever one. I know I and most of the people I know would never have got anywhere near an interview. To have even got to the point where his teachers didn't give the "have you thought of other options" he has done so much better than most people could hope for. In fact he has done better than that because they gave him an interview.

DD has had two interviews but she hasn’t given me any clue as to how it went.