Oxbridge 2020 (6)

[Justneedatemporaryname]

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

My D is getting the train on Tuesday morning - she has to be there from 6pm Tuesday until 1pm on Saturday, so she'll only be at school on Monday this week. The interview email suggested that she brings laptop and school work, there will also be things organised for them in the evenings - quizzes etc.
Four people from her school applied to Oxford (more applied to Cambridge) and they have all got interviews, but different colleges and dates.

Yesterday DD said her intelligence has grown exponentially through the experience of interview prep. I think she means trying to link things together (novels with the historical context of the various countries or with movements like existentialism). She keeps finding new things she would like to read or study. She also really enjoyed the mock interviews set up by school.

I hope this comment means she'll appreciate the experience, no matter the outcome, but I know she will be gutted if she doesn't get an offer. (Nibble, gnaw, gnash).

Wow, Julesjules. It's a long week. I guess it's a great taster session and a good chance to meet (potential) colleagues. I would have been the nervous one in the corner, but I do hope all the students can relax and enjoy the four days and find new friends and shine in their interviews.

Checking in. DD just heard that the year 13 prom is on the night before the final STEP paper and is feeling a bit.

Sorry to hear this.

However, I'm a little confused. I thought there was only one STEP paper in October or November? Sorry if this has been asked before, but could anyone point me to a simple time line of what happens when with Oxbridge applications?

Thank you HugoSpritz.

I thought all the tests were in Oct/Nov and were used to decide who got an interview. Dd will be applying next year, so we are trying to get up to speed on how Oxbridge, UCAS and getting a university place in general works.

STEP stands for 'Sixth Term Examination Paper', which sort of gives it away (but only once you have discovered that it stands for that, of course...).

Bit tense here , a bit of calming Xbox is needed. ! Last minute worry about clothes , the thing about not knowing how long they have to stay is frustrating especially train ticketwisev

Cambridge Math is an interesting one because it’s not getting an offer that’s really the hardest part but meeting the STEP requirements. STEP is a rather difficult exam. I was never very good at maths.

If they are told to arrive by 6 tonight will they get dinner ?

KaptainKaveman I would say send her in to school to try to keep everything as normal. My DS has got an interview at C on Wednesday as well. I am (99.9999%) sure he will be going to school tomo and Tuesday. However, you know your DD best so maybe let her decide how she feels nearer the time.

I feel for the Oxford hopefuls having a few days of interrogations interviews. However my DS who has got a Cambridge interview says he would much prefer to have a couple of days rather than just one!

It’s amazing how many very wealthy students there are. And so many from independent schools. Quite an eye-opener.

*Pantwizzler Does your DD's college have a particularly high intake from independent schools this year? I also collected DD from her college on Saturday where three-quarters of the undergrads are state educated. Many of those parents appear wealthy to me but their offspring attended grammar schools and large state sixth forms. Many (wealthy) parents don't pay for education if a good state alternative exists. Others make sacrifices to pay for their child's education if their local state provision is poor. The latter are definitely less wealthy than the former!

Hello - just checking in rather late. DS flying from France today. I am crossing fingers that his flight isn't cancelled.

Wondering if the kids are hard to distinguish re parental wealth? Think DD will be a bit thrown by meeting a mini Rees Mogg type. She didn’t want to go near the grand colleges at C and picked this one because it seemed down to earth. She’s now worrying about clothes. Has a dress but not girly and dms but now thinks she should go for jeans but her jeans are all really scruffy

DD is wearing her DMs with a skirt and taking two pairs of smart trousers. From when she did work experience.

I’m really nervous for her and all the DC on here.

He’s gone, total melt down about an hour ago , so unlike him , he’s so not invested in Oxford but feeling the weight of imagined people’s expectations I think . It just seemed enormous suddenly. Part of me wants to go with him but dh , less emotional has gone, which is for the best probably . This process is so much harder than I thought

seedybird are you going to Oxford?

DD is going to take jeans only, no smart trousers (she doesn't have any) or skirts (also doesn't have any , at least none which could be even vaguely called an appropriate length).

Littleslummygirl - no one will be judging your DD by her clothes, so long as they're clean. If there's time to get some less scruffy jeans she might feel more confident, that's all. (DDs normal black skinnies were absolutely fine). If it's not feasible to get new ones, just try to reassure her that they're interested in her mind, not her clothes.

As to being able to tell the parental wealth of other kids - DD only realised that a bloke who is now one of her best mates might come from a wealthy background because he bought food from M&S and bumped into quite a lot of ex schoolmates in the first term. I'm not sure she met any other interviewees at Cambridge, she stayed with DH in a hotel rather than college the night before.

Hello Hattiemattie , my DD is flying from the SW of France tomorrow. I am also worried about strikes.

DS went off on a bus to Oxford earlier. He's worried that he's not nervous! And confessed that his personal tutor was doubtful in September that he'd get an interview but to go for it anyway. I suggested that if asked about PPE political heroes he makes more of Wilson than Cameron I don't suppose I'll hear much between now and Wednesday night but hopefully he'll just enjoy the experience...
...meanwhile I have to deal with mock GCSE results - the maths teacher has said that they're his lowest-achieving top set ever!

Ds is wearing one pair of jeans and taking s second smarter black pair

littleslummygirl my grandson will be wearing charity shop chic! He’s supremely uninterested in brands, so an obscure band t shirt and skinny black jeans will be the limit for him. His household income is free school meals level, so he dresses on a shoe string but always looks cool!