Oxbridge 2020 (6)

[Justneedatemporaryname]

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

[Vango]

Hi all - occasional lurker, haven't posted here before. DS is en route to Cambridge for his Engineering interviews tomorrow. Very tense, and I suspect not at as well prepared as he could be! He hasn't had any practice interviews, or additional help from his school. He's very engaging, and very enthusiastic about the subject which I think he'll be able to convey. Also has his EPQ and CREST out of the way. I feel very uneducated about the whole process and won't be able to concentrate on anything for the next 24 hours.

[newdeer]

ime, the poshest public school ones are the scruffy ones with holes in their jumpers. It's the poorer ones who scrub up and wear interview suits.

@littleslummygirl - if she's going to Oxford and needs new jeans, Westgate is a great city centre shopping mall with H&M, Primark etc so lots of affordable brands.

[TeaAndStrumpets]

Good luck to your DS Vango!

I think him getting this far, despite the school not putting any effort in, is a feather in his cap. Grandson is the same, although he got good references. Some schools are definitely set up for it, but not in our area

[Vango]

Thank you TeaAndStrumpets. I think he's done extremely well. He's a very able boy and we're very proud of him. Bad traffic on the A14 (a new road opening?) is the only report I've had thus far.

[TeaAndStrumpets]

Yes Cambridge is always awful anyway, but worse atm. At least he will get a good night's (hopefully!) and not feel rushed tomorrow.

[TeaAndStrumpets]

Good night's sleep

[ErrolTheDragon]

Vango - my DD is a Cambridge 3rd year engineer - she had just one completely useless 'practice interview' at school. The actual interview questions were physics/mathsy scenarios - not the sort of thing you'd instantly know the answer to, more a matter of thinking through what the variables would be and how to approach the problem iyswim. One of them turned into a staring match at one point as the calculation needed a physical quantity you'd look up IRL - she 'won' , but not a tactic I'd recommend and maybe why she was pooled - she's been avoiding that academic ever since!

Suffice to say, if the first interview seems like a train wreck, they shouldn't despair!

[Sunndowne]

2nd that. My DD was in tears after first interview. pushed way out of her depth. Hung on in there though!

[Hoghgyni]

Goodbye 100 denier tights cover a multitude of sins on the skirt length here. A bit smarter than Noke leggings anyway.

[Sunndowne]

Good luck everyone. A great experience to go through and talk about later!

[Ironoaks]

One of them turned into a staring match at one point as the calculation needed a physical quantity you'd look up IRL

Do you mean that she asked for it to be provided and they refused? What was she expected to do?

[seedybird]

karenisbaren - We've now arrived back home from delivering DD safely to Oxford - how about you, were you in Oxford today? She's taken a picture of her room and I'm mightily impressed with the size and number of soft chairs. She's got her interview timetable so she knows where she'd got to be and when, although she knows she's got to be aware that things can change.

[KaptainKaveman]

I have consoled my dd with the fact that however awful she thinks her interviews go, they won't be as soul destroying as the ones on The Apprentice on Wednesday night! which no doubt she will watch as relief when she gets home.

[Vango]

Thanks Errol. If he can manage his nerves he should be ok with physics and maths questions. He's totally in love with the course. Congratulations to your DD.

[ErrolTheDragon]

Ironoaks - I suppose she could have just made a ballpark guess, but I think she thought it was daft as IRL she'd just google it. So she crossed her arms and eventually the guy sighed and told her. Followed by her making a hash of a simple calculation but getting there in the end.
Fortunately, there was then a written test after that- I think the idea was to do something like a problem sheet and then the second interview would be akin to a supervision, discussing the parts she'd not managed... but she was able to complete it so that took the pressure off and he came up with something else.

[PantTwizzler]

I’m not sure about the college stats this year ofteninaspin. It’s a college which has a reputation for being state school friendly. Maybe it’s just DD’s friendship group. They are privately educated and very well off. And very nice too.

[PantTwizzler]

Very best of luck to all having interviews this week — and to their longsuffering parents.

[dumbo1]

Im delurking!

My son has a Cambridge interview for maths on Tuesday, he is so stressed. Going to take hi. On Monday and spend the afternoon sightseeing so he can relax. Good luck to everyone in interviews

[Peaseblossom22]

Ds has texted to say first interview tomorrow at 11.30 but he’s not feeling brilliant , typically bad timing . Hopefully a good nights sleep will sort things

[littleslummygirl]

And here was I thinking that waiting for notification of interview or not was the worst thing. It’s going to be tense few days. Oh no I checked with her re shaking hands - I wondered if she’s had to in the past as it’s far less common but then she’ll be nonplussed if the interviewers don’t. . Shall I say be prepared but don’t offer your hand first? I can also imagine her falling over as she enters - oh dear. She did that spectacularly recently when we bumped into an old friend’s mum. Still it would break the ice and I guess they’d understand if she did. Or have fallen over before and have a tear on her knee. Not sure if we ought to rehearse that eventuality

[hattymattie]

MmeFrog - hope your DD makes it through tomorrow. DS now safely in London with his sister. We will lose our Eurostar fare but just relieved he's crossed the Channel.
Good luck to everybody.

[Malbecfan]

Waving to Errol - my DD is now home after staffing the interview helpdesk this week in her college.

The questions DD was asked were the sort of things where you needed to think out loud. The question itself was simple enough but to answer it you needed all sorts of different bits of information. DD didn't know lots of it, but she explained what she needed to be able to answer and they pushed/guided her in the right direction. Google Fermi questions if you want to see the sort of style. This was for NatSci - sorry but I have no idea about anything else.

[gizmo]

Oh it's all getting very real now. Good luck to all those DC facing interview this week. May their interviewers be lovely and the questions all on familiar topics!