Oxbridge 2020 (8th thread)

[DadDadDad]

A thread to continue discussing entry to Oxbridge in October 2020 (less than nine months away ). All welcome, although this obviously will be of most interest to those with DS or DD holding an offer, and wanting to find a bit of support.

All too soon, 13 August will come over the horizon. Until then, ask questions... share experiences... discuss news and stats... write a poem... (we did briefly have some poetry on a previous thread).

With huge thanks to @HugoSpritz and predecessors for previous threads.

A AA required for my dd to gain entry to Cambridge for MML ( the A is required for her fIrst MFL).

Ditto my friend's ds - A AA required to do English, (the A in Eng).

Another friend of my dd is required to gain 2 x A* A for MML.

Her pal doing straight Spanish at Oxford - AAA.

Out of interest do any of you know of students who get pooled and subsequently decide against Oxbridge? Some of dd's friends were pooled but are happy nonetheless.

DD remarked that if she'd been pooled to one of the women only colleges she'd have to think twice about accepting the offer (she goes to a girls' school and is in dire need of male presence it would seem ).

Isn't teaching departmental? In which case, surely she would spend quite a lot of her time in mixed company?

What a lovely post to read @Coleoptera! Those firming emails to track must have felt so so good! I know at least 2 sets of friends who have been to a parents formal hall , maybe its universal ?
KaptainKaveman, I think there’s a poster from last year whose DD was pooled to a womens’ college and loved it after initial reservation. DD was strongly considering them herself , they seem to have a different and very positive energy. She didnt in the end but became so invested in the process she’d have been happy to accept any college/ broomcupboard that wanted her. Lots of posters say that you end up loving your college regardless, which is probably far too much of a generalisation to be true?

Re pooling - the year DD got her offer, there was someone with a DD who wasn't at all happy with her pool offer to Churchill - I'm not sure what the outcome was, the last I remember was the parent trying to persuade her to go to the offer holders' event.
OTOH, despite mine having been completely adamant that after her girls' school she wasn't interested in a women's college, and had declined to go on a school visit to ME in the lower sixth, did the fastest 180 spin ever, rapidly coming up with advantages versus her original choice. She prudently didn't make her UCAS selection until after the offer holders visit (as mentioned in another thread, including a night in a sleeping bag on a mattress with a first year doing her subject) but that was mostly because she was still resolving the gen eng vs pure EEE conundrum - she realised that a women's college is nothing like a nunnery, and as her course is male heavy there would be plenty of them around. (Her department pals are all male so actually the women's college has been a good source of balance).
The visit persuaded her that it would be lovely (which I think is the adjective she's used most since then in relation to the whole experience of Cambridge and the vast majority of people she's encountered there).

I also (unfortunately) no longer have a horse in this race (my DS was not offered a Cambridge place post interview). He was very upset at the time but is 'ok' about it now. He is hoping to hear from Durham soon (with good news obviously!) If he doesn't receive a offer from Durham then he is talking about reapplying next year but we will cross that bridge if/when we come to it.

I wish the Oxbridge offer holders the best of luck over the next few months and hope that they meet their grades. I echo a previous poster who said all our DC are amazing considering the pressure that they are under. I will pop in here from time to time to see how they are all getting on.

PS It was heartwarming to read your post Coleopatra-it looks like the dream is becoming a reality x2 :)

Errol, realise I am banging a sole and irrelevant drum, womens’ colleges have the loveliest of gardens after Pembroke... DD has more photos on her phone of the ME gardens than anywhere else!
I think thats a really good point about the gender balance of your course too and who you are spending your working day with.
DD has started revising L6 History topics ; says it feels really nice getting back to the topics that made her fall in love with her subject. She isnt a modern history fan which has been the focus in U6.

Lovely post, @Coleoptera So happy for your boys. And glad to see so many posters back. I'm following your journeys closely, too, as I know DD would have had a hard decision on whether to reapply if no offer. And may face a hard decision if she doesn't meet her offer, re a resit and gap year over her (paling rapidly in comparison) second choice (not Durham, which she neglected to apply to).

@kaptainkaveman you said:

Another friend of my dd is required to gain 2 x A A for MML

Can you share which college, since it's not your DD? Also I have heard of lots of MML students who didn't get a place with all 9s or mostly 9s GCSEs and all A* predicted grades. I guess nerves at interview could count for more than people expected. Or even, perhaps, the interviewer being tired or a bit grumpy? From what I've heard, the German and Russian tutors seem particularly negative/harsh. And it seems lots of ab initio applicants felt their AI interview was a car crash. Is that what you're hearing?

As a matter of (invested!) interest, what do they test on in an ab initio interview? Surely the cannier applicant would already have a good knowledge of the language and "guess" any simple deduction test correctly. Eg, if you hadn't done French, and were asked to have a bash at something containing "dormir", the true AI applicant would summon up English words deriving from this in order to deduce the meaning. The sneaky student would be straight in there.

Just read previous page and ds, currently at Oxbridge, was also a poor specimen born prematurely. That book that plotted weight etc - he was always trailing along on the bottom centile - other mothers were so superior and I felt awfully guilty. And he was the youngest in the year. He was 5ft at 17... but at 20 he's 6ft!

They generally read important literature (translated into English) of the country, and/or have a specialist interest in the history, politics or film of the country. If film, I would bolster with some literature or history so it's not too facile.
If you don't have a second language at GCSE level, I think you really should brush up on the basics of the language. You need to demonstrate you can pick up a new language double-quick, and aren't just choosing MML because its entry stats are better than the subject you prefer.
I know a student who took GCSE Italian but not at A level (has French at A level). So technically she would be French/ ab initio Italian (because it's not post- A level, but she would be open that she knows quite a lot and they would see her GCSE score in it. A real advantage, in terms of giving them confidence she could catch up in one year.
I'm not sure if they give them a raw language ability test, where they make connections and figure out words/patterns? Probably. I'm not sure if that was part of DD's MML entrance test (no an initio language). I'll ask her.

Sorry, last post for @IrmaFayLear

DD had an ab initio interview (for classical not modern languages admittedly) lasting around twenty to twenty five minutes where she was asked to explain very subtle differences between English sentences, different grammatical structures between French (the other language she's familiar with) and English etc - so literally, a general language aptitude test. The questions were pretty tricky.

PantTwizzler that milk would have been an absolute god send to so many mothers in the NICU. Not even remotely boasty .

Yes, thanks, PantTwizzler. Ds was a grateful recipient of someone's!

Agree @panttwizzler. Shero!

Interesting @GoodbyeStranger Did they also ask why she wanted to study classical language? Is that for classics or for French and Latin or similar?

I need a spreadsheet/cheat sheet to keep track of everyone's DC courses.

Hobbema - as it happens, gardens were one of the factors in DDs original choice (she's a country lass, green spaces are a necessity), so one of the advantages she enumerated for the pool offer was that she would actually be allowed to not merely walk but positively encouraged to sprawl on the grass. They're also allowed to harvest the produce, which meant that staying there for her summer internship she got abundant spinach.

I don't think they asked her the reason/s why she wanted to study classical languages; they simply asked her which of Latin or Greek she intended to opt for in Y1. They were testing aptitude quite clinically rather than getting drawn into any access of passion on the applicant's part. And no not joint honours, just Classics on its own. Other applicants were asked which second language they'd like to use to compare to English so they could opt for the most familiar.

Another pair of prem babies here... hmmm Dad, is this piquing your interest?!
Errol, how brilliant re Spinach. DD was gutted to learn Lucy Cavendish was a mature college when she saw they had college Guinea Pigs!! I think a few have dogs for walking, patting and generally destressing.

Thanks, @GoodbyeStranger that's really interesting. I heard a lot of ab initio for modern languages did prep re history or reading, but maybe the language ability testing takes precedence over passion.

One college had a 'stress dog' which had to be retired because he got too stressed. Selwyn famously has a 'very large cat' - the Master's basset hound, jokingly relabelled as the college rules banned dogs.

maybe the language ability testing takes precedence over passion.

I wouldn't have though ab initio Classics would be something anyone would choose on a whim, maybe they can assume that or glean sufficient from the PS.

Errol, sorry I meant for the ab initio modern language people. I'd love to know how they're judged. I know lots study up on the literature and history or current affairs (depending on why they're interested in that country/language) but curious how much raw language learning ability counts (assessed through test or as stated, shown at interview). I was surprised that a few students who seemed so passionate about their new languages didn't get an offer at Cambridge. I don't know if someone has pinned down how best to prep for an ab initio (MML) interview, but it's interesting. (I'd like to know as will be watching/advising two friends' DC applying next year for MML, with an ab initio. I'm sure there are blogs/sites that have helpful hints. Also not sure if you can do just one language for the ML course at Oxford.

@errolthedragon

she would actually be allowed to not merely walk but positively encouraged to sprawl on the grass
Another thing I want to check is which colleges you can sit on the grass. I think Pembroke, Emmanuel and Selwyn? Christ's? Now feeling a bit ick about kids not being allowed to relax in the sun on the grass at their colleges.