Oxbridge 2020 (thread number 9)

[DadDadDad]

What a year! Just as we've all become experts (at least in our own minds ) about how to write Personal Statements, Oxford admission tests and Cambridge STEP, the complicated dance of the interview process, and how to simultaneously boost our DSs' and DDs' confidence while preparing them for the possibility of disappointment, we have a new topic to learn: statistical modelling of expected grades.

Of course, like all those previous topics, we're not in control of teacher projection and OfQual rejection, but we have this thread to support each other through the coming months.

All welcome. For the record, I have a DS with an Oxford offer for a humanities subject.

DS1 is not pleased about the possibility of possible online learning in the Autumn. He says that for the start if the Chemistry course there is a lot of focus on learning technique in labs.

Thinking aloud, if the universities have to offer some online learning in the Autumn night they prioritise getting the scientists in/back first - or is that just wishful thinking on my part?

@Coleoptera I think if a national decision is taken to reduce maintenance loans due to living at home then it will still take into account all the income information you have to submit anyway, so it’s probably best to fill in all the forms as normal then wait and see, rather than putting off applying. Current students are still getting maintenance loans as normal next term, even though some of us don’t have to pay rent. I think they’ve kept it simple for now as some students in private accommodation contracts still have to pay, and families are losing money due to furlough etc so it would be difficult to re-assess everyone

I'm back - sorry, I keep finding my maths gets occasionally interrupted by something called life.

I'm pretty confident that the answer to the problem is...

18pi - 8sqrt(2).

See pictures (sorry about the messy handwriting). I've also looked at a numerical approximation to the problem and it looks to be giving the same answer. (Also, after a bit of googling, it looks consistent with the solution to this problem: mathcentral.uregina.ca/QQ/database/QQ.09.06/liz4.html ).

Can only attach three images per post, so see next post...

Here we go.

@sandybayley I haven’t seen anything yet about online learning for Michelmas term. If it comes to it, might finalists be prioritised over freshers? DD will be starting her third year in October but hasn’t heard anything official beyond Trinity being taught remotely and all labs carried over to Michelmas.....

Having done that, DadDadDad, you could probably occupy yourself for little while calculating the approximate volumes of St Paul's or the Hagia Sophia. your initial description sent my mind to intersecting barrel vaults etc.

@ofteninaspin - I haven't seen anything about Oxford being online for Michelmas just general media discussion about universities being prepared to be online.

Ah ok @sandybayley. For my sanity I am (naiively?) hoping lockdown measures will be lessened by October...

As far as I'm aware, Oxford university is still planning its response and plans for Michaelmas, but they're working really hard on provisions for freshers etc. Given the scale of the university, their plans do take a while to check.

As a current Oxford student, I hope I can shed some light on what's happening for Trinity term (so far) in terms of teaching, in case this is replicated in Michaelmas!

I currently have a tutorial a week that's conducted via Microsoft Teams with my tutors (1-on-1 attention), for which I've been given questions in advance. Oxford is really keen on preparing us all as much as possible and there's been a push to give out reading lists and preparatory materials as much as possible. Lots of content is being uploaded online, so most of my reading list is currently available to access from the online library. Assessments (essays etc) are being submitted via the Microsoft package so that we can get feedback, which is the usual process. Any of our contact hours as being made available online, with online lectures too - Oxford already had the tradition of uploading them for certain students so it's not much of a change! Whilst labs etc aren't available, there is provision being made for lab theory as far as I'm aware, so we're still not missing out.

If anyone has any Oxford questions please do let me know, and I'd be more than happy to help! I also run an outreach page on behalf of our students (Humans of Merton on Facebook, and @mertonjcraccess on Instagram) with more content - study tips, student life, student profiles, mythbusting - available there if you're interested! :)

@DadDadDad to answer your concern regarding accommodation costs, students are currently not being charged for accommodation for Trinity during lockdown, but I'm still on track to receive my maintenance loan. I imagine this should still apply if remote learning takes place in Michaelmas.

Thanks, @rsmithson00 - it wasn't actually me who asked the accommodation question, but that's useful. (I'm the one asking pointless maths questions... ).

What is Oxford doing for those who meant to graduate this summer?

rsmithson00 thank you. Daddaddad from the horse's mouth: Forfinal-year undergraduates and taught postgraduates exams will be replaced with alternative forms of assessment in Trinity term 2020. These will take the form of either open-book versions of papers, longer pieces of work completed over several days, or a mix of the two.

@DadDadDad I enjoyed your maths answer very much. Awkwardly shaped centre bit indeed. I was trying to apply matrices but my brain just isn't up to it sadly.

D1 has just had a zoom meeting - rescheduled offer holder thing, they couldn't speak, but could submit questions. Nothing college specific, but covered lots of general stuff which she found quite useful.

Anyone interested in another maths problem?

I'm always interested in maths problems @DadDadDad. I don't think I can stress enough quite how obsessed I have become about maths problems!

You said up thread you were a mathmo. Just interested, is this a generic term for mathematicians at university or is it confined to Cambridge? (I remember mathmos from my misspent youth, although I was a lowly NatSci myself..)

Back to the topic of our beloved offspring, my DS is back to school tomorrow, virtually. It seems they will be spending the first half of term working on the A-level syllabus (although he says he knows it all so it's pointless) and the second half of term, more interestingly, getting prepared for their university courses.

OK, maths problem: (this one seems simple, but the solution is surprisingly complex)

A ladder on horizontal ground is leaning on a vertical wall. To save me drawing a diagram, let's say the foot of the ladder is at (x,0) and the top of the ladder is at (0,y). The ladder is length L. There is a cube of side 1 pushed up against the wall such that the ladder just touches it (ie the ladder passes through (1,1) ).

Find a formula for x in terms of L.

@SnapSnapDragon - to answer your other question, I don't know if "mathmo" is Cambridge specific or used elsewhere. I don't even know if it's still commonly used in Cambridge these days.

All I know is that it's a label I wore with pride 30 years ago, and applying it to myself now is more wistful nostalgia than reality. I've think having a son going through the Oxbridge process this year has awoken that nostalgia.

I remember the term Mathmo from my Oxford days, mid 1990s...

By the way I just read online that A level results are coming out on August 13th as originally planned. Not late July as was suggested when exams were first cancelled. So our candidates don’t even get the benefit of earlier results!

That's a bummer and doesn't leave much time to get prepared for September resits (although, admittedly, we don't know if the resits will be in September).

I got an expression containing x and L for the ladder question but getting x on its own is trickier than I expected...

How do your DC feel about waiting until August for “results”?
DS is seriously considering asking college to defer his offer and sitting the exams anyway in the Autumn. He wants the satisfaction of completing the exams and to avoid the possibility of the first term at uni being online. Any of your DC in same frame of mind?

Source for 13 August date is Education Secretary: inews.co.uk/opinion/comment/gavin-williamson-covid-19-lockdown-analysis-normality-schools-primary-offer-day-2539947

It means my other DS's GCSE results are still coming out on my 50th birthday.

@ofteninaspin, I mentioned a while back that DD’s prospective college had sent a questionnaire and one of the questions was would you consider deferral. My initial thought was that it makes things a bit unfair for current y12. Maybe they can accommodate slightly bigger numbers over 2 years easier than 1 bulge year. Who knows. I suspect most high achieving kids would prefer to sit exams in the traditional format and feel they’ve earned them but I dont get the feeling thats what the Autumn “resits” are for. What subject is your DC going to read?

Personally I'm glad to hear they are sticking to results on 13 August. I was concerned that early results may cause some confusion for those who will still need to wait for STEP results for Cambridge, but could have an insurance offer that isn't interested in STEP and would be expecting them to firm/reject them on some alternative A-level result day. Sticking to the usual date and UCAS system seems neater.