Oxbridge 2020 (thread 10) - the path to the first term (just one slight hurdle to clear first)

[DadDadDad]

For better or worse, there is a bit of a bond of mutual experience between parents whose DC go through the Oxbridge application process. Thank you for your companionship so far - and thank you to others who started the earlier threads in this series.

This thread should take us to the start of the first term (whatever form that takes). All welcome here, but for many of us hopefully this will be the place for practical support as we help prepare these peculiar* young adults to spread their wings.

But the first item on the agenda appears to be the small matter of judgement...

*or for those who chose Oxford, very peculiar.

His course is a very small one and there were only 2 offer holders for his subject at his selected college. The other offer holding candidate has been rejected. Does this mean they want him if they have put him in the pool?

I have no idea... It's all very unclear 😢

Apologies for the intrusion. Could anyone settle a Twitter argument? Someone has said that all offers to Oxbridge are unconditional after interview. The young people I know who went (5 ish years ago) had conditional offers. But as they got the grades they needed I don't know if they would have lost the place if they had missed the target. Which is correct now?

My DC is in the pool too. Apparently in previous years there was something like a 1/4 chance of success. But with the added complications of this year I think it'll be a lot less. Hope I'm wrong and someone will appreciate the enormous talents of my DC and offer a place!

They were all conditional until they received their grades today.

@Darker

Apologies for the intrusion. Could anyone settle a Twitter argument? Someone has said that all offers to Oxbridge are unconditional after interview. The young people I know who went (5 ish years ago) had conditional offers. But as they got the grades they needed I don't know if they would have lost the place if they had missed the target. Which is correct now?

Unconditional (or EE) Oxbridge offers are a thing of the past.

@cliff1975 - in your DS's particular circumstances, that does sound plausible. But best not to raise his hopes too much, just in case!

Well done to everyone who made their offers today!!

DD missed her offer and has been put in the pool. This Oxbridge malarkey goes on and on.

On a positive note, she has made her Durham offer so all good no matter what happens tomorrow.

@bpisok - do you know how quickly the pool is likely to move? Might it carry on until some appeals have been heard?

Apparently the pool takes place tomorrow and she will either hear in the afternoon/evening or on Monday.
...she's surprisingly unfazed by it.

She wobbled about Durham a while ago so yesterday I printed course summaries from a few Unis and got her to rate them without knowing which course was from which Uni. Durham's course won the blind test

Obv she would prefer Cambridge and it would be disingenuous to say otherwise, but she won't be heartbroken if it doesn't come through (luckily!!)

bpi - my DS is applying to Cambridge next year (so just read this with trepidation)! He just visited Durham today with his dad and called me - “mum you should see this place - I think it could be even nicer than Cambridge!” Even though it’s the same grades for Durham, he would have the chance if an international year if he went there. So now he’s super-keen on Durham too. I think for his course, it might even be more competitive than Cambridge. So a huge well done to your DD - she’s a super star whether fished out if this pool or not!

And massive congrats to everyone and best of luck!!!

Darker, if an Oxbridge applicant already held A level grades meeting the required standard, their place would be unconditional following successful interviews. Otherwise the place Is conditional and depends on attaining certain A level/IB grades.

Darker, if an Oxbridge applicant already held A level grades meeting the required standard, their place would be unconditional following successful interviews. Otherwise the place Is conditional and depends on attaining certain A level/IB grades.

Thank you, that's absolutely how I understood it. Back in my day you could do 'seventh term' to study for the interviews. Also The History Boys! When my own children came to the Uni application stage it was as you describe.

Wishing all the very best to everyone, wherever they go. It's been a 'different' experience, for sure.

DD’s two very best friends have now secured places despite one ending up in clearing and the other missing her firm and then going through a whole palaver to change courses. So now, naturally, the whole gang is out for drinks. Who knows when she’ll get back this evening! But I look forward to treating her tomorrow.

Now we’ve got a nervous week waiting for DD2’s GCSE results, and confirmation that DD3 can get back in the pool next week (if she doesn’t I fear she may explode).

I feel for all the DC in the pool - I didn’t know you could be pooled at this stage. More waiting certainly isn’t what they need.

A boy we know had Cambridge as his first choice (AAA) and Durham as his second (AAB). He turns up today to be presented with AA and a D! This is an independent school. He went to see the teacher for the D subject and was told that although his predicted grade had been an A, the teacher had given him a B for the CAG! So traumatic. Anyway, he’s managed to get a place at KCL through clearing. They didn’t do mocks so he has no evidence he could have got the B to secure the Durham place. No way would he have got this D in an exam. Such a bizarre result and feel so bad for him. He’s had extremely difficult family circumstances recently too.

Morning all, and best of luck to those awaiting pool decisions.

Seeing such heartbreaking stories of grades gone badly wrong on the news/twitter yesterday makes me even more thankful and relieved that D1 got what she needed.

Good luck pool people! I hope you got some rest last night. Yesterday was exhausting, off to work for a rest..

@itsamockery - so he had a Cambridge offer? And one from Durham? That's heartbreaking for him, to lose out because of a dodgy algorithm. Not fair. My DC have done well by it but I know a few who haven't and it's nothing to do with their performance - that's what is so gutting for them. Still, imho, KCL is a stunning place. Of all the colleges we visited, including Cambridge, KCL was the one that had the finest intellectual buzz and energy about it, along with Oxford. I wanted to study there after the open day and the same couldn't be said for most unis we looked at.

"She was the only English Lit A* - a subject with 40+ students in because there were two classes."

@RoiseCap, and to think, you were worried that her English teacher didn't like her (sorry if that was someone else, but I think I remember that discussion). Your DD has done incredibly well and I hope she gives herself permission to be proud of her achievements. Yes, moderation has led to many harsh results but to get her results your DD must have been ranked top or thereabouts in all her subjects so deserves to feel happy about it.

Sorry if I sound stalkerish, but I know you've had a tough time as a family and I was thinking of you.

@SnapSnapDragon thank you! Yes it was her - she’s had a tough year and the teacher often emailed criticising her low attendance (even though she was working hard from home and sending in extra work/doing all the work set). I am certainly very proud of her as her consistent hard work throughout the year, despite terrible circumstances, really did reap reward. We’re having a lovely day doing all her favourite things and eating all her favourite foods...!

Good luck to everyone awaiting pool decisions. Rooting for you.

Eurgh this waiting... Any idea when pool decisions will be made? Today? They must have had the results for a while now surely

Best of luck to anyone waiting to find out if they've been fished out of the pool.

Out of interest, has anyone (or do you know of anyone) missed their Oxbridge offer but still got their place? I think in your case, hobbema, the place was given even though didn't get A-star in the one subject required, but then she did get A-stars in other subjects. Otherwise, doadeer's is the closest case and that's waiting in the pool.

We heard of a friend whose DS missed offer by a grade and Oxford are saying no (unless appeal on grades gets somewhere) - it's a tough situation.

The thing is before Thursday I was comforting myself that candidates who missed offer by a grade are likely to be more common this year, Oxford will be lenient, relying at their own assessments, blah, blah... but I've not heard much in the way of cases where leniency has been shown.