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.

Ahh, that's wonderful news @GinWorksForMe. I have a soft spot for your DS with his predilection for mowing shapes in the lawn (has he moved on from circles yet?). Brilliant grades and I'm glad he's happy with his choice.

@SnapSnapDragon funnily enough on Wednesday evening as he waited for the results he did four square spirals!
And the angsty lyric writing continues too....

Congrats @GinWorksForMe very pleased it has worked out for your ds.

@JulesJules delighted about New's decision. DD2 actually chose it because it was kind every step of the process. She got her grades (moderated down in one subject but had wiggle room ) but lots of her friends are waiting to see if this shambles can be sorted in time. This rubbish situation has also effected indie schools like hers. STEM subjects have had utterly perverse outcomes.

@GinWorksForMe thank you for coming back to update us, and congratulations to your DS.

GinWorksForMe fabulous results. Many congrats to your DS.

Great news from @GinWorksForMe! And well done your lad in helping out in such a vital way - that's proper life skills that you'd never get at school.

DS spent 2 days wallowing in misery about not getting Durham grades, trawled Clearing for other courses and unis before realising that his York offer for PPE was actually what he wanted after all He's been allocated Langwith College, paid deposit and is almost looking forward to it now. Today's u-turn might mean his history grade gets upped to an A, which would be nice, but won't change anything. Phew! Just glad it's settled.

I almost feel sorry for Mr Gove now - he's lost his podium place as most dreadful Education Secretary

Thats great news @GinWorksForMe!
Knowing that this is a safe space and we like to know these things, DD had her A upgraded to A* which is pleasing for her.
The stress, misery and work created by this farce, on top of the difficulties everyone has been through , for teachers, students and universities is hard to stomach.

It's all a massive fook up hobbema, agreed. Does this about turn help your other DD?

Lovely to have an update Gin and all the best to your DS.
DS has also had an A upgraded so now has AAA* - just in case 3xDad is gathering data.

Grr 3xA*

For the purposes of GDPR, I should clarify that I am not gathering data on individuals' grades.

I have made a note of who from our Wednesday roll call has now confirmed a place, and I hope as many of you as possible will stick with us in the months ahead as we put this debacle behind us and focus on practicalities.

🙂

I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to talking about parking and shopping. These are normally not my favourite subjects, but it will signify that, as Dadx3 puts it, we have put this debacle behind us.

I am enjoying hearing about the upgrades, keep them coming!

News unrelated to the grades issue: DS received an email today with a link to a questionnaire about planned arrival date (earlier for those who need to quarantine) and accommodation preferences. He is hoping to receive some bumf (bumph?) in the post this week or next.

To clarify: I'm sure the stuff they are sending will be useful information, although I'm not sure why it couldn't be emailed. We shall see...

So no-one knows what the hell is going on then?
DC's prospective college is one of the richer ones, so I reckon they could buy a few houses for extra accommodation. And sell them again in a few years.

D1's email said Monday 5th would be most likely start date, with 30 min slots for dropping off stuff. How likely is it that she could arrive on the Saturday, do you think? We have a 300 mile drive, have booked a hotel for the Saturday so are hoping to drive down on the Saturday and back on the Sunday. Also I have consultant appt and tests in the oncology dept on the Monday morning which I really don't want to have to try and change. I can't think the rooms are going to be in use (no conferences etc) and I'm prepared to pay for D's extra nights (about £20 per night I think). Is this a reasonable request, old hands? Or will I be that parent

@JulesJules get your request in now, definitely citing the oncology appointment. You won't be the only parents who have to be home by Sunday evening! There will doubtless be overseas students arriving at odd times as well.
(I loved being that parent at secondary school )

Thanks @TerfTerfTerf I'll ask D1 to email them tomorrow, and ignore any eyerolls

Haha @DadDadDad.you are someone I’d happily trust with data.
DD2 ; Work in progress , reason to be positive, but first choice not an option and a great deal of family angst , surviving.
Anecdotally; despite our DT Indie getting an uplift globally, the distribition has been really damaging to individuals on a huge scale, very many lost places for University . We dont knowanyone who benefited from the algorithm. Obviously still massively protected and not the same as SFC or Grammars.

DS has now got his clean sweep of 4x A* but he’s grumbling that the results are even more meaningless now. (No pleasing some people!) I’m glad for those whose university plans are more secure now, but I’ve no idea how universities are going to manage either admissions, or squeezing in the additional students.

Ironoaks it is indeed ‘bumf’ with an F not Ph. It comes from ‘bum fodder’ and refers to slightly useless papers being purposed as emergency loo roll. I think there’s an English public school derivation in there somewhere...

A bit of trivia to start the morning.

So, plans need to be made for arrival and drop off! This involves flights for us. We have a hotel in Oxford booked for several days to cover whenever DS is expected to arrive at college.

We received info yesterday regarding accommodation in halls at dd's chosen college (at Cambridge). We went for the 'middle' cost bracket (options are low, middle, high) and she stated 'social life' as the most important criterion .

I am so looking forward to talking about parking, mattress toppers and places for lunch. I feel so sorry for our DC that what should have been a time of excitement has been turned into a time of worry.

They, and we, deserve a bit of normality.

We're still on holiday without DS1. A taster of life without him. I miss him more than I thought I would. The family dynamic is changed and every time I see something I know he'd be interested in I turn to tell him and he's not there. His particular favourite would be the plaques commemorating Italian resistance fighters scattered around Northern Italy.