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.

It's interesting to see the numbers. 420 extra students translates to a 13% increase in student numbers over last year. I guess there may be some drop off in international numbers (although not as much as initially expected) and some may choose to defer, but we're still talking about 10% more freshers. A bit of a squeeze. I wonder if those colleges that chose to "honour the offer" are regretting it, given that if they'd waited another couple of days they could just have used the CAGs? Probably doesn't make much difference: last year 469 UK offerees missed their grades / didn't accept, which suggests that there were only a handful of unfortunate people this year who were rejected due to CAGs.

Update: DS heard from his college today, confirming his place (I had thought it was already confirmed, so was spared the worry about that!). Lots of detail about social distancing etc. which made me regret the experience that they will be missing, but he seems fine with it. Arrival date is 4th, very convenient given our long journey.

I have friends in the US with kids at college. They're all expecting campuses to send everyone home within a matter of weeks. I'm sure we are all fervently hoping that this does not happen here.

DS college put an announcement up that they had managed to accommodate 97% of offer holders. It's a large college so this equates to only a handful perhaps 4 or 5 students which is good news. Smaller colleges may have more of a squeeze

SnapSnapDragon, DS is indeed doing a science subject and has started the bridging work. I don’t think he’s got very far - he’s waiting for younger siblings to start school when the house will be quieter! He hasn’t mentioned any surprises/anomalies in the work so far...

DS has received an email with information on arrival (although no confirmed date as yet), accommodation preferences, finances etc. Seems to be a mass of information and he will need to go through it all - ideally sooner rather than later but I doubt that will happen!

Does anyone know if they will need passport sized photos to take with them? Seem to recall DD taking some with her when she went to uni.

I don’t know about the “official” stuff, but messages from college parents usually come either from the welfare reps (students on the jcr committee responsible for that kind of thing and much else), or emailed directly from the parents themselves, so they will be slower or faster depending on how organised the students at the different colleges are. We were given a rough deadline of the 7th of September to get in contact with our kids, but I don’t know anyone planning to wait that long!

@PortusCale I took some just in case, but apart from the one I scanned in and sent off for my bod card (ID card) beforehand, I haven’t used them.

Btw I will un-watch this thread when all your DC start, I don’t want to stalk my fellow students! Thought I could be useful with all the uncertainties about when stuff happens and what to pack etc beforehand though

Thanks potato, it’s helpful to have your perspective. The college parent system is great and has been going for a long time. Way back in the day I remember having college parents and children at my Cambridge college and it helped me to feel welcome when I arrived.

Back to the 120 extra people who were admitted to Oxford after CAGs were released, I’d be willing to bet that the majority of those were privately educated. According to this article below in the Oxford Blue, many colleges used contextual information when making decisions about missed offers with some colleges openly admitting that they accepted all state school applicants (and presumably rejected those from indies). I am relieved on behalf of these students: a downgrade is a downgrade no matter what school you attended and it would have been a bitter pill to swallow if they had missed out on their places due to an unlucky combination of a dodgy algorithm, college selected, and the choices their parents had made for them.
www.theoxfordblue.co.uk/2020/08/16/in-or-out-oxford-colleges-split-over-a-levels-admissions-policy/
All water under the bridge now but still quite interesting I think.

Thanks for your ongoing support @Bakedpotatoandgin - you're very kind.

Baked so no insights from you regarding clothes airers then? They seem to be the hot topic on every other board/thread at the moment. Thanks for chipping in every so often. It's been appreciated.

A college’s ability to admit every offer holder is surely dependent on their admission policy, cover ratio, numbers of visiting students rather than “clemency”? For example, New College has rigid admissions criteria resulting in a low cover ratio which has yielded a close match between results and spaces. St. Hilda’s takes a different approach, resulting in a higher cover ratio and too many entrants. Despite converting some offices to bedrooms, they still can’t fit everyone in this year.

Haha @Hoghgyni, some second hand insights on clothes airers: DD1 (Ox, tiny room, ancient college) replaced a folding £5 Ikea airer with a taller, collapsible one because she needed to dry a lot of sports kit on a small footprint. Her room had a sink in a cupboard with space for the taller airer to stand upright when not in use. She used a tumble dryer for pretty much everything else.
DS1 (much more spacious room at Camb college) is taking the rejected Ikea airer to dry his sports clothes as there's space for its larger footprint. I cannot imagine him doing any other laundry .

just chipping in regarding over-door hangers:

I ordered ds one of these, most proud of my forward-thinkingness... only to find that for all three years he had very heavy fire doors with a big swinging-arm mechanism that precluded using it. I think it's in the garage somewhere now... And this was the case in the old (ancient!) rooms as well as the newer accommodation he had in the first year.

Most useful items (as have been mentioned) were bed topper (over existing mattress) and bedside rug. No one wants to step (roll) out of bed onto ice-cold laminate. Ds did use his airer but they had good laundry provision. I also gave ds a strict lecture about hanging up his clothes on the floor - even putting them on a chair can preserve something for a few more wears.

In ds's college there were draconian rules about putting up posters etc - you weren't allowed to touch the walls upon pain of a heavy fine.

My former colleagues filled their initial spaces in rank order (so based on interview/aptitude score) @SnapSnapDragon. Which isn’t to say they didn’t give extra consideration to any offer holders from the most deprived postcodes or schools (I imagine they did).
That’s one subject at one college and there will have been various approaches but I’m sure admissions rankings would have generally been a more significant part of the decision making than state/private school background.

Does that mean then that lower-ranked persons are deferred until next year? Those being ones that made their offers with their CAGS, obviously. Why would they want the pick of the bunch this year but be happy to have perhaps less great students filling up next year's slots? Is Oxford admitting people who make their offer via Autumn exams? Or is that Cambridge only? What about people who appeal their CAGS? I see there is a head of steam from students (parents, actually) pretty mad that their CAGS, by being accurate, have maybe robbed them of their places. (Although, if they were accurate, then it could be argued that they weren't robbed...)

Sorry - lots of questions!

I’ve missed the controversy over airers but my DD found hers invaluable. Cheap from Argos IIRC.

I seem to have a habit of fretting over clothes; I know I did the same last year for DD and of course she sorted things out as necessary herself. I don’t learn so my latest worry is - will DS need a suit? Presumably they need one for matriculation? Not sure how it works in Cambridge and anyway presumably different because of covid. He has jacket and tie but not a suit per se. Info re Hall says suit or shirt and tie. I justify my fretting because getting him a suit that fits might be tricky (he’s tall and gangly and standard sizes are too short). But no need if he doesn’t need one. Any ideas?

Irma
This was what had happened with the spaces they had initially, based on algorithm grades. (I was addressing the point that those missing offer from state schools might have been prioritised over those missing offer from private schools.)
Then, of course, CAG results were used instead meaning that (in case of my former college and subject) there were a few “lower ranked” (though still did well enough to get offer in first place of course so that descriptor doesn’t feel quite right - “not quite as highly ranked“ would be fairer perhaps) who now needed to be squeezed in and who are at more risk of deferral I suppose. Oxford doesn’t make offers to candidates they don’t want so they’re not weak candidates just slightly less strong than others.

Re: over door hangers. DD had a very jolly one full of pockets on the back of her door when she was a baby. It's so tempting to dig it out again to send with her, but it probably still has s faint whiff of baby lotion & lavender about it.

Aww thank you for the kind comments! Wasn't expecting that.
Ahaha @Hoghgyni I can add my two cents about clothes airers if you like...
I have a concertina one that folds out to take up most of my room. Some people took the kind that hang from radiators, which look useful, but not all rooms have radiators so that's maybe something to buy on arrival unless your DC knows exactly what will be there. My room in first year had those old fashioned combi heaters that you can't hang anything on or near. I got told off by a maintenance guy once for drying clothes in my room, apparently it creates a damp problem (I had my heater on and my window open to make sure it was airing!). I did ask where I should dry my clothes instead (thinking there might be an outdoor line I'd missed) and got told the laundry. Couldn't be bothered to point out that if I put bras, knickers, and tights in those dryers I'd have no elastic left! They are not what you'd call subtle.
Moral of the story is probably to organise your fortnightly big wash so stuff isn't drying when the scout (cleaner) comes, in case they're strict about it. Or when someone comes to investigate why 3 light bulbs have blown in as many days! Although you shouldn't have washing out on cleaning day anyway, bc you need a clear floor and surfaces. On that note, being clean and tidy and generally looking after the accommodation will make you a lot more popular with the scouts. I always feel weird about having a cleaner instead of doing my own vacuuming, so I make sure the place is as immaculate as possible before she comes.

DS's accommodation info did say that you mustn't dry washing in rooms because of it causing damp, but I did wonder how much that is adhered to!

Team tennis @ofteninaspin... exciting. DD really hoping hockey stick might see some action. Anyone hearing about college level sport at Cambridge

Forgot the question mark!

Thanks, deFleury. I presume the situation is a lot less dire at Oxford be a use they don’t wildly over offer, but I always think that 3As is a pretty generous - achievable - offer. Perhaps it’s like the 2Es in old (very old!) money.

Thanks Baked really appreciate all your input - and a good idea, I will do my best to persuade DS to get some just in case.

Haven't got a clothes airer yet so grateful for advice on those too - are the concertina ones better than the old fashioned zig zag ones (apparently called 4 fold airers)? I've seen some electric ones in Lakeland (very expensive) but I imagine they are a big no no and would no doubt be confiscated or such like!

Hobbema, DS is so grateful that tennis is happening at Cambridge. He is hoping that college football will be happening this term too but hasn't seen any specific plan yet.

Portus, re the suit dilemma, DS and I have interpreted the college info re matriculation to mean they haven't decided what to do yet. Blurb definitely says suit and DS says he is happy with the suit he wore for sixth form "high days" which is still smart and fits (its dark navy). He too is tall and lanky (think slim fit, extra long).

ps, M&S Slim fit, long length suits work well for DS and they have 25% off currently which was going to be back up plan if pre lockdown suit hadn't still fitted.

@PortusCale oh dear, the zigzag four fold one is what I meant by what I have. I knew I hadn't got the right word. I think the concertina ones that kind of extend upwards instead of sideways are actually better bc they take up less floorspace. But if you have an old zigzag one then get them to take that - most of my stuff for uni came from a relative's house clearance so a lot of old, good quality stuff but not a lot of choice.

In all fairness, I do put as much as I can in the dryer. Lots of my clothes don't tumble dry though, so I usually only get one dryer load from my three washer loads (darks, lights, colours).
Re the suit thing, I don't think any of us know what will be happening in terms of formal wear this term. I'd say if they already have one from 6th form, take it, and if not it's probably worth getting one from M&S or somewhere just in case. Maybe get it ever so slightly on the larger side bc almost everyone gains weight in the first term! Even if they don't use it this term it should be useful throughout, it's not like suits go out of fashion