Oxbridge Aspirants 2021 - New Thread (2)

[Baaaahhhhh]

Sorry posted last message on the last thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3757768-Oxbridge-Aspirants-Sep-2021

Here is the new one......

@Baaaahhhhh well students have always dropped out of oxbridge even back when only the elite eton types got in. You have no evidence to suggest that students with disadvantages drop out at a higher rate.

Of course some people will realise it’s not for them when they go.

For another pointless anecdote, my daughter completed her first year last year and the only person in her college who dropped out was extremely rich and attended private school since primary. It wasn’t as fun as she expected it to be so she left.

And if they do drop out more than it could be for a range of reasons such as not feeling they fit in or not enjoying the environment. It doesn’t mean they aren’t able to cope with the work.

cinammonbuns. Yes, yes and yes. Of course. DD1 has several friends who have rusticated for health reasons, or have had to re-do years. I will now stop sharing anecdotes.

@Pumpkintopf cynicism of others aside, I checked with 2 friends with DC at the same school for their accurate description of the situation. I will suggest DS puts:

No teaching provision from March 20th - mid July. Teacher interaction limited to setting and marking homework. 3 hours total teaching per subject in July (face to face).

It's probably impossible to separate out the reasons for quitting an oxbridge course in any meaningful way.
However - DD does know some people who've done this for various reasons, and a common theme is that they then don't seem to have any difficulty finding an alternative. Cambridge is perhaps unusually amenable to swapping to a different course (either from the start or not) if you've got the requisite qualifications. Or getting a place elsewhere, like the friend who found Gen. Eng too much, but it had enabled her to decide her specialism and get on an excellent course in that at a redbrick.

@Tenpastseven and @goodbyestranger good advice on keeping it factual, I will advise DS to do the same. I agree it is important to use the correct wording so as not to give the impression the school disappeared into the ether and we had nothing at all. In DS's case what we had was teachers setting work on show my homework, some set more than others, some set nothing at all at least initially. All tried to avoid setting any 'new' work until after May half term instead focussing on revision as that was easier than kids trying to introduce themselves to new topics they'd not met before without a teacher's input. They did eventually, after a lot of emails and phone calls from parents, sort out a few Microsoft teams lessons so I'll try to get ds to quantify all of that.

What they didn't do, is provide a full, live, online timetable of lessons which I know some private schools did. Hence the question about including this and goodbyestranger's valid advice that understandably admissions would not know this unless included in the form!

Phew! DS got an offer from Exeter which makes the whole business feel a bit more real.

DD has received an e-mail from her college of choice with a questionnaire about her school's lockdown provision. Don't know if it is universal, but thought it was interesting.

Also realised that, as portfolio needs to be submitted early in November, she either has to photograph or bring home anything that is currently in school that she wishes to include, in case a 2 week lockdown is announced after half term has already started (has only 3 days in school next week).

Could be tricky, as 1 very sizeable canvas is already hanging in school corridor. Hoping it is in an area she is allowed to access.....

@cantkeepawayforever That is interesting, is that for Oxford or Cambridge? I know there were comments on here earlier about commenting on the level of teaching during lockdown but I got the impression that was for Cambridge.

Even some schools are asking for statements regarding the quality of lockdown teaching for purposes of 11 plus. I hear St Paul’s Girls are now requiring an affidavit! So very likely unis may do the same. Or they might have already asked schools to indicate this within the references? The problem is, it’s an ongoing problem and so much uncertainty.

Cambridge - applying for a subject Oxford doesn't do.

Again, it’ll become an arms race (or race to the bottom, even) with people claiming that their provision has been terrible - and who is to say what is true?

[quote calculatorqueen]@cantkeepawayforever That is interesting, is that for Oxford or Cambridge? I know there were comments on here earlier about commenting on the level of teaching during lockdown but I got the impression that was for Cambridge.[/quote]
I'd take a bet that the quality of teaching will vary a lot by subject, not a uni as a whole. The same applies in normal times too.

Perhaps I’m being naive but I find the level of cynicism on this thread quite alarming. It feels a little toxic.

There may well be problems with differences between a school's self-assessment of the quantity/quality of teaching which they provided during lockdown and their pupils/their parents opinion.

My dc's school seemed to think it was just ok to cite "massive security/privacy issues" every time a parent queried why there was no online teaching provided whereas some local schools didn't (although probably only provided an hour or so each day online) and a friend's privately educated dc was on a 2/3rds on line lesson timetable by the end of April.

Who is asked to document it in support of an Oxbridge application I wonder ?

@Tenpastseven

I agree which is why I've lurked rather than joined in to date.

@starterforeight well thanks for delurking to support

Congrats on the Exeter offer @Revengeofthepangolins.

DD has been fortunate enough to get a good standard of online tuition during lockdown by her independent sixth form but I'm not naive enough to think this privilege will be
viewed favourably by Oxford admissions.

@starterforeight we had the same- safeguarding was frequently cited, without any quantification of what that actually meant, or how therefore the private schools were able to deliver online teaching without bringing the wrath of Ofsted down on them. Very frustrating, particularly as when they finally did do a few teams lessons online, there was no explanation of how the safeguarding issues had somehow disappeared. However I do not solely blame the school- the guidance from the DfE that stated no online teaching was expected, was reprehensible IMO.

@Revengeofthepangolins that's brilliant news, congratulations to your dc.

@starterforeight and @Tenpastseven. Welcome to the throng and please do stay, especially as there isn’t a non-Oxbridge thread running, so this one is also a good source about application processes generally. And the previous year’s cohort posters have some great insights along the way.

I think the sort of candidate who will/should be selected by Oxbridge is capable of looking at the A level syllabus and teaching themselves, to a large extent. I know not everyone has a computer, but they should have a textbook... the Oxbridge interview should select the self starters, I would hope. Given the short terms it is essential that they take responsibility for their own learning to a large extent..

There is a general "Applying for uni 2021" thread but it's not getting much traffic.

I do agree with you there @ClarasZoo.

It should increase their chances of being selected for interview/made an offer. However, given the proportion of privately educated (at Y12/Y13 level) dc who are successful in obtaining an Oxbridge place compared to state educated dc, despite the colleges publicly stating that they want that to change, I'm not convinced it will.

I’ll try and find the Cambridge stats, but what you do see is that the percentages of applicants to conditional offers made are roughly proportional in respective colleges. So, for instance, somewhere like Homerton or Kings, where around 85% of applicants are from the state sector (albeit a large proportion from selective schools in the state sector), then around 85% of offers made go to state applicants. In other cases, where colleges receive lower numbers of state applicants, such as St John’s where it’s closer to 65% (don’t quote me, but it’s thereabouts), conditional offers are in line with this. If anything, colleges with lower numbers of state applicants look like they are trying push the other way and the reverse may be happening in colleges with high numbers if state applicants.

If DC have had disrupted education due to poor lockdown provision, of course it makes sense to just state the facts of this. I don’t think the colleges would expect any less and, as pp say, there will probably be some process by which they specifically request this information anyway.

Thanks @Revengeofthepangolins. Yes I plan to stay as there is lots useful and supportive about this thread. Also I don’t know anyone IRL with a DC applying for Oxbridge.

We all just want the best for our DC, I get it. Again, naive perhaps, but right now I’m choosing to believe that Cambridge know what they are doing to find the ‘right’ students regardless of privileges and/or disadvantages.

@Jano69 I think it’s great that your school were able to offer that. I don’t get why that might be seen as a ‘privilege’ and why it would be therefore viewed unfavourably. I should bloody hope not anyway.