Oxbridge Aspirants 2021 - New Thread (2)

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

Here is the new one......

@FingernailNibbler that sounds truly lovely. What a great day you had and I like your writing style! I feel robbed of the experience.

We did manage to get to Cambridge in February as a family and had an incredible walk around all the way from Homerton into the centre and into some of the colleges. Ds and I had planned another visit as he was on a college residential that sadly got cancelled due to covid but we were going to travel down together the day before. He would go off and do this thing and I would get to explore Cambridge, read in a coffee shop, stroll around.

Can I ask when your DD applied did Cambridge suggest that they could offer a deferred place ie for 2021 rather than 2020. Was she asked to consider it before her interview stage?

Oh that sounds so lovely @FingernailNibbler. DS was due to go for a subject open day which lockdown put paid to. Luckily he HAD been able to attend a masterclass back in November which I’m very relieved about though didn’t have time to visit any colleges. He hadn’t even been sure he’d apply to Cambridge before that but he was sold!

It’s such a shame he (and many other 2021 hopefuls) have not had that opportunity of hoping and imagining themselves at the Unis they might have visited. I imagine it might have been useful sustenance through the stress of revision and exams, something concrete to hold on to. Think I might be a bit of a romantic too 😉.

@Onfhebenchofdoom no, no one mentioned deferring. In some ways, I wish she had...

@Tenpastseven thank you. and yes, it did make the dream seem very real. I'm so sorry for all the Year 13s about Open Days in general, and now the interview days. What a strange and often miserable year. Two Cancelled weddings just last month, and heard a friend in US daughter did get married last weekend, though with limited numbers, a doo-wop singing group wearing masks and extreme social distancing. Not sure if that was maintained once the band started playing in the evening.. grim

Definitely strange to be applying to universities without any opportunity to see them first - but in terms of Oxbridge, the silver lining might also be that our DC are likely to be slightly less invested in the process than if they'd had the opportunity to see and fall in love with a particular college. I'm slightly ambivalent about dd applying to Oxford (mainly because I know the odds of getting a place are not that high) and want her to feel inspired and motivated to keep working hard, but also keep a sense of perspective that her course is also taught very well and differently at other universities. Not easy to tread the middle path!

Hi, we’re on half-term here, thank god. SAQ was submitted to Cambridge over the weekend and today he had a questionnaire asking for quite detailed feedback about Covid disruption at school. In his case, he said it was fine, if isolating at times.

Does anyone know about the different weighting for the various parts of the admissions process (if there is such a thing)? I’ve heard they give scores to different aspects?

I could be talking rubbish here, but I think I heard / read somewhere that it’s -

30% GCSEs
30% predicted grades
30% interview and / or admissions tests, submitted essays if applicable
10% PS and school reference

Can this be right? I seem to recall reading this, but no idea where.

Hi, my DS put in an open application to Cambridge for law, after submitting his SAQ he has been assigned to Lucy Cavendish college. He is a bit troubled by this. Looking at information about the college it seems to be switching from a mature womens only college to mixed for everyone from 2021. Should we be troubled? Can you request to be assigned to an alternative college? Maybe its a good thing?!

@Jazza I have no personal experience of Cambridge so know nothing of the context, but having looked just now at the colleges website it looks great and vibrant and that it would be wonderfully welcoming and inclusive and diverse place to study.

Also it looks like lots of the accommodation will be spanking new.

I guess your DS wasn’t motivated by getting any particular set Cambridge experience hence the open application? With that in mind I wouldn’t be worried if it was my DS. But perhaps someone more ‘in the know’ will come with some better reasons to be troubled or not.

It's very unlikely indeed that he could now rescind his Open Application Jazza. It sounds as though the option of Lucy Cavendish didn't occur to him as an option which suggests he didn't read the prospectus closely enough. And yet he wants to read Law. I think there might be a lesson there. And Lucy Cavendish might be ok for an undergraduate I guess. It's not miles out or anything. Just have to find the positives.

Jazza,

Many, many moons ago I was in a very early intake of women into a historically male only college. It was a wholly positive experience, being in 'from the start' at a place that was changing fundamentally. OK, there were some challenges - there weren't many of us, which slightly limited the social pool - but equally it meant that I got out and about in the University at large in a way that I think was relatively unusual in such a collegiate place, and also that any and all college activities tended to welcome one with open arms ('Do row in the First Women's boat' is NOT a line I would ever have heard anywhere else!).

@Tenpastseven, we had a number of college open days booked but of course they could not go ahead so it has been difficult for him to make a decision about a preferred college. He felt an open application was the way to go and who was I to argue?! We have sent time in Cambridge and he did love the city.

As an 18 year old 'man's man' :-) I guess he is worrying that it will continue to be female dominated.

The new accommodation will definitely be a plus though!

As an 18 year old 'man's man' :-) I guess he is worrying that it will continue to be female dominated.

Ah, yes. That might be an issue. As I say, I found being one of the first women into a newly mixed college fine, but then i have 2 brothers, am not remotely 'girly' and have probably always preferred the very straightforward nature of male friendship.

@jazza well it might be the making of him then, potentially getting to know his feminine side and blossoming for it?

An offer from Cambridge would be an offer from Cambridge and would be a fantastic achievement, regardless of college, if we get that far. I suppose I'm just wondering if there are options at this stage to request that he is allocated differently?

No there won't be. He put in an Open Application. Why would you suppose that the admissions people would think his disdain for Lucy Cavendish would be good reason for allowing him to change his application after the October 15th deadline? And if he's not disdainful, whu would he want to request a change? He should have read the small print.

• why not whu

I am not sure disdain is the right word. I think it’s just a natural concern about the social fit. If it’s any consolation I understand LC admitted female undergraduates in September this year ( a year earlier than planned) to help ease the problems caused by the a level fiasco. I think that was pretty cool really. Also bear in mind that it is the only way things ever change. I don’t think he can ask for the application to be changed to a different college now. I would go for it and embrace the opportunity if it comes.

Sorry - just to say hi. DD is in (an unplanned) 4th year at Cam, which is why I was looking at this thread out of interest. She is a phys NatSci if anyone has any questions etc.

@chitchattery DS is applying for phys Natsci. How does your dd find the course?

Why an unplanned fourth year, if you don't mind me asking?

@Pumpkintopf. She has loved it. She expected to do mainly physics but in fact enjoyed earth science and ended up concentrating in the materials science area. She feels that this breadth was a key reason for choosing natsci over a single or joint honours elsewhere, and her experience justified that choice.

The 4th year was unplanned because she had a job in a field that she really wants to pursue a career in. She had a contract to start in August but it was cancelled due to the lovely Covid. So she applied for the Masters and is back in Cam experiencing a rather different environment. On the whole she feels very lucky to have had such a good “fall back” but it wasn’t what she wanted

I'd guess that if Lucy Cavendish is just now switching to both undergrad and mixed, precious few males will have thought to apply to it (if they even knew they could) so they might be very keen to pick up open applications and pooled candidates.

@chitchattery that's so interesting to hear - ds has applied for physics elsewhere but is really open to the idea of discovering something new if lucky enough to get Natsci at Cambs, really good that this has worked out so well for your dd although sorry to hear about the covid disruption to her plans.

Jazza - I think the LC thing will be fine. I know it’s traditionally been all female, but obviously it won’t be next year. Possibly they will be allocating many / most male open applications to this college? I bet quite a few will be “pooled” there too. I think if you make an open application, it stands to reason that you will be allocated to colleges which receive fewer applications. If I look at the stats for DS’ course, open applications get allocated to Girton, Homerton (probably as these are a little further out), as well as Robinson for some reason (architecture)? and the female colleges. But this will not be an all-female college next year, so it’s fine.

I'd guess that if Lucy Cavendish is just now switching to both undergrad and mixed, precious few males will have thought to apply to it (if they even knew they could) so they might be very keen to pick up open applications and pooled candidates

Absolutely. But a strong applicant with a preference for a traditional college may well be disappointed to get an offer from a newly converted college. Unless an applicant genuinely doesn't care, they should steer clear of Open Apps.

Whereas if you're pooled, then you aren't in a position to quibble.