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......

Great news @WarmAndco3y.

That's great news warm&cosy

That’s great @WarmAndco3y . It does make it more real .. (particularly for us!- they will be on their way before we know it)

Ds has just had an email from the Cambridge college he's applied to re what to do if you can't sit your entrance examination due to Covid related issues. Interesting that they tell you to continue your preparations - makes me wonder if they are hoping to set up some sort of alternative?

Anyway I think we'll stick to the isolation plan to minimise the risk of him being unable to sit it at school.

Good luck to Pumpkin's Ds with their interview and congratulations to Warm's Ds.

chimney for us it isn't worth the risk, they wear masks inside the building but remove them for lessons and they simply cannot separate them as much as they would like. As a sixth form they have done everything they can to reduce risk but in a college of about 760 they have had 9 covid cases. We were tier 2 now going into tier 3.

Cambridge have updated to say we now have until 3rd November 6pm for any non-attendance which is better.

Pumpkin there seems to be a chance that you can sit it remotely but it would involve you having a camera so they can provide a proctor. I assume whether they can do this depends on numbers.

Sorry I meant it is implied but they obviously cannot promise it as they may be affected by staffing numbers due to covid. I think the original date for informing them you couldn't sit it was 26th October.

Ah that makes sense onthebenchofdoom - thanks

We've had our first offer today - it's for his last choice but it's utterly achievable for him and means that catastrophe aside he's definitely going to Uni (and even though it's his last choice he'd still be happy to go there).

So that feels like a good start

Thank you all.
@Johnathonripples, yes the reality is beginning to dawn on me too
@DeRigueurMortis, I know what you mean, that’s us too, except Nottingham is 4th choice.
Re Cambridge, DS still has to submit his 2 essays, which are in school, so we are counting down the days, and that there is no lockdown preventing him getting to school next week

Congratulations to everyone else’s DC with offers.

@WarmAndco3y

Thanks - it's a big relief isn't it.

Just knowing he's got a good RG Uni under his belt so to speak.

It feels like everything from here is a bonus.

Thankfully we're not having to worry about exams yet and given he's applying for maths we don't have any essay issues.

He'll be doing STEP so he's already started looking at past papers.

DeRigeur that's great news, congratulations

Thank you Pumpkin.

Hoping everyone else gets a good "banker" offer and congratulations to those whose had some good offers already.

@DeRigueurMortis

Thank you Pumpkin.

Hoping everyone else gets a good "banker" offer and congratulations to those whose had some good offers already.

Congratulations to your Ds DeRigueur. My Ds got his last choice which made him feel like if it all went tits up he would hopefully still achieve his insurance place.

I assume everyone has looked at finances so everyone is prepared for the costs involved for uni. Anyone want to buy a kidney?

Also does everyone secretly hope that their child gets a particular uni? Even if it meant Oxbridge first but if they don't get that you hope they choose X instead but you feel like you can't sway their choice so you just keep your mouth shut? Dh and I talked about this last night he has a definite choice after Cambridge. Surprised me with his choice. I am not asking for people to tell me their choices just do you have one?

@OnTheBenchOfDoom

I've done the sums and it's scary, especially for a longer degree course.

It will put a huge squeeze on finances and DD will still come out with substantial loans to repay through graduate tax. Because she intends to do a 5/6 year course, her younger sibling will overlap with time at Uni. That's going to be horrendous as far as finances go but I'm trying not to think about it at the moment.

That reminds me I must buy a lottery ticket .

Congrats @DeRigueurMortis (great name!)

@OnTheBenchOfDoom DS has had an offer from his second choice (Bristol) which we are delighted about. I love the Uni (studied there myself in the olden days) BUT would feel concerned if he was to get an offer at Cambridge, and he put it Bristol as insurance purely due to worries about accommodation allocation. The accommodation guarantee is only for applicants who firm Bristol and I think it would be a an added stress and shitty situation to not be in halls as a fresher.

@Tenpastseven

The accommodation guarantee is only for applicants who firm Bristol and I think it would be a an added stress and shitty situation to not be in halls as a fresher.

I agree it is completely shit to not be able to accommodate all freshers easily. I went to uni in the 90s when my uni had expanded the number of freshers they took but had no additional accommodation so we were at the mercy of new landlords who saw an opportunity to house students in the town. Needless to say my first two years were fairly stressful with inexperienced landlords until I finally got on campus for my final year. It was a hell of a learning curve though

@SATSmadness Ds2 is in year 10 so as it stands Ds1 will finish just as Ds2 starts. Hopefully no overlap. I actually texted some friends whose children are in year 10 to point them toward looking at the cost. They were very shocked. Dh and I both went to uni. I ended up in debt with loans because both my sister and I were at unis at the same time. Dh had a sweet ride because his Grandparents generously forked a lot of it. He was in full catered accommodation for 2 of his 3 years. Lucky bastard.

Also does everyone secretly hope that their child gets a particular uni? Even if it meant Oxbridge first but if they don't get that you hope they choose X instead but you feel like you can't sway their choice so you just keep your mouth shut? Dh and I talked about this last night he has a definite choice after Cambridge. Surprised me with his choice. I am not asking for people to tell me their choices just do you have one?

Yes DH and I do. It's actually his third choice but we feel it would be a really good fit for him - in some regards better than Cambridge.

We've not articulated this to DS though, however independently he's suggesting that this would be his second choice over the Uni he put second on his UCAS application.

As such I'm more nervous to hear about an offer for this third choice than Cambridge given the hurdles for Oxbridge (interview, STEP, top flight results etc) given realistically I think it's more likely to be where he would end up if they offer him a place.

I know DS is capable of getting the results for Cambridge but so are many kids who for whatever reason don't get an offer.

DS is very bright but he's also very shy and tbh I'm worried how he's going to fare at interview even assuming he is selected for one .

DS has very much driven his Oxbridge application and we've been supportive but also tried to keep him realistic about his chances and been sure to point out how pleased we would be to see him at any of his choices and would consider that a great achievement rather than a disappointment that Cambridge didn't happen for him.

Do you know I would be quite happy for DD to go to any of her choices. They are all pretty close by, and in reality I don't really have a favourite (other than Oxford) but that is only because I know it due to DD1 going there. Neither DH nor I went to uni, so we have no real experience of that.

With regards to finance. With DC's in private school, it's actually cheaper for us when DD's go to uni, several hundred pounds per month cheaper than private school in fact. We can then start saving for our old age!!

@Tenpastseven hadn't clocked that about the accommodation guarantee for Bristol and we were considering that for insurance as DS has a contextual offer from there - so that's something to think about, thanks for flagging it up.

Tbh I don't think there's a bad choice amongst DS's five - he's got all the top unis for his subject listed. He's keen on London if the long shot of Cambridge doesn't come off - personally I'd feel happier with him being in Bristol or even Manchester but I went to a campus university and loved that so have to be careful not to project my feelings into his choices!! (Just pay for them 😉😬)

@Pumpkintopf it is the same re accommodation for Warwick and I thought that it was pretty much universal. If you pick us, we pick you.

@Baaaahhhhh glad financially it works out better for you

@DeRigueurMortis I think maybe the online interviews will be better for your son then, in the comfort of his own home. He should feel more confident. Cambridge have a YouTube channel and have some examples of interviews if he hasn't looked already. It is quite comforting to see it I think, not going in blind.

I would be happy for Ds to just go to uni. I think he will thrive in that environment. Of course Cambridge would be amazing but so would any other uni he has applied to.

Thanks @OnTheBenchOfDoom

We've looked on YouTube and yes it's been helpful.

I'm still not sure if it will help that much if he just "freezes up" though - but the hard truth is that it's part of the process and if he can't deal with that then it wasn't meant to be.

The saving grace is obviously he will be talking about his favourite subject so he won't clam up for lack of knowledge or enthusiasm . If he does get interviewed I'm hoping that once he "gets going" he will forget it's an interview and rather see it as a opportunity to discuss maths with someone knowledgeable (rather than me or DH who have no idea what he's talking about and just try to nod or say "very interesting" at hopefully appropriate points in the conversation) .

DS has received an offer from Nottingham (History).

@321zyx many congratulations 🥳

@DeRigueurMortis many thanks, it's his insurance offer. I'm constantly left gobsmacked at the grades required these days - in my world (many, many years ago - when I did manage a very respectable 2:2) I'd have assumed something in the C's and D's would be 'insurance' option.