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......

Well done to all DC's who have cleared another hurdle. Roll on tomorrow.

Excellent news for DD - she just got her Warwick offer. She is elated, literally hopping about!, she has gone off out into the countryside for a long sunny walk with her camera before doing a final HAT practice this afternoon.

That sounds nice; it’s a lovely day.

Dd is holed up in her lair. She says it was so-so - not a disaster but she didn’t feel she’d aced it. Ah well, we shall see.

DD is trying to chase down her link for the TSA tomorrow. She got the practice one but not the actual one.

The local test centre sent an email saying some students have not revived them and they are following up.
Passports, masks and disposal gloves are required for by the test centre.
The test centre have also issued letters to candidates to allow them travel outside their 5km limit.
I was surprised by the gloves requirement.

Just had a call from one of the teachers at DD's school about an unrelated matter.

He said that the BMAT candidates all looked a bit shell shocked when they were leaving the exam room and he also heard mutterings of having run out of time.

Nothing from DD yet. I think we'll have chips for dinner tonight as a treat.

@ChimneyPot DS hasn't received his link yet either for the TSA. Some are worrying on Student Room because they didn't receive the demo one either. From what I've read, for some students there seems to have been technical issues today. Lets hope tomorrow goes well.

Fab news about the Warwick offer Baaaahhhhh . I hope a few more come in for those still waiting.

I agree about maybe rejection after a couple of zoom calls won’t be as bad

Well Done to all those who sat the tests today. As was said upthread, ticked off the to do list now. Have Oxford given a date that they'll inform you by for interviews (or not)? Cambridge have said if nothing has been heard by 23 November, to contact the college you applied to.

And woop woop @Baaaahhhhh. Great news on the offer.

DD is freaking out that some of her friends are getting offers (Exeter, Warwick, Birmingham) and she hasn’t gotten any. Has anyone’s DC received an offer from Bath or Edinburgh yet?

Pepperaunt do you know what courses at Warwick they’ve received offers for? My dd applied on 24th September and still hasn’t had an offer and she’s predicted well over the entry requirements, so starting to wonder what is wrong with her application and whether she is on hold. Just seen on student room someone has had offer for biomedical sciences which is similar to what my dd applied for. Haven’t heard from Bath either. They have said they are going to start giving out offers from the end of this week.

No Edinburgh offer here either. Dc was under the impression that they offer later than other Universities?

Good to know about Bath and Edinburgh. Hope the Cambridge physics exam tomorrow is not too horrible for DD!

@Johnathonripples

No Edinburgh offer here either. Dc was under the impression that they offer later than other Universities?

DD heard in February last year.

Have a very stressed DS here tonight.

He's well out of his comfort zone with the NSAA as usually going in to an exam he likes to know he's got everything covered and the format/level of this isn't conducive to that! I keep trying to tell him that most candidates won't get super high marks, and it's just one part of the process but he's still feeling it.

What is this talk of ID? He's sitting the test at his own school- should I send him with his driving license/passport? Or is this just for test centres where they don't know the kids?

@goodbyestranger yes - I don't really understand why they get the BMAT results but not the results for other tests? DS is sitting the NSAA - am I right in thinking you only get your results if you write to the college to ask for them after the interview process is completed?

Glad to hear everyone who sat their tests today thought they went reasonably ok - probably the best that can be hoped for..!

Hoghgyni thanks so much for that info.
pumpkintopf dc was quite worried about tomorrow’s NSAA earlier this evening. We talked about it as just a small part of the process that needed ticking off. It was decided that an evening of relaxation is in order so we are all watching tv and eating chocolate at the moment .

The NSAA is tough for a reason. If it wasn’t they would all get 100%! I think an average score is only half marks. However I appreciate that for an A star student getting half marks is unusually and uncomfortably low. Good luck to your DS!

@pumkintopf DD took her passport with her for this morning's BMAT, said it needed to be scanned and uploaded. But, she did sit it at a different school, so I'm not sure if your DS would need it - it will be one less thing for you to stress about if he has it with him tomorrow.

My DD is just relieved to have it ticked off the list. I think she felt better about it than the UCAT test, but then again, it's sometimes just hard to judge how things go in the grand scheme of things.

Portfolio is in.

One due in for another choice - with further artwork, yet to be completed - next week.

A third due in the week after - more new artwork.

Ho hum.

DD was told she'd need ID at her own school. I didn't ask her if it was actually requested, and she's out tonight with friends, pre-emptively celebrating some November 18th birthdays before lockdown.
She was mildly frustrated that the answer to one of today's questions eluded her, but other than that she was unfazed by it.

Is anyone’s dd or ds doing the HAT tomorrow?

@JulesJules thank you for posting that, what college is your dd at? Mine has applied to Balliol to do AMA. She’s set her heart on it in spite of me encouraging her to have a back up she’s happy with.

I’m worrying a bit about GCSE grades, how much bearing do they have? Dd has 11 GCSEs - five 9s, four 8s, one 7 and one 6. From a state school. I see lots of students with a clean sweep of 9s. Will it count against her?

@bendmeoverbackwards. My DS1 is doing HAT, and a think Baaaah’s dc is too

Bloody ID. I can’t see why it would be necessary if a child is taking the test at their own school but my son just noticed it being mentioned in a flyer from Cambridge Examinations or whatever they are called attached to a school email, but with no mention in the school email about needing anything. All he had with him was his zip card so he emailed the school organisers to check if actually needed photo I’d abs would the zip count and the witch just sent the flyer to him again.
So for avoidance of disaster I have just spent my evening driving to his school (he boards) to deliver his driving licence. Lovely timing on the eve of lock down - the traffic was carnage.
I bet they don’t ask for it after all, but better safe than sorry. He thought I was mad.
Not v impressed by school’s help on this though.

Well done to everyone's DC for getting through those horrendous sounding tests!

Just wondering about offers from other universities - anyone know how common is it to get offers of less than the standard entry requirement? DD's predicted grades (3 A stars) are well above their standard required grades of AAB (Bristol) and ABB (Manchester), and she was hoping it would be possible to get an offer for less, but she hasn't. She's worried that this means that her application isn't very strong. Unnecessary fretting, or valid?

@Johnathonripples that sounds very wise!

@ClarasZoo absolutely, thank you.

@Revengeofthepangolins that sounds horrendous and it does sound like the school was profoundly unhelpful.

Good luck to everyone for tomorrow!

@Summer15coming do you mean she hasn't had offers from Bristol and Manchester, or her offers haven't been lower then their standard requirements?