Oxbridge-Aspirants-2021-New-Thread-3

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www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/4016760-Oxbridge-Aspirants-2021-New-Thread-2

New Thread !

Good luck to your dd too @whiteroseredrose has she applied to Oxford or Cambridge?

From hearing about all your DS's and DD's on here, I'm pretty convinced everyone of them is a strong candidate. I actually don't envy the admissions tutors, who probably have to make some hard decisions on the middle ground of strong candidates. In fact, out of this year's Oxbridge cohort from DD's school (of which historically about 10-15% of applicants get an offer- that's from the applicants not the whole year), I actually think they are all very much deserving. Will be interesting to see which ones are successful because I truly cannot predict. Initially I was ambivalent when DD talked about applying but I hate to say I am getting more invested for her having seen the work it has taken. Would be so lovely if her hard work paid off but I keep reminding myself that every University she has applied to is fantastic and wherever she goes will be a far better achievement than either of her parents.

Any advice on applying for a music degree next year pls? Any idea what level they need to be - is it certain grades or is it more on own compositions etc?!

I agree Jalfrezi , all the DCs on here seem a very impressive lot - I share your admiration for them! They have shown such determination in this long process and I agree that they are bound to thrive wherever they end up studying.

@bendmeoverbackwards she's applied to Oxford. Cambridge only do Natural Sciences.

Wrt to Oxford interview workshops, my daughter has found out today that she has been assigned one (with an alternative college to the one she applied to, obviously).

She found out about the interviews from her school. It wasn't through previous outreach, as she has only ever taken part in Cambridge activities, rather than Oxford. It also doesn't appear to be because of the area we live in, as we are in a very definitely middle class area. It's also not a struggling sixth form, unlike her previous school (in a different area) which was in special measures throughout her GCSE's and she practically had to teach herself several of her subjects. I really hope that any Oxbridge applicants still in that school are given every piece of external help going, as they certainly deserve it. I really don't think that people who have only ever experienced decent, or even average, schools have any understanding of how bad it can get.

I don't see it as a leg up @IrmaFayLear. I don't imagine these applicants will get any 'special' information that isn't widely available, just easier access to the information that they might otherwise not have found. My understanding is that these outreach projects want to make sure that no student is under the misapprehension that Oxbridge 'isn't for them'.

DS hasn't been offered any interview prep support at this stage by school. This thread motivated me to ask him if he wanted me to look into it. He reminded me that he hadn't got an interview yet, then stared me down witheringly until I retreated out of his room. Guess that is a no then.

I agree with you @Summer15coming and hope your DD and @LaundryFairy's DS find it valuable :)

For those who had test technical difficulties, DD got an email saying there will be a pen and paper bmat in a couple of weeks time. My daughter wasn't affected, but just wondering how this will affect the timeline for admissions etc.
Also, had there been a choice, there is no way she'd have chosen a computer-based test .... but that's a whole new can of worms right there!

Summer DD found these incredibly useful last year. The feedback from subject specific tutors was far more useful than anything her school could offer. It also meant that there were a couple of familiar names/faces at interview, although many get filtered out by the tests.

I agree with your ds, tenpastseven - grumbling about interview practice... and no interview yet! Looking at the stats, dd is as likely as anyone to be culled at this stage. It would be so hard to undertake mock interviews etc and then not receive the call.

Good news today - 2 more offers in from his 3rd and 4th choice (though he's since decided his 3rd is his 2nd).

So thankfully we are in a good place as all offers are in apart from Durham and Cambridge.

Hope everyone else is doing ok and feeling optimistic for the future!

Well done to your ds @DeRigueurMortis we are in a similar position - dd has received offers from Exeter, Manchester and Liverpool and we’re waiting for Durham and Oxford.

Bend congratulations to you too!

I hope like us you're in a good place as we now feel whatever happens with Oxbridge we know he's going to a good Uni (subject to a catastrophe) and that's a lot of pressure off .

No pressure off here @DeRigueurMortis sadly, dd has set her heart on Oxford and doesn’t want to go anywhere else. If I know dd, we will never hear the end of it if she doesn’t get in

Well I'll cross fingers for you @bendmeoverbackwards!

Cambridge is definitely first choice here but DS is realistic about his chances - maybe a benefit of being a mathematician (he's done all the research on percentages of applications v offers based on all data he can get his hands on).

I think that's a bit of a self defence mechanism as it makes it about numbers not about him iyswim...

Oh that’s tough @bendmeoverbackwards. DS is a very stubborn singleminded chap so VERY luckily he’s also keen on his 2nd choice, Bristol, where he’s received an offer. Praise Be. Otherwise I fear the pressure would be too much for me. I’m sure he’d cope but I certainly wouldn’t.

Have you done the classic thing of bigging up her 2nd choice?

That sounds a bloody sensible way of approaching any potential rejection @DeRigueurMortis. Hats off to him.

Oh and congrats both on the offers too

Thank you

Congratulations to you all!

DS is generally fine, but still no offers at all. I hope he gets at least something soon-ish as it will make potential C rejection a lot easier! Mind you, he’s applied for LSE, UCL, Bath and Durham. I think they’re all known to be quite late (though no idea about Bath).

Congrats on all the offers. So exciting. We too have been bigging up every other Uni that DD has applied to.

Congrats to all the exciting offers!

Sadly, we will be trailing in the offer stakes (would-be medic) so know Oxford will be the first with an offer/rejection... big sigh

Not only have we been bigging up every other uni dd has applied for, we’ve been massively downplaying Oxford (short terms, less time for fun, insane workload etc). Not sure who we’re trying to convince more, us or dd!

Congratulations on all the recent offers too, starting to feel a bit real now.

Medic + Oxford, @Millylovespuddles?! The stress levels in your house must be pretty high

Niam - I go through phases, sometimes I'm quite chilled and go with the flow. And at other times, I'd so love to hear some good news (now!) after all the effort that has gone into the process so far... Trying to be level-headed and realistic about the slim chance of an Oxford place. But like everyone else, I feel she has as good a chance as anyone else.

On another note, DS went to Durham and had a brilliant student experience. He wasn't an Oxbridge applicant, but spent a very happy 3 years there.