Oxbridge Aspirants 2021-New Thread 4

[Baaaahhhhh]

And we are off:

Thread 3 link: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/4070531-Oxbridge-Aspirants-2021-New-Thread-3

Sending good vibes out to bend

Has anyone even thought about where their DC's are going to do the interviews? DD thought she would do it at home, and school were flexible, but her email was quite clear in that they would prefer interviews done at school, so DD will talk to them about that today. Personally I would prefer her to do it at school as the internet is more stable, and she will have "tech support" on hand if anything goes wrong. I assume the colleges prefer if candidates interview at school, as it is better for safeguarding etc etc.

I've just checked Balliol's website, says AMH invites sent today!! Nothing from dd yet. Wonder what time they are sent out. I'm so nervous for dd.

Yes, a lovely problem. Will this clashing interview be her first or her second Oxford interview Milly? If it's her first, then it would be useful to have the other interview earlier in the day, as a warm up. If I were her, I might be very tempted to try to arrange things that way round if they don't fall like that naturally, by phoning admissions. At this early stage Oxford won't mind shunting her up a slot to mid or late afternoon if she happens to be allocated the morning. It's a perfectly reasonable reason and nothing like asking Oxford for a different day which is what the request would have to be if they were doing interviews in person - which I think they'd refuse.

@DeRigueurMortis I think he needs to remove the PIL from the situation altogether. This has to purely be about his choice about a university. Obviously distance from home may play a part.

Are you also concerned that if you visit him you will also be expected to visit the PILs too? I have no ideas of the distances involved from where you are to Durham. Any videos I watch seem to involve a 6 hour car journey

I think it needs spelling out to the PIL that their enthusiasm is having the opposite effect of what they want. Also they need to be told that this isn't school and he won't be at their beck and call. He will be busy with uni but also socialising and learning to be independent. But one or two Sunday lunches would be nice though. A couple of hours once a month in term time might be quite lovely.

Ds is completely undecided about his uni choice order and will be waiting not only until after C January redirect or offer but also visiting the towns of the unis. We have 3 on the list. We are currently in tier 3 so this will not be happening for months.

@Baaaahhhhh Ds will be doing his interview at home. He will be in comfortable surroundings, has a webcam plus stylus and tablet. We have a very reliable internet and he will be in "the den" originally "the playroom" where he has his desk and desktop computer.

Plus Dh is working from home so can be on hand for any technical support (he works in IT anyway).

When he received his invite to interview his Cambridge college made them all test the link and dialled in to a group session to get familiar with it and talked them through it all. So on the day it should feel a bit more comfortable as you know how it should look, plus they have provided loads of info on what to do if there are any technical difficulties.

When is the latest we should hear from Cambridge about an interview???????

@JulesJules

It won't be an issue - see the history admission feedback. Average number of GCSEs at 8/9/A* for shortlisted candidates is 7.6

I'm still mulling this over and driving myself mad. Even though dd has more than the average, won't she still come off worse due to the contextualisation issue?

Wishing all good positive vibes @bendmeoverbackwards

I don't know how @goodbyestranger went through this process with 8 children!

@bendmeoverbackwards Another history waiter here

Good luck @Revengeofthepangolins

Thinking of you both @Revengeofthepangolins and @bendmeoverbackwards

DS will do both his interviews and his assessment at home. He took not even a nanosecond to make his choice. I just worry the internet connection isn't stable enough but DH has been working from home since March and hasn't found it an issue so we should be fine.

Revengeofthepangolins. I lost track, I didn't realise you were still waiting too.... good vibes to you too.

What a long time they are making you wait for History. This is madness! I wish you both the very best of luck bend and Revenge and anyone else still waiting.

Bend, don’t worry about the contextualisation thing too much. It’s there to widen participation, not to needlessly discriminate. A string of top grades is a string of top grades. There are some schools where nearly everyone gets all 9s, but what more are those students supposed to do - there is no grade 10! Would Cambridge say a 1st from their uni is worth less than one achieved elsewhere, on the basis that students had the benefit of smaller seminar sizes due to the tutorial system and x,y,z? No, because they know all students have to work hard for a 1st, even at top institutions.

Anyway - fingers crossed for you!

As an independent applicant DD has to be interviewed from home because she didn’t apply through her school. The school isn’t registered with UCAS.

@Baaaahhhhh

Revengeofthepangolins. I lost track, I didn't realise you were still waiting too.... good vibes to you too.

Been keeping my head down a bit and doing Christmas prep to distract myself. Decked our outside tree with 6,000 lights, for instance.....

Thank you @quest1on that makes good sense.

It's lovely and sunny here, I'm going out for a walk with dh soon to keep occupied. Dd gets home early on Tuesdays, she'll let us know when there is news.

@Revengeofthepangolins tree sounds lovely.

Sounds amazing Revenge (but are you joking about 6,000)?

There are some schools where nearly everyone gets all 9s

There really aren't. In fact I don't think there's one, in either sector.

Hopefully those invites will wing through any moment. It's a tough wait for History this year.

goodbye - St Paul’s Girl's get about 85% 9s and over 95% of grades 8/9s. I could name quite a few other schools that aren’t that different.

@quest1on

Sounds amazing Revenge (but are you joking about 6,000)?

afraid so, but I have priced having them on for the month and it’s less than £5. The joys of LEDs. And it is 14 foot, so not quite as deranged as it sounds !

Plenty of straight 9s I know of too. A handful of girls got straight 9s in her independent sixth form. DD only got one x 8 - the rest were 9s. Not as uncommon as you'd think.

Hold on there bend and revenge!

Sure. But you wrote 9s rather than 8/9s. Big difference even if unis say they aren't distinguishing yet.

Hi there. DS2 is still waiting to hear from Oxford for Maths- anyone else?
He's at a fairly big inner city school that don't often have people applying so we're a bit on our own!!