Oxbridge Interviewees for 2021 Entry - The Journey Continues - Thread 5

[Baaaahhhhh]

New Thread from old one:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/4088426-Oxbridge-Aspirants-2021-New-Thread-4

Well said @Jano69

Thanks, @Jano69 ! Nice to hear from someone who has been through the Oxbridge application experience and can see the positives of 'redirection'. I'll try to remember your wise words come January!

Oh you'll need a treat tonight @bendmeoverbackwards- chocolate, wine, gin?

Maybe all 3

Well done to your ds @LaundryFairy hope he manages to relax now.

Thank you for sharing your experience @Jano69 that sounds really tough. But glad to hear things worked out for him in the end.

I totally agree there is an element of luck. My dd's friend who went to Oxford herself a few years ago describes the admission process as a 'mystery'. No-one really understands why some people make it and others don't.

If Oxford can get a vaccine out in less than a year, you'd think they could get their offers out in less than a month....

MidLifeCrisis they could and they used to but they've decided they don't want to. They know the names of all those they're going to offer to the evening the last interview for that subject is over.

As further evidence that I've become overly invested in my DS's Oxbridge application of late, I found myself watching University Challenge last night (Corpus Christi, Oxford V Magdalene, Cambridge). The questions were fiendishly hard and my respect for the contestants grew and grew throughout the programme. I googled the captains at one point and found this 4 year old article about the Magdalene captain. NINE A Stars AT A LEVEL. WTF!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-37120223

I agree that there seems to be a huge element of luck in the Oxbridge process, and that selection is a bit of a mystery - but that also mirrors life, thinking about applying for jobs for example, where there is definitely luck involved and the choice of one candidate over a field of similarly qualified and experienced candidates is quite mysterious. :)

Good luck to the dc of everyone who still has an interview or two to go! Dd had her final interview at O yesterday and is now just relieved to be doing boring stuff like history coursework and some revision for mocks in January. She was lucky enough not to get the silent treatment in any of her interviews, but says she had a very strong feeling in all of them that the interviewers were disappointed with her answers, and she never really felt that she was engaging in a dialogue with them. She'll be looking more closely at the unis which have given her offers after mocks are over, and would ideally like to visit them (she didn't apply to Durham for some reason).

There is definitely an element of luck! But then again I suppose this can be said of everything. One of my DC old school friends (in another country) is having his Cambridge interview in January.

And due to the pooling system in Cambridge, I suppose they have a lot more to mull over than Oxford?

Thank you @bendmeoverbackwards - as you and others have said, no point in angonising over a process that seems to be so hard to second-guess.

I can't think of any other process where people think they've done badly if they didn't say enough, or badly if they said too much, or badly if they didn't feel engaged with the interviewers, or badly if they got along really well, or badly if they were invited to additional interviews, or badly if they weren't. No wonder the final selection seems a mystery.
DD thinks hers have gone okay so far. Gawd only knows what that means.

[quote MidLifeCrisis007]As further evidence that I've become overly invested in my DS's Oxbridge application of late, I found myself watching University Challenge last night (Corpus Christi, Oxford V Magdalene, Cambridge). The questions were fiendishly hard and my respect for the contestants grew and grew throughout the programme. I googled the captains at one point and found this 4 year old article about the Magdalene captain. NINE A Stars AT A LEVEL. WTF!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-37120223[/quote]
That report only lists 7 A-levels and an EPQ, though.

I say 'only'...

I'm surprised to hear of the people still waiting for Durham. In my naivety I'd thought that both Durham and UCL were offering early this year (due to the current situation) as DD had non-contextual offers from both a while ago. I guess it really is very subject dependent! She would be thrilled to go to Durham, despite it being quite a journey, so it does relieve the pressure on Oxford.

DS also hasn't heard anything from Durham (History)

Nothing from Durham here either.

Update - I have already cracked open the chocolate from my secret stash hidden away (which my family keeps finding!), must find a better hiding place

Dd is upstairs mid-interview, the rest of us are tip-toeing around the house trying not to make any noise.

How are your dc all finding the disruption to schoolwork during the interview period? Dd is worried and feels she has loads to catch up on and has tests this week.

That report only lists 7 A-levels and an EPQ, though

I can assure you that if you get a humanities offer from Oxford, you only need AAA and not 9 x A* at A level.

DS (history) did get a surprisingly early UCL offer earlier this month , which I was delighted about for him, but no joy from Durham. I am assuming it will be the usual, grudging, February event, or just dribble off into silence as happened to various friends’ children last year. But still have my fingers very firmly crossed in hope .....

Nothing from Durham here (Maths).

@bendmeoverbackwards

How are your dc all finding the disruption to schoolwork during the interview period? Dd is worried and feels she has loads to catch up on and has tests this week.

DS has been ok mostly. Mocks had already finished two weeks before interviews started, so he wasn't trying to juggle both. He's also very lucky in that he hasn't had to take any time off to self-isolate yet (touch wood) even though a number at his school have. Still he is looking pretty weary if I'm honest. He has other extracurricular commitments that take up quite a lot of his time and I think that, while enjoyable, they have been much harder to keep up with during the whole Oxford application process.

Nothing from Durham here yet (Geography)

I no longer mention the process to family. Particularly when my stepmother asks why ds hasn't applied to both, I tell her he's not allowed, and she refuses to believe me because she knows someone 'who was accepted to both'. I suggest she means postgrad and she says no . Then my DM tells me that Cambridge must be SO expensive compared to other UK Unis, I tell her they're all the same and I can tell she doesn't quite believe me . Neither of them live in the UK.

@bendmeoverbackwards

How are your dc all finding the disruption to schoolwork during the interview period? Dd is worried and feels she has loads to catch up on and has tests this week.

Yes - tricky. She does have to catch up on some stuff, plus unfortunately there was a timed, assessed essay during her English lit lesson yesterday, following her first interview and before her two today. Not great timing, but I think college is as understanding about the situation as they can be. Is your DC's school supportive?

DS's school is very supportive, but he only needed 1 day out and was allowed to take a half day the day before, which he did.

Lol!! @Vargas, with MIL & DM. It’s all you can do really!

DS has mocks in January, so he is catching up on lost time now. He has managed to schedule some exercise time into his routine.