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

Oh sending good vibes to all the Oxford crew awaiting results on Tuesday.

And hear hear @LaundryFairy. I've found this thread such a great source of support for the whole Oxbridge process, and at times a brilliant and much needed distraction. It's been good to all go through it together. And yes @Revengeofthepangolins to remaining on the general thread which has also been brilliant, and I imagine will get busier after the UCAS deadline has passed.

@fabtasticmrpox A treat either way on Tuesday sounds like a good idea! DD and I have had a couple of conversations about redirection from Oxford - what it means and how she'll cope. I think that in her head she realises that a redirection just means that she and the course aren't a good fit and better to know this now etc. However she will be very disappointed if it's a no, and given the odds, I guess that's the most likely outcome....

Yes, totally concur with everyone who has said how supportive and helpful this thread has been. It's been a lifeline to sanity with a good dose of practical information thrown in. Our strategy for Tuesday is that dd isn't going to re-install her email app until after online lessons have finished, and we're having curry as a treat either way. If it's a no (and we reckon that is the most likely outcome), she's planning to wallow in misery for a day or two before picking herself up and getting on with life. She's made us promise not to say 'there are other brilliant universities out there' on the first day.

Good luck to all your dc awaiting news on Tuesday - I'm rooting for them all!

I think your dd is another language applicant like mine, Niam? Where else does she have offers? Would be funny if they ended up in the same place!

I agree this has been a very supportive thread. I do hope the support continues after results day when we divide again - those with offers and those redirected.

This is my third year following the Oxbridge threads - I recall most dc getting rejected on the 2019 thread. In contrast, a good number seemed to receive offers on the 2020 thread. The latter continue to share freshers' experiences on the Oxbridge current parents thread.

Who know what the fate of our lot will be???

She is, @FlyingSquid, well remembered! She has offers for Leeds, Bristol and Exeter, so she's in a great position. I think there are pros and cons for all of those courses and places and she hasn't been able to visit any of them, so doesn't know yet which would be her preferred one. What about your dd?

Just coming on to say very very best of luck to everyone waiting for O and C, with O pending! I remember well going through this twice with my DTs and the agony of waiting. Last year was their lucky year and for O, results came through first via UCAS around 8am and then an email from college around 11.40am. It's a very emotional time - whether it's a yes or a no - and I'm hoping for lots of good news for everyone on Tuesday and then again on 25th for C.

Thank you @mutterphore - your story is pretty unbeatable in terms of Mumsnet Oxbridge history! So pleased everything worked out well for your family.

I have been reminded by this thread that I had an idea to make a chocolate cake for Tuesday, again for "whatever happens". DD has two offers now at AAB and ABB that feel very achievable which I think / hope is helping keep the pressure off somewhat.

That’s a bloody good idea @Pythonesque. I’m going to copy that one on the 25th. A cake for a Cambridge offer or a cake to celebrate the end of the waiting game given his very achievable (bar some meteoric disaster with the CAGS) 2nd choice offer. As I typed that I realised that given last year’s cohort, a meteoric disaster with CAGS is indeed possible. I’ll go with the original wording and celebrate ‘whatever happens’.

Thank you @mutterphore. You are a Mumsnet Oxbridge legend! I’m so glad everything worked out for your DTs in the end.

Also so lovely of the past parents to come and offer support here. Thank you.

I do not know of your legend @mutterphore. Is it anything we should be learning lessons from?

Thanks very much @mutterphore! And what a great idea about having cake at the ready @Pythonesque !

Tenpastseven - not really a legend! Just the usual roller-coaster ride with DTs applying for O and C at the same time.

First time around, pre-A levels, they got interviews but no offers. Second time around, post A levels (2019 so fortunately before the A level debacle last year - and they'd both done well in A levels), they both got interviews and places - one at O and one at C.

It was much easier in so many ways, post-A levels, I think, retrospectively but the first try was like a practice run and they knew what to expect at interviews.

I think I'm proudest of them both not for securing places but for having the resilience to try a second time when the first time round was very devastating. They really really wanted to go to Oxbridge and weren't satisfied with their other offers - a hugely high risk position to be in and not one to cultivate!

So I'd say that if your DCs are really attached to Oxbridge, it's worth giving it another go but a very high risk strategy as a second 'no' might be harder to manage and nail-bitingly traumatic for me too, especially as it would have been so hard to celebrate one success if the other didn't make it.

Good luck again to everyone and I do feel that at the final part of the process, luck plays a big part as they all deserve a place really.

DD is favouring Exeter (and Edinburgh, but hasn’t actually had an offer yet). Honestly, I think she’d be more excited to go to Edinburgh than Oxford in some ways.

Oh wow. Your nerves must have been shot! No wonder you are legendary. Hats off to you and your DTs. Did they apply to the same again (so O to O and C to C)?

Yes, it will be nice to think of lots of others waiting with me on Tuesday, as the support we have here is fantastic.

My DD has moved from insisting that she will reapply next year post A levels if there's no offer this year, to saying how worried she is about workload at Oxford, so it would probably be better if she goes to Durham. I think she's doing some preparatory self-consolation.

Has anyone’s DC looked at their aptitude test results?

The thread over on the student room is currently blowing up about TSA/ELAT results! Seems like there will be lots of over-analysing over the next 24 hours.

I am confused about when the Cambridge applicants get their decision. Our school has said that they dribble out this week with those who have been pooled not finding out their decision until the end of January?
They also said that Track doesn't usually update until later tomorrow for Oxford. Anyway, I'm not sure if that helps anyone or not....

Also the staff at your child's school do not get the results and so are totally reliant on your child telling them. So it might be worth letting your child's tutor know, especially if they are redirected so they can help support them.

I think I’ll slink over to the tsr for a look...

I think your story was a real nail-biter, @mutterphore . My ds went through it twice, but twins ! I can’t imagine the agonies of wondering how to handle it if one were successful and the other wasn’t. I think your sigh of relief last year must have been audible in three counties!

I have twins and I am very glad they want to do totally different things. One wants to do medicine and one wants to go to drama school.
Both horrendously hard to get in to but not comparable to each other.

DD being very laid back about getting her ELAT result! She has requested a password reset to view the result page, but it hasn’t come through yet ...

DD hasn't mentioned hers at all, so I don't think she can have looked yet. It's the kind of thing she'd obsess about. She has a pack of exam papers to work through this week, so I think tomorrow can happen in its own time without any extra information to chew over in the meantime. I'm not going to mention it anyway.