Oxbridge 2021: another 6 months of fretting

[DahliaMacNamara]

Will they make the grades? How will grades be awarded anyway? What the hell are Cambridge up to with that nasty little clause?

Does anyone have any recommendations of somewhere nice to have lunch in Oxford. Going for a visit shortly. Luckily DD's college are allowing offer holders to have a look around the grounds of the college (just not inside any buildings) which is great news.

The Ashmolean has a basement cafe and a roof terrace restaurant. The Old Bank on the High Street is also good. If it’s sunny though, you could also pick up some picnic items from Taylor’s Deli on St Giles and eat outside in the university parks or Christchurch meadow.

The Vaults (opposite the Rad Cam) does a good lunch, has a lovely outdoor area and is especially convenient for Brasenose, Hertford and New.

It would be nice visit at this point (ds has done all he can now -the rest is up to the weird marking/moderation system we have this yer)

Has anyone visited Churchill?

We had lunch in Pho in the new mall which was very nice, if not very Oxford . There were many options there with outside seating.

I remember when that area was Selfridges, and a car park with poor old winos standing outside. I also recall when I was young and we went on day trips to Oxford my dad rolling up and parking by Magdalen

Btw I liked the look of Branca when looking for recommendations but they were booked up forever. Perhaps on a weekday not in half term places might be less busy.

It was great to look at dd’s college. My mum and dad would have been so proud .

Parking outside Magdalen, @IrmaFayLear? I don’t think even Morse did that

I also had a bf whose brother was at Brasenose and I remember pootling around the backstreets and just parking up in Holywell St. The brother’s gf lived in a lovely house in Jericho and again we just parked right outside. Now you would get a fine of £2m just for daring to stop and consider parking....

We went with D1 to Quod (at the Old Bank Hotel on the High St) when we took her to Oxford last October. Food was lovely, shame it was the wettest weekend on record

@IrmaFayLear

I also had a bf whose brother was at Brasenose and I remember pootling around the backstreets and just parking up in Holywell St. The brother’s gf lived in a lovely house in Jericho and again we just parked right outside. Now you would get a fine of £2m just for daring to stop and consider parking....

I have a friend in her sixties who was born and bred in Oxford. She always says that Jericho was a dodgy, fairly rough area when she was young. A bit hard to reconcile to the chi-chi area it is now, with million pound houses and artisan bakeries

This was about 1983, I think, and Jericho was a bit bohemian - just on the cusp of being “discovered” I suppose.

@NiamCinnOir

Parking outside Magdalen, *@IrmaFayLear*? I don’t think even Morse did that

DD sucked up to the porters, so DH managed to park on-site a few times...... but then he does have a Jag .

@FloppyHoldsNoTruckWithFrontedA

I thought I'd posted the link. Weird.
Here it is:

www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/apply/statistics

I park in Radcliffe Square in a 2006 very dented VW and a few years back I also used to be allowed into the cobbled front area of Magdalen in the same car, dented even then (I acquire dents easily). No sucking up or Jag required. Perhaps I just have an easy charm.

Also the Principal of Teddy Hall gave me his personal space to park in, after some parents in a large shiny Land Rover Discovery tried to bully me out of their way in Queen's Lane.

Branca is good and always busy Irma but for some weird reason my kids find hilarious there's a particular waiter there who crouches at our table when he talks to me, much as a nanny would when talking to a charge.

The most delicious place ever (bookings nearly impossible) is somewhere I don't intend to disclose, not far from Magdalen just up the Coley Road.

Coley? Cowley.

www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/19278489.calzone-pizzas-hit-oxford-cafe/

I like the Vaults too but portions are a bit weeny for the price these days.

@goodbyestranger

Branca is good and always busy Irma but for some weird reason my kids find hilarious there's a particular waiter there who crouches at our table when he talks to me, much as a nanny would when talking to a charge.

The most delicious place ever (bookings nearly impossible) is somewhere I don't intend to disclose, not far from Magdalen just up the Coley Road.

A certain Thai establishment by any chance, @goodbyestranger?

Actually no not Oli's. I still haven't managed a booking! No, it's Arbequina (I know, I said I wouldn't :)). Fabulous.

Was going to ask if it was Arbequina! Planning to go with D1 when we pick her up (if we can get in). If not we'll try the Ashmolean.

Don’t worry, @goodbyestranger. Your secret is somewhat safe with me

Thank you so much for all the recommendations on where to have lunch. We had a lovely day out in Oxford. Have walked for miles (and miles) which was pretty exhausting in this heat and definitely didn't put youngest DS in the best of moods.
It was just great to get a look around the grounds of DD's college. Don't know if it was the sunny weather and beautiful lawns and flowers but the place had a lovely vibe and DD feels like she'll be very happy there. Porters were very accommodating and couldn't be more welcoming and waving us in to spend as much time nosying around as we needed (so quite the opposite experience to the other family on another thread). DD is on a WhatsApp group for both her own course and the general history one. She heard on it that it really depends on the individual colleges as to whether they let you visit or not which will be very disappointing for some. But our day there just goes to show how visiting in person can give you a much clearer vision of what living and studying there will be like that you just can't grasp from a virtual tour.
We had a lovely mid morning drink sitting outside the Vault by the Rad Cam and lunch at Quod which was heaving. Then a quick look around the Ashmolean in the afternoon.
DD is definitely starting to feel excited about it all. Exams are finished here too thank goodness. She has an extra week of half term, then back in school for 1 week for a variety of leavers events before formally finishing. She's been pretty consistent at working above her offer grades so I'm cautiously optimistic she should get the grades she needs in August 🤞

@Jalfrezi how lovely. I'm glad you had an amazing day

School assessments have finished here but revision has not let up as he has the dreaded STEP papers to revise for - exams sitting week after next Mon/Wed.

Obviously after the "missing page FU" they are more important than ever.

All his friends have been out and about, enjoying the sunshine but he's been practicing previous STEP questions like a boy possessed. If he doesn't get the "1's" he needs it won't be through lack of preparation - maybe there is the tiny silver lining in the FU insofar perhaps he might not have been so focused (though tbh I'm worried that he's too focused - as if he's trying desperately to redeem his mistake iyswim and I'm quite worried about him if I'm honest - he's usually very mentally robust but I feel he's not in a great place right now).

Frankly I'll be so glad (for him) to get these STEP papers over and done.

In all honesty I'm really questioning if it was all worth it. DH and I (and his state non selective school) never pressured him - C was all his own ambition.

The stress of the whole application from start to finish has been huge - not just (though most importantly) for DS but the whole family (including very supportive GP's).

Obviously come results day if by the slim chance he does make it then then (like childbirth!) the pain will have been worth it, but in all honesty if another parent starting this journey was to ask my advice right now I'm honestly not sure what my response would be.