Another Path to Greatness - Part II

[BigWoollyJumpers]

Here we are.

@NotJackieWeaver thank you for your message. Appreciated. All the best if your DC is applying for next year.

There is another thread on Education referring to this thread and how as parents we shouldn't be so invested in our kids going to Oxbridge. No one who hasn't been through the process, believing their DC had a good chance of success, will understand how we feel. I tried so hard to not get invested in the process yet the disappointment was overwhelming.

it's the whole purpose of an anonymous internet forum chopc to be able to express those legitimate feelings.
I'm sure you are circumspect in real life because you will have peers who earnestly wish their own child's academic achievements matches those of your child - but on here people should be free to work through their feelings.

That’s interesting re Cambridge, though not unexpected. I should imagine, the more popular Uni’s will also be cutting back on offers, due to deferrals from last year & nowhere near the ‘normal’ 75% missing their UCAS predicted grades.

That's entirely expected news to me @NotJackieWeaver. Thanks for sharing and thanks must go to the Churchill speaker for being somewhat more honest than the initial denials/party line being repeated by persons with "connections" to this or that Oxbridge college(s). Perhaps they were aware that some aggrieved individuals would be making FOI requests and challenging the initial statements despite it making not a jot of difference to their offspring securing a place for 2021 entry.

I've been networking to satisfy my own curiosity as their statement/stats didn't add up to what has been experienced in so many schools/areas. I've been asked in return to provide data to those I've networked with who also found the initial assurances devoid of evidence.

Is there anyway of DD not seeing that , as I'm worried she'll want to try again for 2022 entry if she gets no medicine offers at all and I'm not sure my nerves could stand it

So far as I could work out, the Churchill team were saying that Churchill always recruits heavily from the winter pool and that this year's winter pool had been of a spectacularly high quality (because of other colleges making fewer offers).

none of this seems particularly controversial to me - people are entitled to think "it was bad luck to be in this cohort" - because it was!

...also SATS how could the colleges do anything other than either make fewer offers or make much higher offers then reject half the candidates? Or genuinely end up forcing lots to defer?

Am struggling to understand why they would deny reality....

This year's cohort was just unlucky, it's the virus' fault.

Thing is it would have changed anything - DS would still have applied and we would still have been disappointed at the rejection........C'est la vie

*wouldn't have

Thanks @NotJackieWeaver - our dc have had such a rotten time. It's so hard to know the odds have been stacked against them in this year's application process. I can only hope our dc's fresher experience will be slightly better than the current cohort's.

I felt people had a right to know that the odds were (even) more stacked than usual. As others who know more said - entirely unsurprising.

"Is there anyway of DD not seeing that grin, as I'm worried she'll want to try again for 2022 entry if she gets no medicine offers at all and I'm not sure my nerves could stand it "

I have a slightly clueless DS2 15 who has expressed an interest in medicine. I cannot imagine him coping with this process frankly. He wants to be a doctor but is at the "don't want to seem like a geek" stage. It's like people who are good at being married but no good at courting.....

Totally in agreement with you @NotJackieWeaver, don't misunderstand me.
The information from the Churchill representative details what might have been useful information in deciding whether to apply in the first place, although who can be sure that this strategy was even set in stone at that point given that it's possible that most people believed exams would be going ahead in normal A Level format back in Mid October when UCAS early entry submission date loomed.
DD was unlucky to be applying this year as in a normal year (with the usual offer to places ratio) where all applicants' entry was dependent on getting specified grades from sitting the same exams in the same conditions, she totally fancied her chances of achieving all A*s whilst acknowledging that sadly, statistically, enough of the unknown fellow offer holders may drop a grade. Hence in an over offer situation she anticipated being one of the offer holders meeting the grade target and getting a place.

Sounds cocky, but she totally isn't. School's assessment was "We're confident she will get interviews and we're reasonably confident she'll get offers from her interviews and if she gets an offer we are very confident that she's headed for A*s so will make whatever the required grades are"

She moved on from the Cambridge rejection fairly quickly and is passionate about her alternative non-Oxbridge first choice. If she doesn't get an offer from there then at that point I think the unfortunate timing of being part of this Y13 cohort may start to rankle.

Loving the married/courting analogy @NotJackieWeaver

Oh I see SATS. Earlier on in the process, it wouldn't have been in the Uni's interests to broadcast that they were likely to make fewer offers.
I see what you are saying.
As you say, I'm sure nothing was set in stone till the last minute.

I think the stategy re offers changed the minute that the exams were cancelled and they knew they could be left in an over offer/squeeze people in again situation. It is not just Oxbridge that has their eye on this either.

SATs that all sounds entirely reasonable re your dd's thinking.

Hi everyone. Yes I think unis were busy making offers at the normal offer ratios, right up until the announcement by the stunning GW that exams would be cancelled again.

They offered one place at the C college DS applied to. One. If only we’d known...

From my discovery of TSR, LSE looks like its been rejecting all day today, but STILL no offers in the spreadsheet. Students with 4A* being turned down. Crazy.

Offers from Durham seem few and far between too and people being rejected with top grades who you know full well would have a place in a normal year. I strongly suspect that the vast proportion of the new quota for offers has been already given as contextual offers last term.

So we wait..,

Watch GW now on Monday announce that there will, in fact, be some form of exams after all. The man is a muppet.

It’s such a mess, I’m actually wondering if DS should defer?

Have just seen that there was a Durham offer holder day this week. DD didn't get any invite despite having an offer. She's now worried that she has missed the chance. Does anybody know if they will do another one? Or how she gets added to the list if they have missed her?

@baring, I think yesterday was the first applicants day but I gather there will be more. They might have been subject specific, am not sure. Dd1 did physics yesterday.
She signed up for open days via an email link a few weeks ago. I can ask her tomorrow which email had this link.

Thank you that would be helpful. DD is science too so she must have been missed.

Sorry for jumping into this thread, I thought I was on the Durham one - betraying my lurking tendencies!
Will definitely ask her and let you know.

@baring - I remember there was another date on 20th March

www.dur.ac.uk/study/ug/visit/postoffer/

You can register for the post offer stuff here and it does say "We are counting on you to invite others! Help us spread the word. You can simply share the link to this page and they can register at their convenience."

durhamuniversity.vfairs.com/

This is a link to all the live events

www.dur.ac.uk/study/pg/visit/liveevents/

@baring, she got an email initially on 4th jan inviting her to sign up for access to the applicants portal between mid Feb till May. She thinks there are only 2 live events and the next is on 20th March (as @chopc says).
There was also a link in her college allocation email but hopefully she can now sign in on the links above.

Thank you very much everybody. Have shared wit DD. Had a moment of panic as thought it was Feb 20th but realised it is March