Oxbridge Aspirants 2022

[TangoWhiskyAlphaTango]

Hi not too sure if there is another thread started as could not see one. May be waaaaaay too early but wondered if any other parents out there who have a child applying for next year?

Dd would like to apply to Cambridge to study History and Politics in 2022. She is at a state A-level college doing History, Politics and English Literature. I have never had to push her towards studying she is a very motivated child and wants to give Cambridge a shot (a very long shot as we know!). Her GCSE results were good but not top notch (9s in History, English Language and literature and the rest 7s and 6s) so not sure how much this will affect her. So far her A-level essays are coming out at As and A* and those are her predicted grades so if she continues on track that should meet the criteria.

She reads a lot of extra curricular stuff and has a genuine passion for politics, has joined the local Labour party youth group. She has applied for the summer programme at Cambridge & is part of an Oxbridge group that the college puts together.

It feels like a such a long shot and the stats of actually getting in are very low only 18% of applicants successful in 2019 so I am trying to tell her not to get her hopes up whilst actually supporting her!

She is my first born so I have never been through this before. Anybody else out there? Would be lovely to hear from you.

My DS is most interested in social policy ,hence the overlap of sociology and politics but has never even given anthropology a thought. It is nigh on impossible to wheedle module choices out of Cambridge or to get any detail on the focus or content of first year modules!

He also has his beady eye on policy, politics and economics at Birmingham ; government, policy and society at Edinburgh and economic and social history at Glasgow : otherwise just straight social policy. It is hard to tell whether , or how far, the Cambridge course, focuses on policy making.

@Piggywaspushed - I work in public policy and I'm not sure Cambridge would be my 'go to' place if that's his interest.

LSE do some very good work and Glasgow do as well. I've also seen some interesting work from Warwick. Caveat would be I'm dealing with academics and research but if their undergraduate programmes match their research programmes I'd take a look at them.

Thanks sandy. He isn't interested in London, and Warwick's sociology course looks weedy but Glasgow on radar : just distance really!

Birmingham and Glasgows (both Strathclyde and Glasgow) are pretty firmly top of league tables year on year for SP, along with Bath and Edinburgh (is it a Scottish thing!?) . We are visiting Bath soon - like Cambridge it doesn't sell its course well online.

He aslo very much likes the look of the SPS course at York.

@Piggywaspushed

Thanks sandy. He isn't interested in London, and Warwick's sociology course looks weedy but Glasgow on radar : just distance really!

Birmingham and Glasgows (both Strathclyde and Glasgow) are pretty firmly top of league tables year on year for SP, along with Bath and Edinburgh (is it a Scottish thing!?) . We are visiting Bath soon - like Cambridge it doesn't sell its course well online.

He aslo very much likes the look of the SPS course at York.

Dd is applying for politics and we are also going to look at Bath. I'm taking her there for a trip for her 18th so will be able to have a good look around. I like that they can do a year in industry too as I think @SandyBayley spoke about before if im correct? I want her to have solid employment prospects at the end of this so a year out to discover options is really appealing.

Dd has vetoed London too it's mainly a cost thing though for us.

@TangoWhiskyAlphaTango - Hull do a great course if you want a year of experience

www.hull.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/british-politics-and-legislative-studies-ba-hons

Bath does do placement years : it is a tempting feature.

London is cost for us too.

[quote SandyBayley]@TangoWhiskyAlphaTango - Hull do a great course if you want a year of experience

www.hull.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/british-politics-and-legislative-studies-ba-hons[/quote]
Thanks very much for that link it looks ideal. I know absolutely nothing about Hull! I will show dd and have a look into it.

Tango Topical!
www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hull-east-yorkshire-news/gareth-southgate-reveals-takes-secret-5636814

Hull has a really good reputation for politics. It has done for a number of years. It also benefits (as a student) for being very cheap to live in.

[quote EwwSprouts]Tango Topical!
www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hull-east-yorkshire-news/gareth-southgate-reveals-takes-secret-5636814[/quote]
Thank you! Very interesting....we will have to put it on the visit list

@SandyBayley

Hull has a really good reputation for politics. It has done for a number of years. It also benefits (as a student) for being very cheap to live in.

Thanks Sandy. I'd never even thought of it but the course looks amazing & a year at Westminster would be superb experience. I watched the 45 minute virtual talk and admittedly it's one of the best I've seen. Deffo food for thought.

No worries @TangoWhiskyAlphaTango - there is a similar course at York as well

www.york.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/ba-politics-placement/

When I took my politics degree it incorporated a 3 month placement building to a dissertation. I did mine with the local MP and it really was the springboard into my career. Still going 26 years later 😊

@SandyBayley

No worries *@TangoWhiskyAlphaTango* - there is a similar course at York as well

www.york.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/ba-politics-placement/

When I took my politics degree it incorporated a 3 month placement building to a dissertation. I did mine with the local MP and it really was the springboard into my career. Still going 26 years later 😊

You are so so helpful Sandy thank you so much, just watched the video clip from a student on placement at Westminster and what a fabulous opportunity! I've just booked the Hull open day for October. Will take a look at York too. My car mileage is going to be going up I think with all of these visits!!

It's a pleasure @TangoWhiskyAlphaTango - nice to be able to help with something I know about.

DD starts her work experience in our local hospital on Monday with a friend who is a Dr. Medicine I know nothing about!

Bath Uni

@Eightytwenty did you mean the Bath Uni link? Here it is, the campus looks amazing so its definitely on the list to visit.

My only concern with the year in industry is how it will be funded. @SandyBayley would you know about this.?...do they get paid for the years work? I could not afford to fund dd renting for a year so it may rule out this year placement. I cannot see much info on the website...THANK YOU!

@TangoWhiskyAlphaTango In my experience they are usually paid by their employer in placement years - around £20k seems the average. Plus they still get a smaller student loan.

Unpaid internships are now illegal so placements are paid (unless a volunteering role but that's are and sometimes sponsored or funded).

But, yes, I don't understand the finances either!

Having a dc at Bath, I can confirm that they are paid at a decent rate, and that they pay a much smaller student loan amount for teaching support in the region of £1.5k.
Placements are a dry run of looking for employment in final year so good experience in that as well as experience of relevant industry sector.
Apart from the beauty of the campus, the placement year is a good reason to look at Bath carefully-graduates are much liked by employers for their experience and readiness for work as everything else.

@tumfy

Having a dc at Bath, I can confirm that they are paid at a decent rate, and that they pay a much smaller student loan amount for teaching support in the region of £1.5k. Placements are a dry run of looking for employment in final year so good experience in that as well as experience of relevant industry sector. Apart from the beauty of the campus, the placement year is a good reason to look at Bath carefully-graduates are much liked by employers for their experience and readiness for work as everything else.

Thank you! For the other replies too....definitely looks like a positive then. I'm hoping they'll put on an open day later in the year so we can have a really good look at the campus, it looks brilliant.

@tumfy

Having a dc at Bath, I can confirm that they are paid at a decent rate, and that they pay a much smaller student loan amount for teaching support in the region of £1.5k. Placements are a dry run of looking for employment in final year so good experience in that as well as experience of relevant industry sector. Apart from the beauty of the campus, the placement year is a good reason to look at Bath carefully-graduates are much liked by employers for their experience and readiness for work as everything else.

@tumfy May I ask how your dc finds Bath in general? Are they enjoying it there? I know Bath is n0t a big City Uni like many others (but Bristol not too far) but it still seems to offer a lot, the campus online looks stunning. How are they finding their course/ the teaching, have they fitted in ok? Sorry so many questions but Bath looks like a definite top choice.

Just popping my head round the door having been watching this thread for a while

My ds is still considering whether to apply for comp sci at Cambridge: it wasn't really on his radar originally, but great exam results and feedback and an increasing interest on theoretical/maths side of comp sci are making him wonder whether it's worth a go! His big concern is that he's not done Further Maths (he actually tried to swop to add FM at the beginning of the year but timetabling meant it wasn't possible with his other choices) and whether this would mean his changes are pretty slim... Neither dh or I really know much about the application process so thanks for all the hints and tips on here so far :-)