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.

@VikingNorthUtsire

It's so important to visit. On paper DS and I both thought magdalen was perfect for him. We visited and we both hated it.

Those of you who know - is it really bad to pick without visiting and/or to put in an open application?

We tried to visit, twice. Both times majority of colleges closed to the public. DS has very little idea of what he wants - think he's finding it impossible to imagine student life after a very restricted time in 6th form with Covid. We don't know anyone at Oxford he can visit. I've suggested a final trip but he's worrying about losing a day of MAT prep (bless him).

How bad would it be just to pick one? Or not to pick at all?

If you can't visit, it might help just to look up the tutors at each college and find out whether any have similar special interests to your DC's. DS found a tutor whose research matched his own main interest so when they met they gabbled on for hours together. Or find out whether they are more formal (lots of formal hall dinners and drinks) or more laid back (Love Island-athons in the JCR - which was on offer at one college that wasn't right for DS )

She went through the list, crossing a college out if she could find anything significant against it. What type of significant negatives are you talking about? Perhaps it's a sign (that it's not the right university for her)?

@Gizmo98765 he should think about factors such as old or new, central or far out, big or small. But as people often go for oldish, central and medium he could take a look at Catz ( St Catharines). It’s very strong for NatSci but as a result has had a very high application rate for the last few years. Strong state school ethos. Not particularly pretty (it was my old college so I can say that!) and there is very major building work going on so no proper dining hall at the moment but that might reduce the applications. The site is quite cramped. No lovely gardens. Or he could look at Sidney. Quite small and very lovely gardens, friendly. I also like Corpus, Emma and Selwyn but it’s all down to personal taste and in end usually doesn’t matter.

@Gizmo98765 sorry also meant to say that Catz has a tradition of students from the north of the country and also has good sports facilities including several football teams.

Catz is very enthusiastic about outreach and puts n lots more talks and taster sessions than any other colleges. DS took it off shortlist in the end (he wants grass you can walk on!) but his friend is applying.

I did think the science colleges were Churchill and Fitzwilliam, and others that side of town (therefore competitive especially Churchill). Don't be put off by modernness : they have good accommodation and facilities and their grounds are spacious and lovely. Selwyn v narrowly squeaked ahead of Fitzwilliam for DS.

Question: DS is especially interested in social and public policy. the specialist is at Fitzwilliam. How much should that sway decision?

Choosing based on professors could be a mistake as they regularly go on sabbatical/take up an appointment elsewhere/go on maternity leave/retire. Also one travels round to other colleges according to what modules (or whatever proper term is) one has chosen (or even have been chosen for you: nb you might spy “Interesting Social History” as an option but of course everyone chooses that so as your name is not drawn out of the hat you have to take “Boring Economic History” at a college 2 miles away).

Actually here’s my tip on college choice: it really doesn’t matter BUT try to find out which colleges are undertaking significant building work in the next three years. Aesthetically your college may be covered in scaffolding - not too much of a problem. But in some cases there is no dining hall and you have to have self service in a tent, or the students are billeted miles out if the accommodation is being rebuilt.

My two penn'orth...
DD enjoyed looking through colleges online. We have still never seen any from the inside and she's starting in 2 weeks but she picked on grounds that made sense to her. She went for central, old, pretty, medium sized and "not having a nobby reputation". She also wanted a college orchestra. She came down to 3 fairly easily and picked one on average cost of accommodation in the end. She got pooled to one of the others anyway (and I think was super lucky. I think that everyone doing her subject this year at her college was pulled from the pool despite their having plenty of their own applicants).
Two of her friends have been pooled to colleges much further out.
I think it's worth going through the "fun" of picking but I'm not sure it's worth much stress as 25% of applicants with offers (at C anyway) don't get the college they picked and everyone seems to like where they end up...
Several of

I'm finding it really hard to find out accommodation costs! They aren't very transparent.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18

She went through the list, crossing a college out if she could find anything significant against it. What type of significant negatives are you talking about? Perhaps it's a sign (that it's not the right university for her)?

No - she was just trying to narrow it down and narrowed it down a bit too far. She looked at things like size, location, old or new, garden or not, accommodation costs, whether extremely academic or a bit less so, traditional or a bit less so.

Surely you can’t cross everywhere off?

Btw, ignore those silly stereotypes that online “choose your ideal college!” quizzes suggest. Majorly out-of-date.

She's put a couple back on the list now!
It's difficult, when for example a college you really like charges very high rent.

Probably best to keep an open mind even after submitting an application. DD (O) didn't have a clue, applied to a large, modern college, received an open offer and ended up at a pretty, central college - which she loves. DS (C) is at his first choice college (he whittled it down to six and then ranked them according to his own criteria) and is very happy there.

@Piggywaspushed If your DC is applying to Oxford, there is clear information about accommodation costs for all the colleges here: www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/colleges/do-I-pay-to-live-in-my-college

It's Cambridge but thanks!

That's MUCH clearer than anything you get from Cambridge!

@Piggywaspushed we did manage to find all the accommodation costs on the college pages but it did take a little bit of effort. DD is at a much more expensive one than she originally planned but still cheaper than most of her friends elsewhere are paying. I think they are mostly in a pdf somewhere on each college page.

It generally gives a ballpark figure, I find, and then is unclear on meal costs too. So for example, Selwyn says £139 to £160 pw, then you go somewhere else on the site to find out how rooms are allocated etc etc, do it becomes really difficult to figure out which colleges are cheaper.

Because of pooling, I am not going to lose too much sleep over it, I guess.

DD's O college charges a flat rate regardless of room type. Everyone can request a fixed number of extra nights either end of term for no extra charge and then a daily rate kicks in.

On paper DS's (C) college accommodation costs are higher than his sister's (O) college. However, he received random alumni grants and gifts throughout the year so the costs ended up being fairly similar. He has two adjoining rooms this year (a set) but it is only slightly more expensive than his first year room.

We also looked at this
thetab.com/uk/cambridge/2016/03/10/draft-cost-of-living-71896
but it's from 2016 and seems out of date, certainly for some things. Eg DD thought the laundry costs were horrifying at her college but she's been assured that they are free, at least for the next year (not sure if that's a covid measure, wanting to ensure they wash stuff?!)

The Tab stuff comes from a study published also in Varsity which was pretty damning about the hidden costs and huge disparities in living costs ( I think I posted it aaaaages back in the thread). Homerton is far and away the cheapest, it seems.

Do Oxbridge students still get the same potential maximum loan as those at university in London? It used to be the case in the days of grants.

Those prices are pretty steep. You can see why less well off students might be put off applying.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 No, they wouldn’t be eligible for the ‘London weighted’ loan.
My DD will get the full ‘outside London’ student loan and as such will be eligible for bursaries at Oxbridge.
The bursaries are on a sliding scale and there’s lots of info on the universities’ websites.
Sorry, I’m shite at copying and pasting on my phone!

Thanks for all the advice re colleges at Cambridge. DS now thinking about maybe changing his mind from Nat Sci at Cambridge to Maths with Physics for year 1 then switch to Nat Sci in year 2 and 3. But when he looked at it the test for the latter is July so assuming that would be for Sept 23 entry not Sept 22? Does anyone know? This is my first DC’s uni application so I am a lot in the dark.

Thanks