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.

Oh, definitely best shot.

And it is easy for some people to be “hands off” if the school is very “hands on”. My dcs’ school is very “all universities are the same” and in fact dd’s tutor told her she was a snob because of her university choices and why hadn’t she included the local one (because it was founded about three weeks ago and is crap, that’s why).

OP, have a look at The Student Room for good tips. There are Oxford Demystified and Cambridge Demystified sections as well as applicant threads.I think that for every student there are ten parents posting on it (but I just lurked) and some people are obnoxious/braggy/deluded but it is a good resource nonetheless.

DS hopes to go to Cambridge in 2022 to study engineering. He stands a chance but is not straight 9s/As (got 3x9,3x8,2x7 and 2x6 at GCSE, currently predicted AA*AA at A level).

Very interesting to read the posts above. DH and I both went to uni and did well but neither of us applied to Oxbridge so this is new to us. We have looked into super-curricular activities and DS has managed to get on an outreach admissions support scheme although nothing has yet happened with that. We are encouraging him to look at different universities too.

I must admit to being rather alarmed at CJB's post. All great ideas but wow, the mission of it all is something else . Maybe DS/we are just not cut out for this

Don’t worry... a fair few kids have sneaked in with a 50th of CJB’s preparation.

Some people are a bit Irene from 44 Scotland St with “Project Bertie”.

@IrmaFayLear 🤣🤣

@IrmaFayLear

Oh, definitely best shot.

And it is easy for some people to be “hands off” if the school is very “hands on”. My dcs’ school is very “all universities are the same” and in fact dd’s tutor told her she was a snob because of her university choices and why hadn’t she included the local one (because it was founded about three weeks ago and is crap, that’s why).

OP, have a look at The Student Room for good tips. There are Oxford Demystified and Cambridge Demystified sections as well as applicant threads.I think that for every student there are ten parents posting on it (but I just lurked) and some people are obnoxious/braggy/deluded but it is a good resource nonetheless.

Thank you for that I will certainly take a look at The Student Room. There have so many fab tips already. Dd is fortunate with this that the college she attends has a dedicated Oxbridge group, the yr 12s have their first meeting with them tomorrow so will interesting to hear what they say.

@20newnames

DS hopes to go to Cambridge in 2022 to study engineering. He stands a chance but is not straight 9s/As (got 3x9,3x8,2x7 and 2x6 at GCSE, currently predicted AA*AA at A level).

Very interesting to read the posts above. DH and I both went to uni and did well but neither of us applied to Oxbridge so this is new to us. We have looked into super-curricular activities and DS has managed to get on an outreach admissions support scheme although nothing has yet happened with that. We are encouraging him to look at different universities too.

I must admit to being rather alarmed at CJB's post. All great ideas but wow, the mission of it all is something else . Maybe DS/we are just not cut out for this

@20newnames My Dd has a very similar set of GCSE results and A-Level targets. You have to be in it to win it is my motto so I think he should definitely apply.

Has anybody heard if any Unis are doing face to face open days this year or is it still unknown? Dd and i visited Cambridge last year and its hard not to be impressed but we would love to look at the alternatives - Durham, Leeds, Liverpool & Bristol will be up there I think. Maybe London too with her applying for Politics although I am a bit nervous about the cost of London to be fair.

Good luck to her, OP. As long as she doesn't get too hung up on the outcome, it's a great idea to have a go - if she doesn't try, she'll never know!

Her choice of colleges is good, by the way. Clare and Emma are both great options.

My little nugget of advice is that she should be herself at the interview.

Years ago, when I was a student, I used to help out during the interview process, making sure the candidates knew where to go etc. They all seemed much of a muchness to me...confident, predicted the highest grades, loads of extracurricular and supercurricular activity etc. I asked my supervisor, who was interviewing, how on earth they chose between them. He said that they looked for "intellectual honesty" and for the kind of student who would benefit most from the personalised teaching that Cambridge offers. He didn't elaborate on what that meant, and I didn't ask, but I took it to mean intellectually curious and not full of bullshit/trying too hard to impress.

DD reckons that her genuine enthusiasm at interview was at least half ‘desperation to talk to another human being’ mid lockdown.

Beware of schools that have Oxbridge preparation groups especially if the advice they are dishing out is outdated as it often can be. Yes, listen to what they have to say but I suspect you will learn more on here than some of those school groups know.

Yep it was definitely a mission, but the actual work was all hers, including having to teach herself up to the grade 9 standard for several of her GCSEs and up to the A* standard for one of her A levels.

She's the one with the work ethic, brains and drive. I'm just the dance mom. She would come first in all her exams at secondary, but she just liked being first. None of it actually interested her. then when day just before year 9 started, she announced: I'm gonna do weird subject x at Cambridge. I just laughed and told her she wasn't smart enough!

She loves her subject. I think this came out in her interview judging by what they said to her and to each other in front of her. Yeah, all the prep was a big task, but she enjoyed it. Maybe more prep than most kids, but she wanted that place like oxygen.

I think what I gather is that they are looking for genuine passion for the subject, as well as high grades.

Does anyone know which Cambridge colleges are best if you come from a state school?

My dd used this:
www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Cambridge_College_Pros_and_Cons

and:
www.applytocambridge.com/colleges

to help make her choice. However she was pooled to a different college as were 3 others of the 7 people who she knows going from her (state) school - so it's best not to set their hearts on a particular college.

Since most students are state school ones, the college doesn’t matter in that regard. Also (no skin in the game here - my dcs are fully comp) privately-educated kids are not all monsters or dripping with wealth and privilege. It’s best to enter the next phase of life with an open mind, rather than full of prejudice.

True - don’t fret about the college, or else you end up annoyed when you get a place and it is not at the college you obsessed over choosing. The competition is so fierce that any place is a big win.

Mmm. Yes, that does slightly apply to DD. She had her sights set on a large outskirts college with lots of grounds and cooking facilities. She’s going to a tiny central one that’s fully catered.

She’s got over it.

I too am a bit 😱at the mission to get in.
I am seeking reassurance from any pp who have or have had DCs at Oxford whom can allay my DDs fears.
Whilst she will have ‘a punt’ and she knows it’s akin to a lottery she is concerned that she would not ‘fit in’.
For her, she is worried that successful applicants are those ‘that have nowt else going on their lives but studying 24/7 - her words not mine!
She ‘cracks on’ with her academics but also needs ‘to let her hair down’ via socialising etc
Is this possible?

For her, she is worried that successful applicants are those ‘that have nowt else going on their lives but studying 24/7 - her words not mine!

Well, I can only speak for Cambridge rather than Oxford, but I reckon they're pretty similar. I knew hardly anyone in Cambridge who did nothing but study. Most were definitely work hard/play hard types. I'd be more concerned about a kid not fitting in if they didn't do anything else tbh.

DD is on site at the moment. There are photos of her in fancy dress at 3am in the morning taken during a fire alarm. Socialising takes place when they've submitted that night's essay.

She is in one of the colleges which still has some work to do on widening participation, but loves it there. She discovered that the easiest way to deal with the inevitable "where did you go to school" question in her first weeks was to ask them the same, look blank and say she hadn't heard of theirs either.

Some people do wish their college was more/less central, or not single sex etc but the vast majority do come to feel that they are in a good environment. DD (Cam) got into her first choice college but lots of her friends there were pooled and all seem very happy. She would have been concerned to be pooled to single sex but would have accepted the place with a reasonably open mind! She would also have hated to be pooled to Churchill (but as she applied for NatSci that wasn’t going to happen). As to the passion for the subject, I’m not sure DD ever really had that. But definitely intellectual curiosity, in spades.

FWIW, I'm not sure that I agree that the choice of college doesn't matter. I do think it makes a big difference to your overall experience. I appreciate that, for some people, they may not care just as long as they get a place somewhere, but they really aren't all the same!

There are a few which I will definitely be advising my dd to avoid.

Sorry! Conversation had moved on from college choice and passion. DD couldn’t tell you which schools her friends went to. She is not in Cambridge at the moment and is a bit sad but certainly had a great first 2 and a half years before COVID. Plenty of socialising but a seriously heavy workload including Saturday for science students.

My impression (in hindsight) is that tutors are looking for people they want to teach rather than solely for passion in the subject. DC's school didn't make a fuss about Oxbridge and that helped with keeping the whole thing in perspective. The Oxford admissions process seemed pretty straightforward for DD. Cambridge less so for DS as the process had more elements to it and DS left everything to the last minute.

DD couldn’t tell you which schools her friends went to.

That's interesting @chitchattery, because I could have told you exactly which of my friends had been privately educated and which had gone through the state system, and it has been my impression from talking to current students that this hasn't really changed a great deal.

I do think the balance of ex state/private pupils within a college will still be of importance to kids who have come through the state system. If your dd genuinely isn't aware of this issue, I'm wondering if she went to an independent secondary and therefore hasn't had to think about it as much as the average state pupil might?

@ProggyMat - I can assure you DS1 does not spend all his time studying! He works hard but he does typical student stuff as well like Lord of the Rings all nighters, fancy dress and drinking. In normal times he'd be playing sport as well but his options have been a bit limited this term.

He didn't choose his college but is very happy with it. The one he chose has been a bit tricksy with lockdown arrangements and his has been quite relaxed so he's pleased with his things worked out.

@AlexaShutUp. You may be right (DD was independent secondary) but it doesn’t seem to be an issue in general. Many of them were at schools in Europe or Asia so I’m not sure the divide is perceived in quite the same way.