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.

@Piggywaspushed Great to get it done though! Fingers crossed for your Ds

Yes . Otherwise it can drag on. The more people who look at personal statement the more changes that are suggested! Similarly with uni choices once decided send them in.

DSib desperate to get their hands on DN's draft. He's keen to do it totally himself! He's opted for Brasenose now for his Oxford college.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 Tis early days, I’ve yet to see DDs draft(s)

@ProggyMat good luck with that. Think DSib was a bit miffed but think DN wants to do it all by himself!

Good luck to everyone!

@Piggywaspushed

Application gone to school today. Scary.

DD too. She has changed course to HSPS rather than History and Politics. This was off the back of her sixth form college Principal casting his eye over her PS and feeding back to consider HSPS instead, something she had not considered. Looking at the course content it would suit her far more as she can chose track for Politics alone.

We went to visit Bath Uni last week and Durham a couple of weeks back. Discounted Durham but Bath was amazing. Fortunately freshers were arriving and everything was open, it just had the most lovely vibe. Cambridge is such a long shot its nice to have another choice that she loved equally. Now the nervous wait to see if they have been shortlisted for interview!!

Oh and she has applied to Clare. I have still no idea how the college system works but when looking into it herself Clare stood out and is not one of the most sort after. Also liked the look of Emmanuel....we shall see. Good luck to all our DC.

@TangoWhiskyAlphaTango really good to hear of a teacher giving such positively constructive advice to a pupil!

I’ve been reading and benefitting from your comments but not saying much: but any feedback on St Cats for Cambridge: DS seems to have settled (& we also got the chance to stay there over the summer so he liked it then too). I really like their outreach work (ds is state, ASD so looking for somewhere not too frantic ;-)

long time lurker here, DD maybe next year so learning a lot from this and wishing all your DC well. @TangoWhiskyAlphaTango Clare is I fear very much sought after for HSPS.

[quote NewModelArmyMayhem18]@TangoWhiskyAlphaTango really good to hear of a teacher giving such positively constructive advice to a pupil![/quote]
It is for sure. To be fair to the college they have been really good, they had 14 go to Oxbridge this year and for a state 6th form college I think thats pretty good going. The principal went to Cambridge himself too and he is fairly young so maybe that helps. DD is very relaxed about applying as she knows its a very long shot but loves Bath equally if not more to be fair which is the best position to be in as she will not be disappointed either way. UCAS form now submitted which is a relief as she has rewritten it a fair few times so she can relax and get on with A-level studies. It was her 18th last week and she has done a fair amount of partying (texting me at 6am Sunday morning to say she was just getting into a taxi from a club!) so now its time to knuckle down and focus on mocks!

We are HSPS too as I mentioned on the other thread. Second choices are social policy/ applied social sciences/ social political science degrees. We have looked at Birmingham and York and also discounted Durham. Now choosing between Bath, Sheffield, Edinburgh and Glasgow for final slots. DS chose Selwyn.

On the Catz question...it seems very welcoming. Outreach is great.Excellent location. Grounds small.

DS has just submitted his application to the school. Oxford, Imperial, York, Exeter and Bristol. Next challenge, the MAT.

@Piggywaspushed. The grounds are indeed small! When I joined Catz many years ago I had never looked around. I had only been for an interview as open days weren’t a “thing” then. So on the first day I strolled up to the huge door at the back of main court expecting a gateway to another interesting court and found myself in the road! It happened to two of my friends as well. We did feel a bit short-changed on the gardens and general beauty front but it is a lovely community. It is now very very popular with science applicants due in part to Peter Wothers being there which gave my daughter the perfect excuse to apply elsewhere without offending me!

Re cycling - Cambridge does have a lot of cycle routes, some off-road plus cycle lanes on quite a few roads (i think there's one along Huntingdon rd to girton). Take a look on Google maps, there's a cycle path overlay and Street view lets you see what it looks like on the ground). DD was at Murray Edwards - one of the three 'hill colleges' along with Churchill and Fitz so a little way from the centre but fine, and also a bit nearer the West Cambridge site which is relevant for some subjects. She'd not ridden much except on off-road paths, so she did a couple of road sessions with an instructor before she went for confidence (and then Freshers week taught the girl who turned out to be her bestie.)

@Piggywaspushed

We are HSPS too as I mentioned on the other thread. Second choices are social policy/ applied social sciences/ social political science degrees. We have looked at Birmingham and York and also discounted Durham. Now choosing between Bath, Sheffield, Edinburgh and Glasgow for final slots. DS chose Selwyn.

On the Catz question...it seems very welcoming. Outreach is great.Excellent location. Grounds small.

I thought we had 'spoke' on the other thread. DD will hinge everything on Bath I think so praying to god she will get an offer, she predicted A A A for English Lit, History and Politics. I have to confess I know very little about the application procedure as she is my first born but Bath typical offer is A*A B or AAA on their website so hope she will be ok. She has also applied for Nottingham, Liverpool and Cardiff I think - all Politics & IR. Bath stands out not only because of its reputation and City but also the year in industry. Hey ho what will be will be as they say!

I am sure she'll get an offer based on those grades. I hope so as they are the same as DS's!!

The frustrating thing about last year's thread is that there's a DS on there who is apparently at a very unsatisfactory Cambridge college and is having a disappointing time. Everyone wears tracksuit bottoms all the time, talks trivia, and eats takeaways from the dining hall off trays in their rooms. He's now been given his fifth out of 5 room choice for this year. His mum refuses to say which college it is, so I can't trust any of them!

What's wrong with tracksuit bottoms??!?

Don't worry @Piggywaspushed - I can confirm that DS1 loves tracksuit bottoms, takeaway pizzas and beer. He fits in perfectly well at his traditional Oxford College 😉 Not all Oxbridge students sit around in smart attire having deeply intellectual conversations all the time.

DS1 is perfectly capable of intellectual conversation if required but is pretty balanced.

Well, good to hear . They are - shock- human beings , after all!!

I'd be more worried if it was like the Bullingdon Club...

I don't have a problem with tracksuit bottoms, as I wear them most of the time, but the mum and DS were hoping for more of a formal hall vibe with intellectual conversations among historic buildings. I have some sympathy, as apparently matriculation was a couple of people wearing tracksuits in a tent (Covid), and I do think that everyone spending a full year taking food bought from hall into their bedrooms to eat off a tray on their own is a bit grim. And essays weren't insisted on (so the person sharing supervisions didn't bother) and it took weeks to get them marked. The DS had failed to get into Cambridge the first time round, and dedicated a full 6 months of his gap year to preparing for his 2nd, successful attempt, so it did seem tough on him. Finding people on your wavelength is important.

I looked at the thread and couldn't find the posts but I find that thread veeeery intimidating tbh.

Most students last year who were catered ended up eating in their rooms. The dining rooms were all shut. The student experience last year was not great for anyone. Hopefully this year will be much better , although I think a lot of lectures are still online.