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.

[coldsoonplease]

@Rollergirl11 English at Oxford is English Language and Literature, so probably worth bearing in mind that they do compulsory Old English and Middle English in the first year which can come as a bit of a surprise. Old English is effectively a foreign language, and has much more in common with Latin and German than modern English. Has she thought about doing a language? But only if she's interested. Would also say that my DC's interests by the time they got to U6 had evolved and changed quite a bit. I have 1 DC at O, and if you will allow me my advice would be to lower the emotional temperature around Oxbridge as much as you can, especially if the school are raising it, albeit with the best of intentions.

[pearlypinknails]

@Eightytwenty it's a Facebook group, the head of admissions was on there answering questions earlier.

If you search Wiwikau you should find it.

[doubleshotcappuccino]

[quote coldsoonplease]@Rollergirl11 English at Oxford is English Language and Literature, so probably worth bearing in mind that they do compulsory Old English and Middle English in the first year which can come as a bit of a surprise. Old English is effectively a foreign language, and has much more in common with Latin and German than modern English. Has she thought about doing a language? But only if she's interested. Would also say that my DC's interests by the time they got to U6 had evolved and changed quite a bit. I have 1 DC at O, and if you will allow me my advice would be to lower the emotional temperature around Oxbridge as much as you can, especially if the school are raising it, albeit with the best of intentions.[/quote]
"Lower emotional temperature" .. love this phrase . You're absolutely right this should not be hyped up to be everything.

[Piggywaspushed]

Currently completing SAQ . Bit of a chore!

[Piggywaspushed]

Anyone know about taking passport photos on phone? Do I need an app?

[Lovecatsanddogs]

No app just plain background was fine on phone.

[Piggywaspushed]

Any photo I take on phone is too big...

[coldsoonplease]

@doubleshotcappuccino the thing that really caught me off-guard was how much actually getting an offer ramped the whole temperature thing up exponentially. Getting an offer inevitably makes the kids conspicuous at school, and I know at times my DC felt that the weight of school's expectation was unbearable. It became my job to take the pressure off, to remind them that their insurance was a fabulous option that they also loved, and that we were not over invested in O. Also worth remembering that Cambridge typically over-offer much more than Oxford (at least did pre-covid) and ruthlessly use the A* in the standard offer. They will almost certainly reject those who miss it, and if your DC apply from an academically selective school or an indie absolutely no quarter whatsoever will be given (same at O and Durham for that matter). So really big up their other choices, and be ready for the pressure that comes with an offer.

[doubleshotcappuccino]

@coldsoonplease this is just good advice and very true .. even the fact that she applied to C has already caused a response. Really appreciate your advice and want to focus on all the wonderful places she's applied to plus her last year of full time living with us !

[doubleshotcappuccino]

@Piggywaspushed not quite there yet but here's what I know so far : the photo has to be 840 pixels high and 700 pixels wide ( see www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/saq.pdf) If you're on a mac you can do this by clicking the photo and the edit bar at the top, if on another processor there are websites to resize the photo for you.

[Piggywaspushed]

No, just my phone. No idea how to get it right. It rejected one that seemed the right size. I had this problem with school ID too....

[doubleshotcappuccino]

Ahh sorry @Piggywaspushed .. would a phone app like crop size app or image size help .. or send it to the laptop and change the size on the laptop ..

[Piggywaspushed]

Tried that...still too big. I'll keep trying. Its quite irksome the amount of IT involved these days!

[doubleshotcappuccino]

This might help :-)

[coldsoonplease]

@doubleshotcappuccino I can't claim that I always succeeded. The other thing I would do is tell as few people as possible that they are even applying. Need to know basis only!

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Piggy could you resize the photo in Paint? There's an option to resize by pixels.

[Piggywaspushed]

Not sure I have that on my laptop. Honestly, it's all Greek to me. It has to be a JPEG. I think I'll get there eventually...

[doubleshotcappuccino]

@coldsoonplease very good advice.. we will definitely do that !

[FlemCandango]

We have submitted Ds UCAS application now with two choices so far Oxford (Worcester) and Warwick for maths (4 yr courses). We have managed a visit to Oxford and got in to look around Worcester and a couple of other colleges by asking the porters. They were happy to give us the prospectus and a self-guided tour leaflet/ map each time. It was really helpful and gave DS at least some idea of the place he wants to live and study in.

Going to Warwick today was really helpful for perspective as it takes some of the pressure off Oxford as an option. Ds really enjoyed looking round. The campus is very nice, contained and manageable and we had tours from current maths students which was brilliant. So Ds sees Warwick as an equally good option, but it is not a soft option! So he needs to add to his uni choices. Warwick will be an alternative to Oxford but not a back up if he gets an offer from Oxford. So he needs a plan B still.

[Piggywaspushed]

Photo done. Cat parked herself by the laptop , helpfully supervising and the photo uploaded...

[Piggywaspushed]

Warwick is amazing for maths!

We only have three choices atm : visiting Bath and Sheffield at half term as I couldn't do our booked Bath break in the summer hols (Covid joy).

DS already had offers from the two other universities (York and Birmingham)! One of those will probably be insurance of eh gets a Cambridge offer, or main choice if he doesn't, although much procrastination occurring over Edinburgh, Glasgow and Bath. they literally all want AAB/ ABB.

[ofteninaspin]

FlemCandango, DN applied to Oxford, Warwick and Bath for Maths. His MAT did not go to plan, so he went to Warwick and graduated with a First. No regrets at all. (Has just started his first job with an investment company).

[ProggyMat]

@FlemCandango my friend’s DD applied to Cambridge for Maths wasn’t offered a place and subsequently went to Queens in London.
She graduated with a first in the summer and now is in a graduate position with a major investment bank in London- might be worth considering for his other 3 choices?