Oxbridge Aspirants 2022...Part 2...applications submitted now the tense wait!

[TangoWhiskyAlphaTango]

Thought I would start a new thread as part one is nearly full and found thread one to be of great support.

So its deadline week this week for our applicants then the nervous wait begins to find out of they have made it to interview. DD applying for HSPS at Cambridge. We know it is a long shot but got to be in it to win it and she is very keen to try. Looking at the admissions info it does not look as though she will need to sit a test prior but all the best to those who will have to.

Thanks @Puffalicious, so excited for my first ever visit to Scotland!

My DS is applying to Imperial too, but that one is commutable for us, 45 mins or so door to door. I’d rather he move away though and get the full experience but if he gets an offer (maths / maths with stats) I think he will have a hard choice. I forgot he’s applied for Warwick too, we went to the open day and loved it, so he’s applied for MORSE as we went to visit that department and he decided he preferred that over straight maths (and MORSE doesn’t need the MAT test which he needs to do more Oxford & Imperial).

So I know this is slightly off the main goal of this thread but can I ask about St Andrews? As I mentioned upthread my DS has PPE Oxford as top of his list and he's also applied to TWO courses at St Andrews (Economics & IR, Economics & Philosophy) with his next choice being Edinburgh (PPE) and his fifth and least preferred option being Glasgow (Economics & Politics) Now I know from another thread on MN that someone went to the St Andrews Open Day and they said 'dont apply to two courses at our University because we would only ever make one offer'. I didn't know this and neither did my DS's school (we're in Scotland BTW). So he applied to the two courses.

We have 1 day to change the application if he wants to. But the question I have is, has he damaged his chances of getting in at all to St Andrews by applying to two subjects? Or has he just reduced his potential numbers of offers by 1? If it's the latter, he can live with that. He doesn't want to go to any other University in Scotland and Oxford is the only English Uni he's having an aspirational punt at.

Obviously Oxford is the dream but we need to cover all bases!

I'm also in Scotland and I went to a IR admissions talk at St As in 2019 (my elder DS - currently studying at Oxford - was applying to uni then although he didn't end up at St As as they don't offer law).

At the presentation, they made it very clear that they considered IR distinctly different from politics and that they were likely to reject applications that spoke of politics in the PS, rather than focusing on IR.

My DS applying for Economics has decided not to write the essay part of the SQA I am not at all sure this is a good idea? He says he has nothing else to say and it's optional. Is it really optional?

Yes, it really is. The Cambridge video explicitly says this.

Thanks Stockpot he did very well last year in Highers, so unconditional offers coming in are not a surprise. The ultimate is Oxford, but we're in a really fortunate position that we know he'll have good back-ups as he has his results already. It must be so much more stressful waiting for Alevel results that will depend on where DC go.

Mareofbeastown If company makes you feel better, my DD did not fill in the optional bits at the end of the SAQ either.
Her school actually advised against it unless the PS didn’t match the particular course applied for…for example applying for AngloSaxon history at Cambridge, but having a more general history personal statement to appeal to the other 4 choices.

@Piggywaspushed Just to come back to something you said earlier, I went to Oxford and I do not possess an ounce of swagger. I would say many of my friends there didn't. The interview process is about looking at how you engage in a tutorial/supervision. If you are exceptionally quiet, it would definitely hold you back, but you definitely don't need to be hugely assertive.

Thanks @Piggywaspushed and @Stockpot that is reassuring. I am leaving it to him.

Congratulations @Puffalicious for the unconditional offer! So reassuring to have that in your pocket. I must confess I find the conditional offer system very stressful ( as I said, I am unfamiliar with the whole system anyway).

MareofBeasttown I can imagine how stressful it must be for all involved. In Scotland we have that advantage of choosing to go after 6th year, so it means a more chilled year for those kids who got what they needed in 5th year.

It doesn't always work out, though, despite 5 xAs at Higher in S5 and then 3x Advanced Highers n S6 my niece still didn't get into medicine 2 years in a row. She was devastated. She's now happily doing forensic anthropology at Dundee, but I reckon she might apply to do a 2nd degree in medicine, which is hugely significant in terms of time and money. It feels like a lottery sometimes.

Sorry Eightytwenty my DS is applying to Oxford so no SAQ.

[quote Eightytwenty]@Puffalicious my bad![/quote]
Don't be daft!

We're in Scotland and DC is applying to Cambridge. But I've had nothing to do with the SAQ - I'm told that it's gone in.

DC didn't get all top grades at Higher, but has a sibling at Cambridge and decided to have a go.

@Zookeeperday

DC didn't get all top grades at Higher, but has a sibling at Cambridge and decided to have a go.

And so they should! Fingers crossed.

I think DC's grades at Higher are 3 A1s and 3 A2s. One of the A2s is unfortunate!

Eightytwenty not at all! None taken, that's why I said don't be daft, ie not an issue at all.

It's just rotten that both your DC with 5x As are having to worry about A2s! A2s are fantastic. It's a much taller ask that an individual is really good at 5 subjects, as opposed to the 3 at A level. I didn't go to Oxbridge- they would have laughed my maths score out of the room - so as long as I did well in the Arts I was fine (English degree). It's so very hard. I hope the admissions see past that.

DC did get 5 X A1s (he's annoyingly good across the board. He even plays music and is good at art: total pita and so annoying for his siblings!) but that matters not a jot as it all depends on his MAT score! So don't worry about the A2s, they're both fabulous.

Photo shenanigans finally sorted out and SAQ went in an hour ago.

@Gizmo98765

Photo shenanigans finally sorted out and SAQ went in an hour ago.

We beat you by about 20 mins DD's photo is from about 4 years ago but we're all past caring. Probably not the right attitude really!

DS was grumpy so I bowed out. I don’t even know whether he chose an old passport photo from a year ago or an unflattering photo taken after school tonight by DH.