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.

@Horace123 Thanks for the heads up! She sent an email last night so hopefully she’ll get a response this morning to say all okay.

@ProggyMat that’s good. Can you imagine getting this far and then you don’t get a place because of some IT issue??

@Horace123 Exactly!
She forwarded the email to me and I opened it okay. I could see her referee was copied in as requested which made us think it had actually ‘got there’.
However, as you say it’s best to check!
No news of other classics offers among her friendship circle…

Just popping in. DN did his MLAT for Oxford last week. He thought it hard but fair. He has only received the one offer so far – ABB for Bristol.

Congratulations to those who have received an offer or two already. Good luck to everyone with hearing about the Oxbridge interviews too!

I watched ds press send on his written work last night, it’s in his “sent” folder. I don’t think there was an acknowledgment though. Was his referee (from school?) supposed to be copied in??

Can you imagine getting this far and then you don’t get a place because of some IT issue??

I’ve been disproportionately worried about this all the way along. Submitting UCAS. Paying for it correctly. Worrying the school have arsed up their bit. Entering the HAT. Getting the deadlines right. Actually turning up for the HAT at the right time on the right day in the right room. Now the bloody written work. I keep having to remind myself that it is my perfectly competent almost adult ds doing this, but it would be so awful to cock it up on something like this. Ds is an academic long shot and his school are not supportive at all (didn’t even read his PS let alone give feedback) but I want him to have a good go at it rather than be disqualified for a false start.

@Shadedog That is exactly how I feel. There are so many things to submit and bits to get right!

I don't trust university IT systems. DS had an issue in his second year with one assignment that he handed in (virtually) on time via Blackboard. All was good until he got his end-of-year result; the module concerned had been marked as 0%! He did get it graded eventually, but only after he'd provided evidence of when it had been submitted (hours ahead of the deadline). Glitches can really put a spanner in the works.

Sorry, I know that's not an entirely helpful story but shows why it's best to be 'on the alert' rather complacent with important submissions!

Four of my DCs had to submit work as all got acknowledgments a week or so later.

*and all got acknowledgements a week or so later.

Don't worry. If the work is shown in 'Sent', there's no problem with proving it was sent before the deadline. If possible, resist the temptation to chase - the admissions staff are extremely busy.

Dd had an issue with the written work - she submitted it all on time, and then after the date for receiving it, got an email from her college saying that as they had not received any written work by the closing date, it would not be able to be considered. After a massive panic attack, I got her to re-send it, with a screenshot of the time stamp from the original sent email, as proof that it was submitted on time, and they were lovely, and phoned her and said it was all fine, and not to worry about it, and that it would be able to be considered - I’ve no idea where it all disappeared to, but it was at the height of the pandemic and home-working, so maybe that had an effect.

Also, different subjects do this differently, but you may not get results of the written exams before interviews - dd’s exam gave them the results of the written exams 24hrs before the final decisions came out in January.

If you're seriously anxious, you could always press send a second time - double your chances :) - rather than chase.

DS has had a letter from school re interviews (because although Oxbridge hasn’t yet started interviews apparently some other universities have). It’s got all the detail re Oxford do them on Teams, Cambridge do them on Zoom, which courses will require candidate to have an additional device and stylus etc - assume this is all on the websites.

In my job I have to present quite a lot of training and last March I attended a course about how to do effective training online which was excellent. The tips relevant to our DC lucky enough to get interviews are:

1. Play around with the camera angle / height - most of us just put the laptop / computer on the table, sit in whatever chair we usually sit in and then carry on. But getting the camera level with your eyes makes it much better - I now put 3 thick books under my laptop to get it right. It’s a silly thing but does make it better. Not an issue for our DC but I no longer look like I have 3 chins! They can also work out where to sit so they aren’t filling up entire screen with their face but not too far away (although see comments below re sound).

1. Play around with the lighting. I sit in a really bright sunny room so assumed it would be as good as it could be. Now I put on a small desk lamp and it’s amazing how much better it is on screen - I honestly thought it looked fine without so was amazed what a difference it made.

1. Experiment with the sound. My laptop has an inbuilt one which is fine but it’s crucial I sit close to the screen which sometimes looks a bit weird. I now know exactly where to sit to sound good and not look frightening. I ended up buying a separate microphone (about £40 on Amazon) because I do so much presenting. It makes it easier but certainly not essential and I wouldn’t rush out and get one for an interview.

1. Be careful with virtual backgrounds - they are very handy if people are self conscious or private or for any reason don’t want people seeing where they are. But unless you are sitting right in front of completely blank wall, every time you move you sort of go in and out of focus and it’s really off putting (for you and whoever you are talking to). The same happens if you don’t use a virtual background but blur your own background. Would strongly recommend not using a moving virtual background - the one of the lovely tropical beach with moving wave is particularly annoying!

1. Practice beforehand! Crucial. First time I used the separate microphone I forgot to turn off the laptop one and boomed in full volume with horrendous feedback and echoing to a virtual room full of terrified trainees. Plus I had positioned the lamp towards my eyes almost blinding myself. If DC don’t want to practice they are probably better off keeping everything the same as they usually do it.

1. Remember all “normal” interview rules apply - don’t be late (best to be a bit early and be kept in a virtual waiting room), be engaging, ask for questions to be repeated if you don’t understand them etc. I think interviewers will cut some slack - it’s very hard to make someone who is clearly nervous relax online.

Ds would think I was bonkers if I suggested he chase it, which is really unfair as I am absolutely normal. I suppose this is the first thing he’s done where the emails etc have all gone to him and I can’t double check. Or even single check.

@goodbyestranger

Four of my DCs had to submit work as all got acknowledgments a week or so later.

You've done this four times! Respect.

Stupid question - are they supposed to wear work type clothes to the interview. At least in their top halves. If it was face to face I would have bought something (he only has hoodies/joggers/jeans- if he has to go anywhere that’s not college or a fried chicken shop I’d have to buy something). Should he be wearing a shirt as if he’s in an office? He’s at a college so doesn’t wear a uniform which would have neatly side stepped the issue with daytime teams interviews. He’s very “contextual” but I don’t want it to look like he doesn’t know how to behave or for him to look out of place. Dressing up might make him look out of place even more than dressing normally.

Thanks for the tips @Horace123 - food for thought!

@shadedog - its not a stupid question. At a Cambridge webinar for applicants (mainly geared to parents) they said formal/smart dress was not required. They said they don't care about what a person looks/dresses like. If my DD is lucky enough to get an interview I'd expect her just to wear her usual casual top/shirt. I might encourage her to not wear her scraggy hoodie and even comb her hair. She is a very casual dresser! This was the webinar :

www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/applicant-webinars

I found lots of useful tips and I assume much of it will apply to O & C.

Would anyone be in a position to explain why some Cambridge colleges require written work and some don't? HSPS seems totally arbitrary. For those that don't want it, which bit of the application do they use instead to assess whatever it is those that do request it presumably hope to glean from it? (Sorry incredibly clunky sentence but hope yswim). Is it a tool to de-select for interview?

@Horace123 -Thanks for the online training tips! I will use them, even if my DS doesn't !

@fishingeagle

Would anyone be in a position to explain why some Cambridge colleges require written work and some don't? HSPS seems totally arbitrary. For those that don't want it, which bit of the application do they use instead to assess whatever it is those that do request it presumably hope to glean from it? (Sorry incredibly clunky sentence but hope yswim). Is it a tool to de-select for interview?

Good question and not one I know the answer to. DD applied to Clare for HSPS not knowing she would not have to submit work. Her written work is her strength so not sure if this will disadvantage her. Oh well hopefully hear soon re interviews.

@TangoWhiskyAlphaTango it's a weird one isn't it? If it has zero value for some colleges then why do some feel the need to gather more info and put the kids through the extra stress of yet more submissions?The cynic in me wondered whether it's as much about assessing if the school know what they're about if they ask for marked work, but then again they have so much contextualised data on schools. Just a bit odd and not very transparent. Perhaps I'm over-thinking it.

“Would anyone be in a position to explain why some Cambridge colleges require written work and some don't? HSPS seems totally arbitrary. For those that don't want it, which bit of the application do they use instead to assess whatever it is those that do request it presumably hope to glean from it? (Sorry incredibly clunky sentence but hope yswim). Is it a tool to de-select for interview?”

Well this is the million dollar question and it doesn’t only apply to HSPS. Some colleges will want two essays submitted; some one; some none.

What I don’t understand is, if you are an open applicant, but get assigned to a college that requires two essays, it’s not much time to get it all together Do the open applicants get let off.

Then at the interview stage - some colleges will do one interview only (ie you are assessed by two interviewers). Others will do two subject interviews, while others will do a subject interview and a general college one (in which case your score is an average determined by 4 interviewers).

I think Cambridge colleges operate as separate entities largely.

I would say this should be considered by an applicant when applying. My ds purposely applied to a college that does 2 interviews rather than 1…. As reading previous applicant experiences.. 1 can go bad but the next can go really well, so can sort of give a 2nd chance. Open applicants need to be happy with any of the college requirements and should consider this when making an open application

@mrsfixit

“Would anyone be in a position to explain why some Cambridge colleges require written work and some don't? HSPS seems totally arbitrary. For those that don't want it, which bit of the application do they use instead to assess whatever it is those that do request it presumably hope to glean from it? (Sorry incredibly clunky sentence but hope yswim). Is it a tool to de-select for interview?”

Well this is the million dollar question and it doesn’t only apply to HSPS. Some colleges will want two essays submitted; some one; some none.

What I don’t understand is, if you are an open applicant, but get assigned to a college that requires two essays, it’s not much time to get it all together Do the open applicants get let off.

Then at the interview stage - some colleges will do one interview only (ie you are assessed by two interviewers). Others will do two subject interviews, while others will do a subject interview and a general college one (in which case your score is an average determined by 4 interviewers).

I think Cambridge colleges operate as separate entities largely.

I agree with you. Consistency for the sake of consistency on my workplace (school!) grinds my gears and crushes individuality but this is the opposite end of the scale. I don't think how a colleges selects students should have to be a deciding factor actually and in HSPS it does seem so variable. Do the colleges not talk to each other at all?

HSPS is a relatively new subject so this might be why. They all evolved their own ideas about the interview etc with no overview it seems.

My DD applied last year to a college that wanted 2 essays. She had 2 interviews, so was seen by 4 people. Her predicted grades were three A and she had an A in EPQ. She was pooled, but not taken out of the pool. When she got the feedback eventually, they said her interview score had been 8.2 and they were sorry to hear she had not been selected from the pool.

This year, she’s applied to a college that does not require any essays but has a higher intake from the state sector than most other colleges. She was in the independent sector and her school advised her that if she’s put in the pool she won’t ‘get out’ because colleges are increasingly using the pool to hit their widening participation criteria. She was told that all colleges are aiming for around 85% intake from the state sector - which is fair enough, obviously. However, some colleges still only get about 60% of their applicants from the state sector, so they are more likely to use the pool to select state applicants to meet the 85% (or thereabouts) target for widening participation. Again, it’s fair enough, but it can mean that applicants from the independent sector are perhaps more likely to be squeezed out of certain colleges than they are at others who already hit their targets without needing to use the pool (if this makes sense). There was a thread a while back on here and an admissions tutor confirmed this. Basically, college choice does matter, regardless of what they say!