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.

To answer the question about clothes for Cambridge interviews:

DD was interviewed in December 2016 and wore jeans and a hoodie. The interviewers seemed not to care, and whilst not entirely successful at her chosen college, she was pooled and picked out by another one, so I don't think clothing choice matters a jot.

Malbec one student from our school wore a t-shirt to his Cambridge interview which read 'Fuck Off'. He was rejected. The following year he dressed in a rather less silly way and was accepted. I think clothing can matter a jot, but only in the I'm Making A Puerile And Not Very Clever Statement way.

Agree with Malbec. DD noticed that the student shepherds for her subject over her 2 days of interviews at C not only dressed like her but looked like her( they did!)…( small cohort in fairness!)

@CurlyGirlsMum

Hello to you all and good luck to all your DC.

DD has applied to Oxford and hopes to follow her older brothers there. She has submitted her two essays to the college by email but has not had an acknowledgement.

Is this normal or should she should have had confirmation of receipt? Her brothers applied for different subjects so we haven’t submitted work before. Thank you to anyone who can shed light on this…

Similar here, I asked my DD if she'd had confirmation her college had received the written work and she said the college had said they only contact you off they don't receive anything. So we have to assume no news is good news....

@NewModelArmyMayhem18

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!

My DD also did the MLAT last week for Oxford - she said it was harder than 2019 and 2020 papers, more like the older papers. Just managed to finish in time. Someone suggested to me the papers are harder because Unis need to use the exams to differentiate due to A Level Grade inflation...

She also has had a ABB offer from Bristol but still waiting to hear from Durham, Edinburgh and Newcastle. Apparently Durham keep sending little messages saying she is important to them and they are working on the applications - what ever that means!

@Juja thank you very much for that. So we can safely assume that the written work reached the college, I hope. There is no reason why it wouldn’t have done!

I suppose an additional safeguard is that candidates cc their Ucas referee, so can check with the referee that the email was received.

Yay finally an offer from York uni of AAB in Physics after an early applicant visit day.

Oh gizmo that's lovely. Back in the day I had an offer from York, loved the whole setup and should have gone there!

Another York offer here, and one from Bristol too. Nice when they start to come in. DD has submitted her written work (4 pieces!) and performance video. Stressful process.

Is Cambridge interviewing in person this year? It's such a shame that Oxford is doing it all remotely. Even the experience of staying there for interviews is memorable.

@pantjog

Another York offer here, and one from Bristol too. Nice when they start to come in. DD has submitted her written work (4 pieces!) and performance video. Stressful process.

Is Cambridge interviewing in person this year? It's such a shame that Oxford is doing it all remotely. Even the experience of staying there for interviews is memorable.

Congratulations on the offers!!!

..Cambridge are all online interviews this year too sadly. Son (or me) have never visited.. so we’re hoping for in person… should he get to that stage!

Congratulations on the latest Bristol and York offers!

Congratulations on latest offers!
I had a place at York to do a PGCE back in the dinosaur days. Lovely city.

@Juja good for your DD with her

Struggling to remember what his fifth university is: Oxford, Durham, Bristol, Exeter and ? When he reeled off the list, I did think it was the usual Oxbridge candidates 'suspects'. No, Scottish, Welsh or London universities on the list though.

It is a pity that with all the extra work put in for Oxbridge applications, there's not some 'in person' experience. Do those who are offered places get to visit on the equivalent of 'offer holders days'?

Missing from first paragraph: *offer from Bristol. DN has reported that there are about 25 in his year (leafy, suburban comprehensive) applying for Oxbridge this year. Not sure anyone else is applying for ML though.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 My DS started at Oxford this term and he had an on line offer holders talk in February (was middle of lockdown admittedly) and then a chance to visit at the end of August just six weeks before starting. He didn't go as it he had a deferred entry so had been fortunate enough to have his interview in person before Covid - seems like a different world

It is such a shame about online interviews this year. DS1 loved his and the experience got him really excited about receiving and making his offer. He met his tute partner during the interview process and now they're really good friends.

DD has been to a Oxford a few times to see DS so knows it quite well. She also attended a residential course a while back. I did suggest a pre-Christmas visit but she says she'd rather stay away until after she knows where she stands.

Lovely to hear about offers. DD is stressing about the BMAT debacle. Hers was fine but there was an in-centre 'resit' for some yesterday and there's another 'online' tomorrow. It's not clear how Oxford and Cambridge are going to use the results now given the different circumstances of each sitting (assuming different papers each time).

DD has been invited for interview at Newcastle which seems very strange since so few universities interview these days, but I wonder whether it’s more marketing than interviewing. She’s applying for music so there is a practical/audition element.

I haven’t been following the thread so missed the BMAT story. Sounds v v stressful!

I went to York! Great place to be a student : beautiful, safe, friendly. Looooots of part time student jobs. Plentiful student accommodation. Very walkable although most have bikes.

It seems (anecdotally but I've heard it from a lot of people) that online interviews might have really benefited some of those applicants who might have been deterred by their surroundings at an interview.
At a local comprehensive I know where they almost never get anyone accepted (I think one person got an offer 10 years ago) they had 5 apply and 5 offers. The school suspects that online interviews helped in making the playing field more level.
I think DD found it harder being online because it's trickier to gauge people's expressions etc but who's to say how she'd have found it in person?
Whilst I think going back to in person interview would be good in lots of ways, I think a more neutral venue has its benefits for some students.
I remember hearing about people from London indies all knowing each other at interview days which could be quite intimidating for some of the others - this does get rid of all that.

I agree with @Chilldonaldchill .

Furthermore, you have to remember that most applicants will be rejected, and that is far easier to bear if the interviews were online, rather than having all the hype and excitement and hope of being there in person.

When ds had “real life” interviews, they had a welcome which included telling them bluntly that 40 of them were there, but the college had 8 places, and those 8 places might not necessarily go to those present. It was sobering and actually (for ds!) helpful to know how bad the odds were….

Every year on MN and TheStudentRoom there are a number of devastated and bitter applicants and parents who do not seem to grasp that given the number of places vs. applicants, most people will not receive an offer. I think the biggest favour you can do your dcs is a) Tell No one about the application (ie no grandparents/aunts/uncles/next-door-neighbour and b) Big Up their second choice, going to visit and extolling its virtues.

I agree that there are benefits to online interviews; if you are someone whose confidence can be dented, being in that very intense environment of lots of candidates, debating ‘who said what’, ‘how the interview went’ etc is not always helpful, and can trigger imposter syndrome before they’ve even started. You get a LOT of very very confident, extrovert types, who may well not be at ALL what the interviewers are looking for, but a quieter, more introvert ‘deep thinker’ may be thrown by them, even though they are there on their own merits, and thoroughly deserve the opportunity to debate their ideas with the tutors, just as much as the confident extroverts.

True re the potential benefits of online interviews — in fact they may be to the advantage of my DD since she isn’t brimming with confidence.

It seems (anecdotally but I've heard it from a lot of people) that online interviews might have really benefited some of those applicants who might have been deterred by their surroundings at an interview

This will be ds. In the nicest possible way, when you live in the arse end of arse in a town with a precinct of boarded up shops and a pebble dashed railway station where most of the adults you know work in retail, hospitality, care or manufacturing then you are unlikely to be as at ease in a dons study as a kid from a London indie with parents who work “in the city”. The advantages of a lifetime of going to nice places and meeting professional, university educated adults socially through your school, hobbies and family cannot be overcome by all the widening participation in the world. Ds already feels ridiculous for trying. Dcs from schools where it’s “normal” to apply and an adult will deign to glance at your PS for you will not feel this sense of ridiculousness. I don’t think getting off the bus in Oxford and seeing gangs of well spoken, confident dcs who already know each other, have siblings there or who are not completely lost would disabuse him of it.
Over 50% of applicants are from London and the SE, a third are privately educated, 85% live in the “nice” POLAR and ACORN regions. Much easier to gloss over this when you aren’t actually there. If you do get “there” after it all then you’ve earned your place and will hopefully stop feeling ridiculous.