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.

Ah that area too sounds lovely Tango, and not too far from the homeland ☺️

I think my hormones (or lack of to be more precise) don’t help. The school, now uni nonsense adds to the desire to move, before I seriously bash someone good and proper. The current challenge is the constant digs to ‘ah, tactical application then’ with DD. I think there are at least 6 C humanity type courses with better acceptance odds, including MML, Theology, Classics etc, as well as the infamous Anglo Nordic. For the so inclined student that is up for any of these fantastic courses, good on them, they have to be pretty damn good to hold down 3/4 years of blagging just to say they studied at Oxbridge if their apps were successful

Will be relieved when this part of the process is over, and try to swerve sour parents who don’t value alternative course choices to the current vocational subjects push.

But is she Middle Eastern? No. Does she speak any ME languages? No. Then why? Oh just fuck off. There, feel so much better

Even with more vocational courses you get raised eyebrows and 'Gosh, is Oxford really the best place for that?' from the type of sour-faced bugger who would find a way to have a pop, whether you were applying for engineering or classics. Ignore.

So true Dahlia. Know a handful of prospective medics whose parents said just that. And lo and behold, their apps are in right now for Oxford.

Ignore indeed.

Yep. When DS1 got in for Chemistry we had the 'oh that's one of the easier ones to get in for isn't it'? With the implication that he'd chosen a back door in. Yeah, right 😬

The button has finally been pushed.
Last hiccup was bank telling me payment made and UCAS telling me it wasn't. Gah. All sorted now.
I am rewarding myself by lying on sofa eating Mon Cheri liqueur chocolates and watching The Bridge. I shall enjoy Scandi interior envy for a while instead of university places.

Got through the hurdles with flying colours though Geamhradh.

Great choice. Credit the series to re-igniting my love of all things mid century. But oh, the car...

School have submitted ds’s application. He has seen his reference and is pleased with it (was worried as his tutor who writes it doesn’t know him yet also manages to dislike him).
He received confirmation from Oxford, Edinburgh and Newcastle but nothing yet from LSE or UCL. Now he’s thinking he’s not sure about LSE (picked because of location and graduate prospects rather than course) or Edinburgh (another years fees, another years living expense but great course and city) or Oxford (OMG THE INTERVIEW WILL BE TERRIBLE. THE HAT IS IMPOSSIBLE. EVERYONE ELSE IS CLEVER). So that’s 2 universities he’s applied yesterday to that he doesn’t mind going to 24 hours later

Late in the day joining the thread but have been bobbing in and out over the last couple of weeks and it doesn’t seem too scary! Boosting the Scottish representation. My DS submitted his UCAS application for MML but still has the SAQ to complete. Hoping he is invited to interview but no idea what to expect really. Thankfully he is grounded about his chances and the thought of admissions tests don’t seem to phase him.
Happy to be sharing the process with others!

Double check from his UCAS confirmation email @Shadedog but if is really regretting putting LSE down, he has up to 14 days to change by clicking on the make changes link? First time here (only one child) so others can confirm for sure...

Great to see another languages applicant Hotgingerpudding, hello.

Thanks ealingwestmum I’m currently reading through a ML applicants thread from last year which may be of interest

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/4048824-Languages-Applicants-for-2021-and-2022-entry?pg=11

My DS has only put Cambridge and St Andrews on his application so far so it is interesting to see where others have applied to.

DCs applying for Modern Languages might be interested in this article:

www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/oct/14/squid-game-netflix-translations-subtitle-problem

any English speaker would have flinched at the expression used in episode eight: “You always have to get in trouble to know it’s trouble.” (What?) The real translation is: “You always eat it before you can tell whether it’s shit or doenjang [brown fermented soya bean paste].” You don’t have to speak Korean – or even have tried doenjang – to get it

Brilliant. Thanks Piggy. This sums up the value of languages perfectly

but if is really regretting putting LSE down, he has up to 14 days to change by clicking on the make changes link?

Cool. I didn’t know that. I’ll talk to him in a couple of days when he’s less jittery. He may switch from Oxford if he knows that, which is FINE except I know him well enough to know he’d regret it in 5 minutes and then I’d have to listen to it for the rest of my life.

Do some schools help prepare their students for the admissions test? My son's school doesnt- so just wondered.

Mustard DD's didn't. She practiced a few past papers so she knew what to expect. Her TSA mark was in the top 15%.

Oh I feel sick. DS just told me very casually today that school still haven't sent off the Oxbridge entrants' UCAS yet. This is a top grammar - why have they not done it?! DS was emailed his reference by his teacher a couple of weeks ago and was pleased with it. DS had pressed Send himself a couple of weeks ago too and I thought that was it done and dusted. I had no idea that school have to add the reference on and press Send from their end before DS can get an acknowledgement from CAmbridge and get started on his SAQ.

Do I email school? I'm going to have a sleepless night tonight, can't believe DS came home from school today not having been to see someone about it. He's not alone, there are a few of them in this position. He is confident the registration for the entrance test is done as has his slip from the exams officer. But why the hell are school sending the UCASs off at the very last minute like this?! Anything could happen tomorrow before the end of the day - technical problems etc.....

ARGH

I wouldnt worry too much. If they are a top grammar school they will be used to the oxbridge/ early application process, as they probably have a significant number of these applications every year. No harm in sending them an email tomorrow.

Do some schools help prepare their students for the admissions test?

Nothing from ds’s school but he did something online with Oxford a few months ago.

@CurlyhairedAssassin ds’s internal deadline was 24th September and his was submitted yesterday. I was panicking a bit. My new panic is that they’ve not entered him for the aptitude test even though the internal deadline for that was ages ago.

@Hoghgyni your daughter did very well. That is a good score. Difficult to know how much prep to do for the admission tests.

@mustardpot13 - DS1 did TSA. His school organised some sessions where they sat a test in mock conditions but there was no 'practice'. They did recommend a book to work through.

@CurlyhairedAssassin

Oh I feel sick. DS just told me very casually today that school still haven't sent off the Oxbridge entrants' UCAS yet. This is a top grammar - why have they not done it?! DS was emailed his reference by his teacher a couple of weeks ago and was pleased with it. DS had pressed Send himself a couple of weeks ago too and I thought that was it done and dusted. I had no idea that school have to add the reference on and press Send from their end before DS can get an acknowledgement from CAmbridge and get started on his SAQ.

Do I email school? I'm going to have a sleepless night tonight, can't believe DS came home from school today not having been to see someone about it. He's not alone, there are a few of them in this position. He is confident the registration for the entrance test is done as has his slip from the exams officer. But why the hell are school sending the UCASs off at the very last minute like this?! Anything could happen tomorrow before the end of the day - technical problems etc.....

ARGH

I feel your pain. My DD's college only submitted her UCAS yesterday despite her having completed it over 3 weeks ago and all the references were ready to go a week ago. It's a large college with lots of oxbridge applications each year. I was ready to demand action but then it was finally submitted and SAQ came through in a few hours...phew. Hope yours get sent today.

DD went in to the school yesterday, though on half term, and tells me that the application went in. I hope she's right!
No practice for her test, and currently no sign of any interview practice. The school didn't realise that everything is online this year - so the young people were expecting to go down to Oxbridge!