Oxford / Cambridge - current students support / chat thread

[DadDadDad]

Continuing a thread for anyone who wants to talk about their sons' and daughters' experience being a student in Oxford or Cambridge. (Or nephews, granddaughters, sisters, uncles - or if you or they have now graduated but you want to share your thoughts - all are welcome!)

I have a DS in his second year at Oxford, studying a small humanity in a tiny college.

Over to you...

I'm also catching up after a frantic 3 days' school work. Congratulations @SandyBayley and @pantjog 's DC on their offers. Also @goodbyestranger to your lovely DS4. I don't actually understand what a transfer viva is, but it all sounds prestigious and exciting. I haven't spoken to DD1 since the weekend so no danger of me telling her anything. Also to goodbye I was talking to a y13 that I taught for GCSE and was his form tutor in y10. He is very excited to have an offer for History & Politics from Oxford. I think it's at your DD4's college but my brain is mashed and it might be a different one. Feel free to PM me if you want to know.

@hobbema I absolutely LOVE the idea of my DD being "a fearsome supervisor". I know she only supervises freshers so unless I am mistaken, it's unlikely to be your DD. Mine talks warmly about her "supervisees" but one of her mates has a rather arrogant and tricky young man to manage. It's all a learning process for the supervisors too.

I hope all returners have safe journeys and productive terms.

@JanuaryBluehoo

For the live in for the duration colleges... How much does that cost?

Very different between colleges. DS's first term catered was c.£1,500. DD's was £2,200. That was a bit of a shock.

DS's is now c.£2,200 without having to empty his room at Christmas and Easter!

About to send a message Malbec. 'Lovely DS4'! Thank you :)

Message received. He is lovely, and quirky and funny. I'm also quite fond of your DSs 2 & 3 too. Sorry to say I didn't have much to do with DS1 or the older DDs (a bit with J and S but I can't remember which numbers they are).

For balance, my DD is now living in a shared house in Cambridge. She has a huge room with an ensuite shower room; there is a large shared kitchen and lounge. I think she is paying around £560 pcm. She has bills and food on top of that. Her room is at least 4x bigger than any room she had in College. This is a 12 month contract.

Agree not your DD @Malbecfan ! August enough to have been on In Our Time ( tomorrow’s driving podcast list sorted ). There’s a three way fight for the washing machine this morning. I’m not winning.

DD was planning to watch O v England U20s rugby this afternoon. A pesky tutor has given her a 5pm Saturday deadline each week for an essay. I'm not sure if she's referencing or cheering.

DD reeling at cost of ball tickets just announced. So am I. Only one she’ll get at her college in course of her degree though so has to be done. And hurrah to even the prospect if we think back to how they started in 2020…

@hobbema the trick is to work at them. You work for half the time and get to socialise the other. DD managed to go the Trinity May Ball in her 2nd year - tickets were around the £500 mark. No way would she spend that, but by working for half of it, she was able to enjoy the other half. She is now a dab hand at opening bottles of champagne (she counted that she personally opened well over 100 that evening).

FIVE HUNDRED QUID - what do they get for £500? That's more than I give DD in a month for essentials.
I'm not feeling deprived or aggrieved on her behalf. I don't think she'd be pining to go. I'm just curious.

Blimey, £500?? D1 has tickets for the Glitter Ball (this month) and her college's ball which was less than £200 I think, she went for the 'no meal' option.

Funfairs, bands and unlimited booze from what I can gather. The prices vary enormously from college to college, but some are obscene.

On a different topic, especially those of you with DC in their 2nd year: what thoughts are your offspring giving to life after graduation?

DS is struggling to form any clear idea about a career, and even with the areas he has talked about, feels overwhelmed with getting some relevant experience (internships?) and narrowing down options. He's not the sort to be a big corporate high-flying / schmoozing consultant-type, and maybe he feels a bit daunted by those who are of that ilk.

He's made contact with the Oxford careers service, and I'm encouraging him to push for more help with direction and advice. Any other resources he could use to bring a fresh perspective?

As he says, at school it was so much easier - there was a structure and staff on hand to guide him. He feels adrift and the clock is beginning to tick...

I think the idea of the £500 Trinity price tag is that it weeds out the "undesirables" so only the truly loaded can go. Yes, DD said it was an amazing experience, with champagne, caviar etc but no way would she spend that. One of her close friends went (family is wealthy) and had a fantastic time so at least DD had someone to hang out with once she had finished opening all those bottles.

Her college traditionally holds a ball just before the Christmas break. That's not cheap, but I think the last one in 2019 was around £100.

@DadDadDad DD had some input from the Careers Service in Cambridge, possibly in her 2nd year which was pre-Covid. That led her to a week's work experience that she organised herself with a contact of my DF. She should have done further work with them in August 2020 but they weren't taking anyone due to Covid. She is still in contact with the company and they chatted to her at a careers event in her college. I will ask her how things worked and update this thread.

I'm a serial namechanger with a DD at C (1st year).
She's bought tickets to a charity ball this term (under £100). Her college seems to normally have balls every two years I think and it would have been last year (obviously didn't happen) and next year but I don't know whether they'll have one this year to make up for last.
Her formals are frequent and very reasonably priced so hopefully the college ball won't be too bad.

Tickets for the ball at DS's college a very reasonable (comparatively) £200. But he's been very canny (he would NEVER contemplate paying that much for anything other than 'tech', or let us pay) and has snared a job working as per Malbecfan
DS sitting his collections today, 2 papers. Apparently a fire alarm went off and a few were scrambling....

DadDadDad DD is also pondering, especially now she has been invited to Halfway Hall. (Un)fortunately we have a broad spectrum of careers she could choose from, so she has ruled out most of them! She has friends who have applied for dozens of internships for the summer - one has somehow secured a law one in Peru! Meanwhile DD is going to see if any opportunities crop up through her depts or College to get some experience beyond the usual tourism jobs this summer to put on a CV. One thing PPE has taught her is that corporate schmoozing doesn't excite her either.

I think its important to remember that summer internships don't mean a commitment to that path. DDs first two placements were all about just using maths in an analytical/research way and she rejected after uni job offers from them. Only did her third one have real relevance to what she's doing next.

We dropped DS off today for Lent term. He forgot to pack his D&D dice, but says that friends will lend him some for now, and we'll bring them when we visit next month.

You've reminded me, @Ironoaks , I've still got this d20 kicking around from 40 years ago. I keep it in the bottom of my work bag, as probability theory is a part of my job (actuary), and I like to claim this could be used for a very simple stochastic model .

DD back and unpacked. She is going to as many balls as possible. Some of the more expensive ones can be £100 cheaper or so if you're prepared to queue, rather than have early entry. Dining tickets add on £100 or so extra, but she's not going to bother as she's eaten in all the good dining halls. Ball tickets are one thing we would not skimp on, as you will never have that opportunity again.

D1 sent this on a developing diplomatic incident
cherwell.org/2022/01/15/hertford-cat-simpkin-banned-from-exeter-college-library/

That was on my Twitter feed as well.

#TeamWalter

#TeamWalter too

If Walter wants to outwit the vet he could always nip across the square to Brasenose and tuck into a rat or two.