Oxbridge aspirants part 4......Hold onto your nerves interviews ahead....!

[TangoWhiskyAlphaTango]

Part 4 - A friendly supportive thread for those with DC applying to Oxbridge, its an arduous process to say the least. I suspect we will need some handholding and alcohol for the couple of weeks ahead as our dc have their interviews. For those still waiting to hear I hope news comes soon

Thinking of you Tango, hang in there...

DS3 only doing the one UK application,the rest are Ivys,hes boarded since he was 11 so not really concerned about distance from home,its the Uni and course that matters to him,not whether he can see us every three or four weeks and that is fine with me..

Thinking about the distance thing, we are in Scotland and I do worry a bit about DC potentially going to Oxford and how far it is from here. Slightly comforted by 8 week terms though - not as bad as being a long way away for 12 weeks for example. Obviously DC had yet to be offered a ace, plus they don't seem worried about the distance, so it's all academic at the moment!

DD is done.

I ran home to just be annoying and flappy and found her testing lights and cameras. At precisely 3 minutes before she was due to click the link the screen froze and we both screamed for a few seconds while she rebooted and I fired up the tablets.

She was in for 40 minutes. Not a single word on PS or anything personal at all other than why history AND politics. Three or four quite analytical political philosophy based questions. I could hear lots of "erm-ing" She said she felt she blew the first question completely. There was a question about political taking of power where they used an example relevant to where we live so they definitely (or at least would seem to) prepare specific qs for specific students.

Re: distance.
Cambridge would be easiest for us of her 5 as we've got direct flights to Stansted. Exeter and Bath probably the hardest for us at would be into London and out again.

DS has done his two interviews (one yesterday, one today). He is taking the instruction not to talk about them extremely (annoyingly!) serious so haven't got much detail. He did say that yesterday there was quite a lot about PS but I guessed there might because one of the things he mentioned in it is something the one interviewer specialises in. He says they went "fine". Ggggrrrr. Main thing is there were no IT issues.

The one interviewer today at the end mentioned that DS may / may not be called for other interviews from tomorrow but that he shouldn't try to interpret or analyse being called for more / not being called for me "because its quite complicated".

DS2 shellshocked and rather bewildered after his Cambridge engineering interview this morning. 😕 Without going into any detail, the content of the interview blindsided him rather. He thinks there were too many awkward silences. I think he's now discounting Cambridge but I've told him that obviously it ain't over til it's over. DS2 has Oxford engineering on Monday, scattered through the day.

@kitnkaboodle sympathies - DS said his Imperial engineering one was a breeze compared to yesterday's Cambridge grilling...I am sure they all think they've done badly/could have done better, but there are so many anecdotes of people saying they thought theirs were dreadful and they got an offer....so it ain't over until it is.

Our DC is done and dusted. Feels pretty happy with how both interviews went, proper discussions lasting the full 30mins, second one possibly better than the first, which is a nice way round.

I'm so relieved! Whatever the outcome now, at least the interviews were solid and DC can feel good about them.

Fingers crossed for January, for all of us!!

Thanks @Panicmode1! Thinking about it, it's probably only the second interview he's ever had in his life, so no wonder it was a bit of an ordeal.

It’s good it’s over but now the waiting really starts.

Well thats DD done. First one which had reading material she felt went really well, conversation flowed and she able to elaborate and had good discussion with the panel, felt they really engaged her. Second interview she was more deflated, said the Prof had her hands clapped to her face the whole time like she was bored which dd found off putting. Managed to answer all the questions but just didnt get a good vibe they didnt say good bye just "you can let yourself out now".

Who knows could go either way. Now the long wait until the 25th.

@kitnkaboodle

DS2 shellshocked and rather bewildered after his Cambridge engineering interview this morning. 😕 Without going into any detail, the content of the interview blindsided him rather. He thinks there were too many awkward silences. I think he's now discounting Cambridge but I've told him that obviously it ain't over til it's over. DS2 has Oxford engineering on Monday, scattered through the day.

Its a bloody tough process and they should all feel immensely proud they got this far. At least it is done now and what will be will be.

So, he's done now with his one and only interview. And it was... OK, I guess. That seems to be his response. No disasters but no shining either, which he felt he needed since they have so little to go on. He had lots of things that he wanted to say but didn't and felt one of them seemed a bit unimpressed and grumpy.

He was very nervous beforehand and now it's all a bit flat. He's not got his heart set on it and in a way this low-investment route (i.e. not having the whole interview on site/staying over experience) is maybe a good thing given that most won't make it.

@Valleyofthedollymix That's how DD felt about one of her interviewers, said she just looked bored. Dd has just gone for a drink with a friend but said she doesn't feel she did well enough to get in but is fine with that. Feeling a bit flat too ☹️

Well done to all of them getting to this point. Bit of a shame when interviewers can't take 10 seconds to say hello and goodbye to nervous young people ☹️

Has anyone else got interviews next week? DS has two on Monday and two on Tuesday. He'll be doing them all at school so at least the tech isn't my problem!

@VikingNorthUtsire - DD has interviews tomorrow (Friday) and Monday. She finishes school tomorrow at lunchtime so isn't going in.

DD's Cambridge maths interviews are done, she's pleased with how they went (enjoyed them even) and I'm exhausted. She's been wide eyed with nerves this week until today, when my nerves took over (while trying to appear super zen to DD).

She didn't have any PS questions - all maths questions, they went straight into them (2 interviews each 25 mins with two interviewers - no tablets or smart boards etc allowed for workings)

I'm very proud of her and think she's given it her best shot. As they don't do the exam beforehand, if she gets an offer then there is still the massive hurdle of STEP to get past - it seems so unfair to do the exams at the same time as A levels! Perhaps that is part of the test?

So good luck to those with interviews to come and thanks to all who have shared anecdotes and tips so far. You've been quoted many times "the mumsnet says"...

@Genegenieee Are we famous then?! Waves to fans 👋🏻 😂😂

[quote SandyBayley]@VikingNorthUtsire - DD has interviews tomorrow (Friday) and Monday. She finishes school tomorrow at lunchtime so isn't going in.[/quote]
Oh good luck. Either side of the weekend seems a bit tough; hopefully the break in between will help (and allow for a bit of swotting!)

@SandyBayley Best of luck to DD

Thanks @Horace123 and @VikingNorthUtsire - she's in a surprisingly good mood tonight. Her brothers are on good form plus DS2 got a negative PCR this afternoon 😊

@SandyBayley Best of luck to DD tomorrow! Please let us know how she gets on 😊