Oxford aspirants part 5......the wait is over the results are in!!

[TangoWhiskyAlphaTango]

Thought I would start a new thread as its likely to fill up quick now.

So here we are after many months of applications, assessments and interviews. The wait is finally over for those with DC who have applied to Oxford. Those with Cambridge applicants have another 2 weeks to wait until the 25th Jan (bummer!!)

You have all been a lovely bunch to share this journey with and I wish your dc nothing but the BEST OF LUCK for tomorrow (and the 25th).

Oh dear nolanscrack it's sounding worse and worse for Eton. I'm not sure that a single question about how Eton and other expensive big name schools have fared constitutes an obsession! I'm interested generally in access and been involved in it for many years, so Eton's performance is quite an interesting flip side of that. Eton is pretty close with negative info too, hence my question. But I think I'm getting the drift.... Cheers anyhow. Was your own DS Oxford or Cambridge?

Thanks for proving my point..
Your interest in DS3 is touching,he has an offer,he may or may not accept it,depends on what offers he gets from the US..

Oh well done to your DS. Aren't the US offers in? They are at our school.

Well Harvard anyway.

If you are that keenly interested @goodbyestranger my DS is at an indie in C London and they have done very badly in terms of Oxbridge and LSE. He has got offers from UCL, Warwick and Notts. Is happy with those and looking forward to uni.

My own and DH's background: working professionals from immigrant background with degrees from foreign unis unheard of in the UK ( don't figure on any QS ranking). DH was so poor in an Asian country without benefits and social security that his mom had to go without meals to educate him. His own mom was one of 17 and neither of his parents speak English. I was luckier but DS will still be the first in our family to go to a uni that figures on QS.

Oh it's been exciting reading about all these Oxford offers, and others! I guess most of us will be disappointed for our own children but it's nice to see lots of successes on here.

@Panicmode1, well done to your son for his Durham engineering offer. My DS hasn't heard from them yet (also Engineering). Both Bristol & Imperial have him on hold for aero too so don't quite know what all that could mean. He is also 4 A* predicted and I know he has a good chance of achieving this, and has a reasonable PS, but he is very quiet and probably unlikely to have shown himself off at interview. He is desperate for Cambridge (Gen Engineering) but I'm thinking it could be unlikely now if he hasn't been snapped up by the others yet. He does have one offer, from Southampton, for aero, and the course looks brilliant for that there. I'm sure he'd enjoy it if he ended up there and it's very well regarded. I just wish Cambridge offers day will hurry up and come round and we can just move on with it all!

I am interested in school performance and the details won't be available easily or soon, so thanks for that CD. Where schools have dipped even further on the Oxford offer front they won't be shouting it from their website rooftops. It's not what draws punters in. Words will be carefully chosen - it's always the way.

17 children - goodness. Glad your DS is looking forward to uni.

@Balloonsandbaubles

totally agree! Look at grammar state schools. Private in all but name

So NOT true. My kids grammar school is under funded, old buildings falling apart, lower salaries than private so harder to retain some teachers. Lots of local kids that are from very normal families, normal houses and few silver spoons or 2 holidays p.a. etc.

The top grammars obviously consciously emulate the best education provided at the top selective independents. To that extent they are private in all but name. But absolutely not in terms of funding (they achieve nearly the same on a tiny fraction of the income), nor in terms of their clear mission to improve access and get back to being engines of social mobility. This is not true of all grammars by any means - some are really middling and sleepy - but it is true of the top grammars.

On that basis, there isn't really an argument against a disproportionate number of grammar school kids getting offers. Oxbridge should be an engine of social mobility too, so it's part of a continuum. I think some tutors decry grammars as bastions of middle class privilege but they may not get out enough.

The top grammars obviously consciously emulate the best education provided at the top selective independents. To that extent they are private in all but name. But absolutely not in terms of funding (they achieve nearly the same on a tiny fraction of the income), nor in terms of their clear mission to improve access and get back to being engines of social mobility. This is not true of all grammars by any means - some are really middling and sleepy - but it is true of the top grammars

Agree with this totally DS (O offer holder) goes to the former type. DD sadly the second kind (nearly all grammars in Kent are single sex).

Goodness, sorry to see how your interest in access and school performance was received, @goodbyestranger ! I'm similarly interested and I really don't see anything wrong with it at all. (Very surprised to witness animosity in what's otherwise been a very kind-spirited thread.)

Congratulations to all DC now holding offers, however - and commiserations to those feeling disappointed at the moment.

Innocenta thank you. Chips often emerge on these threads - I'm quite used to them, especially from certain quarters :)

I can't see the data for DD's school for Oxford Goodbye, but for Cambridge, I can see that there were an average of 30ish applicants, with offers made ranging from 10 to 15 between years 2015 to 2020, with a strangely improving ratio year on year. I don't know the reason for this, other than assuming it could be due to the high % of bursary students (who will be in receipt of 70% to 100% funding), or perhaps the type of courses applied to. DD's school have less who apply to Oxford/offers from O; not sure why, as there is no influence from school one way or other. Could also be that they have followed CAG/TAG guidance to the letter, actually marking quite aggressively. Don't know.

They will also have a high percentage of students who apply internationally, not just to US. Most of those will be international mixed heritage kids, legacy, athlete recruits etc, but more recently students applying like mine that are from lower income /high extra curricular seeking entry with financial aid support.

Just on the Harvard front, early decisions are out, but those applying to colleges under regular decision rules and timelines will be awaiting outcomes around end of March 2022.

No,US decisions for regular decisions are not out,not even at your school goodbye..you have confused EA/ED with RD

Ooh, I lie, I've just found the Oxford UCAS data. Apart from 2021 where O offers dropped off the cliff, school has between 30 to 50 applicants, with between 10 to 22 offers between 2016 and 2020.

No idea how they fared this year as I'm keeping my head down due to DD being in C waiting camp!

I don't know what I've confused nolanscrack all I know is that Harvard has offered, along with Oxford.

Thank you ealingwestmum and now I shall assume a clue is in the name :) Best of luck to your DD. Dropping off the cliff is interesting - did it mean that even more applied to Cambridge this year?

I don't think it's hard to work out us London folk Goodbye after years on MN but, she doesn't school in Ealing if that's the implication

Yes, more did apply to C this year, I don't know why. Personally for DD, it was predominantly course driven, second to vibe. the latter pretty meaningless and anecdotal in the absence of physical visits.

Goodbyestranger, I think US Universities are about Easter unless Early Decision. Applicants can nominate one University for ED. If accepted they are committed, and hear about Christmas.

(Vastly simplified as US applications are complicated, but that is the general idea.)

Agreed that US decisions are not straightforward. At our school there have been a number of US offers made (including Harvard and Yale) but they are primarily to athletes. There is a second tranche still to come so I guess that's what @nolanscrack is waiting for.

Yes I had meant to add that athletic pledges often seem to happen even further in advance, and offers formalised in the autumn.

Early decision improves your odds as it tells the college it is your first chouce and you are willing to be committed, so a fair proportion will happen that way. Otherwise people will be applying for up to a dozen colleges. Westminster, from memory, used to try to limit to eight, and would discourage students from applying to both systems in the same year as they felt it was too time consuming and distracting. There is a lot to be said for UCAS.

Every year there are parents fuming that their dcs have missed out due to letting in increasing numbers of pesky state-educated kids, and on the other side the parents steaming that their dcs have been denied places due to over-coached privately-schooled duffers.

When all’s said and done, the calibre of student is very, very high. If the applicant truly deserves a place, they will get in. I think many parents simply have no idea of the competition their offspring face and can’t accept the decision.

My dcs went to a comprehensive. They were not given any Oxbridge coaching, which I think is a bit overhyped anyway. The interviews seem to be (at least at Oxford) very well moderated.

Of course Oxbridge are looking for very good people, and also curious people. If you haven’t had the benefit of a (top) private school education, then at least you can demonstrate your “passion” and the fact that you’ve delved into your chosen subject. A problem I’ve seen referred to is candidates with a predicted clutch of top grades thinking that the syllabus is sufficient: eg they’ve read the set books/studied the historical period to be examined. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been to Poncey Towers or Bash Street comp, if you haven’t had the drive to study your subject further yourself then Oxbridge is not a good fit for you.

Excellent post! @DottyHarmer.

I agree @DottyHarmer. I think curiosity and interest is what they look for ( not that I am any expert).