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).

On the question of re-applying, there was something in the papers today about Oxbridge moving to permanent online interviews!

@Angharad01 Welcome and good luck to your son on Tuesday. My DD is leaving her phone at home in the morning and coming home / I am meeting her at lunch then she can open the email with me there. Its the way she wants it, she does not want to open it at college, although none of her friends have applied so she has not go that pressure. We are fully expecting a rejection but we shall see.

All the very best of luck to everyone for Tuesday.
@Angharad01 it was much easier last year as we were into another lockdown and everyone got their results at home. Having said that, DD and all their friends planned that they would send a simple 👍 or 👎 on their group chat (4 of the 8 of them applied to C). People would message the 👍 individually with congrats but not on the group chat and they agreed that they would leave the 👎 until they felt ready to communicate in which case they would do so.
She said that they felt it was the most like what it would have been in real life - that everyone would have quietly told their friends but there would not have been any whooping or high-fiving (a bit like with GCSE results when they all checked everyone was happy before going off to celebrate) so hopefully your dd's friends will be similar.

Fwiw if anyone has any questions after offers on Tuesday I'm very happy to help from my experiences so feel free to ask questions or message me.

DS not DD sorry @Angharad01

Good luck to everyone waiting for Tuesday!!

@Angharad01 I share the pain of this . I have twins who were both waiting on Oxford two weeks ago . One got an offer and one didn't . We were mid mocks so both were at home that morning as indeed were there dad and I . That Tuesday really wasn't easy but gradually the rawness has subsided but there is still a fair bit of joshing around it but at least it has become good natured now . It has been better since they've both been back full time ( and for the rejected twin he knows others who didn't get in so that's Been helpful too ). Good luck to your son and all others waiting for C news .

Thanks all - we’ve had a chat this morning as he slept on it last night and he’s decided he won’t look in the morning but will meet me lunchtime (luckily I’m home working on tuesday and not far away) and he can look then and process emotions etc. Plus I’m on hand it things really go south.
He then has choice to tell friends in the afternoon or not say he’s looked, if he needs more time and wants a night to sleep it off etc. Also won’t distract from those who did get in.
By following day it’ll be ‘old’ news, as most will presume those with good news will have told everyone day before, so people will presume it’s a no and be a bit more sensitive when asking if you’ve not already said.

@Angharad01 it is tough. O results day was during mocks for DD, and most DC therefore weren’t in unless they had an exam that morning. One of DDs closest friends had also applied. When she hadn’t heard from her by lunchtime DD pretty much knew it was a no. Friend was uncommunicative for a few days and DD just gave her space. By end of last week friend seemed to be in a better place and they were off together celebrating the end of mocks.

Good luck to everyone waiting for an offer. Really hope you all get good news.

Sounds like a sensible plan @Angharad01 but do you think he'll keep to it? DD was adamant that she wasn't going to look as she had a day of mocks but she couldn't resist. As it happens it was good news but it will be so tempting...

@Angharad01 My experience - 2 DC receiving results two years apart - is that they are all different and it is difficult to predict for us, as parents, or for them, how they will handle the waiting, the opening and the results. "Being there" either in person or available at the end of the phone is the best advice I can offer.

Just popping in to say good luck to everyone awaiting Cambridge news tomorrow. Only one more sleep thank heavens - whatever the result I think it is good it will be over soon.

Unfortunately, I can’t block out tomorrow morning, it’s a good idea.
DD plans to wait until she is home to open the email, but I don’t know if she will stick to that plan.
She’s been preparing for a rejection and she’s been taking a good game. But it’s quite different to face it. All part of growing up I suppose.
If rejected, I hope she does not ask for feedback or try for a second time. I think it’s an impressive institution and worth taking a shot at, but not worth getting bogged down over. She wouldn’t have access to opportunities that would actually amount to a worthwhile gap year. I imagine most DC don’t.

I have to go to work tomorrow, but am hoping that DS texts or something once he knows. I can't infer anything from silence because he's not the world's greatest communicators in any case......

I've got "One day more..." from Les Mis in my brain at the moment....Good luck to everyone for tomorrow. We will be celebrating either way - hopefully Cambridge, along with his 6 strong group of close friends, but if not, firming Imperial.

Good luck all! On a lighter note as much as try to avoid it, it seems Cambridge is everywhere...contributors on the news, characters' back stories in films ...it just seems to keep popping up over the weekend. The good news is that DD has managed to channel her energy into sorting her room out and a miraculous number of mugs have been returned . Deep breaths for tomorrow, I know the whole process and been long and stressful at times, but also challenging and DD is all the better for applying regardless of the outcome - the only regret would have been if she hadn't applied.

@doubleshotcappuccino

Deep breaths for tomorrow, I know the whole process and been long and stressful at times, but also challenging and DD is all the better for applying regardless of the outcome - the only regret would have been if she hadn't applied

That is so true, I am so so glad that DD applied regardless of outcome, it was always a wildcard application and to have got this far has been a journey I would never change, I will never forget this time. My DD had an interview for one of the best Unis in the world. You try not to get too caught up in it but it is hard as it just feels like such a big deal. I have barely allowed my mind to wonder to the place where she has an offer as I know the reality is she won't get one but bloody hell it would be pretty amazing.

Anyways back to reality got today off so going for a run down by the river to take my mind off tomorrow!

@TangoWhiskyAlphaTango a huge thank you to you for keeping us all going with humour and empathy. Not sure how many threads we filled but each was packed full of support from others in the same boat. It's made a huge difference knowing of others in the same boat...thank you!

@Honeymobster - good point: he may well not be able to resist looking despite best laid plans and all that - but I think I’ll pop to see him lunchtime regardless just to give him a big mum hug whatever happens (think I’ll need it as much as him!).
Good luck 🍀 🤞 🙏 to everyone’s DCs for tomorrow. They’ve done amazingly to get this far - mine can now interview competently (didn’t have a clue before); and has fully revised/recapped all his AS/A2 studies which puts him in strong position for mocks & exams grades. I personally think it was definitely a very beneficial experience as he would never have done all that if he hadn’t applied to Cambridge - spin-off benefits of applying are huge.

We had a day out yesterday to celebrate finishing mocks and finishing the Cambridge process.
It's unlikely DC will get an offer, but not impossible. The interviews went well, and they've now mentioned that the Director of Studies praised the PS. In the context of a gap year application I don't think that will be enough, but happy that DC had a good shot at it.
With DC1, getting the offer was just the start of the trauma, as they then just missed the grades, put in an appeal, were put into a pool but not picked out, and then at exactly that point the government decided to go with teacher assessments and DC then had the necessary grades after all. The whole thing took a couple of weeks! Glad that won't happen this time round. Putting in an appeal obviously only happened in the context of the massive marking fiasco. DC1 is now getting on very well at Cambridge, thankfully.

Before tomorrow I wanted to add my thanks to @TangoWhiskyAlphaTango for these threads - and to all other posters. It's been great to have a safe space to be able to talk about this stuff as most friends understandably find it hard to relate to. It is very much a lived experience.... yes different fo us all but we all share the wish to support our children through this stage... whatever the outcome is.

All the very best to all those awaiting their results tomorrow from C. I hope mothers and DC get some sleep...

@Eightytwenty

Lacking any kind of strategy for tomorrow other than having blocked my morning incase I’m needed to go to collect DS from school (or less dramatically to take a phone call). I did however wake last night with an anxiety dream.

Ditto! On all of it!

Just to back up what others have said, my impression is this generation of students are incredibly sensitive about each other on these 'big days' and there's a minimum of air-punching and back-slapping. My DS1 said that on GCSE results day, Oxford decision day and A Level results day he didn't tell anyone what he had unless they directly asked (which they did in person or in private messages) and he had no idea what most other people had got. In the group chats the dominant message was 'well done us, we got through it, let's party'. It was only over time that uni offers became apparent as people started to talk about where they were headed. He still has absolutely no idea what most of his friends got in public exams!

Bless them, this generation seems to be a genuinely empathetic bunch. Much better than the feverish comparisons I remember from 30 years ago.

Good luck to all Cambridge-waiters - this last 24 hours is so tense. 🤞