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Higher education

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Original poster

Oxbridge Aspirants - Part 6

504 replies

HoneyMobster · 26/01/2022 14:58

The offers are in but there is still a long way to go...

@CurlyhairedAssassin
@Panicmode1
@PermanentTemporary

OP posts:
BilberryBaggins · 29/01/2022 13:35

.

petitebleu · 29/01/2022 13:36

I'm glad now that DS decided to drop FM. He was wavering between maths and MML and decided it was better to concentrate on 3. I was horrified at the time but relieved now!

BilberryBaggins · 29/01/2022 13:41

Interesting that they are stipulating a grade for the 4th subject - I guess that is just to try and keep a lid on numbers. Traditionally both O&C have been really brutal about missed grades, unless there are genuine exceptional reasons why you weren't able to get them (say if you were seriously ill and in hospital for a number of months in Y13). But I guess it's supply and demand. I know several people who've either missed by one grade, or got, eg AAB for a AAA offer and not got their place. Similarly for the step papers, you need to get what they want.

Sorry to be brutal, but it is really really important to have a good back-up - and it's worth remembering that your back-ups may be more flexible on grade combinations, so even if the back-up is the same offer, they may still offer a place if the Oxbridge place is missed.

HewasH2O · 29/01/2022 14:28

Back on our aspirants thread two years ago the offers for Cambridge NatSci were 2 x A* inc FM and 2 x A for the other two, so this isn't new. I don't think we had any engineers in our bunch.

quest1on2 · 29/01/2022 16:34

Hi, we went up to C and had a college tour yesterday. Only 42 mins from Kings Cross! They were so friendly and helpful. DS just can’t believe he’s actually going to be there (he is post- A-level, so unconditional offer). He’s been in limbo so long. It’s really is so beautiful there. Definitely worth a visit for inspiration if you have never been.

ChangedToday · 29/01/2022 16:46

So impressed, DD has an offer for Computer Science from Cambridge. Sky high (42 IB, 7-7-6) not a given that she's going to make it, nor that it's the best place for her. Still waiting on some of her other offers so we'll see, and some of those visits we never managed last year still need to happen. Right now it's exciting to get caught up in the momentum and she's already made contact with others from her college.

ErrolTheDragon · 29/01/2022 17:33

@PermanentTemporary

To me it's new that they're stipulating anything for the 4th A level - I thought they usually ignored it. I think they are just holding the door very tightly because of the pressure on spaces. They can't afford to get the calculations wrong the time.
They've been doing it for engineering for a good few years. DD, who graduated last year, knew many who did 4 A levels with offers of A star for physics and FM, A for the other two. One at least got one of her 2 A stars on the wrong subject and was admitted. (I think since then there have been some 3 a star, one a offers.!) So DD was glad she'd stuck at an AS for her 4th subject (as was possible then) and done an EPQ which wasn't included in her offer (A stars in physics and FM, A in maths)
ErrolTheDragon · 29/01/2022 17:39

[quote Panicmode1]**@CurlyhairedAssassin* - DS has been given a B target for his DT.....but has to get As in the rest...well not really, but if you are going to get an A* in your further maths, then I guess your maths should be!

Does seem harsh, but I guess the pressure on places is such that they can make the demands they want :-([/quote]
Remarkably, DD managed to get the required A star in FM and A in maths. Grin(it was the year when everyone's DC on the general uni applicants thread slipped a grade on AQA maths)

goodbyestranger · 29/01/2022 17:54

BilberryBaggins I'm not sure that Oxford is always as brutal. After it receives the A level results, admissions groups within colleges meet to discuss any applicant with missed grades, and go back to interview and aptitude scores etc. Some years even the most applied to colleges have a surprising number of missed grades.

goodbyestranger · 29/01/2022 17:55

Cambridge culls more by grades than Oxford, so that's a reason for the apparent harshness on results day. It's factored in to the offer decisions.

Panicmode1 · 29/01/2022 18:40

I've just taken DS and two of his (Cambridge offer holder) friends to an event. Chat in the csr was that none of them are sure they will firm C as they have other offers from top RG unis which aren't so pressured....which was v interesting. We will see!

Malbecfan · 29/01/2022 20:23

Interesting to read. Like Errol and goodbye I am also a veteran as DD1 graduated from C last summer and DD2 was rejected after interview.

DD1's NatSci offer was 2 A stars and 2 As in Maths, FM, Physics and Chemistry back in 2017. Luckily for her they didn't specify which subject. She achieved that, but FM and Chemistry were her A grades. FM wasn't a surprise but Chemistry was. Maths/FM were the old spec, Physics and Chemistry the reformed ones. Her Imperial offer was 2 A stars, 2 As but they specified FM as one of the A stars and DD had no qualms about turning that one down. One of our concerns was the cost of accommodation. At O/C the colleges own it and in her college, they accommodate all undergrads on site. She was really worried about the cost of living in London which definitely swayed her decision.

BilberryBaggins · 30/01/2022 13:27

I would say it’s only a very very exceptional case goodbye where they will allow in with missed grades - I am aware of numerous people from local schools who’ve just missed, or who have got a slightly ‘wrong’ combination (eg A*AB instead of AAA), and it’s just a non-starter with Oxford.

There will be the exceptions, but they are very rare, and every year I hear of people who’ve missed their place by 1 or 2 marks. (Eg being 2 marks off an A).

BilberryBaggins · 30/01/2022 13:30

I tried to find some stats, but it’s really hard because of the use of centre assessed grades - and of course immediately before that was the first crop of results from reformed A Levels - so it may be that there is a little more wiggle room, but it’s tricky to see how it will pan out going forward.

BilberryBaggins · 30/01/2022 13:38

Having said ALL of that, if you do miss, it's definitely worth asking your school to plead your case, because you might be lucky, and who knows how admissions will pan out this year - one of the things about stats is they are always retrospective, and can't tell you what will happen in your cohort, which of course is the only thing that REALLY matters.

Really hope everyone gets what they need - it's such a less stressful road!!

Juja · 30/01/2022 17:21

3 or 4 years ago a girl at my daughter's school - a comprehensive in the North just missed her vet-med offer from Cambrigde - rejected on UCAS but she rang them up herself and they changed their mind. She was very determined!
The worse they can say is no...

Juja · 30/01/2022 17:25

@Topicall my DD has a deferred entry offer to O for MML. She is planning to be in France for the year, getting a long term visa by being an au pair then doing voluntary work in a sector she wants to work in - in the long term. We are heading to France to check it all out in half term..

Topicall · 30/01/2022 18:08

That sounds like a great plan! Do you think it'll be easy to get an aupair job despite the family having the hassle of paperwork? I think it should be do-able, but only because of the asset of being English speaking. You're well ahead of us with your planning / implementation. We're still at the ideas stage.

goodbyestranger · 31/01/2022 09:26

Bilberry DS2 missed his AAA offer for History but UCAS just flashed green at 7.30am on results day - no intervention required. He didn't know his grades at that stage, was a bit surprised to see what they were when he went into school. But he went on to get a first while enjoying life massively too, so Oxford seems to know what it's doing. The AAA offer can be a bit too relaxing for some students I think.

PermanentTemporary · 31/01/2022 09:37

Oh I would always make ds ring up if he missed a grade. I just don't have positive vibes re possible success!

BilberryBaggins · 31/01/2022 10:33

@PermanentTemporary

Oh I would always make ds ring up if he missed a grade. I just don't have positive vibes re possible success!
Yes, it’s definitely worth a phone call, or you’d never know!
BilberryBaggins · 31/01/2022 10:34

@goodbyestranger

Bilberry DS2 missed his AAA offer for History but UCAS just flashed green at 7.30am on results day - no intervention required. He didn't know his grades at that stage, was a bit surprised to see what they were when he went into school. But he went on to get a first while enjoying life massively too, so Oxford seems to know what it's doing. The AAA offer can be a bit too relaxing for some students I think.
:) I’m v glad they made the right call for your ds2!

Our school’s experience is the Oxford, Cambridge, Durham are the hardest when grades are missed, but of course there will be exceptions, and it may be that this year they are a bit more lenient, as everyone has had such a disrupted time.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 31/01/2022 19:38

@goodbyestranger

Bilberry DS2 missed his AAA offer for History but UCAS just flashed green at 7.30am on results day - no intervention required. He didn't know his grades at that stage, was a bit surprised to see what they were when he went into school. But he went on to get a first while enjoying life massively too, so Oxford seems to know what it's doing. The AAA offer can be a bit too relaxing for some students I think.
Well this is it, these poor kids who drop a few marks in one exam paper and miss one grade somewhere. You know they are damn well capable of thriving at Oxbridge and do deserve their place. It's just that with some very over subscribed courses I don't think they will be lenient for one minute.
Topicall · 31/01/2022 21:08

The prospectus of DC's prospective college states that the grades offered are the minimum required and that many students get higher grades.

HewasH2O · 31/01/2022 21:30

That's obviously true Topicall based on the nature of the offer holders. DD exceeded the standard offer for her course but is still aware that her A level grades put her in the bottom 20% in her year group. Oxford publishes the stats somewhere.