Oxford / Cambridge - current students support / chat thread 2022

[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!)

Some of us on this thread go back to I think to late 2019 when our DCs were going through the admission process. A lot's happened since!

Over to you...

No bedding except for a wafer thin mattress cover in DD's college.

No bedding provided at all at D1's college. She took mattress topper (top tip from goodbyestranger) mattress protector to go over that, two fitted sheets, pillow plus protector and two pillowslips and a coverless duvet (dries really quickly).

D1 currently in Spain. Missed out on the volunteering on a Spanish farm it proved too difficult to coordinate with her friends, so she just booked a flight and has gone off to Barcelona on her own. She's gone with a loaded kindle and determination to practise her Spanish, she did A level but hasn't used it since.

Congratulations on your DD graduating @ofteninaspin. The time goes so quickly. I'm glad she's got a job to go to.

I think DS1 and DS2 are already worrying about the next step after Oxbridge and what they'll do, despite having some ideas and starting some applications for further careers. It's going to be a very busy final year for them both and the last two years have gone by incredibly quickly.

In some ways, the next stage in the working world seems much harder than going to uni, as there's no certainty and so much competition. I don't want either of them to rush into anything but both are very keen to be independent and not rely on me at all for any resources. I'm not sure I want them to leave home that quickly!

DS2 now says he won't be given a superkingsize bed this year and will only have a single again, which makes it easier, as he's already got bedding to fit and it's easier to transport in my tiny ancient car. He has to provide all his own bedding.

DS1 gets everything provided and a change of clean bedding and towel once a week, like a hotel!! What luxury! He does take a mattress topper however.

@goodbyestranger I hope your DS4 has fully recovered from his bike accident?

Good morning - is this the right thread for questions about new starters? This is about Cambridge - do they need duvet covers? DS tells me the college launder the bedding for them every week (?!), but only if it's the college duvets? But I'd expected to at least be getting him a duvet, etc.

@question0 I think it varies between colleges. DD's C college definitely did NOT do laundry for her. She always took her own duvet & pillows too - duvets are brilliant for stuffing against plates/glasses to stop the incessant rattling on a 4 hour drive (the voice of experience here...) However, DD's C room had a single bed whereas at home she has a double, so she left the duvet at Christmas & Easter in the locked cupboard in her room, so it was less to carry.

That should be a question for college parents because I think we try to preserve our DC's anonymity here by not revealing their colleges.

Malbecfan - Thankyou. Sorry for a silly question, I was just rushing out earlier. You're right, he should ask the college 'parent' as he did say yesterday he just got one. Glad to hear there are cupboards too where they can leave things.

Another daft question (sorry) - as students, can they just walk into any college or any college library in the day?

Also, do they rank them across departments following exams?

I'm not 100% sure about the walking into college libraries, but I know that DD had supervisions at other colleges so was able to go in & out of them. For most, you have to pass through the Plodge (porters' lodge) so they know you're there and you can ask for directions to wherever you are going. DD now supervises at 2 colleges, her own and a different one, so she gets the room key from the relevant Plodge.

Exam results are published by department. In her 2nd year exams, DD had to be in the top 40 in one subject to be eligible to continue it in the 3rd year due to a space issue in the labs (she managed it - it's now her PhD department).

Thanks again Malbec. So they do rank them in all the modules then? He's worried he will be last in the all!

@question0 I'm not sure. I've just messaged DD but it may take a while as she is currently working on her actual PhD rather than teaching or being sporty. She often doesn't take her phone in the lab either.

As far as rankings go, I always told the DDs that someone has to be at the bottom. As long as they tried their best and put in enough work, it was fine by me. Your DS's supervisors will ensure that he understands everything, so as long as he works for his supervisions and attends them, he will be fine. There is a healthy rivalry between supervisors in particular subjects/colleges as to whose students will do best - a bit like proud parents bragging about their DC's achievements. DD was very happy last year that hers all did well although the arrogant chap who towered over her, argued with her (and was called "a little shit" by the HoD) and she hoped would come somewhat unstuck managed to get a First in her subject, so a mixture of pride, relief and exasperation for her.

@question0
As I understand it, the rankings this year (and maybe the last few years - I'm not sure) are not published but each student is told where they come. I think in the past they were published. DD knows where she came in her cohort (overall. In her subject they didn't do it per module but they all do different modules so would be hard) but doesn't know where any of her peers came as they decided not to discuss it between them.
College parents will be very helpful for the other details. At DD college they have to bring their own duvet cover etc (duvet provided) but they do their own laundry.

Thankyou both. I think he will be fine. I'll encourage him to contact the college parents today about the bedding. He just tells me to stop fussing about sheets! Now he's just told me he's going for a choir all-day event (choral scholar) on 23rd and staying the night before. So this is quite good as he can see the rooms and anything he needs before actual moving in on 28th. It's all come round so quickly.

@question0 DD has replied. Marks for all exams but one overall rank in year 1. Year 2 - mark for all and rank for some (see my earlier comment). Year 3 - mark only but it was an integrated Masters in Covid times so exams done remotely. Year 4 - marks and rank. HTH

Thanks Malbefan. I'm surprised they rank them in this day and age, to be honest. Anyway, just have to hope for the best with everything.

Odd to hear they are ranked now. Class only in my day, except fir the very top of the Maths tripos, who knew their rank being xth Wrangler.

DD4 was ranked across the whole year for Classics after Mods taken earlier this year. To be honest, given that you know your marks for individual modules, it's fairly easy to form your own idea of roughly where you are. It seems a bit silly to rank. Maybe just give a prize to the top person and don't inflict misery on those at the bottom. Within colleges those with firsts will become scholars and some will get a bit of money too, but I don't get the need to rank the 2.1s, 2.2s or thirds.

What was striking with the Mods marks was how far the number of firsts had been slashed. I wonder if that's a thing generally or whether it's specific to Classics.

Probably not that great an idea to go to Oxford or Cambridge worrying about rankings though! Or bedding! (just take a duvet and pillows and discard the greying ones with bugs, if provided. Very cheap ones are available these days. College parents might well think you a great fusspot if you ask about bedding).

I agree about the rankings @goodbyestranger . In school we're always told not to rank them for many reasons, yet off they toddle to Oxbridge and they are ranked. Maybe that's a state school thing, I don't know...

I wonder when in the last 35 years ranking started? I did find out my ranking some time after my Part ll - but there were only 2 of us in that degree class anyway, so it wasn’t a huge surprise!

It's obviously not universal across Oxford or across Cambridge can'tkeepawayforever so it may have always been a thing for certain subjects, and not for others or dropped for others.

I know of nobody - except very high level Mathmos - across any subject at C when I was there. Relatives at Oxford (Sciences) not ranked in that era either.

Well all I can say is that DD4 has just been ranked (and is very pleased indeed with her current ranking, even if she plummets for finals) but none of the other siblings at Oxford were ranked (or rather none mentioned a ranking) except for the Medicine one who was told which decile he was in (but that's standard for Medicine, since in plays into the allocations on finishing uni). And the Cambridge one wasn't ranked either, although that was postgrad, so not really relevant.

Although an ex of one of the DDs got a prize for the best DPhil at Oxford but again, that's just top, not necessarily a ranking so possibly not relevant.

School is quite right on that one Malbec. But speaking an a parent, and having been to fifty five annual parents' evenings at the school, I can say with some confidence that the way the staff have their mark books open and then show the individual pupil's marks leaves little to the imagination. Tends to reveal rankings at a glance, even if one isn't really looking for them!

At your typical state school, kids at Oxbridge application standard, whether they go down that route or not, have a very good idea of where they sit amongst their peers. DD's O subject isn't ranked, but before she went she was convinced that everyone else on her course would be better than her. Pretty sure now that that's not the case, but that sense of suddenly being unsure about their relative abilities is fairly widespread.

Mathmos at Cambridge have been ranked since the dawn of time I think. Lots of them opt out of it and I think that's better for mental health for many.

In my memory, even 30 years ago the commnunication of rankings for mathmos was a bit of an informal thing.

Sure, everyone wanted to know if the Trinity mathmo we all expected to be Senior Wrangler had pulled it off (plot twist: he was ill during the exams, and ended up coming second). My DoS told me that I was 11th wrangler when he handed me my results, but I don't think it was "officially" written down. (And I certainly couldn't prove it to you now).