Oxbridge applications 2023 mutual support thread

[Riverpebble]

A new, friendly thread.

@chaitime thank you we will keep fingers crossed for not too long a wait and good news!

DD submitted her written work for Oxford earlier in the week and is now just waiting to hear about interview.

I can tell she’s really got her heart set on it despite it being a total last minute minute decision (she’s not at school in U.K.) so I’m trying to manage expectations appropriately.

I may be jumping the gun, but my DS has kept one of his UCAS choices back, possibly until he hears about any (unlikely) Cambridge offer. Would this work?

From what I can see, the Cambridge offer date is the same date as the UCAS deadline.

Thanks!

@Aurea what is the reasoning for holding the last choice back? What difference does the Cambridge offer position make, assuming he has options for insurance universities in 3 of his other choices?

He may not receive any offers until quite late in the process as he's a Scottish student applying to Cambridge and three other Scottish unis (St As, Edinburgh and Glasgow) who are all notoriously late in decision making.

He's holding one choice back for this reason. He has no offers so far.

Also, if he has a Scottish unconditional offer (grades in hand) as a back up, he may apply to Durham as his fifth choice, otherwise he'll choose somewhere safer.

DS’s friend has got an interview at Cambridge for Maths with Physics.

@OnePlusOneEquals That's good news. Would you or your DA happen to know which college it is for? My ds has applied for Maths with Phtsics as well and hadn't heard anything yet.

Not sure @Letitgoagain he’ll hopefully remember to ask tomorrow. Good luck to your DS, I think things are just beginning to come out in dribs and drabs right now.

Lovely to hear about the interviews and offers from elsewhere coming in. DS3 got the written submissions in with one minute to spare (so glad I only found out afterwards) but they are in so now he waits... he has got offer from his second choice (and he'd be happy to go there) so hoping that helps if he's not successful with Oxford.

Interview email arrived this morning (MML, Cambridge)!
Quite a relief, as someone we know, generally assumed to have a very high chance of an offer, got a straight rejection yesterday (different, more competitive subject though...)

Congratulations @usedtobeboss3 which college if you don't mind saying? I'm nail biting here waiting to here (my dd applying to Newnham)

Fabulous news @usedtobeboss3 ! @beachcitygirl nail biting here too...

It's John's.
I've heard of interviews at Christ's too, but that's all so far...

Hi congrats on the interviews, but also just to say to those waiting, please don't worry if you haven't heard from C yet, as all subjects and all colleges very much do their own thing regarding scheduling. I think they aim to give at least 2 weeks notice (if I remember rightly), so loads of time as interviews run until mid- Dec. Also, Cambridge interview the vast majority (about 75-80%) so don't bite the nails too much! Very best of luck!

Thanks for talking us all down from our heightened states of anxiety @chakra1 😂

My dd just heard. Interview 🥰 much happiness here

DD has had interview at Cambridge semi-confirmed as between 5th and 9th December with assessment on 23rd November and exact interview date to follow. 😊

Congrats to both of your DC @beachcitygirl @PettsWoodParadise
DS happy this evening to get an offer from St Andrews :)

Ooh congratulations @juicy0 !

We're waiting for that one!
My dd has literally just got an unconditional for glasgow - 2 mins ago.

Thank you, it's conditional but the grades are within his reach if all goes well. I'm really surprised, I thought St Andrews were usually quite slow. He hasn't visited yet, he decided to wait to see if he received an offer before making the long journey, so he will def go to one of the offer holder days.
He applied to G&C at Cambridge and is hoping to hear from them soon.

Thank you @juicy0 - and congratulations to your DS on the offer from St A. It is a beautiful town. We took a look when DD wasn’t sure where to study but it felt too far away for her and also the course had elements in she didn’t like as much as other places.

Just wondering if anybody here heard anything on interview for Cambridge HSPS / Pembroke. Silence and DD assuming no but hoping still time.

What's the order for Oxford.
Do they send out rejections before asking others to interview?
Pooled candidates last?
Or is it all a random muddle depending on Colleges and departments.
Any idea when the emails start coming and is it done through UCAS or did the college's contact directly?

Trying not to over ask my teen, m aintaining a casual attitude whilst burning inside with curiosity.

@TenTonTessa It’s all a bit random based on College and subject. Some subjects have candidates considered at the Faculty level while others allow colleges significantly more autonomy.

They should receive an email directly from the college to tell them if they are
being called to interview or not successful.

The first few have already started to be invited for interview from Monday this week and typically this will continue until around 3rd December.

Like you I am burning with curiosity but trying not to stress DS as he is focused on interview prep atm.

HTH