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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Oxbridge applications 2023 mutual support thread

889 replies

Riverpebble · 02/11/2022 22:05

A new, friendly thread.

OP posts:
BayCityTrollers · 03/11/2022 07:43

Good luck to all dc and parents going through it this year🤞

We went through it twice in 2 years, ds1 got in and his now in his second year at Oxford, DS2 was rejected after interview and is now having a wonderful time at UCL.

Its a rollercoaster ride for sure.

Aurea · 03/11/2022 07:44

Thank you for creating a new thread and lovely to see the friendly/supportive posts again. 😊

In case anyone else is not aware, there is a Cambridge deadline for filling out an additional applicant form today (Covid related). My DS only realised this last night (that was a close one!) and his application would not have progressed further if he had missed this.

HoneyMobster · 03/11/2022 08:21

Shall we discuss interviews? It's worth flagging at this stage that the odds of being called to interview at Cambridge are much better than for Oxford. Just to help manage expectations for the Oxford wannabes....

FriendlyLaundryMonster · 03/11/2022 08:22

Thanks for the new thread.

Aurea Glad your ds got his additional Cambridge application in. Ds is pretty much handling his applications himself too and I constantly dread him missing something! A couple of days ago he realised he actually should have submitted his SAT scores for his early action US application. Oh well, hopefully they will be fine a couple of days late...
He has no offers yet, well done to all those who have received one. It will be lovely to get an offer in! All his unis are quite competitive, so I don't think we'll hear for a while yet. He would really like Cambridge, but realises that it takes a bit of luck too, and seems to have chosen the most in-demand course, computer science.

FriendlyLaundryMonster · 03/11/2022 08:27

On interviews, I'll just tell ds to enjoy them. I think he will find them quite stimulating and interesting. And if it's for him, it won't go by him!

BruceIsACake · 03/11/2022 08:38

DD had another offer last night, from Newcastle, which is likely to be her insurance choice if not getting an offer from Oxford. She's applied for Biochemistry so no tests needed - at the open day they said they didn't find them useful for this subject. Anyone any experience of interviews for this subject? They did helpfully outline the format but obvs no idea what sort of subject ques might come up if successful in getting an interview.

usedtobeboss3 · 03/11/2022 08:41

Thanks for the new thread. DS has submitted his two pieces of written work for Cambridge (MML), but struggled to find much that was subject-based and written in English. One had to be in target langauge,and one in English, but pretty much everything he does in his language A level is written in that language. Fingers crossed that what he's submitted is ok...

goodbyestranger · 03/11/2022 08:42

Seems a massive shame that interviews are all online again. My DC say they'd have hated online interviews. Oxford seems to have been in two minds for this year but played safe with online.

Januarytoes · 03/11/2022 08:59

Thank you Aurea for mentioning the Cambridge deadline for today. I was relieved to hear your DS (and mine, I just checked) did it in time.

The tests our children are doing for Oxbridge are necessarily very hard. Most of the applicants are the type of student who knows most of the answers and finishes all the questions. This cannot be the case with these tests, so to any teens who are feeling they did badly - take heart as you probably did better than it would appear.

Original poster
Riverpebble · 03/11/2022 09:09

HoneyMobster · 03/11/2022 08:21

Shall we discuss interviews? It's worth flagging at this stage that the odds of being called to interview at Cambridge are much better than for Oxford. Just to help manage expectations for the Oxford wannabes....

Thanks, that's worth knowing.

OP posts:
multivac · 03/11/2022 09:21

FriendlyLaundryMonster · 03/11/2022 08:22

Thanks for the new thread.

Aurea Glad your ds got his additional Cambridge application in. Ds is pretty much handling his applications himself too and I constantly dread him missing something! A couple of days ago he realised he actually should have submitted his SAT scores for his early action US application. Oh well, hopefully they will be fine a couple of days late...
He has no offers yet, well done to all those who have received one. It will be lovely to get an offer in! All his unis are quite competitive, so I don't think we'll hear for a while yet. He would really like Cambridge, but realises that it takes a bit of luck too, and seems to have chosen the most in-demand course, computer science.

Same course here - and similarly pragmatic about his chances! How did yours find the TMUA?

DeliberatelyObtuse · 03/11/2022 09:51

goodbyestranger · 03/11/2022 08:42

Seems a massive shame that interviews are all online again. My DC say they'd have hated online interviews. Oxford seems to have been in two minds for this year but played safe with online.

I agree completely

I know it's not the same but I interview prospective employees regularly and much prefer in person. That seems to be the feedback from interviewees as well

FriendlyLaundryMonster · 03/11/2022 09:54

multivac My ds said he was awake for the first TMUA paper (!!!) but the second one 'has a way of just making me kinda bored and tired because the questions are often not that interesting or seem easy and then they trip you up'!!!! He said he thought it went 'well/fine'. :)

FriendlyLaundryMonster · 03/11/2022 09:55

multivac How did your ds find it?

multivac · 03/11/2022 10:01

FLM - your son sounds great 😀. Mine found the first paper pretty challenging, but the second one easier than he'd expected from the practice papers. Overall, yeah, 'well/fine' sounds about right. He's all focused on the upcoming driving test now...

OnePlusOneEquals · 03/11/2022 10:41

Thanks for the new thread, woke up with a feeling of relief this morning, so glad it’s over and done now. If DS gets called for an interview, then great, but if not he’s certainly learned a lot in the process.
a couple of interviews lined up this month now for Lancaster and York. Still nothing from the other two applications, but that is to be expected. Still think it’s a shame the interviews for Oxford will be online this year, but if he gets that far then at least they are all in the same boat. Fingers crossed for all

rifling · 03/11/2022 11:12

Selfishly I'm glad the interviews are online as it's too far for us to travel but if I were closer I'd prefer to be there....although I'm still trying to block out my own memories of a disastrous Cambridge interview 30 years ago. 😆

Aurea · 03/11/2022 11:15

Online interviews suit us too from the north of Scotland!!!! You may find this encourages more applicants from all corners of the UK which surely is a good thing?

BruceIsACake · 03/11/2022 11:17

Online a preference here too otherwise it's another 300+ mile round trip.

OnePlusOneEquals · 03/11/2022 11:26

Yes, it suits me in the logistics, but DS would far rather talk in person than online, that’s just the way he is. It would be a long round trip journey too for us from the north of England.
Covid has changed a lot of things - some good, some bad. Parents’ evening for example is fantastic online - you can hear! No queues! No rushing to park and organise other children 🤣

HoneyMobster · 03/11/2022 11:48

@rifling - me too. My Cambridge interview interview was dreadful. To top it all I got a tidal period the night before and was mortified by the mess on the sheets at the college I was staying in. Sorry if that's TMI but the horror of it all is fresh in my mind...

goodbyestranger · 03/11/2022 11:55

HoneyMobster I had the exact same issue only it was in the reception area of John Frieda's as I was paying after having my hair cut, immediately before going to my interview at a Magic Circle firm in the City. Everyone was incredibly kind at John Frieda's but it was very publicly mortifying and even worse for those rushing to my aid. I did actually get an offer, so that bit at least was ok.

goodbyestranger · 03/11/2022 11:57

Fortunately I had my interview clothes in a separate bag and could change, otherwise I suspect that the three middle aged male partners who interviewed me would have fainted.

FriendlyLaundryMonster · 03/11/2022 13:02

We are also in Scotland. Hi Aurea! And, online interviews do make everything straightforward. We didn't actually make it to the Cambridge Open Day as the trains were going to be in the region of £400! And the drive would just have been hours and hours. Does Cambridge hold offer-holder days? (Maybe getting ahead of myself here!) If they do, we will make the effort for that, if ds gets that far.

HewasH20 · 03/11/2022 13:13

DD was lucky to be in the last year to have F2F interviews. A benefit of a remote interview is that you don't know who you are up against and you may feel less intimidated. I think we forget how proficient our offspring have become at navigating the online world and using Zoom etc.

In her year they were told when they arrived that there had been 10-11 applicants for each place, these had been whittled down to 3 per space at interview, so they had done brilliantly to get that far.