Oxbridge applications 2023 mutual support thread

[Riverpebble]

A new, friendly thread.

Yes. Aberdeen is beautiful in many areas. The granite buildings are very impressive and sparkle in the sunlight. There are less attractive areas of course.

I lived in Aberdeen for many years, so if you have any questions, I will try and help.

My DS, however, is not applying to Aberdeen as he considers it our local uni and he wants to spread his wings.

Aurea We haven't heard anything from Scottish unis yet (St Andrews & Edinburgh). But, I think that's expected. It's such a long wait!

Thanks @goodbyestranger Guess that ties in with the suggestion of February after offers ......apparently though all scores sent to unis on 21st October so a shame students can't be told sooner :)

& of course it cuts costs

Yes absolutely it does. Although I don't see that that's the driving issue. For the most part the constituent colleges are exceptionally well off.

online interviews is where it is at at the moment for oxbridge I understand and according to the information w e have.

Nothing at all to do with people being 'nervous' and yes, inclusive to the extent that if you think about it - with an international contingent it is enabling some students to take part even though they may be thousands of miles away - and also saves co2 emissions.

I'm not fond of Zoom/Teams myself but I get that part of it as a parent/carer. Also for some people on lower incomes it saves on train/plane fares.

International students have always had the option of zoom interviews.

Less well off UK students have been supplied with a form for claiming the cost of transport to interviews for as long as mine have been interviewing.

I'm certainly right about zoom interviews for internationals and the cost of travel to interviews being met for those who need it.

Please don't disrupt this thread too, these are simply facts, easily verifiable elsewhere.

For those asking- Dd got an offer today from Edinburgh. We're shocked as Edi usually wait until after March for conditional offers (Scots with Highers already may be sooner) and oldest daughter got her offer late March h in 2020.

It was also at the lowest end of the tariff range for that subject ABB - Medicinal & Biological Chemistry. Quite pleased as her others are medicine so she won't hear for a while yet on them.

Thanks for the new thread. No news from St Andrews or Edinburgh for DS either (classics) but he's expecting it to be a long wait based on what his friends from the year above experienced last year. Exeter is the only one to have made him an offer so far but he's happy because that's his preferred option if he doesn't get an offer from Cambridge. The other option is KCL and I've no idea when he might hear from them.
As for interviews at Cambridge his understanding from the open day is that all colleges apart from one are doing online interviews. He would prefer in person but will be happy to get an invitation to interview whatever the format :)

Great news on the offer @UnclearNuclear

@Aurea DS has got an offer from our local university - it’s his first choice after Oxford but I think he’d still want to live out. I think DH would prefer Aberdeen!

Great news for your DD.

Great to hear about an Edinburgh offer so early! That’s the one we’re waiting on. Congratulations to your dd

When my elder son was interviewed in Oxford back in 2019, his college paid his return train fare from Scotland and college room and board for three nights. He was able to arrive the night before the first interview and stayed until the night after the second one as his ten hour train journey home precluded him from travelling back the same day as his final interview.

They also paid his train fare down (and board) for a pre application interview workshop. Nothing was too much trouble.

Well done to your dc @UnclearNuclear 👏🏻 be wary! Edinburgh accommodation is like gold dust & expensive. You/he will
Need to be on the ball x

You appear to think you are still posting on the old thread you derailed rather than the new supportive one. If you are here to attack one poster in particular which seems to be the case I suspect people will simply refuse to engage with you and you could end up missing out in useful information that may assist you and your DD with her application.

Nothing Goodbye Stranger has said on either of the threads is incorrect. So I would suggest reining it in before MN decide to ban you as a poster should you with to gather collective knowledge to help you through the next couple of months.

Fab news. Hopefully she won't need it but great to have one in the bag, especially from somewhere like Edinburgh.

Like goodbyestranger's experience, DS also had free accommodation and food, and was able to claim his train fare back. The plus point was having the experience of staying in an Oxford college even if he hadn't got in and also having like minded people to talk to. However there were a couple of very confident candidates who were good at telling everyone how they had aced each interview. It was a bit off putting.

DD missed out on that experience and just went upstairs to her room!

I don't know if they were just lucky, but both actually enjoyed their interviews.

We're waiting for Edinburgh too.

Can we just keep this thread as a supportive place please ?

Peace and love, tea, coffee, biscuits and kindness. Yes?

Great news on the Edinburgh offer unclear.

Last year DD received her non-medicine offer from Edinburgh quite early as well. It was a big relief for her whilst waiting for news about interviews.

DS1 really enjoyed his in-person Oxford interview. DD had hers online. I can see benefits of both tbh. Both would have been fine in either setting.

I couldn’t agree more - report any unpleasantness and don’t engage.

At this years open day the admissions person from one college we visited said they had put the interview issue out to a vote. Each college got a vote for either in person or online, two thirds chose online. He wasn't too happy about it as his college really wanted in person. I'm happier with a university wide decision rather than a college by college choice, that would feel very unbalanced.

Hi, just to say, I believe Trinity College, Cambridge is the only college doing in-person interviews this year. Why they should be different in this, I've no idea. Maybe they did a vote too?