Oxford/Cambridge - current students support/chat thread 2022 - cont

[Panicmode1]

@petitebleu - so sorry to hear about your DS. I hope that some time out over Christmas may help to give him some space and time to think about his next steps.

Thank you. He has offer holder day tomorrow so will encourage him to ask if he needs to get these things 🙂. Don't want him sticking out. Given half a chance he will probably avoid most of these things but would be a shame if he felt he couldn't go because he wasn't prepared.

When DD started, the pack of information that she was sent post A level results included the need for one formal outfit for matriculation (with precise details) and different ways to get hold of a gown. (Including a second hand sale, picked up on arrival day)

It depends a lot on the college how often these things are needed, but tbh 1 ‘good’ dark suit, a white shirt and a tie are likely to be useful investments for the coming few years, even if they’re not exactly everyday wear. Dd is generally found wearing an eclectic mix of charity shop finds (and there are worse places to find a suit) day to day, but having one ‘classic’ formal outfit has rescued a couple of otherwise awkward invitations.

Tbh, even ds - an undergraduate in a very different and less conventional institution - has needed a formal suit often enough for it to have been a useful investment.

A careful choice of prom suit can kill 2 birds with 1 stone, if your ds has an end of Y13 celebration of that type. DS is still using his…..

DD hardly ever goes to formals, but has the standard sub fusc gear for when it's required. I try to get it back into respectable shape every vacation, as I suspect very strongly that once worn it slides off the hanger (if it was ever there) and slumps to a distant corner of the wardrobe for the remainder of the term.

Speaking of gowns, can DS wear the same one in fourth year, or does he need to get a new one in a different style? I don't know if 4th years count as undergraduates or master's students.
@Malbecfan might know?

DS' college has candlelit formals 3x a week. He manages once a fortnight and wears black tie...he also has a formal suit which we bought for matriculation/general smart occasions. Other than that, he wears jeans/jumpers/usual casual student attire!

On drop off day, I was a bit startled to be confronted by a tweed jacket/bow tie wearing student. He turned out to be the JCR president, and a bit of a college 'celebrity' due to his dress sense.

@ironoaks, DD did an integrated masters degree and wore an undergrad gown for four years.

@mutterphore , I wore the same 3/4 length sleeve knee length black dress to a formal at DD's O college and a formal at DS's C college. At DD's college formals are always black tie and DS's are always lounge suits.

DS has a dark navy suit from sixth form that he wears regularly to formals but also wears black tie surprisingly often to eg balls, music events, club dinners.

Yes, they are still undergrads in the 4th year of an integrated masters - they literally haven't graduated! And hence the tuition frees remaining UG thank goodness.

Thank you @ofteninaspin and @ErrolTheDragon

My Ds goes to a formal every sunday as he is in the chapel choir , they can choose to go every friday too- def need a suit.

Good news today. DS1 has a good vac scheme offer. Very pleased for him as it will definitely help with job prospects in 2024. It also means he doesn't need to spend any more time on applications.

Brilliant news, @HoneyMobster .

Congrats to all of the clever DCs who have secured jobs or vac offers - it's giving me hope. (DS had applied for a few internships in the summer without success, but he is only a first year, and I've heard that second year engineering students are in more demand because they have better lab skills by then...hope that's true!!)

Excellent news, @HoneyMobster.

Very good news for your DS1 @HoneyMobster . He can now just focus on his degree. It can be very stressful fielding applications alongside the final degree year.

@Ironoaks ,@pantjog and @ofteninaspin thanks for the ideas about what I should wear at a formal hall. That's very helpful. I can probably drag out the one dress then for that occasion and hope DS2 isn't horribly embarrassed just by me being there at all!

Sorry @Ironoaks I've only just seen this. @ErrolTheDragon and @ofteninaspin are correct. DD wore her undergrad gown until graduation on her integrated Masters. She now has a new gown because PhD people need a different one, but the new one is boring black and a bit longer (but as she's tiny, it swamps her).

@mutterphore I wore a smart grey dress and low heeled boots for DD's formal dinner. DH wore a lounge suit and stupid geeky sciency tie. HTH

It definitely depends on your college. DD usually wears a dress for formals, but on one night she was running late after a rugby match at Twickenham, so flung her gown on top of a Quins rugby shirt. (She had been watching, not playing).

Yoyo hoodies are the standard uniform for most 6th formers at offer holder days.

@HoneyMobster congratulations to your DS on the vacation scheme offer.
Fingers crossed for those still in the midst of applications.

Brilliant news HoneyMobster.

DS dresses like this too. He said he overheard some friends of his reassuring prospective students that 'no of course it's not ful l of tweedy bow-tie types ' just as he csme into the quad.

excuse typos. The cat is lying on one of typing hands.

😂😂

I'm so glad there are some characters with sartorial elegance left - the incoming cohort appeared 'boringly normal' according to DS.

@Panicmode1 - I think DS decided in his teens that it would all be like Chariots of Fire and didn't let a century passing disabuse him of this decision.