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.

@Panicmode1 they all live in college accommodation with the students. This was a College scheme with a twinned university. She had to do day to day admin, cope with a few emergencies and organise events such as trips to a London theatre, Bath & Stonehenge, Stratford & the RSC. It was definitely valuable experience.

DS enjoyed it and ended up on the committee this year. He won't be able to volunteer at the 2023 summer roadshow but has done planning of experiments, risk assessments etc.

Sorry for your loss @CurlyhairedAssassin

Re summer internships: DD1 intended to work in the ice cream shop in the summer after her 1st year where she had worked whilst at school. However, a family friend of ours was let down at short notice by their summer intern and wondered if DD might be able to help. It was some sort of database where a good knowledge of Chemistry and Maths was essential. DD had a brief interview and got the job. She absolutely loved working as part of a small team. Very sadly the friend died last year, but at the funeral one of the directors made a beeline for me asking after DD1 which was lovely. I think it was that summer that she also did a week's work experience in a particular niche industry where she stayed with my dad. In her 2nd year she was advised to get an internship at our local university. She hated the work, found the team there really boring and anti-Oxbridge and ended up finishing 2 weeks early. They were meant to be covering her daily train fare (c£6 per day) but that took 8 months to materialise, and it only did because she had to threaten them with the small claims court. In her 3rd year she was going to go to a European office of the niche industry plus do an intensive language course in that country, but Covid put paid to all that and I don't remember her doing anything other than mentoring online.

So the TLDR of all that is that the internship she was encouraged by her department to do was a bit rubbish, but the one that she got by being chatty to a family friend was great, and lucrative.

@HewasH20 brilliant, thank you.

Very sorry to hear about your dad CurlyhairedAssassin.

@CurlyhairedAssassin really sorry to hear about your Dad and I hope you're giving yourself space and time to grieve. Good luck to your DS with finding an internship.

@ofteninaspin hope your DS keeps making a full recovery from shingles and gets time to rest even if he's got a lot of work on too.

DS2 (O) really thrived at his Vac Scheme a week or so ago and despite very long days and the longest commute of all his competitors, he was very enthusiastic about his week. Now he's waiting to hear back about whether this leads further and is also waiting to hear back from another final stage assessment too.

DS1 (C) still hasn't been successful but has continued to make other applications as has DS2 also. I'm slightly worried that DS1 has his dissertation submission date pending and he's not started yet to write it - although he's saying he's well on top of things and has all the notes and preparation done....

Question about travelling back to Oxford: Has anyone yet tried the Marylebone to Oxford train service, since the Paddington to Oxford route has now closed until 10th June and beyond?

DS2 needs to do that route as the final stage of his journey back to Oxford and there are warnings now on National Rail about huge numbers of passengers using the Marylebone to Oxford trains because you can't go from Paddington anymore. Is it likely that all Marylebone trains will fill up so quickly that you can't even get standing space? Has anyone's DC tried it in the last few days?

Hi @mutterphore. My DD used that train last week to travel back to Oxford for a concert. She said it was fine, and quick.

Haven't tried it recently, I'm afraid. Would he book a seat? I can imagine that luggage space might be an issue. Hmm ds needs to go back to C soon, could be a problem.

We've used a coach recently which was fine, if thats an option.

He applied for 25, and only got interviews for 4?! God, I knew it was competitive but it sounds even more competitive as getting into Oxbridge in the first place!

Was it Zero Gravity or something like that? I think DS has applied for that. He would be a great mentor I think, judging by how he has been with his brother. Hopefully bit by bit he will get there. It must be a shock to the system when you’ve found your school life easy all these years. To find that the world of work is much more difficult to break into is a bit of a wake up call I think.

Thankyou to everyone for their kind words about my dad by the way. I’m sad that he won’t see his grandchildren graduate. He would have been so proud.

Oh god, the last minute handing in of the dissertation! Brings back bad memories! 😂 I remember having to hand in 2 major pieces of work. One was rushed in by taxi with a minute to spare, same as your daughter (no such thing as online submission then!). I didn’t learn from that occasion because I think I was still getting my dissertation bound in the library with 15 mins to go until submission.

I love hearing about how all these young people have their plans and decisions made for the next few months. Even if it’s just a solid “getting a job for a year to work out next steps”. No sense of panic or floundering, it’s great.

I think a summer job would be a good idea too but he is fairly quiet, so I can’t see a pub or hospitality job being a good fit for him. Will have a think.

DS1 (penultimate year) applied for quite a few internships fir this summer. Not sure how many though. He has a 'city' internship at one of the big FS firms for 5 weeks. He was still in the running for some others when he secured it but pulled out as he needed to concentrate on his finals.

It's one of those internships that feeds into their grad scheme. DS1 seems pretty keen on them as an employer. DH had a grad offer from them but went to work for a competitor.

DD is working at the major sporting event in our area. Both she and DS1 did it last year and it's pretty lucrative. As a medical student she's focussed on earning cash rather than career opportunities. She'll also do some bar work, picking up shifts from DS1's former employer.

For most I think a summer pub or hospitality job would be the goal, maybe with a bit of travel if the money works out.

One thing my DD didn't do - thanks to covid derailing everything - was enough travel. Those summer vacations may be the last time they've got two or three months free until they retire!

Hello, I hope you don’t mind me jumping on this thread of those who have DCs at Oxbridge.

DD is an offer holder at Newnham College. Not wanting to assume she gets the grades but hoping (she is capable!) she does can anyone let me know what they/their DCs did about matriculation gowns? They have formals at the college so it makes sense to buy one. Will there be an email about buying from college or do I need to get from one of the suppliers like Ede & Ravenscroft or Ryder & Amies? Are there second hand gowns to buy? I know DD could deal with the purchase but if there is an opportunity one last time to let her know how proud I am of her before she heads off then this is part of that story. If she doesn’t make it I will find another way to remind her how proud I am.

Due to a skin condition she doesn’t deal well with certain fibres so it would be the more expensive version with wool mix we’d buy which has a longer lead time to order if new.

I had a shabby threadbare gown hired for my graduation in the 90s and it was rather grim! Just trying to distract myself with things now while DD is hard at work studying.

thank you!

Each college has slightly different gowns. My dd was at one of the other colleges - hers was one of the plainer ones, probably polycotton - they were told to bring (iirc, a few years ago) £15 cash and buy the gown in the college.

@PettsWoodParadise - congratulations to her on her offer. At Cambridge many colleges have their own specific gowns. Some colleges have a scheme where students can buy second hand gowns from the porters' lodge, so it's worth her asking about that.

Once DS's place was confirmed, we ordered him a gown from Ryder & Amies to be delivered to our home address before he left. There isn't a wool / Russell Cord version available for his college, but the polycotton one was £40 and doesn't look or feel shiny or cheap.
We pre-ordered partly because it was at the height of COVID restrictions and we knew there would be no matriculation photo that year, so we did a DIY version at home in the garden the day before he left.

No part of the gown is in contact with DS's skin, but that's because he always wears a suit under it. For someone wearing a short-sleeved or sleeveless dress, fabric sensitivities could be more of an issue.

We also ordered DS a college hoody which he lived in (is now on his third one).

Thank you @Ironoaks and @ErrolTheDragon - very helpful

It's worth noting that the purchase of the gown can be a fresher activity so it might make sense to hold back and buy it in freshers week rather than pre-order. DS1 bought his with his staircase.

I'll admit I got so excited I ordered ds a gown literally the day he got in. My excuse was that I didn't want him to have to worry about having one. But there are plenty of opportunities to borrow or get one after arriving as I understand it.

I'm glad I did though, because ds tried it on at home, and we both looked at him in the mirror and just burst out laughing in sheer astonishment at what had happened. It's a very treasured memory for me.

DD ordered hers before she went and it was delivered to home. Hers came from Ryder & Amies - I think my dad bought it for her.

No rush to get them yet. Wait until the place is confirmed then college parents allocated and ask them what the norm is for Newnham.

What a lovely memory to have. I think this is why I am thinking of it now too.