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 so much - people can be so kind on here.

@Cliff1975 my DD and your DS have faced similar challenges. DD is hopeful but knows it's all outside her control now.

@Cliff1975 I am rooting for your DS and hope he doesn’t have to wait long for his results.
DS is rubbish at timings in exams so I am heartened by your comment @goodbyestranger. So different to DD who approaches exams with the same precision that she applies to a piece of choreography.

Some exams are being marked as DS was out celebrating BA results with Cambridge engineering friends last night. They finished their exams early in the term though.

@Cliff1975 I'm another one rooting for your DS; I remember your previous posts about his struggles and how he (and you) negotiated his way through the tough times before.
DD1 (final year Oxford) has been told her final exams will be marked before she graduates on July 28th, but they won't be double marked as is usually the case. She's worried because she knows which tutor will be marking her particular modules, and this tutor has a reputation for harsh marking. Normally the double marking would help to mitigate that, probably...

So much sympathy for your DS’s continuing worry, @Cliff1975.
I really feel for students in this position. However, I do remember that your DS has performed well in the past, perhaps contrary to his own expectations, so I’m sure all will be well in the end.

Dd should have her philosophy & economics papers marked but politics is uncertain. Luckily her graduation isn't until the autumn.

@SnapSnapDragon well done to your DS on his exam marks and I'm pleased to hear he at least has them marked and can return for a fourth year. It's lovely to hear that he's had a really good time as an undergraduate and I hope his next year is really enjoyable too.

@Cliff1975 I've been wondering about your DS, given all the stresses he's gone through and it's particularly people like him who will suffer most with the marking strikes. I too expect that h'e done better than he thinks he's done but still, he does need affirmation of this in the form of his exams actually marked. I don't understand how universities can purport to support students mental health and yet sweep the carpet from under their feet at the very last and not mark the finalists exams? He's by no means the only one I've heard about who is gutted about the lack of getting a proper degree.

@Catsrcool69 it sounds great that you've now contacted the UCEA as well and I hope all of this makes some kind of difference.

@MiniJellyBeans do you know which subjects at Oxford won't be double marked by the way? Is it all of them? DS2 would want things to be done absolutely fairly for his finals and has the best chance of my two for the highest grades. At least he'll get them marked at all however.

@HewasH20 what a ridiculous and horrible situation for your DD to have two out of her three subjects marked!

@HoneyMobster and @goodbyestranger DS1 and DS2 are indeed going to need clarity about their actual results to get into the increasingly competitive career they want to do pursue and I do think it'll make a difference, along with the all the other parts of assessments/ interviews, how they perform in their degrees.

Does anyone know when the first graduation is? I know there is one on 29th July.

@HewasH20 my DD has her pretend graduation know 29 June - Cambridge.

15 July is earliest date in Oxford.

Thank goodness graduations have become a celebration rather than a humiliation these days. In my day 3 or 4 students would get a first and various prizes, then everyone else was called up by classification. In an age where DD & her friends didn't even talk about their GCSE & A level grades as that would have been showing off if you were better than average, it's nice that they can focus on their time at uni.

@HewasH20 at DD's graduation, we had no idea what class of degree anyone had. They were simply called in alphabetical order by surname according to their qualification (MSci, BA etc.) However, this was 2021 and we watched it from the West Road concert hall in lovely air-conditioned socially distanced comfort. Maybe if/when she gets her PhD we might get to experience a "proper" graduation.

Her conference presentation went well yesterday. She is wondering if she can pop home on her way back to Cambridge this weekend, which would be lovely and the 1st time just the 4 of us have been here since summer 2019.

Well I have had a response from Robert Halfon, via my local MP's office. He is Minister of State foe Education. It is sadly unsurprisingly unhelpful. I'd pull out 3 key points he makes:

1. It is none of the Government 's business as they are not a party to the dispute.
2. Only a small percentage of students, about 10%, are impacted, not least because of all the mitigations universities are meant to put in place.
3. And he directs us to the Office for Students to find out more about their powers.

I have responded with the following points:

1. I do not accept that the Government has no role to play in bringing the parties to the dispute back to the negotiations. I point out the contrast with the action today by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to call the banks in to discuss response to rising interest rates and urge them to be flexible and supportive. Clearly the Government views mortgage holders as deserving of their support, but not Students.
2. The statistics quoted are misleading. At Cambridge the estimate is 50% of students will not get their degree, and Cambridge has decided against mitigating action.

Tomorrow is the day DD should have got her results.

@Malbecfan I hope you have a lovely weekend with all of you together.

We pick DS up tomorrow afternoom from C. Looking forward to seeing all 6' 2" of him tower over us again. He has got through it all (first year) intact as far as we can see despite standing up his gf (also at C) at a formal last week on account of an afternoon's post exam drink with other students and following nap's sweet oblivion. Humble pie and then some seems to have helped, but hmmm... still a teenager, though.

It is really starting to feel like Cambridge is coming to a close for DS. He graduates a week tomorrow and has a week of “last time” events planned around his final week of tennis training with the men’s squad. He is very fortunate to have had a very positive experience, made lovely friends, had fantastic sports opportunities and genuinely loves his college. He will be sad to leave.

DS is definitely embracing his last week - he's just sent me a photo of him in white tie, holding oars - they all decided to go rowing in white tie at 6am this morning after the May Ball!

I'm picking him up tomorrow - DD finished her A levels yesterday so it will be lovely to have a celebratory weekend with all four back around the table without exam stress hanging over them....

(I won't comment on the unhelpful reply from our government minister - I'd get banned from the boards. I am so sorry that those who have worked so hard, through SUCH difficult circumstances are still facing hardship and uncertainty. I really really hope that the parties see sense and give these young people the certainty, and degrees, they deserve. )

DS (C) received provisional results yesterday: scaled but not finalised (may be adjusted a % point or so either way).
He is very pleased.
Part III place is confirmed.

That's fantastic, @Ironoaks .

Our pretend graduation is 29th June too - i wonder if we are the same college?

Catsrcool69

@mutterphore the kinds of firms that your dc are applying to will be able to adjust their recruitment processes or take on graduates who already have offers without their final degree marks. If they find candidates that they really want, they will adjust their criteria in order to take account of the situation. Given that it is widespread across a large number of top universities and seems to be particularly badly hitting arts/social science courses which tend to head to the careers that your dc are heading for, they will not want to miss out on top quality (under)graduates for reasons that are not their fault. Additional academic references can easily place a candidate broadly within a cohort and might in some ways be better than a final mark (which can be à misrepresentation if a student has a bad day/the questions don't quite fall their way etc).
I appreciate that it is a truly rubbish situation for students who have worked so hard and thrown so much into their studies but, with so many graduates affected, employers will find pragmatic solutions.

@Cliff1975 I think the dates for general admission this year are Wed 28th, Thu 29th, Fri 30th and Sat 1st. Colleges with undergraduates will have ceremonies on one of those four dates.

Many congratulations to Ironoaks DS. Excellent news.

@ofteninaspin The courts at Iffley Rd apparently haven't been mowed properly since the grounds staff embraced No Mow May, so DD recommends bringing picnic blankets this weekend for sitting on between matches.