Oxbridge 2023 support; it's offer month. Good luck all.

[Riverpebble]

New thread for the start of the Oxbridge offers.

@yoyo1234 an EPQ is an extended project qualification. Equivalent to half an A level. It involves writing an essay (I think there may be a version that makes an artefact) and writing up your literature search, methodology etc so quite like a university style essay.

Another rejection for comp sci.

My DS has one A star in maths in year 12 and 4 A stars predicted for this year too.

He has no offers yet which is very discouraging. He has applied for notoriously late to offer unis though - Durham, Edinburgh, St As and Glasgow. He is Scottish if this makes a difference to his timelines.

I'm really feeling for him now, especially with his mocks this week.

PS it was Cambridge comp sci which was the rejection. My elder son went to Oxford and has just graduated so this makes it a little harder to swallow for my younger son.

Nothing from Edinburgh or St A here either, it's early days.

DS has withdrawn his Edinburgh application, he has received offers from ahis other four options and has decided that after a visit to St A for offer holder day at the end of March he will be able to make his firm and insurance decisions.
I can't help thinking that unis that don't make offers until later in the process are missing out on excellent candidates who prefer to confirm plans early to focus on a levels knowing their decisions are made. @PettsWoodParadise

DD loved her golden ticket from York.
In a world of screens getting something through the post was quite exciting. We were disappointed the Oxford offer didn't arrive by owl. Rowling has done more to normalise Oxbridge than the college's could ever hope to achieve.

We've been cheering on the local state sixth form kids here. Out of the four that applied to Oxbridge three got interviews, one got an offer, all different subjects. There have had to be really pro active, applying, researching, seeking out practice interviews from staff. If asked, the teachers have tried their best but it needs the 17year old to be driving the work.

It's a big ask and if your kid has an offer from a smaller, less academic sixth form you must be bursting with pride because those organisational skills are rare.

I think Computer Science science is so difficult to get into. Being Scottish and going for Scottish Unis is also notoriously difficult to get into (see another thread) they seem to favour English/Welsh or foreign students to get more money in . I hope he gets an offer, if he doesn't (especially from St. Andrews ogr Edinburgh) it is nothing to do with him , likely the system.

That sounds tough Aurea. I think compsci might possibly be the very toughest course when it comes to A star candidates and top unis, apart from medicine - the competition for limited places among highly achieving candidates is just insane. I'm sure your son will get offers from brilliant places - surely the wheels start grinding soon! - but it must feel really stressful right now.

I think compsci is far tougher to get into than medicine. Looking at applicants per place 😕. Especially Oxford and Cambridge.

I am convinced that my DD's desire to go to Oxford is partly driven by her Harry Potter obsession when she was younger - when she went yesterday her first text to me when having lunch in the dining hall said it's just like Hogwarts.

@Aurea as he already has 1 A star and is predicted 4 more is it worth reapplying.

This is because of the Scottish Uni thing and being Scottish (I know a Scottish student who was apparently told whilst on an Edinburgh open day not to apply for a course due to being Scottish 😡). Apparently they only like circa 1/3 of students to be Scottish to get more money.

I might be talking out of my rear end because neither of mine went for compsci or medicine, but I think with compsci there is at least a cohort of unis who offer the subject on slightly less competitive terms and will be happy to snap up A star candidates - my friend's son who wasn't successful with Cambridge this week has offers from eg Birmingham, still high offers but not as insanely competitive as st Andrew's or Edinburgh etc. whereas with medicine, I think I'm right in saying, there's no cohort of slightly safer UCAS options because the places on courses are limited not by the universities but ultimately by the government. Every year there are candidates with 4 or 5 A star predicted who end up with no offers at all - it's just a risk those candidates take when applying for medicine. Mad.

I may have got all this totally wrong though, it's just what I've gleaned from seeing people on MN post about medicine applications.

Think you're right pacification about the idea of a "safer" set of unis but for Oxbridge/Cambridge probably at least most RGs it's insanely competitive (I was so pleased DS didn't want to do it 😀). Certainly we were told by Cambridge admissions its the most competitive course
they have. Medicine is competitive but on a par with eg Engineering and certain other subjects.

Poor kids. It's crazy.

@Aurea, I really feel for your ds - this whole process has certainly been an eye-opener in terms of how shambolic the system is and the underlying politics that mean our kids end up as footballs. I'm sure he will be fine but it's horrible now having this long wait on top of an outright rejection and being unable to make firm plans

I think there's another even more difficult (actually impossible) list of courses to get on t..... it's Edinburgh University if you are Scottish and not from a deprived area or in care .

I just wanted to jump on and say that, when my dd applied, loads of her friends applied to Cambridge or Oxford too. Relatively few of them got offers (as expected obviously) and every single one of them is genuinely so happy now at their alternate unis; off the top of my head there are friends at Bristol, Imperial, Newcastle, Birmingham, Bath, UCL, York and Edinburgh - all of whom had a good chance at Oxbridge but they just can't all get offers. Honestly they are all happy and thriving so I'm sure all your children will be too by this time next year.

Thank you all for your understanding and kindness.

I'm so disappointed for him. He's done so much off his own bat as is is unable to study comp sci at his (state comp) school. He's won an international coding competition, received a queens award for voluntary service (in tutoring coding) which is like an equivalent of an MBE for volunteers and many other achievements. Also won top in year award in five of his subjects last year.

His grades are also based on 'real' exams from last year rather than teacher predictions. He took 6 highers (achieving equivalent of all A stars) although the most able kids normally only take five; and he has an A star A level equivalent a year early as well. He is now predicted four A stars this year at A level equivalent.

Hopefully I'll have some good news to report back soon. 🤞🤞

It was remiss of me earlier not to congratulate your offer holders. You must be SO proud.

@Aurea your son sounds outstanding and you must be incredibly proud.

I've not been on here before, but I've been following a bit as DS applied for Maths at Cambridge. He was gutted to receive a rejection, especially as he has two older siblings who got places, albeit for less competitive subjects.

He does have offers from Warwick, Bristol and Bath, but I think would love to apply again to Cambridge. The thing putting him off is the received wisdom that Maths courses don't like gap years. Does anyone know of a successful Oxbridge PQA for Maths?

For some subjects (Comp Sci is one of them) the institution you study at is far less important than the work experience/ projects you undertake when it comes to getting paid employment at the end of it all. These days unfortunately students need to be thinking of this as soon as they start university unlike in my time when we concentrated on having fun for at least the first year.

I'm so fucking proud of DD @Aurea it's like no other emotional arc I've been through. So I actually get what the other side of the pendulum swing feels like. We hear your pain!

The main thing about Comp Sci as opposed to almost everyother degree, is that it will be completely out of date in ten possibly five years time. The guys like my brother in their 40s/50s who hire couldn't give a shit about your grades or extra curricular stuff they just want to know you will be up at 2am trying to fix a problem. If you are good in computer science you will move through projects every six months in the early years till you find your niche.

Och @Aurea I'm so sorry to hear this. Your son sounds awesome. Xx

You need someone with specific maths knowledge to advise but I would say - as with anyone - the risk is reapplying and not getting in again - how would he cope emotionally with that? Then on a practical level, he will be a year "behind" wherever he ends up. I'd say a degree in maths from any of the places you've mentioned is a fabulous qualification to have and one he could be super-proud of but I totally get the older sibling thing ...

@parentalhelpline totally get the disappointment, we were in the same situation a couple of years ago (pooled but not fished for maths) but ds absolutely thriving at Warwick - will be off to do an MSc at Imperial with his love for maths still intact but having also had a great uni experience so don't dispair! I suppose see if your DS can still sit STEP this year and see how they do, it would be awful to get an offer next year but then not pass the STEP hurdle. If he was pooled this year then its maybe worth a go? You can also request feedback from the college. I think some colleges are more positive a year off for maths applicants - I found a table somewhere on the internet which provided some insight but seem to remember that Queens was one of those who didn't have an issue with it.