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

[Riverpebble]

New thread for the start of the Oxbridge offers.

STEP papers appear to be sone nasty controlling thing from C.

Some

STEP was one reason DS picked Oxford over Cambridge. He much preferred the thought of knowing pretty much by January. He knows what he has to get now in A levels and that’s it. All the hard work is behind him now.

A LOT to be said for that!

My DS is taking the second STEP paper tomorrow. He's spent as much time if not more on STEP than he has on all his A levels put together. Last A level on Thursday, thank goodness. 24 hours of exams in total. I am full of admiration for all of our DC. There's such pressure on them and they are working so hard.

Absolutely @Luckyme2 definitely the least stressful route of the 2 options over the whole application process. Yes, he’s still to get an A star and 2 A’s…..but I’m so glad he doesn’t have another exam (and a very hard one at that) to contend with right now.
Not sure when those sitting the STEP get their results? Is it the same time as their A levels?

Yes same day as A level results 🙈
So stressful!
Shes had no guidance from the school at all on the STEP exams either so they were always going to be tough.
Very proud of her for giving it her best shot and what will be will be

Blimey, taking STEP with no support from the school is heroic. I hope she aces it, but even if she doesn't she sounds absolutely formidable

😱

"All the hard work is behind him now"...🤣 until they go up, and then they don't have a chance to breathe for 8 weeks....! DS has 70 hour weeks with lectures, labs, supervisions etc. I don't think he will ever work as hard again in his life, and I thought he'd really put in the hours for his As!!!

Really best of luck to her. I think any child who decides to tackle STEP on TOP of A levels should just be given an immediate entry to their college of choice. It's brutal.

Thank you so much for such kind words. Yes she really is made of strong stuff. Very proud of her whatever the outcome

@Panicmode1 don’t worry, he’s prepared for that too 🤣
It was the hard work to get into Oxford that was mostly done by January, rather than going on till June. That 6 month “respite” has given him a chance to get other things done and also prep for his A levels. There is a lot to be said for November Exams and December interviews!

I don't know if O will, but C gave him loads of work to do in the summer holidays too....so they start as they mean to go on.

He works flat out during the holidays, rewatching lectures he didn't understand during term and then doing revision for the exams/supervisions....I don't know how they keep going 😳. He's got to build a "mars lander simulator" this summer break....using a coding language he doesn't know, and his compsci buddy said, "oh crikey, not that code, it's brutal..."

I mean the work was set once his place was confirmed...so make sure they have fun before results day 😂

It's not just C that require STEP. Poor ds's offer from Imperial includes a 2 in STEP 2 as well as 4 A levels (all As and one A star). We know a few boys who didn't take up the Imperial offer as Oxbridge was easier!

DD just got home from her last exam to a reading list from Cambridge. She's down about the exams and doesn't think she's done enough so just burst into tears as she doesn't think she wants to spend her summer reading for a course she doesn't think she will be accepted into. She is of course exhausted and wrung out - suspect she has done fine and will be ok tomorrow but for now I have put her to bed with a cup of tea for a rest.

@LaurelGrove almost the same thing here! My DC has just finished their last exam but now has an essay to write for next week, for a preparation for uni course, run by the college. They just have to keep it together for a few more days but its so hard to have the finish line extended, specially when their place is still conditional.

DS did MAT in order to get a "STEP-free" offer from Imperial as his insurance (still needs A* in both maths and FM, and an A in one other) He's sounded a bit mixed about his papers - but even if things have upended entirely there are other routes he can follow that I'm sure he'd enjoy too.

(But I do think that for all our DCs, @LaurelGrove and everyone else's, the extra work, the STEP exams, the extra reading and essays mean that if they do go to their insurance unis, they really will have a head start on the course).

@OxbridgeHopeful which course is your DC doing? I didn't think you could avoid STEP by doing MAT for Imperial?

Did anyone get offered a place on the MPLS Bridging Programme? DS didn’t, but he’s fine about it

@Amboseli I think if you did very well on the MAT and if Imperial and Warwick knew you'd done it, you could get an offer that didn't require STEP. That's what happened for DS which is a help! Although one 2 in a STEP paper (as I believe Imperial and Warwick may typically ask for) is a lot more achievable than 1s in both ...

@OxbridgeHopeful thanks I'll look into that. Warwick don't require STEP though.

DS will be doing TMUA, might be worth also doing MAT.

DS did MAT and TMUA, I can't remember now which universities required which but definitely had an offer for Imperial that didn't require STEP.