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Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Oxbridge 2024 Entry

988 replies

Lightsabre · 28/02/2023 13:52

Thought I'd start a thread for parents of dc considering Oxbridge applications for entry in Oct 2024 (I don't think there's a current one)? Past threads have been so informative and supportive and hopefully this thread will offer that too. Please feel free to add to the thread if your dc have recently had experience of the process, good, bad or ugly!

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IThinkIMadeItWorse · 29/04/2023 17:30

DS enjoyed the Cambridge maths dept open afternoon, he said the talks he went to were interesting. I went to the parents talk which was good. He has the Warwick open day booked in June, he needs to start thinking about other university options as well. He is often quite reluctant to talk about it but perhaps we will get a chance over the long weekend.

spacechimp79 · 29/04/2023 20:58

I take it, it was in person @IThinkIMadeItWorse ? It's strange how all the departments seem to run their own open days at different times. Not great if you don't live anywhere near or are undecided on course.
We are also planning on attending Warwick and Bristol open days in June and then Cambridge on July 6th.

IThinkIMadeItWorse · 29/04/2023 22:00

It was in person, I took some pictures of the parents talk slides, most were maths specific but thought this one might be interesting for others. He said there was some debate about whether interviews would be in person or online and it hasn't been decided yet.

Oxbridge 2024 Entry
spacechimp79 · 30/04/2023 13:39

Thanks for that @IThinkIMadeItWorse I knew Bristol would be pricey! I'm almost hoping he won't like it at the open day even though it's one of my favourite places to visit.

Notagardener · 30/04/2023 13:55

Hm, imperial and UCL rent looked a bit low to me, but I think they have included if you share actual room with 1 or 2 other students.

Livinghappy · 30/04/2023 16:49

@IThinkIMadeItWorse We were there yesterday as well. I think costs for accommodation have really increased in the last few years and his figures were a little out of date. It was an enjoyable session! Did you go to a college in the morning?

Original poster
Lightsabre · 30/04/2023 18:58

I’m sure when we visited Imperial it was around £8k for accommodation.

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IThinkIMadeItWorse · 30/04/2023 20:09

@Livinghappy we didn't visit a college in the morning, did you? I'm sure those accommodation costs are out of date now but it is useful to dispel the myth that Oxbridge is an expensive place, he also mentioned generous (means tested) bursaries which are available to support students.

Original poster
Lightsabre · 01/05/2023 13:29

My niece went to C and the financial support was amazing. There are lots of bursaries and scholarships too and awards for various things. She was from a lower income background.

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PettsWoodParadise · 01/05/2023 20:02

At the college in C that DD is an offer holder for I seem to remember the bursaries were upto £3k dependent on income. I didn’t take a picture of the slide as it didn’t apply to us but I was so delighted to see how they were levelling things up. On top of this are non-means tested book grants, travel awards and equipment grants. This is a college that doesn’t have a thousand years of investments built up either.

JulesJules · 02/05/2023 15:02

My D1 is in her final year at Oxford. She has an ensuite room this year, it's £1.8K per term.

Oxford have generous bursaries, ranging from about £1k up to £5k+, based on household income. If you qualify for a bursary, you also get a travel supplement if you live 80+ miles from Oxford. D1 gets the maximum travel allowance of £500pa. She has done some unpaid internships and could claim pay for these through the bursary scheme - they pay the Oxford living wage (around £11ph). On top of these there are other grants and awards at college and dept. level - eg. the History Dept give first years a book grant. There is also a Student Support Fund which can help with shortfalls or exceptional costs, eg new laptop etc.

They are very keen that poorer students are not disadvantaged by their finances.

somersetsoulgirl · 05/05/2023 12:27

Hi - just hoping you don't mind if I join you. My daughter has recently decided she would like to try for Oxford which to say she surprised me, is a little of an understatement. I know nothing of the oxbridge process except to see that we have already missed out on many of the free summer schools/ taster experiences etc that seem to give one a booster to the application and so we are in many ways already on the back foot so to speak. She wants to study law, and unfortunately all of the law work experience applications closed the week before hearing my daughters decision- her gcse grades weren't brilliant so the work opportunities will be very important for her ( I believe)
Not sure how far we will share this journey with you but it's nice to know there are others who have been there before or who are going through at the same time.

Original poster
Lightsabre · 05/05/2023 18:04

Welcome @somersetsoulgirl - we're all mostly feeling our way through this process!

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Original poster
Lightsabre · 05/05/2023 18:06

@somersetsoulgirl, I think the Linklaters Legal Foundation virtual course deadline is 7/5. I'm sorry I don't have a link as someone told us about it but ds not interested.

Cambridge have opened registrations for their open days and UCAS opens around 16/5. All getting very real now.

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PettsWoodParadise · 05/05/2023 18:09

I still appear to be signed up for the Cambridge Parent of applicant emails (highly recommended) and got one about Open days which are due to take place on Thursday 6 July and Friday 7 July. https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/events/cambridge-open-days

Homerton have some subject days via Zoom, this month and next month https://www.homerton.cam.ac.uk/events/subject-focus-sessions

If you are not already signed up go to https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/parents/parents-newsletter

Original poster
Lightsabre · 06/05/2023 12:34

Thanks @PettsWoodParadise, very useful. I'm finding there is a lot of info out there from the various colleges, almost too much really! I'm trying to spread the attention on to other places too but it's hard as the Oxbridge entry takes extra planning and thought.
Anyone decided on their college yet?

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ShanghaiDiva · 13/05/2023 18:18

Hi! May I also join? Dd is planning to apply for natural sciences at Cambridge. Early stages for us: completed a few tests and planning to visit Cambridge in July, not on an open day, but just to get a feel for whether she would enjoy living there. Her other choices (at the moment) are Bath and Exeter. She had a week’s work experience in a lab in Exeter which she loved and planning to visit Bath in July.

sixthformerfulltimemum · 17/05/2023 20:31

Can i join as DS will apply law in O or C for 2014 entry. Many thanks

10ppicnmix · 17/05/2023 20:52

@DKMOxbridgeConsultancy Can I ask how long ago you were in the admissions department?

Delphigirl · 19/05/2023 17:14

dd and I had a really good session yesterday looking at all of the courses at all the possible unis in uk outside lonfonnthat do her degree choice (Arabic - there are only 8!) and concluded that her least favourite by some way were oxford and Cambridge. She is interested in the history/politics/ international relations options that go with Arabic and they have very little of that but a lot of literature and a lot of Islamic studies instead. So I think that is the very end of her (very short) oxbridge journey! We are still booked into the Cambridge open day but I’m not sure there is any point - it isn’t likely that they will tell us anything which contradicts their own course spec, is there?

ChristinaAlber · 19/05/2023 17:35

@Delphigirl It's great your dd knows exactly what she wants to do - and such a fascinating subject area. I wouldn't waste a second trying to shoehorn her into a degree that's not properly covering the areas that fascinate her just for the Oxbridge tag - Arabic Studies will mean she'll be in line for some great jobs wherever she goes. I wish her luck

Delphigirl · 19/05/2023 17:39

Ahh thanks @ChristinaAlber , that’s a lovely message. I really appreciate it!

Original poster
Lightsabre · 19/05/2023 20:07

Welcome to all the newbies!

@Delphigirl, good that your ds recognised this wasn't quite the right course but it might be worth asking at the open day whether there is any flexibility for extra options.

Met with a friend for lunch yesterday whose dc is at Oxbridge. I have to say their interview experience sounded daunting - 4 person panel. I honestly thought there might be 2. Her dc found the first term very tough and is working intensely hard and finding there isn't enough time to do a lot of extra curricular stuff. However, they are now enjoying the experience a lot more. A lot of lectures online so no need to always attend a lecture hall. The dc is on a Stem course.

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Delphigirl · 20/05/2023 07:59

It’s just so far from what she wants that I think we are just going to ditch the idea of Cambridge (which she was never keen on, so the course would have to be a great match to persuade her to go for it). She can spend her summer planning her gap year instead of carefully constructing the perfect PS!

Undecidedat46 · 20/05/2023 11:47

Hello, can I also join? DD will be applying for medicine and is considering whether to include Oxford or not as one of the options. She’ll wait till she does the UCAT to decide for sure as that may go great and give her lots of more certain chances at an interview. And she’ll see how her BMAT prep goes too!