Current Oxford/Cambridge students support/chat continued

[Panicmode1]

New thread.....!

Hoping a Cambridge parent can offer some advice please? In a rush of post results excitement DS went online and ordered a gown for his college and a sweater. However on the first week timetable he has noticed there is 'gown collection' so should he have waited? Should I try to return the one he bought online or can he just elect not to collect one ?

We ordered a gown to be delivered here before DS left, and took a couple of photos in the garden (and were very glad we had, as his cohort didn't have matriculation photos taken until the start of 2nd year).

So long as you ordered the correct gown (undergraduate gown for X college) I think it will be fine. Your DS is unlikely to be the only fresher who'll already have one.

Thank you @Ironoaks. Taking some photos at home is a good idea too.

@mondaytosunday we had a lot of debate around applying. My DC would have gone anywhere to study Maths, so it wasn't the 'glamour' of Oxford that enticed them - Warwick and Bristol were both very hot contenders.
In the end it was the course that decided it for them.
My advice would be to think hard, make sure they love the other choices as well - that way if they don't beat the odds to get a place they can still have something to look forward to, and not be too upset.
Good Luck!

Congratulations to all the new intake! I hope they will be as happy as DS was. He adored his time at Oxford, even during Covid.

Our highlights included attending a candlelit carol concert (DS was a choral scholar) the quad all lit up with fairy lights and the snow softly falling ; one (only one) formal hall parents' dinner in the final term. I think they suddenly realised they'd forgotten our cohorts' parent dinner because of all the lockdowns and squeezed us in before they all had finals! Then graduation day, which was a crazy, happy squash of photos in the Sheldonian and the Bodleian, and champagne in the quad at college.

I strongly agree with advice to buy the best mattress topper (and maybe pillows too) that you can find. College beds are very old school.

And earplugs! Those high, hard stone walls act like microphones to every sound, so even a couple of students chatting late at night can amplify, let alone partygoers at 3am rocking down Turl Street. Or college clocks chiming every hour of the night.

This happened to my other son, Missed Cambridge (HSPS) and went to Kings. Loved Kings. Came out with a first, made brilliant friends and adored London life.

I am so glad he didn't get in to do HSPS. I'd have loved him to go to Cambridge, as would he, but they just didn't do the subject he really loved as a single option, so he'd have been studying two things his heart wasn't in. HSPS is such hard work. Three subjects and all the students we met (who looked shattered) said the subject tutors didn't interact with each other so they might end up having essays due all in the same week. It did look like an exceptionally big workload.

I hope your DD loves KCL. DS still has a fondness for Cambridge (ended up dating someone who was there so spent a fair bit of time there) and might do a post grad there at some point.

@juja we were told on the offer holder day that they will be going a few days early and were given the dates for the weekend they will go. Not been told the day or time yet.
we need to book a hotel so it would be handy to know which night we need to book for!
DD is stressing as the venues in Cambridge have apparently sold out for freshers week. She was told that the student reps may buy tickets to sell onto them but she’s not heard anything. She’s worried that she is going to be sitting in her room while everyone else parties and makes friends!

@DaisyThistle that's great it worked out for your son but my daughter isn't going to Kings nor will apply as we live in London and she wants to go away for her degree. She will be doing UCAS this cycle. She is actually thinking of joint honours (Anthropology and Sociology) or if possible adding Visual Culture (the Flexible degree at Exeter) if not HSPS. I thought the whole idea behind HSPS is that could concentrate on what interested them after the first year, as she's not particularly interested in politics.

Dd went back to Oxford tonight as her BF starts his 4th year on Monday. I think she will find it strange visiting whilst strictly being outside the student bubble. She is going to pop back to check her pidge in the Plodge though!

Don't worry about the hype around fresher's events. They were non existent in DD's 1st year, but in her 2nd year most events seemed to be college led by 2nd/3rd years to ensure that nobody missed out who wanted to join in. They were also incredibly inclusive as not everyone wants to go clubbing each night.

As a note of caution, please remind your DC that Oxbridge colleges are not immune from fresher's horror stories. DD had to pick up the pieces after a truly awful incident two years ago. Tell them to keep their wits about them and if they would think something was stupid or dangerous when they were at home, it probably still is when they are at uni.

We are still waiting for a move in date to be confirmed. And details of accommodation. I asked DD about freshers week and she said the second years on the freshers WhatsApp group had told them not to worry about wristbands etc because there will be so much going on in college, and in any case if they do want to go out elsewhere there won't be an issue with getting in.
On the other hand, she's spending her last few weeks in a big city making full use of the nightlife before going to Cambridge where choices will be much more limited so I can see how she isn't overly worried out missing out in that regard.

@DaisyThistle is spot on regarding earplugs. I purchased a jar of 150 foam earplugs on Amazon and my DC found them really helpful in adjusting to the noise in college at night.
DD’s first year accommodation in a central Oxford college was particularly noisy because the rooms face onto an enclosed cobbled quad and noise is amplified.
DS’s Cambridge accommodation was much quieter with fewer students in a larger space and large lawns to deaden sound between buildings. Rooms in the old quad have an outer and an inner door which really helps insulate against staircase noise.

I remember info about the moving in date coming really late, @DaisyThistle . It's infuriating!

Doh. I misread your post. Is it your daughter's friend who is off to KCL? Your daughter's plans sound great. I think they drop one, whereas DS was only genuinely interested in a single strand of HSPS but applied because he had a thing about Cambridge. I think they spotted this at interview.

Yes @DaisyThistle - it was her friend who had an offer for History at Cambridge, everyone knew, then missed her grades so going to her insurance (Kings). It was the 'humiliation' of having to tell everyone she hadn't got in, so my daughter would rather no one knows she's even applying! With grades in hand presumably (any) offers will be unconditional so she can just say where's she's going rather than having an agonising wait.
She's mainly interested in Sociology, but Anthropology is fairly close subject anyway, and might apply for the joint Sociology and Anthropology degree at Exeter.
Anyway I've found the applying to Oxbridge thread now so will stay on that!

Oh Lord. Not about ds but a close friend of his at his college is facing having to leave C. Did not do too well in the first year exams and due to a technical error with an online exam may not have marks from one paper. I suppose I feel- it's the first year, would you not give them a second chance? I wonder if they could repeat the year.

As far as I know, it's not routinely possible to resit tripos exams (unless there are extenuating circumstances) or to retake a year.

They might be able to appeal the mark for the online exam, especially if they have evidence that they completed it within the time and attempted to submit.

Wow @PermanentTemporary that sounds really harsh if it was a technical error; I hope your DS's friend can argue the case.

DS said on his course the bottom 10 (?) are not allowed into their second year, and was freaking out after one of the exams which he said was awful. The pressure is constant - even now he's stressed about completing his set assignments before term starts...tho he didn't start quite as early as he should have done.

Michaelmas term approaches and DS' summer job ended yesterday. Surprisingly popular with the Varsity mob; there were 4 of them working at the cafes in the Science Museum. The experience seems to have taught him a fair bit about teamwork and dealing with customers in a pressured environment. Anyway back to to academic work and internship applications for next year for now but time enough for a couple of European jaunts before the start of 2nd year. I wonder how others at the same stage are faring.

Thank you @Ironoaks and @Panicmode1 - helpful and i will pass it on. Good grief about the bottom 10. I wonder what they do - it's not exactly easy to pick yourself up and make a new plan from that.

@Clemenc0 DS finished his summer job this week - he was KP for a local Michelin starred restaurant. It wasn't quite what he'd hoped for over the summer - but as you say, taught him teamwork and the value of applying early for more appealing jobs 😉He is going to start his internship hunt as soon as he is back in C. He's flying to NYC for 10 days today to spend some time with his godfather and mooch about some of the sights - and mostly paid for by his KP job, so it may not have been glamorous (or remotely related to his course), but it was productive!

DS going into year 2 at C. Working three days a week in hospital records at local hospital and a bit of KP as well through agency. Has saved quite a bit. Is doing some pre reading for year two. We haven't been away this year as I was diagnosed with BC as term ended but he did get to London with college friends for a few days - first time in London!

DS finished his internship last week and is home for a rest. It was quite full on by all accounts and he's exhausted but he really enjoyed it and was with a nice group of other interns, mainly from overseas.
Back to Oxford in a few weeks for his Masters year but still has nowhere to live - he's on a waiting list for a room in college but it's all a bit nail-biting!

Good to hear from you OYBBK and lovely to hear that your DD is enjoying her new life so much.

DD4 finished her internship in London the Friday before last, spent a few days more in London going to Notting Hill Carnival etc, then we met up in Oxford where college gave her a beautiful room for a night so she could sort out a few library things. We’re now in Sardinia with a couple of her sisters (by the skin of our teeth because of the air traffic thing). Totally unnecessary looking at the weather back in the UK but fabulous pizzas :)

Is term about to start Malbec?

To be fair to DD she is trying to get through some reading for Collections because work over the summer has been impossible with the internship, but for now it’s being done on a sunlounger, Ambre Solaired, in an attempt to multi task.

beeswain by college room do you mean even the off-site college accommodation is full? Fingers crossed for him.