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Higher education

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

Oxbridge 2024 Entry Part 3

1000 replies

Lightsabre · 28/10/2023 17:02

New thread as Part 2 about to fill.

OP posts:
PandaPacer · 25/11/2023 08:59

Wow, so many interviews this week - well done to everyone's DS! And for all us parents keeping the ship stable.....

Thanks also for the interview help coming through too. That info on pre-interview reading is interesting @astraq . My DS has an interview for CS and he has a passage reading followed by 2 interviews (10 min gap between each). We have been wondering what the passage reading might be for CS - maybe it will be a maths problem to solve? Your insight on the attempt to replicate a supervision is a really good way to frame it, thank you.

mondaytosunday · 25/11/2023 09:02

Good advice @astraq. Just looking at a C admission Youtube and he said it's absolutely fine to ask who wrote the piece and context if given at the interview.
I think for my DD it's nerves - she was shaking throughout her mock interview yesterday and if it wasn't so 'do or die' - I know it's just one part of the process but it must be a fairly crucial deciding factor if they get to this stage - she said she might have enjoyed it. Awful questions though!

KazzaV · 25/11/2023 09:04

@mondaytosunday which subject was the Durham offer for ? DD is History and French and they said at open day no offers until after at earliest applications have closed . DS applied ( albeit in 2020) and didn’t hear until April .
DS also has an O interview for history but no offer so hoping to go one better this time 😆 . He went to Exeter and has loved it and is now doing a Masters so all worked out fine .

Norma27 · 25/11/2023 09:18

Still waiting to hear about History and French here. Hope dd hears by Monday so if she has one she can attend the interview workshop.
Durham is only other one waiting for but she seems to have decided that she would rather one of closer ones. Offers from York, Nottingham and Leeds so far with York favourite of them.

AdventureTravelDreamer · 25/11/2023 10:08

Congratulations to all those who have received interview invites😀
Does anyone know if any Materials Science invites for Oxford have been received yet? DD not feeling confident and hasn’t heard anything yet. She has Imperial interview next week and if it’s a no I really hope it doesn’t come right before the Imperial day as want her to go in to that with confidence!!

Mirrormeback · 25/11/2023 10:47

DS has to send his MAT results to Durham.

Bit annoying as surely they can do that themselves

User11010866 · 25/11/2023 11:01

Mirrormeback · 25/11/2023 10:47

DS has to send his MAT results to Durham.

Bit annoying as surely they can do that themselves

Is the MAT result available now?

mondaytosunday · 25/11/2023 11:16

@KazzaV Sociology.
Hear some stem offers are out for Bath...

Cx5 · 25/11/2023 11:49

@User11010866@Mirrormeback DS said he had to give Durham permission to view his MAT results online, only the universities they give permission to can see them. Students can see them yet.

bluetides · 25/11/2023 13:04

@AdventureTravelDreamer My son is also waiting for material science, but unlike your daughter he hasn't been called for an interview at imperial and is starting to lose hope... Is it an online or in person interview she is having at imperial? We are close to London hence would expect in person.

AdventureTravelDreamer · 25/11/2023 13:21

@bluetides it is in person and we are not that close, a few hours away. It is 11 - 4 with group exercises followed by 121 interview.
Where else has your son applied? DD applied to Sheffield, Birmingham and Manchester and has offers from those (had very informal interview for Manchester but more why Mat Sc rather than academic)

Catopia · 25/11/2023 14:38

mondaytosunday · 25/11/2023 09:02

Good advice @astraq. Just looking at a C admission Youtube and he said it's absolutely fine to ask who wrote the piece and context if given at the interview.
I think for my DD it's nerves - she was shaking throughout her mock interview yesterday and if it wasn't so 'do or die' - I know it's just one part of the process but it must be a fairly crucial deciding factor if they get to this stage - she said she might have enjoyed it. Awful questions though!

My advice to her would be to relax and take the pressure off herself. It's not "do or die". It's an opportunity: the interview is the opportunity for both the tutors and for her to find out if the way she engages with her subject material are a good fit. It doesn't make her less of an academic, of a student, or as a person if she does not get in, or if she does and decides not to accept it: it just means that her learning style may be better suited to another institution. What you have in interview for many subjects you essentially have that twice a week for twice as long throughout your whole degree, alongside 1-2 other people. If it turns out that she passionately hates the experience, or cannot present her thoughts with as much clarity as the other applicants (who she would be with in those tutorials), it, she may be happier at a different institution anyway.

Many school mock interviews bear absolutely no resemblance to the real process, so don't let her be put off. I remember mine was someone grilling me for 20 minutes about why I was not taking a gap year because he believed everyone should take one, it was utterly and completely pointless. If the mock was so bad, just let it go, it's irrelevant and the interviewer was probably a jerk if he continued if she was in a state. The time would have been better used helping her to think about how she was going to deal with those nerves in the real thing.

The most important thing now is that she finds a way to calm and centre herself so that she is not so outwardly nervous. Think with her about how she will manage her time leading up to the interview. Does she prefer to be around people and distracted, or on her own? I remember one of the people I interviewed with would be sat in the quad in interview outfit nervously from the start of the day, even if the interview wasn't until 4pm because they emotionally needed to be there and ready. I on the other hand didn't start getting ready until about an hour and a half before as I wanted to be clean and fresh, I wanted my outfit to be as uncrumpled as possible, and because that actual getting "suited and booted" was part of my preparation process (this does not work if you then get pooled by your college, and may get sent for a third interview at very short notice, FYI).

On that subject, know that getting pooled is not a bad thing - colleges will pool people who they eventually offer places to as well, it is part of the process of ensuring that there is some consistency in quality of offer-recipients between colleges. From my own experience, they will pool people they are saying yes to, they are saying no to, and who they think deserve a place but they don't have enough places, or they simply aren't sure about, possibly because of inconsistent performances across the two interviews. The College may not have the full 3, 5, 8 or whatever places that there are in each annual intake for that subject, as there may be people who are holding those places on a deferred offer from the year before, or even people who have to repeat the year. It's a mysterious process but it's done with the intention of trying to make sure that some colleges are not rejecting several candidates who would have got in if they'd interviewed at the college next door because one has a particularly strong or weak intake.

In some subjects, they will get some material e.g. 30 minutes before and go to a room on their own to prepare it. If that's her subject, think with her about how will use that time - I suggest 2-3 minutes just to calm self down in the room - 2 minutes initial reading to see what it is about, 5 minutes deep re-reading and thinking, 10-15 minutes analyzing the material, thinking about what may be asked, making some notes, and leave 5 minutes at the end to have some sips of water, breathe deeply, adjust any part of outfit or hair that is annoying, repeat confidence building affirmations and mantras (I deserve this opportunity; nerves are just excitement because I am happy and excited to have this chance; I am a great person and they would be lucky to have me; I am a strong candidate and I am confident in my abilities), and just generally remember what her own name is, try to smile, etc...

Finally, from me to her - enjoy the experience. Oxford and Cambridge at Christmas time are magical places. Meet other candidates and have fun, make it a positive experience irrespective of the eventual outcome. The fact that someone is loving the experience of being there will shine through at interview an show that they will integrate into college life. The other candidates are not just "competition" - if she gets in, some of them will be friends, tutorial-buddies, housemates, the person she rescues from a dodgy bloke in a cheesy nightclub at 2am and the person who panic-prints her essay for 2 minutes before she has to leave for a tutorial because she has run out of printer credit. It is amazing and energizing to have a couple of days with a group of talented, interesting, bright, academic, high-achieving and high-aspiring peers with only a couple of hours in the day where you have something you actually have to do. It's tremendous fun if can allow it to be.

I wish her - and all your other hopeful DCs - all the best.

Pretendingitsnobigdeal · 25/11/2023 14:39

JulesJules · 25/11/2023 14:09

Don't know if anyone has already posted this, this is info from St Hilda's Oxford on interview invitations which was on TSR, other colleges may be doing similar

https://www.st-hildas.ox.ac.uk/content/current-applicant-information

Just had a look on TSR spreadsheet and someone has posted that they are aware of another person who received their invite for interview (History) today

JulesJules · 25/11/2023 14:55

The colleges may be communicating the invitations at different times but the decisions are made at the same time. It's the same with degree results - the single hons History all came out together, my D1 did a history joint and her subject all came out the next day (all different colleges) This is Oxford, C may be different.

Lightsabre · 25/11/2023 16:05

Amazing post @Catopia and thanks for taking the time to write it. Ds interview is online but the advice is still relevant. I hope he can enjoy it, even a teeny bit so he can look back on it as a positive experience whatever the outcome (he's a bit anxious about the technicalities at the moment).

OP posts:
mickmills · 25/11/2023 17:07

Just received rejection from Hertford College for E&M 😞

Silkiefloof · 25/11/2023 17:18

So sorry to hear that Mickmills, there's a very high rejection rate on that course pre interview, I hope they have other offers.

Lightsabre · 25/11/2023 17:24

Sorry to hear your news @mickmills and hoping your dc can put this aside quickly and move on with (I'm sure) other good offers. There are a few applicants at ds school who also missed out on an interview for E & M sadly.

OP posts:
Dafrty · 25/11/2023 18:02

@mondaytosunday Maybe it would help to frame it as a tutorial rather than interview, it may help it feel less personal. My daughter was interviewed last year at C (pooled ultimately) and they made her read an extract aloud as the first exercise.

astraq · 25/11/2023 19:19

Definitely agree with @Catopia. Honestly, anyone with A stars and As would cope fine at Oxbridge. It's not that different to any other top uni. The admissions people could easily fill their places many times over and they know this. It's splitting hairs in the majority of cases. I suppose they have to make a judgement about who might benefit from their style of teaching the best. But it's far from an exact science.

Also, they will be more than used to nerves. Better to be nervous than arrogant! They don't need to present any other way than interested and engaged. Do bear in mind that these interviewers are academics and many of them are, shall we say, quite 'niche' personalities themselves!

They might be asked 'Why do you want to come to O / C?' or 'Why do you think you're suited to the style of learning here?' So they could have a think about that (sometimes, when nervous and anticipating complex questions, it's easy to miss the obvious things they can prepare for).

What they always say is, they aren't looking for 'right answers' necessarily, but they are interested in HOW they think. They shouldn't feel like they have to respond straight away - it's ok to pause and think (sometimes having a glass of water as a 'prop' can help - just to sip some water and think before blurting out the first thing that comes into their head). This can help with those a bit prone to 'waffling' (I should know)!

Also, they should make sure they listen carefully and keep on track, as opposed to answering the question they might want to answer.

Nobody will be trying to catch them out. They want them to feel as comfortable and relaxed as they possibly can. Just tell them to practise 'thinking out loud' and get used to talking about their subject. Good luck to them all!

Redhotchillipeppers · 25/11/2023 19:42

Norma27 · 25/11/2023 09:18

Still waiting to hear about History and French here. Hope dd hears by Monday so if she has one she can attend the interview workshop.
Durham is only other one waiting for but she seems to have decided that she would rather one of closer ones. Offers from York, Nottingham and Leeds so far with York favourite of them.

My DS had had the same thought about Durham and would rather choose Leeds as well. It’ll all come down to the Cambridge offer, as Warwick will definitely be on of his two final choices.

Redhotchillipeppers · 25/11/2023 19:49

Sorry to hear your news @mickmills. My DS had said he’ll be happy at any of the 5 places he has applied to. All DC will thrive wherever they go. Just the fact that they all have what it takes to apply to Oxbridge makes them great candidates for any university.

Mirrormeback · 25/11/2023 19:57

@User11010866 @Cx5

Just spoke to DS who now says he had to send them the TMUA results and they will access his MAT results

mondaytosunday · 25/11/2023 20:13

Thanks @astraq and @Catopia. She's not really expecting to get in - she is prepared for that (and said if Uni of Bath looked like Cambridge she'd be happy there) though of course the application process - written samples, a written assessment on Monday as her college is one of the few who require it etc - does make a candidate invest quite a lot of energy and therefore hope. But it's telling she hasn't told anyone IRL that she's even applied other than her old school - a friend told her it was awful having to tell people over and over that she did not get in (offered but didn't make the grades).
I think one reason she was so nervous was that her old history teacher was there - who always told her she was a B student and though my daughter respected her and thought her a great teacher, always felt she was bottom of the class. That she got 196/200 on her A level didn't change that feeling! And she said the two interviewers kept looking off to the side and smiling - so she felt other people were there.
Anyway, I think she'd suit the supervision system very well. When not as high stakes as an entrance interview she is very good at explaining her views and enjoys a debate - and performs much better one to one or two. And though she knows intellectually that it's a 'conversation' rather than a 'question then answer' and only part of the process, she is still nervous. She came to the subject late and did not take any of the related subjects at A level (Sociology and Politics). And despite every bloody YouTube saying they are testing your thinking not your knowledge, they sure are testing your knowledge!
Her interview is online and comes at a very busy stage of her current course (and she'll have to miss a day to do it).
She's PQA three A stars so will be compulsory pooled if her college doesn't offer.

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