Current Oxford/Cambridge students support/chat continued (2)

[Panicmode1]

The other thread is nearly full so I took the liberty of starting a new one...

PettsWoodParadise ime things on the housekeeping side including catering is hugely college dependent, hence my erring on the side of caution.

It's very noticeable in certain colleges that the business side of the college operation can eclipse the reasonable needs of the students.

And at other colleges it's different.

Certainly very different corporate characters were evident during the pandemic - and that was very true of Cambridge as well as Oxford.

I'd agree with @goodbyestranger - I think it will hugely depend on the college. I think the offer holder day is a good shout (if they have one ..DS's college didn't have one).

(Oh and congrats to your DD for her offer!)

Thanks all, i appreciate your thoughts. We will just have to wait and see - I’m thinking it might be worth asking the consultant to mention it in her report when she does an annual adhd review - might help with getting catering onside! And asking them to take it into account in terms of kitchen space when they allocate rooms.

Hopefully she’s not the first ND person to have food issues. Sadly no chance of the situation changing in the next few months as we’ve got nowhere in 15+ years.

@Picklepumpkin54 firstly congratulations to your DD on getting an offer. Mine was at a less traditional college, but was quite faddy when she started and is now a vegan. She has always managed at formals in both her own college and the one along the road where she sang in their chapel choir. For everything else apart from Sunday brunch, she self-catered, mostly because it's so much cheaper. The gyps (small kitchens) had hobs, microwaves, toasters and kettles as well as fridges. I found a small slow cooker in a charity shop near home so DD had that too. She managed to cook an amazing variety of meals with that set-up. I think her staircase also bought a table-top oven and definitely cooked at least one Christmas/Bridgemas dinner.

If you can, go to the offer-holder day and look at what equipment is in the kitchen. Then work out if this fits with your DD's food choices. If it does, great. If not, that's when to plan alternatives.

Thanks @Malbecfan and good to hear how your daughter managed. I think the gyps are pretty tiny but I’m guessing there will be some variation depending on building.

DD has a good friend who has various food preferences that aren't that easy to accommodate from the catering perspective. They are able to bring their own food to Hall and to the Buttery if they want, so often she brings prepared food while the rest of them eat. I don't know what happens at formals but can't see that being a particular issue. The catering staff are apparently very good; flexible and keen to support wherever they can. So well worth her asking the question.

Thanks a lot @PeanutAndBanana that’s really good to know. Hadn’t thought of that as an option.

Hi @Picklepumpkin54 congrats to your DC!

DD is at one of the older more traditional colleges. She has a friend who has sensory issues with food - the adjustment made was to allocate a room with access to a more equipped kitchen and she was also able to bring a counter top oven / air fryer (which wouldn't normally be permitted).

Thank you @alexisccd that’s really reassuring.

@Panicmode1 I hope your DS is now recovered form his nasty bug and things are improving for him. I always think this is the hardest term, what with the weather, viruses going round, the feeling that it's all about work and meeting deadlines.

All those now browsing this thread, with DCs with offers for O and C, very good luck to your DCs across the next few months and I hope everyone makes the grades they need to secure their place. DS1 and DS2 really loved their time at O and C so much and miss it a lot.

Thanks so much for asking @mutterphore - he seems less ill and therefore is feeling more positive because he did better than he feared in his mocks (although still not where he wants to be, but his DoS was reassuring) and we are going up to see him on Saturday which will be lovely. He's also going on a rowing camp to Slovenia in April (I think) so that will be something for him to look forward to. I also sent him a big box of brownies which was gratefully received!

Any sunday roast recommendations for Oxford please? Tried the Perch but all booked up. Thanks

@Oxonc3 we enjoyed St Aldates Tavern, particularly the roast pork.

The Trout Inn at Wolvercote. Immense

Does anyone know of anyone who has done a Summer Internship in China via the Oxford Uni summer intern website? Just curious as it is one of the ones my son is considering applying for. Though he’ll have to consider quickly as the application closes soon.

DD1 did two trips to China with Oxford but it was a decade or more ago, so not much use I shouldn't think.

@Picklepumpkin54 DD is at Cam and in exactly this situation. I'm wary of putting her personal information in a public forum but PM me if you wish?

@HewasH2O @BackToWhereItAllBegan thanks for the recommendations- we did end up at the Trout. Not been to Wolvercote before, nice walk along the river, food and service both good, successful birthday trip all round.

Hello - sorry to intrude and please tell me to get lost if I’m overstepping on your thread, but please may I ask a question of you knowledgeable people re Cambridge entry?

I’ll put it here so as not to bombard with posts and just ignore if this is the wrong place…

DS (Yr12) wants to apply to Cambridge for Natural Sciences. He adores science and is very good at it as well as maths and further maths. However while his 5x sciences and maths GCSEs were all 9s and very high raw scores, he then got an 8, 3x7 and 2x6 for the rest. His school have said you need to have pretty much all 8s and 9s to have a hope of success.

Would you agree with this?

There's no further context that would gain him any reduced offer or other consideration. He has autism but very mild - perhaps that speaks to his focus on the areas he loved at the expense of those he wasn’t so bothered about.

Many thanks for any experience anyone might offer here.

There is no official 'threshold' as such. GCSE's are only one area they look at. GCSE's are considered in the context of the school they were obtained in. What quartile of achievers was the student in (within their school). Your DS has quite a number of GCSE's, they normally only look at the top 8.

@TuxedoCatsRule as long as your son is aware that entry for all is terribly competitive then he should not be put off by a few of his non relevant GCSEs not being 9s. Are his predicted A level grades likely to be A stars??

The one this is certain is he will not get into Cambridge unless he applies. What I'd suggest is that he has another couple of uni options he really loves as well. The summer is a good time to go and visit other cities. Keeping one's eggs in several baskets!

@TuxedoCatsRule - At Cambridge application decisions are done at college level. GCSE grades are one of several factors considered, but my understanding is that (unlike Oxford) they don't use them in a scoring / weighting / algorithm input sense. So long as the grades for maths & sciences are high, I don't think some 6s and 7s in unrelated subjects should put him off applying.

My best tip for a physical natural sciences application would be to join Isaac Physics (and/or Isaac Chemistry if applicable) in Y12 and participate regularly. DS got so much out of this, including weekly mentoring, a place on a residential summer school, and problem-solving skills that were helpful for the pre-interview assessment and interviews.

DS's current (undergraduate) college has offered membership for his postgraduate course, which is lovely news. The college is a good fit for him.

He just needs to wait to hear about funding decisions now.