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...

Great news @Ironoaks !

@TuxedoCatsRule both my DDs applied to study NatSci at C. Both were successful in getting interviews. DD1 had 12 A grades at GCSE and got an offer. DD2 had As in Maths, English Language & separate sciences, but had Bs and Cs for German and Drama. She didn't get an offer, but being realistic, it was always a long shot for her because she is a different sort of learner. She has thrived elsewhere.

@Ironoaks that's brilliant news for your DS. Hope funding works out OK too.

Thank you @Frontwarm@Juja@Ironoaks and @Malbecfan I really appreciate your replies and advice. He is predicted A* for all his A levels. I’ll pass on the tip about Isaac Physics / Chemistry too, thanks and we will make sure to get a good shortlist of unis he’d be happy at.

That’s great news for your DS @Ironoaks. Good luck for the funding.

Halfway hall for DD this week - halfway through the first half of her first degree! She looked so happy in the pictures. She's also secured her lab project for Trinity.

DS is training for Torpids and playing lots of rugby. He's ended up with 3 job offers and is deliberating which one to choose.

They both seem content and happy at the moment.

@HoneyMobster nice to hear your DD is enjoying her degree and what a fantastic position for your DS to be in with 3 job offers! Well done him!

DS2 now has about 4 or 5 next stage assessment/ interviews for law firm Vac Schemes, which is great and DS1 has now at last got to an assessment day stage with one law firm too. However, the odds are stacked against getting that final prize of a TC - around 1% to 3%.

DS2 is obviously doing something right again to get to the interviews/ assessment day stage but it's hard to get beyond, although he's got onto one Vac Scheme again, this time. DS1 has had less success and I think he still lacks law-related work experience and affiliated experience but it's so hard for him to secure that alongside a full-time law conversion post-grad course too.

Many congrats to your DS HoneyMobster. Are they are offers for finance or has he applied more broadly? A strong position to be in whatever.

mutterphore that's very good to hear that DS1 now has something and that DS2 has more assessments/ interviews. Well done both.

For no particular reason I tried to google the percentage success score of getting an offer for a TC at a Magic Circle firm earlier today, in an idle moment. Couldn't find anything. Can I ask where you found that statistic of 1% to 3%?

@goodbyestranger I'm basing this on stats. that DS1 and DS2 have been told by various tutors on their law conversion course and at law firm open days/ assessment days etc and also on quotes from sites like Next City Lawyer
https://www.nextcitylawyer.com/free-resources/how-hard-is-it-to-get-a-training-contract#:~:text=Although%20the%20training%20contract%20placements,it%20may%20mean%20very%20little.

One quote from that site is as follows:

"According to the Chambers Student statistics as of 2023, there were at least 104 major City firms and regional firms offering training contracts that are included in that guide. Although the training contract placements and application counts vary between each firm, the success rate for each firm is almost always between 1%-3%. This is clear when you divide the number of places by the number of applicants per each firm."

Of course it may well vary depending on the law firm and DS1 and DS2 are applying not just to Magic Circle firms but lesser tier London firms too. DS2 was told that on his Vac Scheme placement last year, there were 900 applicants and 30 Vac Scheme places with fewer TC spaces at the end of that too (not sure of the exact final number).

Thanks mutterphore - interesting. Really hope your two both get TCs this recruitment round.

All Finance @goodbyestranger - like his father and grandfather!

Yes we have history in the City too HoneyMobster. A different world two generations ago! Well done to your DS anyhow.

DD4 is all set (for the immediate future at least), so she's very pleased and I'm very relieved that she doesn't have next year unresolved as she moves towards finals.

That's good news @goodbyestranger - well done to your DD!

It's great to have things sorted. DS is enjoying his Masters year more than previous years and doesn't have finals looming, just his dissertation to write up. It will be strange to have him working in London and near me and DH on a working day.

Well done to your DD4 @goodbyestranger .

You might be able to help me, but I know your experience is Oxford, rather than Cambridge, so please do chip in anyone if you know.

DD's degree is being "upgraded" from BA/MSci to MA in April. Her first ceremony was in July 2021 and only staff and students could attend Senate House due to Covid. Her college was great and did a live-stream in the concert hall, but it wasn't the full parental experience. Now DH and I have the option to go to the MA, which we would love to do. Is the dress-code the same as for UG degrees? Is it smart/suit etc? I need to plan for my deeply annoying sister to look after my DF in order for us to go, so I am trying to get organised. TIA

I don't know @Malbecfan but how great is it that you get a chance to go to the ceremony after Covid got in the way the first time ❤️

@goodbyestranger , that sounds great that your DD4 has her immediate future sorted out. Good luck to her!

@Malbecfan excellent that at last you can attend a proper Cambridge Senate House degree ceremony for your DD, after missing out with Covid restrictions. I doubt it really matters what you wear but I imagine most people dress up a bit. I'm already looking forwards to being able to attend a proper degree ceremony for DS1's future MA at Senate House, as he just had the 'leaving ceremony' for his undergrad. degree, given they'd not marked his degree at that point. It's a long while away however still.

More next stage interviews/ assessment days coming in for DS1 and DS2 for their law firm applications but as the same thing happened last time and no TCs transpired, they're not holding out much hope. However, it's good experience for them with interviews. Even DS1 has an in-person assessment day coming up soon and DS2 yet another (online) one shortly. Lots of preparation going on alongside also doing mock exams for the law conversion course right now.

Hope this term at O & C has gone well for everyone on this thread. It's never the easiest term and I'm sure the wet weather doesn't help.

Id like to ask the parents here. How proud do you feel knowing your DC studies at Oxford or Cambridge?

I am happy that DD is at a place she feels she can thrive, relishes the knowledge of the tutors and professors, works well with the one to one style of teaching and so proud of her hard work and resilience. Not about it being one particular university. I am sure that combination of feelings, including pride, is no different reaction from any parent who has a happy YP at Uni.

Do I see from another thread @Lambiriyani your DS is in Y13, is he applying to Uni for entry later this year? Why are you asking on this thread?

@Malbecfan - I'm glad you'll get the opportunity to attend an in-person graduation event with her. I'm planning to wear a summer dress to DS's BA / MSci one, but that will be in late June.

Thanks all. I know @HoneyMobster , it's another step along the road. Hopefully she will complete her PhD and we will be able to go to that, but it's a way down the road now.

Best of luck to both DSs @mutterphore . We haven't really reached the "looking for a job" stage with either DD.

@Lambiriyani massively proud of both DDs, although only one is at Cambridge. DD2 (not C) has absolutely made the most of her time elsewhere, doing things that her sister can only dream of. DH and I never had the chance to even apply to Oxbridge, so we are thrilled that our daughters did.

Yes I suppose I am proud but it's a bit complex. I look at the workload he is dealing with and the more formal Oxbridgey bits, and I wonder how much he is really benefiting from being there compared to say his best friend from school who is at another university with good standards doing the same course. They are both happy, will both end up with the same qualification but ds I do think is under a measurably bigger load of stress. Is that important or helpful?

And then although ds decided he wanted to apply and did all the work himself (I pointed him to lists of good unis for his course, drove him to visits and paid for 5 tutor sessions), I know that I provided an 'Oxbridgeogenic' environment in that I know how the system works and that it's very worth having a punt, plus all the usual support for homework etc that is typical in graduate-heavy families. Did I weight the scales of his decision? Almost certainly, how could I not. So whenever he's stressed I feel guilty.

Thats a ramble, eh.

I'm equally proud of all my DC - the two at Oxford and one at an Ivy League. But I'm proud of their effort that got them to their universities rather than where they ended up.

I feel similar to @PermanentTemporary - it's complex.

DD decided against applying, having seen the pressure that DS1 is under. She's absolutely loving life at a RG uni (albeit a non-STEM subject) and I know that DS1 sometimes wistfully looks at his friends who didn't get in and wonders whether he would have had more fun with less pressure and workload - although Imperial was his back up and I'm not sure it would have been less intense - albeit they have longer terms so maybe the stress is spread over longer terms.

I'm proud of his work ethic and drive, and his resilience - he's realised that although at school he was seen as super bright...it's all relative at C!

However, we had a very happy phone call from him last night - he's realised what sort of engineering he wants to do and now has a plan and sounds much more settled and happy than he has for a bit.

He's got an internship gap year planned.

The reason I asked if because I'm genuinely curious if people feel "extra" pride for having an Oxbridge graduate DC compared to a non Oxbridge.

It sounds snobbish yes. Id be super proud to have my child go to university, but I'd feel even more pride if they were at Oxford/Cambridge.

@Lambiriyani I think that pride in our DCs comes more from witnessing effort put into achieving whatever the end goal is, each of us knowing our DCs vulnerabilities, life circumstances and what they've needed to cope with on the journey. By nature, trying for Oxbridge involves lots of extra hoops compared to some universities. So we see our DCs aiming high, juggling lots of extra work and then sometimes still not reaching the desired goal but managing to pull themselves back up again and keep going.

I don't think it's ever possible to say anyone might feel more pride in their DC at achieving a particular goal eg Oxbridge, than a different one. I'm most proud of my DCs for trying twice for Oxbridge than finally each getting degrees from O & C. For me, this demonstrated resilience, persistence, hard work, sacrificing some other aspects of life etc and this will stand them in good stead long after no one remembers or cares what universities they went to.

Equally, they might have targeted different universities and strove to achieve a place there, showing the same characteristics and the pride I feel would have been just the same.

@Lambiriyani I have twins, one at O and the other at an RG uni (who had no interest in applying to Oxbridge but also wouldn’t have had the grades). I am proud of them both but yes, I definitely feel a smidge of extra pride saying I have a DC at O. However, the child at O is finding it a slog. Spends weekends in the library and definitely isn’t having the social experience their twin is having. In terms of long term prospects I fully expect the RG child to earn more due to course selection and career prospects.