Oxbridge 2024 Entry Part 4

[Lightsabre]

New thread as our dc start the rollercoaster ride of interviews.

@Revengeofthepangolins Hope the english interview went ok! DD has hers tomorrow. And like you we are also waiting on a UCL interview.

Just wanted to wish everyone good luck. In the last few years I have had one child get into Oxbridge and one not get a place following interview. So I have seen it from both sides. It’s crazily stressful and they get so invested in it all. But most kids do well wherever they end up in the end.

DD should have finished her Spanish interview by now and she should also be at school until the end of the day as she has a history lesson this afternoon. Hopefully it went OK. History is on Thursday.

Sadly, ds didn't get an interview that allowed him to spark (nicely put by a previous pp). It was a 'disaster' in his words. I feel disappointed for him but I guess it sometimes boils down to luck re; what comes up on the day. Another one to go and then the wait to see if there will be a further interview.

It probably depends. My son decided to apply to Oxford 3 weeks before school deadline. He only practiced one MAT test and didn't have any tutoring at all and he has an interview.

aww @Lightsabre i think the best thing here is to try and boost him up before the next one. It may not have gone as badly as he thinks it did. Best of luck for round 2!

AshtonAshley I agree - my DS had three interviews at O in 2019 for history and no offer . He went to Exeter uni got a 1st and is now doing a masters there
🤞🤞DD will go one step further and get an offer but definitely not the end of the world if not .

My DS had his HSPS interview this morning and seemed to enjoy it. He has gone into school now for afternoon lessons.
I am relieved there were no technical issues but it’s a blooming long wait until the end of January.
Good luck to everybody with interviews over the next few weeks!

We need to remember that all the candidates having interviews at Oxford/Cambridge have been selected for interview as they are academically able enough to be there. Many of them will have been through rigorous selection tests so they will do well where ever they go. Even if they don't get a place in January they have done very well. (I keep emphasising this with DS).

We are a bunch of proud parents whose DC have coped with a very tough process for teenagers.

DS has his dates through, next Monday and Tuesday.

Good luck to all those with interview this week

Good luck for the interviews coming up. Lightsabre Sorry your son came out deflated and hope the next one is much easier on him. I think they can be quite intense and there's an element of luck with topics.

Well, first interview done and it was ‘pretty terrible’ 😭. DD thought all her answers were too vague, and she said the lead interviewer kept rolling her eyes at her! (seems unlikely to me)

Sorry it was difficult for your DD Bianca It would be very unprofessional to be rolling eyes so hopefully not, if online maybe looking up at something (screen or clock?) but once you have that feeling about an interviewer its quite disconcerting. Hope any others go better.

One of mine said one interview was bad, one was ok and one was good. No offer.

The other came out sobbing and said they had been asked about all the stuff they didn’t know. Got an offer.

As tempting as it is to analyse, there is genuinely no way to guess the outcome!

Thanks all. He came out a lot happier from the second one but doesn't think he's done enough to make up for the first interview. Unfortunately his is a subject that doesn't test so the interviews are very important.

There were tech problems in the first one (server errors for the tech Oxford use so he couldn't get in until 15 mins in but he doesn't feel this would have made a difference as he didn't know the stuff) and then the tech went altogether in the second interview and he had to resort to using pen and paper and holding it up to the screen. I wonder whether they'll offer a third interview at a different college because of this.

Nice feeling of relief to have it done anyway. He's having tonight off then planning to start mocks revision for his other subjects from tomorrow.

Well done to those who have started and best of luck to everyone still waiting.

... and he's having a giant pizza as a treat for tea!

@Lightsabre Giant pizza already consumed in this house too!

Glad your DS’s second interview was better and fingers crossed for a good outcome! As other posters have said, it’s so hard to gauge how well the interview actually went.

Good luck to all those with interviews coming up, and sorry to hear from those who felt they haven't gone so well.

Still waiting to hear from daughter's first choice college when her interview will be next week, but she heard today she's also going to be interviewed by a different college next week too.

DDs seems to have gone OK. She told me about it and didn’t seem traumatised so shall take that as a positive whilst of course knowing it could mean anything!

She says she thinks she’s having an adrenaline come down now. But needs to write a history essay….

DS has come home happy and says he thinks it went well. I'm just feeling relieved it is done. Need to try and forget about it until the 24th January - feels like a very long wait! Hopefully DS will now start thinking about his mocks next week.

Well DS is sure that's the end of the road for him.

He said he was asked questions on his written work that he didn't know the answers to and completely froze and came across like an idiot. He's quite upset about it. He's not the type to catastrophize so he's probably right.

Good luck for all the rest of the DC with interviews this week.

Oh no @lifeturnsonadime I hope he's wrong. The freezey moments will be the ones he remembers but they probably passed much quicker than he thinks and there will have been plenty of other stuff for them to assess him on. I'm sure they are used to looking past nerves / stress responses etc.

Thank you but he said they focused on issues beyond his written work which he just didn't know. School had focussed on his Personal Statement in their mock interview which didn't come up. He said he answered the source part ok.

I'm sure he's accurately assessed it though, he's not one to say he's done badly at something if he hasn't. Such a shame.

My DD was supposed to have an interview this afternoon and they called her to reschedule. Prolongs the wait!

He just needs to put it behind him now and focus on London.

I'm sure he'll be OK, going to offer him a big pizza as Lightsabre has for her DS.

Glad interviews went well Its and Miranda

Sorry it was difficult Life hope he can forget about it quickly and move on. Never know until offers day. But interviews you feel are going badly are horrible.