Oxbridge 2025

[SnowFairy2000]

Let's start the journey here !!!

Yes Coldilocks four days each and then the day before the (in person) interviews they were emailed a thirty page extract to read for the following day, so they had to get their head round it while they were travelling up, internet willing.

I had two days notice for Oxford law (v early 90s), and was given the reading on the morning of the interview .. I didn't get an offer!

Thank you!
Still waiting here (fingers crossed)

Law always seems to give the case/ extract just ahead of the interview Panicmode1. These two (hideously obscure) history extracts were pages and pages and pages long - far too long for dishing out in the waiting room with thirty mins prep.

@ThatllBeTheDay I’ve noticed that some of your contributions tend to derail or halt the flow of conversation, which can make it challenging to maintain the welcoming and supportive atmosphere that threads like this are traditionally known for—for example the 2024 Oxbridge thread. Right now, I think what many of us need most is that kind of supportive and encouraging space.
Perhaps, as someone who has joined the group to offer your advice to those parents who are navigating this process together,you might consider adapting your tone to align more closely with the overall mood and purpose of the group. That way, the thread can remain a place where everyone feels comfortable and supported?

Hi ontheturn I'm afraid I'd find being scripted slightly tricky - I've a butterfly mind. That's how I am in rl, often being hauled back from tangents :) I guess we all post in our own way but tbh all of my posts today are bang on the subject of the thread. I'm not posting about my recent trip to Seville for example, or my upcoming grooming appointment for my cocker spaniels Johnny and Billy. All of my posts have been about Oxford admissions. Please scroll past if not relevant to you and yours. Quite a few thanks seem to come in so I fully get that my posts may not be helpful to you, but if they are to others then that's something I guess.

@ThatllBeTheDay is this a parody account? Please grow-up.

Omg that's so much more succinct

Any anecdote about a four day notice period is clearly helpful to other posters whose DC are watching the clock tick. If it's not relevant to you, scroll past. Not everything on these threads can be universally helpful. Ditto info about the interviews for Medicine - clearly not of much use for those applying for MFL. We can only share what we know and that will hit the mark with some but not all.

I don't think anyone said the children were deficient, it was the application and I agree with that. By definition if the application is rejected, it is missing something. The problem is, noone knows what that is as there's judgement involved that most of us will never see.

The process has been a slog for us but my child has done all the can and I've done all I can to facilitate it. If they don't get an interview, that's life. You do your best and if you're not a fit it's incredibly disappointing but they will have lots of brilliant alternatives. I think that will be a huge consolation and they move forward.

Oh don’t worry about the deficient comment, my DC was called gauche 😂

Agree with what you have said.
This is primarily a thread for those with kids currently going through the process to offer a bit of a place to scream and commiserate so we can put on a game face to support the kids.

The patronising comments from the old guard are just a bit annoying

Can I just say that my DC were born in the 1990s and 2000s! Hopefully I needn't take that particular post as aimed at me! My DC are recent/ soon to graduate.

There's an argument that as interviews loom, some input about interviews from those who've been through that stage, or been through it vicariously, can be useful. That's certainly been the case in the past. Perhaps this year the thread is different and only for more emotional support. Really, each should take from it what's useful to them and leave the rest.

I can't believe the drama and derailment. No one is calling anyone's anonymous and totally unknown quantity of a child "deficient". If an application is missing something extra, it is "lacking" or "deficient" it is not a personal judgement it is a factual assessment and I do believe @ThatllBeTheDay was talking broadly.

Having said that, I have seen @ThatllBeTheDay pretty much piss all over people on other threads, so perhaps it is just a case of being sensitive to the fact she does that with great frequency?

Anyway, my kid, my DD is still waiting to hear about an interview with O. She has grades in hand and has 2 fab, unconditional offers at RG's in the top 10 for her subject, Psychology.

I asked a few pages back if anyone knew of interviews going out for this subject but no one answered.

Don’t think have seen any news of interviews in that subject yet @BananasAllofIt

As far as can see on student room and here it’s been more medicine today and lots of law.

This week will see a load more subjects email out so hopefully not too much longer to wait

@BananasAllofIt Have you asked your child to trawl Reddit and the student room? You can always start a specific thread on TSR for that subject, or specific college, to get more targeted feedback. We're waiting on a Cambridge interview here and we are right up against the deadline now. It is very stressful as everyone else at his school seems to have heard something. My son is normally incredibly laid back but even he has admitted to constantly reloading TSR to search for any updates.

@BananasAllofIt - according to student room no Oxford interviews for Psychology yet!

I said it right at the beginning of this thread without alluding to the poster and more recently engaged with him/ her. This poster has been ruining and derailing every Oxbridge thread since 2017. They will say don’t engage but their insulting and patronising tone will always - understandably- upset people. They won’t go away but will continue to stand their ground despite polite requests to pipe down because they clearly enjoy it. For someone who claims they weren’t invested in their 8 children’s Oxford applications they certainly seem to show a weird investment in others’.

Good luck all during this stressful wait and sorry to see this person upsetting everyone again (and yes they’ll inevitably come on saying they get loads of thanks for their posts and scroll past if you don’t like it blah blah blah) I will not engage with or respond to anythingg they say no matter how provocative.

We could also all collectively report

@BananasAllofIt can I ask if this is a first application for your dc as they have grades in hand or if they tried last year too? Dc (also psych) (also still waiting) is thinking if they don’t get in this year they will try again but no idea how Oxford view this…

But by the way beyond a certain point the admissions procedure is a lottery. There are too many bright kids for too few places. Best children accept this and the lucky ones don’t think they’re somehow better or special.

@DorotheaDiamond This is first round at applying. It's slightly different for us because we are living in the US where she's in her final year of high school and she took the relevant AP exams last year. She is taking more AP's this year, and could well be asked to get certain grades for entry, especially if she got an offer from Oxford, but for the 2 RG's I mentioned, they were happy with what she's got so far.

agree that the tone and derailment is unhelpful.

this week is particularly difficult for our DC - at least it is for those with DC who are actually waiting - and I’d prefer support from parents who understand the myriad emotions rather than wanting to patronise and belittle.

DC is waiting to hear about PPE interview at O. I’m away and trying not to harass looking for updates.

If any DC are waiting for ESAT or TMUA results, they are now available on the UAT website! Waiting for DS to wake up.