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[MirandaWest]

Thought I’d start this thread in case anyone else with a DC who didn’t get an offer from Oxford (or Cambridge in a couple of weeks time) wants to say anything - I feel a bit out of place in the Oxbridge thread now but could be good to have somewhere to talk about how they are and what their plans are now.

Excellent @Ragdollcharlie! DD tried to book the Durham open day in March but it wouldnt load or something. Let us know how he gets on! Certainly two universities that couldn't be further apart in experience!

Didn't Durham used to do events where applicants could spend a night or two at the university? Like in the accommodation

@Lightsabre Fingers crossed for your DS.

We will be at the Durham open day too! I don't think they do any on-site accommodation any more.

Well done to all the DC with recent offers!

My daughter didn’t get an Oxford offer after interview and is still pretty down about it. She has her scores back and was so close . She is thinking about reapplying next year but isn’t sure she wants the hassle . She has offers to do history at Bristol, Cardiff, royal Holloway and Aberystwyth. Still hasn’t decided on her firm and insurance but visiting Bristol in March.

DD finally firmed UCL last night, just waiting for offer holder day now. We also still can't find anyone else who has an offer for English (online anyway).

I'll look out for you @mushroom3 ! Is there a MN signal, like one trouser leg rolled up??

@mondaytosunday yes, very different experiences, but I honestly think he'll enjoy either. I've lived in london and tiny villages - you get different things from them but I enjoyed them both. My preference for LSE is that it's so much closer to me (which I know is a bad reason, but is how I feel at this moment facing an empty nest!).

@catmomof3 I think your DD is currently in a UCL English cohort of one

@MirandaWest can I ask which Bristol offer day you are going to? My daughter is going to the history offer day on 33rd March .

Durham is an excellent uni and nothing to be scoffed at. But an LSE economics degree would take Ur son further.

Best of luck to him

@Notrobusta mine’s going that day too although she’s doing history and Spanish so not sure why whether the history part is with other history people if that makes sense.

DD and I are both starting to think this as well 😅. She joked that maybe someone's hand slipped on the accept button when they was looking at her application instead of the invite to interview button 🤣

My DS is still waiting for UCL, he has received an offer from imperial about a month ago. Has anyone received an invite from imperial about offer holder event?

@pinkroseapp we are still waiting for the imperial outcome but DS received an email yesterday which included a save the date for their offer holder open day (20 March) but I don't know if that's specific to his subject or for all.

@pinkroseapp nothing on offer holders day for DS’s STEM subject. Although they spent a lot of time showing them around the department as part of the interview

Thanks, my son has applied biological sciences, it has no interviews. We have visited them in July last year (open day), but looks like they don’t have an offer holders day for his subject.

Ds received his rejection feedback yesterday from the college he applied to. It raised exactly the same issues that he knew he'd performed weakly on so good to know I guess that his perception of how things went was right.

No interview/Ucas application scores though which might have been useful particularly as his second interview was a lot better than his first and no mention of the technical issues with their server which flustered him. They said he performed well at interview overall but high calibre of applicants/not enough spaces. Quite generic overall.

In hindsight we should have visited more unis before ucas. DS was VERY independent but had a lifetime of being a big academic fish in a small pond and I think he was counting on Oxford.

He had a grim experience at a UCL open day in February and has gone off London. He has offers from UCL and Imperial but now considering his Edinburgh offer which was a UCAS add-on. . Edinburgh is far away AND expensive. I worry about housing and the depth of anger shown during the strikes last year. I am insisting he goes to Imperial open day, which will be in the spring and hopefully have better weather. Our DS1 is in the dark part of Year 2 Mech Eng at Imperial and not selling it as joyful.

I wish DS2 had considered smaller, campus unis.

My DS is likely to firm Edinburgh. @Waitingfortulips does your DS's subject offer 2nd year entry? It's a very long way from us too. The Lumo train services are quite fast and cheap if you're in London. My DS is likely to change his application to second year entry, so his degree won't be longer than at an English university . We visited Durham, but he didn't feel the love. He also said he felt at Durham he would be constantly reminded of not getting into Oxford as every current student he met was an Oxford reject.

@mushroom3 i think he can do 2nd year entry. We’re all on the back foot because he dismissed Edinburgh completely at first but now reconsidering as he’s gone off London.

This child of mine has his own mind so all I can really do is watch. He informs me he is attending open days and asks us to transfer him the cost of train tickets. My other two are more willing to talk with us, but this middle child is a force.

DS is waiting to hear from Imperial but he really liked Warwick and his departments there so will firm that with Durham as his insurance

He was adamant he wanted to go to Imperial after his Oxford rejection because of its reputation but has realised he deserves to feel happy and enjoy his time at uni and embrace all sides of it.

Plus a 10 min walk from halls to his lectures is more enticing than a 100 minute travel journey twice a day at Imperial if he ends up at their North Acton halls.

@Waitingfortulips I think accommodation in Edinburgh is expensive, but less expensive than London. Also, under 22s get free bus travel.

I don't feel my DS is over the Oxford rejection. Wherever he goes he sees as second best. Anyone else's DC still trying to recover?

I don’t think DD is over it either. She’s getting on with things but the fact that there were 7 Oxbridge offers at school which is more than usual and 3 of them are close friends of hers means that she can’t properly move on yet (am hoping she will when she does go to uni - last week she went to a gig on her own nearby and had got in touch with other people also attending on their own, met up and had a great time so I think she’ll be OK at meeting new people).

But overall she is still recovering

I think ds is feeling a bit lacklustre about his other choices too. He's still waiting to hear from Imperial which he wants to firm if he gets it. I'd be happy if he got the place but can't help thinking, if he's insisting on going this year, he'd be better off at Warwick or Bath and have a more rounded experience there. He's thinking of career reputation for his subject and which institution is more renowned. He's also not a party person and is able to navigate London so being at Imperial would be a good fit he thinks.

I'm still hoping, to be honest, that he considers a year out as he needs to gain confidence. Getting a job and travelling for a bit would do him the world of good. I don't think he'd reapply to Oxbridge (certainly not for the subject he went for) and there would also be the issue of maths skills lost which he feels he can't afford to lose. I'm sure there'd be a way to work around that.