Current Oxbridge students - continued again...!

[Panicmode1]

Think the other thread is full....!

Thanks for setting up the new thread @Panicmode1 .

How time flies. DD was allocated her college children a few days ago and has been answering their questions alongside reading submissions for a theatre writing competition. She is heading back to college early October and we’ve booked in a number of theatre and opera trips between now and then.

Hi everyone! Has anyone with a fresher going to Cambridge actually had their accommodation allocated? DS is still waiting, his college doesn’t seem in a hurry. I want to start shopping ….

I've been trying to keep up - I started a new FT job on Monday so have been reading but not really able to post at all..!

Lovely see all of the new arrivals and to hear of the success (and frustrations) of others. I am sure that given their determination your DCs will be successful @Mutterphore.

DS finished his internship yesterday and this morning is heading off for a 7 day solo hike....it is absolutely BUCKETING with rain, and there is thunder and lightning currently so am hoping that the weather improves! He's then off on various travels with his GF and then friends before going back up at the end of the month.

I know that DS is college married - but not sure if they have been allocated college children yet. I fear that if he has been, he's not going to be very helpful for the next 3 weeks or so and he was fairly scathing about how useful his were in the first place. (He has cheered up since finishing yesterday, but he's still fairly scathing/dismissive/grumpy at the moment as per my rant on the thread a few weeks ago!

I'm sure your DD's 'children' will be very grateful for your DD's insight @PettsWoodParadise and thanking their lucky stars that they haven't got a grumpy 3rd year as their college father. 😂

You probably won't find out until you arrive....certainly DS didn't. I'm not sure whether that was college specific or what C do generally. (He did email to find out if he had a double or single bed though.)

@SOWK my DS2 is still waiting for his accommodation as well I thought it was going to be this week but nothing so far.

As @Panicmode1 suggests, most freshers find out when they arrive & are handed the key. I imagine you may be given a banding if different rooms have different prices, but they seem to try to avoid the whole debate on who gets a pretty view and who overlooks the bins. It's safest to take a double duvet.

@SOWK my DS has had his room assignment but I think different colleges do it differently. They had already told us that all the rooms have single beds. He has a top band room so I think it will be nice (but quite expensive!)

We are still waiting to hear about accommodation at Cambridge. We just need to know bed size so will contact the college, if we haven't heard, close to travelling. Happily started shopping for other basics.

As others have said, it's not normal to hear about accommodation until you arrive.

Both DS1 and DD were allocated single beds. DS1 never had anything but a single in his 4 years in college accommodation. DD does have a double this year (3rd) but that's because her college has spent lots on fancy new accommodation.

@SOWK DD didn't find out her accomodation until about a week before she went up. We thought she'd find out on the day of arrival as all accomodation in her college is the same price (and they have a fairly big range of accomodation but it is all on site) and you only get to put in requests if there is a medical, musical or other special need. She got her room licence to sign and it had the room number on it and she was able to see pictures of it from the JCR room ballot materials but otherwise wouldn't have known what type of room she had.

Her college supplied duvet and pillow innards and we took up a set of single covers as freshers don't tend to get the rooms with the double beds unless a medical need. Housekeeping were able to supply sets of bedding for a week if needed as they have all of that for the conference periods. It meant less to move in and out each term.

She loved her room so much she has 'squatted' for Y2 and so knows exactly where she is going this year, she will see where she gets in her college ballot as to whether to chance for a nicer room for Y3.

Thanks for the new thread @Panicmode1

DC1 had a 4 ft bed in Year 1 and DC2 had a 3 ft bed in Year 1. Seems to vary considerably between colleges and accommodation blocks.

DC2 has been in touch with her new college children and looking forward to meeting them. She has three children with her college wife. The system worked well for her last year - she is now great friends with her college mum. She ended up as an only child as her sibling didn't make their grades so didn't come up.

DC2 now back at O doing a month pre season trialling for a Blues team - over 60 of them with 0545 morning starts...

Thanks all. The college says the 1st year accommodation has a mix of double and single beds and we need to provide bedding, so it will be a pain if we only find out on the day.

@Panicmode1 many thanks for setting up another new thread.

Welcome again to new people joining us here.

@PermanentTemporary, congrats to your DS on getting a job offer on the back of his internship. That's great news, even if he decides not to take it up.

@Pivoinerose, many thanks for your helpful thoughts as always on TCs and DS1 and DS2 will just keep plugging away and hoping to land an offer one of these days - hopefully in the next round. How nice that your DCs continuing 'fame' at their old school endures. They've all done so incredibly well - all credit to you, as well as to themselves of course.

@Malbecfan, thanks also for your kind and supportive words about my DCs.

@Juja good luck to your DC2 trialling for a Blues team!

@mutterphore, I have no advice to give your boys but complete admiration for their resilience and tenacity. I hope those offers land very soon.

@PermanentTemporary congratulations to your DS on his offer!

Welcome to new joiners! DS is about to start a (STEM) PhD at Cambridge. He has been doing some reading and has started to feel a bit under-equipped in terms of skills for academia. I've explained about unconscious incompetence vs conscious incompetence and reassured him that (a) this feeling is normal and (b) his supervisor(s) will have realistic expectations of new post-graduates.

He is applying to be a lab demonstrator. There was an option to apply to do undergraduate supervisions for the department, but he wants to wait and see what the expectations are from the college first.

Welcome newcomers! DD going back up to C on Tuesday to begin an integrated Masters (STEM). We think it’s much too early, of course, but she has pre-season sports practice

Hello everyone! Lovely shiny new thread.

Welcome to all the new people - I have learnt loads on this thread so I can vouch for its usefulness.
Well done to all Dc who are getting jobs/courses they want and good luck to @Juja 's DC with the rowing tryout. That is a lot of training I suspect.

I am enjoying having my DC at home for september although the house is already a mess and the foodbill seems to have increased disproportionately.

My DC had a single bed in a tiny room for year 1. They have survived though, so don't fret.

Thank you for the thread @Panicmode1. Exciting stuff @juja, hope he enjoys the trials even if not the early starts!

Ds found the college parents really helpful for Freshers week but didn't seem to engage much after that. It's a nice flexible system I think.

My Dc gets on really well with their college parents - seems to have met up several times for meals and they have been really supportive and helpful. They get on as friends I think. I know not everyone is like that but it was so lucky as my Dc was feeling very unconfident and stressed by everything!

Hi there, was lurking on the old thread but thought I’d join as DD starts at C next month. She had her room allocation through earlier this week and a form to fill in for college parents allocation. Still no sign of a reading list though which seems late?

Welcome @Chouffles . I remember DD stressing about a reading list last year (English Lit, Cambs). I don’t remember when she finally got, just it was after she expected it. This year she got her reading list about a week ago for Y2 and has been more relaxed as she said she read so much in advance last time but then didn’t need to read as much and as she had so much to take on board she had to read it again anyway. Much of it will be available via the online resources and libraries.

Thank you for the new thread @Panicmode1
D1 is still in Oxford, currently job hunting for something to fill the gap before hopefully starting her masters. The state of the graduate job market is miserable.

Good luck to all the newbie parents and joiners here. This is probably the most supportive board on MN. Thanks for setting up the new thread @Panicmode1

@Ironoaks my DD did both lab demonstrations and supervisions. Supervising is very well paid although some colleges were remarkably slow to pay her. They were then quite annoyed that she refused to supervise for them in the 2nd year of her PhD. She simply went to the head of the course who happens to be a fellow at her college and told him exactly why she refused. He spoke to an academic in the reluctant college and they did apologise. DD actually won a prize over the summer for her lab demonstrations which was rather nice. For some reason the certificate came to our home when DD was on one of her expeditions, so she asked me to open it and there was a certificate.

As far as the reading and PhD prep goes, DD was told to "have a decent break" before she started by the head of department. I was concerned because whilst her PhD is Materials Science, it is very much Biology focussed and DD's only Biology qualification was a GCSE. Apparently the necessary reading to bring her up to speed lasted a whole morning! DD did no reading on anything before she matriculated other than the morning of Biology stuff.

We are currently staying in my DF's flat with him, DH, DD1 and DD2. It's a bit of a squash but lovely to be together. We are going to a family event later. One of my uncles has dementia and my DF is quite decrepit so it could well be one of the last extended family things we go to with the older generation still here. DDs are really excited for some reason. DD1 has gone to do a park run and we're meeting for breakfast in the town in a couple of hours. Hope everyone has a good w/e

@Chouffles sometimes college admin is very chaotic - sometimes it is sent to their new uni email address and until they can do the admin to sign on to that then they can't see it. Sometimes reading lists can be found on college websites.

As @PettsWoodParadise says I'd suggest they don't panic - especially if the tutor hasn't sent it directly to them. There will be plenty of work once they start. My DC2 is between 1st and 2nd year. She has 14 books on her reading list this long vac and I think has read 1.5 - she has been doing other academic work - just not the stuff on the list....

@JulesJules Good luck for the job hunting for DD, it requires much persistence. Are they hoping to do a Masters in Oxford?

@mutterphore and @PermanentTemporary thank you-DC's trials are going well, sleeping lots, eating lots and she's enjoying it. She has the fall back of being the Captain for her college team so is simply enjoying the high level coaching the Uni trials provide. Selection would be a bonus.

@Juja thank you, yes she has her email etc but no sign of anything yet from her course or DoS. It’s a heavy essay/reading subject and I have tried to suggest she starts looking at stuff on the papers which can be found online but realistically don’t think that will happen unless she gets some communication from them 🤣.