Current Oxbridge students - continued again...!

[Panicmode1]

Think the other thread is full....!

@AlsoAnon brilliant news.

@PermanentTemporary that's so lovely!

I'm massively sleep-deprived as tours are such an emotional rollercoaster so I'm really sorry if I missed anyone. @AsTearsGoBy we travlled by coach, easily the most extortionate part of the whole trip now the lovely Sewards are no longer trading. The driver was no Dennis, but he was really kind and helpful and entered into the spirit of it all. We sang in Tewkesbury Abbey, both Liverpool Cathedrals and Manchester Cathedral, although concerts rather than services. However, our organ star got to play on 3 of them and had rather a lot of fun at Liverpool Met - I was page-turning for the Widor Toccata and the top 2 lines of each system are almost identical all the way down the pages so I had to really focus. Of course I was welling up because it was played at our wedding, so blinking at shedloads of semiquavers and then the kid telling me to pull various stops made for a fraught few minutes. Then a y9 kid mislaid his phone so I had to use my choir-mummy superpowers to call his mum for her to do "Find my Phone" whilst DoM and kid scoured the cathedral. Phone beeped on the coach, DoM and kid had nice walk in the rain without coats and no harm done. Local cuisine in Chinatown and the "Curry Mile" was enjoyed by everyone. Now wondering where to go next, if I make it that far!

@Malbecfan we had Widor’s Toccata too (and DD is having it next month!!)

We had it as our wedding recessional too!

As did I...

We can relax at last. DS has been accepted, as confirmed in writing today, onto the Master's course at C to complete Part 3 of his Mathematics Tripos. It has been a tense 3 weeks where he found himself a few places outside a First. He has been generally positive and I take my hat off to him for that but a parent tends to know what their offspring are feeling. For now, Slàinte mhath!

Great news @Clemenc0

Pleased for you @Clemenc0

DS is choosing his room for next year tomorrow, he was pretty low in the ballot so it will be a case of see what is left I think. At least he should get a nice room in his third year!

Congratulations to your DS @Clemenc0 - great news. I can’t imagine the state of nerves after that wait.

DD is having a short break before getting down to doing some reading and starting on her Y3 dissertation and helping out at The Fringe. She is popping back to C fairly regularly as her BF who graduated earlier this month is working all summer at his old.college with summer student courses.

I do hope so @IThinkImAMathmoMum. DS for his last year was supposed to be in one of his College's older buildings with a ravishing view of the Cam and King's College chapel but it was not to be on account of slow contractors doing renovation work. Hence his accommodation fees were waived for the year as he returned to the same staircase he'd been in first year - no complaints on his part; he was very content there. Next year he has to find his own accommodation. That will be a new life lesson!

Fabulous @Clemenc0 well done him.

(DS and his GF are nervously waiting to find out if she can stay for her Masters next year - she missed a first by less than a % point or something so she was automatically told no, but I think they think there may be some wiggle room)

All those with DC at Oxbridge have they actually enjoyed it ? Glad they went ?

Absolutely @UniversityQQuestions - DS1 loved all the opportunities (theatre and sport). He ended up not liked his subject much by the end but he’s now in a career which he loves and is thriving.

DD is half way through a medical degree. Similarly thriving but enjoying her subject as well.

i have asked DS if he’d have preferred in hindsight to have gone elsewhere and saved himself the stress (it was very stressful). But he says not and feels that professional exams (so far) are very manageable in comparison!

Definitely @UniversityQQuestions . She started there in 2017 and is now teaching there. Loves everything about it.

Most certainly @UniversityQQuestions. From the first time DS visited C, after the Covid hiatus, he knew where he wanted to be and loved it from the outset. Entry was touch and go for a night as C's STEP results were published at midnight ahead of UCAS the following morning. On paper it was a miss but in the event, good enough. Fortunately, he adores his subject and in that respect C's approach and teaching model has really suited him.

Being honest, DS struggled a bit in his first year @UniversityQQuestions - he was top of the cohort at his (grammar) school and started at C strongly, but found it hard to adjust to not being in the top 1-5% of the uni cohort and felt he should have accepted one of his other offers (although they were Imperial and Bristol - so not any easier really!). However, he settled in the second year, started to enjoy the course more, and his rowing and found time for a GF, and also got into his groove. His third year, he's loved it and realises how immensely privileged he is and what amazing opportunities it offers. He's currently in Cambridge for an internship over the summer before returning for his final year in October - and he is aware how fast it will go and how quickly he'll be out in the real world!

Ds did enjoy it @UniversityQQuestions but I know of one student at his college who took an overdose (obv that’s not exclusive to any university) and more than one who found the experience just not enjoyable despite getting through it. Ds does feel I think that his course was unnecessarily hard at times (doing aspects of his subject that aren’t taught at undergraduate level in most other unis) and in fact it was extremely theoretical when he tends to prefer getting practical stuff done. He can’t help noticing though that at the internships he has had each year, there is an overwhelming dominance of Oxbridge students there as compared to other universities. I don’t know if the companies involved are missing out by doing that - they have all been fairly new, very technical firms which apparently have open application routes, so I don’t know how the dominance occurs.

Thanks all interesting responses ,permanent what did your son do ?

Slightly different perspective here. DD was the covid intake and had a tough first year. Her college welfare team were excellent throughout her 3 years. The study approach & exams system is highly pressured and unforgiving (8 exams across 15 days determined DD's degree). On the other hand she rowed, played tennis for the uni, had opportunities she would never have had elsewhere and met lovely people.

It's only now studying for a masters elsewhere that she realises how clever she is and that it's not normal to have your work ripped to shreds by your peers on a weekly basis simply to boost their own egos. However, that could be inherent to Oxford PPEists. Would she do it again? Probably, but taking HisPol instead.

That's interesting what you say about PPEists and egos Dearover. Makes sense I guess, just hadn't thought about it. Also sounds a bit 1980s but perhaps things never change.

Mine all enjoyed their time greatly but it's not a walk in the park. I'd be very cynical if a graduate told me they'd never had any tough times at all.

David Cameron, Ed Balls, Yvette Cooper, Tony Benn, Ted Heath, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunack, Jeremy Hunt, Robert Peston, Nick Robinson, Evan Davis, Michael Mosley, Kishnan Guru-Murthy...just for starters. A common theme would be liking the sound of their own voice!

Tbf I bet Boris took over his Classics tutes too :)

Imagine being in a tute with Jacob R-M sprawled on a Victorian chaise longue 😂

Hahahaha hopefully it would have been of a sufficiently delicate frame that it could have been flipped over with ease while he was busy telling me what I didn't know.

Compsci.

mine says they mostly enjoy it but it’s hard sometimes.