Current Oxbridge students - continued again...!

[Panicmode1]

Think the other thread is full....!

I'll be leaving soon. DD is finishing and submitted her diss for her masters at another uni after starting PPE at Oxford in the covid years. All of her cohort bar one from this group have grown up now, even Malbecfan's DD1. Once she has her results and is settled in her grown up job I shall finally wave bye bye.

Did everyone make their Oxbridge offers at school
Malbec?

@Stockpot my soon-to-be son-in-law did preseason sport at Cambridge. Happy to answer any questions via DM if helpful.

I don't think so @AsTearsGoBy . 32 received offers, 24 made them. However, when I left at noon there were still some who had missed their offer by a grade (in one case 2 UMS) who had emailed their college with their grade breakdown and were told they would know by close of play tomorrow. The 2 from the subject I have taught for 23 years made their offers. A few from the "non A level but still valuable" subject I lead, that grade got them into their firm choice. I need to look in more detail but life and a bottle of wine got in the way.

Hahaha Malbec know the feeling about both life and a bottle of wine getting in the way.

I’d be really interested to know the final outcome if you have time to share.

Will do @AsTearsGoBy but it may take a few days as we're still waiting for a few results.

One student missed their performance exam as they were in hospital so we rescheduled. The exam had to be held off-site due to the instrument being played. I rocked up for safeguarding reasons (visiting examiner) only to be asked by said (awesome) student if I could page-turn. Of course, I agreed, which was a bit scary, especially at 9:15 in the morning. Student was amazing and after my turning of the pages, I retreated to a corner out of the way whilst she finished the final 2 pieces. I did shed a quiet tear as the playing was so wonderful, so it was great today to see that she scored full marks on that component. She's off to C in 2026 and I'm delighted for her.

Oh yes that’s exactly what I meant Malbec, when things are settled as well as when you have time. Only 75% making their offers is very unusual though, so I’m wondering if maybe there were a lot of Cambridge Maths offers in the mix? Or a major issue with one paper in a popular subject? Sorry for the students though, and must be disappointing for the school. I hope there’s a common issue which can be resolved asap.

Hello, jumping in! Not quite current but DD has had her offer to read Classics at Oxford confirmed so will be starting soon. She’s on the opportunity Oxford programme so has the 2 week residential coming up in a few weeks, fabulous opportunity and so glad she’s got that route in to help her adjust.

No oxbridge background for us so this is all new and exciting.

Any random tips for things we might not learn through all the welcome / fresher packs would be amazing!

Otherwise just here for the chat :)

Welcome @JamNittyGritty and congratulations to your DD! I imagine having those two weeks to settle in before the 'hordes' arrive will be invaluable for her.

I'm a Cambridge parent (also non-Oxbridge parents) so can't comment on Oxford specifics, but it's been a wonderful experience living vicariously through DS 😉and going to May Bumps and formals. Can't believe he's only got one year left - and he's doing an integrated masters so this is already his fourth year - it goes SOOOO fast!

Hello @JamNittyGritty
welcome to the thread.
My child also did a 2 week introduction to oxford with their college. They made several good friends, and got used to the feel of oxford. They made friends mostly by helping the other students who were feeling lonely and a bit out of their depth. I know my child definitely felt like that, so I think it is worth discussing it is perfectly normal.

DC took a small amount of things for the 2 weeks (they had to move rooms after 2 weeks so seemed daft to unpack everything) , and then we visited again on the usual fresher moving in day with the rest of their stuff - they were very pleased to see friendly faces, but not for too long!

My child's main advice is don't get too drunk in the first week, but do keep going to things. One of her friends went to one activity, decided he didn't like anyone and then was lonely for the rest of the year because he didn't try anything else. He was very pleased to join a group of friends in his second year accommodation to expand his social life.

Any questions please ask!

Good advice from Sytron. Most colleges have alcohol free helpers on call each night during freshers. Whether they are organising board games, chatting to those who feel a little lost or picking up the phones/ wallets and goodies left behind at events, there will always be a friendly face.

BTW I'm the one who suggested you should find this thread! For the newcomers, the convention is to identify by subject only and Ox or Cam but not by college as it's a very small world.

Welcome along @JamNittyGritty ! My DD did Opp Ox last year and loved it. It definitely helped with expectations and settling in, and making friends so she knew people when she began. Though she hasn't kept in touch with them all, she is now college married to one of them and eagerly waiting to meet their new college children! She does a Classics joint honours course so feel free to DM me with any questions. It's all a bit of a whirlwind but, as long as your DC is happy, tremendously enjoyable as a parent too.

@JamNittyGritty if your DD is in one of the central colleges without parking, I decided after the nightmare of navigating car parks etc with boxes that I would invest in a festival trolley to take all DS stuff from car to college room.

From what I could tell, the colleges are incredibly well organised to support settling in socially and academically. I well remember approaching the desk to pick up keys almost a year ago. One of the older students immediately put DS at ease by chatting and asking why he had chosen the college (answer was "the vibe" apparently - had to keep a straight face) and much nodding and serious agreement that this was indeed the best reason. From then on very relaxed and soon settled in.

The only thing he regretted not taking later was really warm clothes - hard to think about now but I ended up sending a Uniqlo parcel when it started to get cold in November, with heat tech stuff, hat and gloves etc which was apparently much appreciated.

I'm another newbie joining as DS will be studying history at Oxford. He didn't qualify for Opportunity Oxford but something has qualified him for a smaller-scale programme which meant we were invited to his college for an open day focused on students who don't come from 'typical' Oxbridge backgrounds. The students who spoke at that were so impressive - it was amazing. He also has one of them as a mentor and has had a couple of one-to-one Zoom calls with her which has enabled him to get answers to a lot of his niggly little questions. So far it seems they do a lot to ensure a smooth transition so hopefully that continues.

Apparently there is a tea for 'parents, friends and relations,' on the day he moves in, which surprised me as I thought they would want to limit numbers but the email seems to suggest you can bring anyone along, unless I'm misinterpreting it? Perhaps they are being inclusive in terms who might be doing the dropping off? I'm not with DS's dad but DS2 has already said he wants to come to drop his brother off so I wonder if he will be ok to attend this tea?

It just seems to be such a different world so I feel this thread is going to be invaluable!

@pinotnow the college tea in our case was just flasks of tea and coffee set up in a bar area so nothing to get excited about. May not be typical though. We have now cottoned on to having brunch at pick up/drop off in college as saves a fortune in going out to eat and food is very good.

Unfollowing the thread as DS didnt make it. He got summer pooled but wasnt close enough.
He got great results objectively, just not good enough. I shouldn't be sad, and I can't tell him that I am. But I am. He'd have loved it.
We don't know what happened and why he didnt get the A star. But it's too late to wonder.
Move on and he's got a great backup. I am just sad for him really

Ah, that would make sense! To be honest, I anticipate it being quite an emotional day and don't really want a sit-down tea or anything like that so hopefully what you describe is what it will be.

Thanks @Dearover for signposting this thread.

Lovely to hear so many positive stories - especially from those not typical Oxford intake - dd is already feeling a bit of imposter syndrome but is lucky as has already made some connections through oppox. I’ll try the don’t get drunk advice - we’ll see.

I agree @pinotnow - so much support available from our experiences so far and everything we’ve seen. We also have a parents tea & talk at dds college at drop off.

@OnedayIwillgetarest - brunch in college- fabulous! Might not feel brave enough to waltz in on day 1 of freshers though 😂

Can any of you who already have kids there let me know if your dc use laptops / iPads / paper from most of their notes and work? Dd tends to focus on the detail and this is her current procrastination!

Which of the courses is your DD on JamNittyGritty?

One of my DD's did the ab initio course. Latin up to Mods, then Greek. It sounds as though your DD may be ab initio too, and not joint?

Any questions happily received.

DD is a recent graduate.

On the moving in front, I'm not sure that anyone should worry too much. I can't think of any central colleges which don't have a system for move in day. Also, even if a college attempts to assign you a time slot, no-one ever seems to mind if you arrive late (I've only ever arrived late. Perhaps they do mind if you arrive early :)).

Can any of you who already have kids there let me know if your dc use laptops / iPads / paper from most of their notes and work? Dd tends to focus on the detail and this is her current procrastination!

Laptops.

Mine uses a tablet with keyboard. Laptop works equally well, personal preference really.

Our parents' tea was lovely, a generous buffet in hall, welcome from the Warden and a chance to chat with other parents in the same boat, one or two of whom have become friends. I really appreciated it, didn't really want to leave, while DD naturally wanted to get started on uni life.

I’ll have to check with Dd - only ever referenced it as Classics and that’s what her confirmation on UCAS says. It’s 4 years bachelor (no integrated masters) - 1st year is only languages (she’s doing Ancient Greek). That doesn’t sound quite the same as your dd I don’t think?

Has she done any classical languages at school? If not, it will be the same course as DD. All Classics courses at Oxford are four years.

DD did Latin first then Greek after Mods.

DD has a Macbook and an iPad with a keyboard for humanities. She also uses a lot of paper, having printed out over 234 pages for her diss this evening. Her rooms are almost papered with post it note too in some kind of system.

One thing you may or may not be aware of is that many (all?) Colleges simply give you a room when you arrive and you don't need to worry about deposits etc. It just happens.