Continuation of Oxbridge 2025

[BananasAllofIt]

I for one still have a kid waiting to hear about interviews. Thought I'd carry it over...

DS in the position that of the two MFL/MML applicants at his 6th form, he went for Cambridge and heard back on 14th November (interview next week) while his friend who applied to Oxford hasn't heard anything at all and is going spare.

MFL here and my child has 10 days between being notified of their interview, their classmate has had 6 days. Both have been prepping for a few weeks already so hopefully should be ok but it did feel like a long wait to here anything!

Sending good thoughts to everyone still waiting, and also to those whose DC missed out on an interview, and also to those with interviews on the horizon -- it's all very emotionally tough. This is my first post but I've been lurking on these threads for weeks now. The whole thing is very absorbing. One C interview next week and another the week after. Hoping the WiFi holds up, as it can be dodgy. The DCs feel lucky to have got interviews but I think and hope will be very happy with their other university choices too. C (or O) is not necessarily the route to either happiness or career success, though it is very hard not to get drawn in by the olde worlde glamour. Warm wishes to all on here, whether as contributors or lurkers!

A friend’s DD has applied for St Hilda’s, it has a page dedicated to letting you know if invites have been sent out etc.

DC's chosen college still hasn't done it. They also have a page which tells you - nothing on there yet for MFL (and about half their subject- looks like she chose a slow one!)
She has done some prep but doesn't want to spend ages preparing for something that's not guaranteed, which I can fully understand when she has other work which is 'definite'. Seeing as interviews start on Monday she has to find out this week but it's cutting it very fine.

DD got her Oxford interview invite on Nov 29 (her 18th birthday) for in person interviews a week later. She didn’t do any specific subject prep and the interviews were about handling and interpreting data and applying biology/maths/chemistry knowledge to solve problems. She was interviewed at her chosen college (St Catz) and one other (St Anne’s) and received an “open” offer in January. She ended up at a third college (Hertford) which was confirmed by a single letter code on A Level results day. She loved her college even though it was very different from the one she had chosen.

DS had a similar notice period for his Cambridge interviews, also in person. He prepped by checking through the notes he had made on books read and staying on top of current affairs. His “general” interview was entirely based on his PS and on news stories over the past year so the prep was useful but I don’t know how much weight the general interview carries. His subject interview was more about how he formulated an argument and analysed material than any specific A Level knowledge.

Interviews do start on Monday but I think they then continue for two weeks (DD is an interview 'online helper' and is expected to be available for that long).

I agree with everything you said @Risingroad road - fingers crossed for those waiting, hoping those not getting invited for interview are able to accept quickly and put in behind them. Mine has 2 interviews for Cambridge online next Thurs 12th - is approaching it calmly. Chuffed to have got this far but sees the decision as something now out of his control - hoping for the best and preparing for the worst is the only way forward. But he's very happy with his other options. Best wishes to all.

@GuppytheCat attached is from the website - I assume from this all first interviews are next week? Or have I misunderstood? (Easily done!) can anyone tell me what they mean by 'second college interviews' the following week - what are those? Same college but different interviewer or different college? Sorry if that's a stupid question but we don't really know and dc's school not helpful.

@Misfitkickedoutonthestreet assuming this is from the Oxford website it will mean a second college in the second week.
what usually happens is once all first interviews are done the MFL tutors from all the colleges get together and discuss applicants and those who are good but not picked up by first college are released to other colleges. Then after second interviews the MFL tutors get together again to shuffle all. The aim is that the best candidates get places irrespective of college they applied to.
My DD is second year MFL at O. She had interviews at first college in first week then invited later that week to another college the second week. She was made an offer from the second college.
Hope that helps

@Misfitkickedoutonthestreet has your DD not heard yet? I think it’s fair enough to email admissions tomorrow at her first choice college to ask - email may have gone missing. I assume she’s checked spam etc

My DD missed her invite because it had gone to junk. I'm guessing less daffy DC tend to check but....

As far as I remember, DD had four interviews in total, three from one college and one at another (two different languages, so maybe that increased the number of interviews).

Hello all, de-lurking to join you on this rollercoaster of vicariously felt emotions.

Does anyone's dc have an face to face interview at C ? Mine does and is unsure what to wear. He'll be getting there by train, which is already jangling my nerves as to reliability and being on-time, but is adamant that he doesn't want a lift.

He's doing his A levels at a sixth form where they make the students wear "office attire" so all of them wear suits, mostly with a shirt and tie, so he'd be comfortable with that but having asked and got the answer " wear what you're comfortable with" interpreted it as meaning jeans and hoodie.

Any advice ?

@ofteninaspin just wondered which subject your DD did, as mine has an interview for biochemistry. Think she'd love it if it was more applying subject knowledge to answer questions than talking about herself.

@ofteninaspin was your ds's interview for Economics ?

Congratulations to your DS...I genuinely don't think they care what you wear, they are just interested in your brain 😁 ..so if he feels comfortable in jeans and a hoodie, then he should wear that.

When I asked this to an admissions tutor (back when all interviews were face-to-face) the advice I got was, "Anything goes. Just don't wear anything that will distract you. If you're constantly fiddling with a tie, or with a short skirt hem, that's bad for your focus."

(If you've seen what the typical academic wears, the answer is "there is no such thing.")

STEM subjects in particular tend to have no small-talk or personal questions. As a PP said, just straight in with tricky problems to solve.

@ColouringPencils DD interviewed for Biosciences integrated Masters and she did not have to talk about herself or her PS at all.
Good luck to your DD.

Thanks @PhotoDad @ofteninaspin , that sounds good for my DD!

@outwittingthehamster I have been wondering about this (dress code). DC is not talking about it or anything interview related at present - at least not to me!
Is obviously nervous but I can only hope not too invested. Very much self-motivated independent type, I have no choice honestly but to trust him to sort all the prep out himself - so it's a relief if interviewers really don't care!

My DS has an in person interview at C next week. He's really not bothered by clothes but said he'd feel stupid in a shirt, so he's wearing decent jeans and a new hoodie (no logos) and his normal trainers. It was pretty specific on the invite that they should feel comfortable. He's interviewing for CS so think it will be straight into solving problems and hardly any small talk....which will make him very happy haha!

@Juja thank you, that's helpful info - I wasn't quite sure what they meant! On her college's website they have said whether they have sent emails out or not and MFL is still blank 🤷‍♀️ but I'll ask her to check her spam just in case.

It's several years ago now but DD1 wore jeans and a hoodie for her C interview.

She studied NatSci there and was asked a couple of things about her personal statement including her EPQ before they went into the more formal parts of the interview. Whilst she didn't get an offer from the college that interviewed her, she was plucked from the pool by a different admissions tutor and received an offer from their college. Fingers crossed, she should complete her PhD there next year, making a total of 8 years there....!