Continuation of Oxbridge 2025

[BananasAllofIt]

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

Very unexpected humanities offer here. Still blinking tbh.

Congratulations to those with offers, and very best wishes to those who are disappointed today. We've been there, and while it does work out in the end (or certainly did in our case), it's not nice and it takes time to come to terms with.

Just to add to previous post, by "worked out" I mean DC who went in another direction and are very happy; today's offer was a younger sibling and not a reapplication.

MML people... DS's offer was the regular AstarAA for humanities but it specified that he gets an Astar in French. I guess this is fair enough if they want to know he's going to cope with the course, but is it normal or not?

To give as many applicants as possible the chance of a place we prefer to make a higher number of offers but to make them challenging so that offer-holders can try to rise to the occasion and earn their place at Cambridge, rather than enter with a minimum set of A*AA grades

Hello @tortoise18 , congratulations to your DS. This is the part of the feedback from the college DD applied to in 2022 (rejected for a language course). I think each college is able to stretch offers beyond the basic offer if they wish, and stipulate where they want the stretch. This can include all A levels requiring A*, especially if offer has been made to a student from the independent sector, from our experience of the year she applied.

If you look at the Camb Uni website for MML it says that certain colleges will usually require A star in the language and that others may do. So seems quite normal.

www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/modern-medieval-languages-ba-hons

Thanks, both. He's actually from a state sixth form, but his French spoken language at interview was probably the worst part of his application (he thinks), so the extra requirement might be because of that. Either way, he's delighted and it'll make him work harder for his French A level, so no complaints!

My DS (bog standard comp) has been offered Astar Astar A for a humanities subject which is a grade above the standard/minimum offer on the college website.

Reflecting here on the difference between the two applications that went in from my home this year. A key difference was the quality of the submitted written work, even though both DCs often get very similar grades. The successful one submitted two typed-up teacher-annotated essays, c. 1500 words each. One of these had to be prepared and marked as an emergency in time to be included in the dossier, as there weren't many marked essays to choose from. The unsuccessful one, applying for a different subject, submitted two very short (1 and a bit pages each) handwritten essays in that subject. They had been produced for a 30-minute timed class test, and were full of scribbles and signs of hastiness, because apparently there was no other option, i.e. no take-home essays had been marked by a teacher in that subject. It was possible to say on the form that the essay was produced in timed conditions, and even to add a note, so that hopefully helped. However, I haven't read any advice anywhere from Cambridge admissions officers that students should ensure from an early point in Year 13 that they have two solid, well-presented essays, in their subject, marked by a teacher. I imagine this advice could make a big difference, maybe especially to underfunded state-school applicants, if any admissions officers are reading this.

Skimming the thread! DS got a Yes for his college choice for NatSci, deferred entry.

Brilliant news @PhotoDad - delighted for you and your DS.

It was a no for DS, although there was something in the email about a summer pool if his STEP mark was good enough.

Tell your DC not to be downhearted. They will end up on the right path for them. My DS is in his 3rd year of engineering. While he doesn't exactly regret going to Cambridge as such, and would still accept the offer given the choice again, he has found it VERY intense. It is a massive workload, he reckons that for just one term they study something to the level that his engineering friends at other unis are taking a whole year to do (or something like that anyway, I can't remember exactly what he said. But basically they whizz through it at a very rapid but indepth pace, which can be stressful. They have to be very motivated.

Luckily DS IS naturally very driven and motivated so is at peace with the demanding workload but he has said that he sometimes thinks that if he'd ended up elsewhere he would have had more of the "fun student experience" that some of his friends are getting at other equally prestigious unis. Don't get me wrong, he has fun, and he has met some great people including his lovely girlfriend, and it definitely seems to be helping with his career plans. But he works 50+ hours a week and then some. It is a demanding course. But he thrives off the challenge so it suits him. Still thinks other unis would have suited him too, though, just in a different way.

Thank you - I’ve just collected him from his school play & he seems very relaxed about it all. He applied to Pembroke which is very competitive I believe for engineering, and none of his STEM school friends got offers either so he thinks it’s just super competitive! He’s a very talented singer so I think he is disappointed not to have the choral opportunity - but with 50 hour weeks that might have been challenging! Onwards.

D1 (now graduated so I'm allowed to tell the tale) had to submit scruffy timed pieces done in class with crossings out and the teacher's comments ("where is your conclusion D1?") for her Oxford application.

Unfortunately, the teacher in charge of early entry applications had missed her off the list and she didn't get her session where they chose the best essays and sent them off from school with the top sheet filled in by the teacher and stamped with the school stamp. D1 only realised on the Saturday before the deadline day on Sunday. She had to go and break into school to get her notebooks from her locker, but couldn't get to her essays. Then we had to fill it in and submit from home via our crappy little printer. I forged the school stamp 😂

When she got her offer, the teacher said Oh thank God, I thought I was going to be sacked!

(Yes, underfunded state school applicant, bet this doesn't happen at Eton!)

That is hilarious @JulesJules 😂 and very resourceful!!! Amazing that the school was (sort of!!) on top of the essay selection process all the same.

Hello - does anyone know if all colleges (at Cambridge, if that makes any difference) do in-person offer holder days or is it a mixed bag?

My DC has an offer from Corpus Christi, and there is an (in person) offer holders day in April...x

My DC had an offer holders newsletter emailed from Trinity, but no mention of an in-person offer holders day, so I’m thinking there won’t be one for that particular college.

Same. But that might be because they had in-person interviews. Also in the offer letter there was an open invitation to come to the college to look round again as an offer-holder but no specific day.

I think it depends on the college. Mot all colleges do. I would just rock up and tell the porter that you have an offer and they will let you in, I am sure.

Thanks all. DC hasn’t visited at all yet. It’s a bit of a mammoth trip for us so just sketching out plans - if there’s likely to be an in-person offer day they’ll do that, otherwise we’ll go for a more DIY approach! Will let dust settle a bit and scrap idea of a Feb half term trip just for now.

Is it appropriate for both parents to attend the open day?

Just call them and ask if one’s happening!

Our dc is allowed two guests at their offer day - we’ll both try to come, though frankly it’s not ideal with work, but bad form not to show if everyone else has one or two parents there

My ds has been invited to an offer holder day at his Oxford College but this has resulted from contextual information, presumably his postcode, though I know through our postcode he wasn't entitled to any of the outreach programme stuff so not sure how that works. Only one parent is allowed to attend.