Current Oxbridge students - new year, new thread

[TenSheds]

Fresh new thread for Oxbridge parents group therapy! With freshers moving in and existing students returning, reckoned someone ought to take the initiative so there's a home for all the news, blues and reviews.

The last continuation thread filled up before anyone set up a new one so hopefully existing and new Oxbridge parents find this one.

@PettsWoodParadise I still read but don’t comment much now. However, your post resonates with me. DD2 (non-Oxbridge) did an integrated STEM Masters and didn’t get anywhere with job applications. After graduating, she came home and did a lot of shifts in a local cafe where she had worked for the previous couple of years. She kept applying, had a few interviews and then landed the graduate role, starting at the end of the September after her July graduation.
Try not to worry, focus on Finals, and trust that the right role is out there.

Thanks @Malbecfan ww done to your DD2 for her resilience. It does seem to be a long game in some instances.

Well done to your DD @JulesJules- it’s definitely tough out there. @PettsWoodParadise- there’s plenty of time to focus on job applications after finals so do encourage your DD to focus on exams for now.

DD is taking part in rugby cuppers today and both she and DS1 are doing the Oxford 10k tomorrow. He can’t keep away!

I only drop in very occasionally as my DC are three years post graduation now but so lovely to read of news from familiar names.

I am sorry about the grad job situation @PettsWoodParadise. DD (STEM) got her job by networking. She didn’t apply for a single advertised position but contacted people on LinkedIn who had her degree at and were doing the job she wanted. She basically asked her contact how they got their job. This led to a coffee meet up, handing over a CV, being invited for interview and a job offer. DD joined outside of the grad intake but still took all the professional qualifications for her role. Next month she is transferring to their Vancouver office for two years to gain more experience (and to enjoy the outdoor life!). This is a large global engineering company whom you might think would be rigid in their recruitment processes but like many companies they have an employee referral scheme to recruit talent so both DD and the contact she made benefitted.
Good luck to your DD for Finals and finding exciting opportunities after graduation.

Oh wow @ofteninaspin ! Congratulations to your DD. Vancouver is awesome. My DD of a similar vintage to her is now lecturing at C and DoS at a college (not the one your DS went to). The contract only lasts for another year but it’s all good experience.

@Malbecfan ah thank you. And congratulations to DD1 on becoming a DoS! It’s all brilliant experience.

DS is a couple of years into his job at a well known bank. He likes the culture and his part time Master’s degree is fully funded which is a huge benefit. He has just gained membership at a London tennis club after being on the waiting list since he graduated so all good. His girlfriend (same college as DS and your DD1) is also thriving in her grad role (engineering) and is based in London.

Thanks @Juja
gow is your student getting on ?

@riversflows thanks for asking 1 we are currently visiting DD in Italy where she’s spending this year as part of her degree (MFL). Despite Oxford being hopeless arranging a Uni placement and the first couple of months being rocky all has worked out very well- Had a super year and she’s an internship for June in Rome once her studies end.

That’s great news, I hope she enjoys the internship.
my student has been offered a provisional place on the graduate training scheme where the internship will be. They’re choosing which site they want to be based at, it could be here or overseas,

We visited DS (2nd year PhD) today. He has been very busy recently and has obtained a fair amount of useful data.
He won't be able to take much (any?) holiday in July or August this year as he'll be supervising an undergraduate student for a summer research project.

I write on the eve of DS' final master's exam in Maths tripos at C. He seems to have been alright through that process so far. He said he had good one today for his area of interest for the next step - a PhD at C. Fingers crossed for that and Varsity tennis match Saturday/ Sunday week in which he is playing again. He is due to meet his half sister for the first time at that occasion; it is hoped. Graduation on the 1st and his mother starts 12 weeks of weekly chemotherapy for breast cancer 2 days after that. Beyond that DS' GF has sorted a PhD at O come October. Life can be complicated.

Very best wishes with all of that @Clemenc0. Oxford tennis has proved very useful for DD in her masters & since she graduated & I never expected to say that!

@Clemenc0 wishing you and yours the very best for the next few weeks.

DD1 is here for a few days as 2 of her school friends are getting married today. The groom’s mum used to post on these threads.
DD & BF are moving to their first place together next weekend, renting a 2 bed house in C so they spent yesterday morning in IKEA buying bits. DH & I are driving a van load of furniture to them next Saturday as long as I manage to book a van! Sending my best to everyone here, especially the “old timers!”

Yes gosh, that’s a lot @Clemenc0

Here first year exams have been survived with much more inner calm than I ever managed. DC has a completely different level of self-awareness and sense of purpose. I hope it’s fully ingrained by now. Impresses me.

@Malbecfan That's very exciting. That's a long trek for the MofG these days. Hope they all have a lot of fun.

@HewasH2O indeed! Can’t wait to see the photos when DD gets back. They are the 3rd & 4th of her school cohort to marry and one other friend now also has a baby. Makes me feel ancient!

@Clemenc0 I was reading your post and may well have misread / misinterpreted but very sorry to hear about the chemo treatment - is that you - or is DS your step son and this is his mother having treatment.

Anyway hope all goes well - as you say life can be complicated.

Good morning @juja. Happy to clarify: DS is ours and it is his mother, my o/h who is going to be undergoing chemotherapy. I am DS' half-sister's father by a former partner. Happily, contact with DD has been re-established recently after a long gap during which DS has grown up not meeting her. There is and has been mutual curiosity as both were fully aware of each other's existence. Both have recently and independently confirmed a desire to meet. We hope that their curiosity can be satisfied in as sensitive and civilised a manner as such a meeting demands. C seems a reasonably neutral and calm place to start. After introduction we plan to leave them be.

Sorry to hear about chemo @Clemenc0but wishing all well and hoping for positive outcomes..

Sadly, I am currently sitting by my mother's bed after her first chemo yesterday. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 terminal cancer out of the blue five weeks ago, so I have spent the past 4 weeks working from home and pretending to my children (2 taking finals, 1 A level and 1 GCSE student) that all is well....whilst my heart breaks and my brother has held the fort. I told DS after he finished his final exam for his MEng, and DD after her grad ball, so they rushed down and have spent time with her. The younger two will be told on Sunday 😞 and so I'm expecting them to arrive next week....

Hopefully she will be well enough for me to attend DS' graduation on 3rd July. He's back up to C tomorrow to go and enjoy the last couple of weeks as an undergrad in C - bumps, a May Ball, a bit of punting and just having some fun. Then travelling until April when his job starts.

Goodness @Panicmode1. More than one I know in similar circumstances have had things align to enable them to go to graduations / weddings etc. Wishing you and your mum comfort. I hope she is not in pain.

Thank you @HewasH2O- it's all been a bit of a shock, but she has the most fabulous team of palliative care nurses, district nurses etc and her oncologist and my brother were at medical school together so she is getting (extra) special care....😊. We are trying to stay positive and pray for a miracle.

Sorry to hear about cancer and chemo @Clemenc0 and @Panicmode1 sending best wishes to all.

DS did his 2nd year exams last week and they didn't go very well so we are hoping he has done enough to pass and thankful that it doesn't count in any way towards his final grade. We expect to move his stuff home at some point in May week before he goes away for a short break with friends.

so very sorry @Clemenc0 and @Panicmode1 about the cancer journeys you are taking with loved ones. Finals, A levels and GcSEs and poorly relatives are not a good mix!

DD’s last exam was Thursday. I am heading up for a formal dinner end of this week and then again for graduation on 3rd July. Work for me has been uncertain so applying for jobs at same time as your 21 year old is ‘odd’. We’ve always been close but extra bonding opportunities have arisen over mutual antipathy to modern recruitment processes.

@Clemenc0 thanks for the explanation - sounds complex but also exciting that your DS and DD are going to meet up- I hope this goes very well and also your o/h's treatment goes very well.

Returned from a fiery France today to the welcome news that DS has achieved his Master's degree pass with Distinction - as confirmed while the tea was brewing. It means that he should be able to proceed to commence his fully-funded doctorate in October at his college. Pleased and relieved for the nth year. A while until the next stressful summer, thankfully.