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.

Cornish & teaching at post grad level. They bow to my wisdom 😂

How amazing to have got so far and achieved so much in spite of such challenges.

I still remember a uni friend for whom I had to go and help her choose a wheelchair in her second year. That experience has stayed with me and even when things feel hard I know they were never as hard as they were for my friend. When the rented stairlift failed in our shared house out would come the ratchet and it was ten turns per step. We would do a relay to get her up the stairs before nature took its course, not the sort of journey we all thought we’d be on as students - thank goodness for better accessibility arrangements in recent years.

@cantkeepawayforever your daughter sounds inspiring.

Yeah, buying the powered mobility scooter to replace her bike was one of the lower points.

She’s immensely brave, in a quiet way that many overlook. Thank you for your kind words.

Hearing you are Cornish I've just understood your username @HewasH2O !! (And I have an Oxford degree 😂)
I am also from a big northern city and have raised the kids in the far south west. DD doesn't think there are any other Cornish people in college, though she did once spot a postgrad in a Plymouth football shirt.
Younger DD off to visit for a couple of days this week. I am mostly hoping she loves it and wants to apply there, though the thought of a repeat of the stress of an Oxbridge application is somewhat daunting.
Loving hearing about those who are further along in this journey than us. DH and I met at Oxford, but neither of us went to our graduation ceremonies, so it will be a first for us assuming DD gets there.
@cantkeepawayforever, your daughter sounds amazing. You must be very proud.

Can anyone please advise whether a non-funded PhD is seen on par as a funded one? DC has an offer for a PhD (straight after undergrad @C) from a great London university, top 3 in their discipline. DC is hoping for an academic career going forward and is concerned that a non-funded degree may be seen as "inferior" post completion.

@TravellingLightToday Im just wondering how anyone would know whether or not it was funded. Once the DC gets the magic “Dr” before their name, I doubt anyone would care.

To have the intelligence, resilience and determination to study for a PhD, those are the important things, rather than who is paying. In my DDs case, she had the ability to earn money alongside her studies by supervising, lab demos etc.

@cantkeepawayforever your DD sounds amazing. In October a lady in a powered wheelchair graduated in the same ceremony as DD. The staff were brilliant, helpful but not intrusive.

TravellingLightToday which discipline? Funding is far harder to secure in some areas than in others. The scholarships associated with the funding will inevitably boost a CV going forward, and on that basis the answer is yes, a funded PhD will have an advantage beyond the purely financial.

DD - if she graduates this year - will walk, looking exactly as everyone around her does (the scooter really is a bike equivalent).

Nobody ‘not in the know’ will see the disability, the challenges it poses, the experiences it denies her and the sacrifices it entails - as part of her bravery is to choose to be cheerful and not to burden others with these things. That choice is, of the many things I am proud of, probably the thing I admire her for the most.

@TravellingLightToday I would think it all depends what discipline. In many humanities subjects it doesn't matter and they may be able to apply for scholarships as they go along. I have a young cousin currently self-financing a PhD in English Literature at an excellent London Uni.

Slightly different and not probably relevant to your DC. I did my PhD in Environmental Law part time while working and with two young children. Until they went to school all my salary had gone on childcare and while I managed to get the fees paid for by work and a couple of other bodies in effect I paid for my living costs by working half time and doing the PhD half time, I was still better off than when paying for childcare. No one ever asks me who funded my PhD and it's been a big bonus career wise having a PhD.

The critical thing with a PhD is to have excellent supervisor support who keeps you on track with writing chapters from the very beginning. I was very fortunate in that regard.

@Juja @Milmington it's a science discipline. Thank you for your messages and for sharing your experience.
@Malbecfan the consideration isn't financial. It's more about whether a non-funded PhD would be looked upon as inferior in a way, due to not being accompanied by the additional weight added by a scholarship, as @Milmington pointed out.

Hi All, I'm a long term follower and occasional poster on this thread (DC did BA and MSt at Oxford), but I've NC'd as a bit specific and outing.

DC has applied for a PhD at a number of universities, but Oxford is still their first choice because of the excellent supervisor in DC's field of interest and funding possibilities. DC is in a bit of a vexatious situation now as they have received an offer of a funded PhD in Canada and need to accept or decline by mid-March. Oxford offers will be made late Feb / early March, but funding usually comes through later.

If DC receives an Oxford offer, is it possible for them to contact the faculty admissions to ask where they stand in terms of priorities for funding? I don't know how transparent the faculties can be, and obviously they can't give any guarantees. DC's subject is in humanities, if that makes any difference.

I don't think they could expect any meaningful answer from the faculty. Can they accept the Canada offer and decline at a later stage if Oxford funding comes through?

Good to know. Unfortunately, accepting the Canadian offer and then dropping later is not an option (very complicated and frustrating issues around the timing of pre-admission language exams).

It won't be long at all before funding decisions are through. Play brinkmanship! Best of luck.

Thanks!

For Humanities the funding situation is unprecedentedly dire this year because of the AHRC’s decision to essentially pull out of funding doctorates when they are the main funder. It’s likely that there will be a tiny number of funded places this year compared to last.

If you have a funded offer on the table that DD is happy with, I would go with that and not gamble on the small chance of DD being one of the very lucky few in a process which with so few scholarships being shared between many subjects becomes about luck as much as talent

Of course DC can ask the faculty for advice and there is nothing wrong with that, but the funding decisions are largely out of their hands as they have little money to give and are dependent on other funders’ decisions and timelines. All they can do is tell them where things are in terms of timing and what funding pots they may still be in consideration for.

In any case if DC has done BA and MSt at Oxford there is a lot to be said for going elsewhere for career development reasons.

Feel free to PM me if you want to give more detail than you feel you can on here. I’m a Humanities academic.

Thank you for that @foxglovetree - lots to think about there and discuss with DC. If they have further questions, I may take up your offer of PMing.

Possibly outing but DD gained her Oxford Blue for rugby yesterday at the Varsity match. She even scored a try! Couldn’t be prouder of her. A fantastic occasion with great sportsmanship shown by both sides. I am totally gobsmacked that my daughter is now an Oxford Blue.

Well done to your daughter @HoneyMobster - fantastic achievement

That sounds great @HoneyMobster ! What makes someone a blue?

I bet she is having a ball.

@Stockpot- for rugby you have to play in the annual Varsity match (against Cambridge). There is a limit of 23 awarded a year for women. Rugby is a ‘full blue’ sport, some sports are ‘half blue’.

How fabulous @HoneyMobster - not just to have achieved a blue but scoring a try to boot. Well done to her and congrats to a rightly proud parent 🍾

Congratulations @HoneyMobster !!

Wow @HoneyMobster that's great, congratulations to her

congratulations @HoneyMobster that is brilliant!