DD decided against applying for Oxbridge

[SinuousTendrils]

My DD has finally decided not to apply for Oxbridge. Of course i realise she had a slim chance of getting in but I'd really hoped she'd throw her hat in the ring. With the current graduate jobs market as it is, I thought she might be in with a chance of a golden ticket if she got in.
Is it really that dire out there? Would a talented high achiever really struggle to find a career after uni? I've been advising her to consider her STEM subjects rather than literature, which i think she'd enjoy more...thinking at Oxbridge humanities degrees still have currency...it's so hard, isn't it?!

I have sent dd UCL courses today, they look amazing and would cover her interests/skills, thank you. She's not keen on London though but should probably rethink that.

ChristheBastard haha I have heard the same about Jaint Sons, and my brother works there!

I went to Oxford due to family and school expectations. It was the worst thing that happened to me. If she doesn't feel it's right for her I would implore you to trust her judgement.
The market is tough but Oxbridge is only a golden ticket for certain things and if she is thriving and passionate she is much more likely to find her version of success. ❤ she will be ok.

If she can't narrow down what she wants to do, have you looked at joint honours? If she's really academic, Maths and Philosophy is a fabulous degree that gives you an extraordinary and flexible skill-set. Back in the day, I couldn't work out whether I wanted to study Physics or English - I did physics and philosophy and found my passion. But it does depend on whether she can't choose because she's interested in too much, or whether she can't choose because she's very bright but not that intellectually motivated.

Several Oxbridge candidates don't have jobs, despite trying. It is hard. Must be made harder by all those saying that it's easy to find work and if you're unemployed, you're stupid or lazy, because their nieces all have jobs. Yes, some people are lucky, so your daughter might be one of the lucky ones. Either way, let us decide for herself and just tell her to choose for herself and you'll be supportive and not try to influence her in any way.

There are some really good apprenticeships now, a colleagues daughter is doing one at JP Morgan.

The best ones are even more competitive than a lot of uni courses but with those grades she stands a good chance.

Maths and philosophy was the course she was looking at at Oxford 😊
Also PPE at Warwick.
Sounds brilliant.

I think Warwick does maths and philosophy too! Brilliant department in both subjects...

Sheffield is a fab place to study and probably much more fun than Oxford/Cambridge as they have more down time to enjoy themselves.

I know lots of graduates who studied business finance economics and failed to secure a professional job even with good degrees. The only graduates who had secured a job needing a degree were those who studied law (employed by a solicitors) and accountancy. I think many people change as they go through university students change subjects, drop out . Whilst having a career path can be helpful to signpost before university unless you are passionate about what you are studying it’s pretty pointless considering the amount of graduates today chasing a much smaller pool of jobs and opportunities.

Glad to hear a shout out for Maths & Philosophy as that's what dd is aiming for this year (and in Scotland, so she can also sample a third subject in her first year). I know a lot of posters have advised a gap year, but my understanding is some universities are less keen on this for those studying maths due to concerns that your maths skills can get rusty during this break. Not true everywhere, I'm sure.

A friend’s DD is just coming to the end of her maths and philosophy degree at York and has loved it.

I am a retired academic and I now tutor postgrads privately. I can honestly advise her to take a gap year rather than drift into a degree course for the sake of it. When I was researching degrees and unis it was before the internet so it was hours in libraries looking in prospectuses and visiting campuses. By the time I had fixed on a course i knew the names of the subject experts I wanted to study with. One of them later became my supervisor at postgrad level. Ive seen students who are brilliant miss out on a first for lack of enthusiasm and application. Ive also seen slightly less able ones earn a 1st because they loved the subject and worked like dogs. Brilliance alone is no guarantee of success without motivation and direction.

My brother who got better A level grades than me went to Sheffield and loved it. He had excellent pastoral care.

I went to Oxford. I also loved it but had to deal with a shock family bereavement in the middle of my second year exams - including going to care for my mother in between exams over 3hrs away. As you can imagine, those exams did not go well, the university were immovable and I remain bitter to this day.

Both mine took a gap year. One went to a top 4 in league table uni and now just finished masters at oxbridge - applying for jobs currently. The other is doing a degree apprenticeship and having a brilliant time (they hada place at one of the unis on your list) Great salary, degree paid for, job guaranteed at end if does well. Both had a year working before uni/apprenticeship which has helped with applications.
Has your dd thought about apprenticeships?

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An interdisciplinary degree might be the answer if she doesn’t have a passion for a single subject- Lane Economy and PPE are good examples but there are others too.

I didn’t go to Oxford, I went to a university with 99% employment rate and had a graduate job 6 months before I graduated. Some of the courses have 100% employment rates. Thats what you need to look for, not prestige.

Is she applying this autumn? I’d encourage your DD to go to a few different open days in the meantime. My DD wasn’t especially keen on applying to Oxbridge either but really enjoyed the open day. Maybe if your DD attends a few including Oxbridge you would feel comfortable that she’s making an informed decision, wherever she applies.

I’ve got a few friends who loved Oxbridge and 2 friends who hated it so I would say it’s not a given that it’s a great experience.

I was gutted last year when my DS made an error in booking an online exam which he needed as part of the application for Cambridge, he was too, and we deliberated in him having a year out to reapply . He is thriving now in Sheffield. No idea what the outcome could be, and whether he made the right choice, bit we’ll never know. Sheffield is such a friendly, beautiful city though and I’m thrilled he is there

So my DD22 is going to graduate in July. She got 3 x A* at A Levels and went to Surrey Uni to study Chemistry. She's on track to get a 1st. She had year in industry doing lab work in her 3rd year and that has directly led to her being offered the 1st graduate job she applied for at an excellent research establishment 15 min drive from our home - she got the job offer last week, one week after she came home. She got an offer from Warwick when she was applying for Uni but didn't like the course as much. Her friend at Uni was at either Oxford or Cambridge doing Chemistry. Hated it and switch to Surrey where he'll also get a 1st and is doing a PhD at Surrey afterwards (he did year in industry and Masters at the same time). There's no golden ticket but choosing the right degree subject, working hard and definitely doing a year in industry within certain degrees is invaluable.

Just to also add my DD has enjoyed being one of the top students in her year at Surrey doing Chemistry. She obviously wouldn't have been one of the cleverest at Oxford/Cambridge etc. She's in a smaller cohort. Knows her personal tutor and lecturers well and didn't struggle to keep up. Being one of the cleverest in her year has been great for her self esteem too. It depends on your DDs personality to some extent OP. I believe Oxbridge have very intense shorter terms where students are basically told not to get any p/t jobs whilst they are doing their degrees. So it depends on what sort of studying/life balance your DD is after too.

There’s no such thing as a golden ticket, the job market is difficult. My son’s girlfriend graduated with a first from Durham and has taken over a year to get a job.

You generally can't work p/t during term at Oxbridge, but accommodation costs are less than many unis. They both offer substantial grants to students from households that have less than about £60k income.

I don't like celery yet supermarkets insist on stocking it even though they clearly won't sell any.

See the parallels?

I chose not to apply for Oxbridge - I wasn't interested in extra student debt and all the formal dinners sounded awful!
I also didn't get into the top uni for my subject (they wanted an S-level from an exam board my college didn't teach).
Best thing that ever happened to me. I got the top exam scores 2 out of 4 years in the uni I did go to, went on to do a fully funded PhD which has pretty much given me access to any job I wanted. If I'd gone to the top school I'd have been average amongst all the top students, would have had a much more stressful time and probably wouldn't have done the PhD.