2015 Yr 12 support thread

[Needmoresleep]

Mocks this week, and the reality of AS exams in a few months is starting to hit home. I don't think it will be an easy journey, so would welcome some company.

hellsbells99 Good for your DD. DS2 is learning to drive although not yet opened the Highway code .

DS1 went on a couple of those masterclasses in 2012.I took him to the first and wandered around Cambridge for the day , he really enjoyed the days and got loads of useful information about applications etc.

Hi Secret. We won't be going to the open day so I hope she gets what she needs to out of the day. I am personally hoping she goes to a more northern university eventually.

Is anyone else's DC grumpy as grumpy can be? My DD has 2 exams to go (Maths/Chemistry) and is in such a funk...certainly not a 'joy' to have around. I have to keep reminding myself that this is 'not my real child' as she moans and groans around the house finding displeasure in all and everything! Nothing I say helps...

She also feels that Oxbridge is now out of the equation because of one exam and there is nothing I can say to give her any perspective on it :(

I'm however looking forward to our Open Days - especially Bristol/Bath which I hope she will also find inspiring - at the moment she feels she will get in no where!!!

DD1 appears convinced that cambridge now off the table as a result of the first history exam. We are still going to the open day though. And another day at the RCM the day before (she already did the general open day, this iis a specific day just for her instrument). Having only the one paper left she has been working steadily but not killing herself over half term. And we've all been watching a lot of our favourite programme (essentially our family religion) in the evenings to give her 'therapy').

Nabobs, in exactly the same position re Cambridge because of the history. But still taking the day off to visit.

Sorry Narv, predictive text clearly thought you were someone else.

It sounds as though there will be quite a collection of us at the Cambridge open day!

When's the open day? I'm going to be there on 23/6 - dd2 applied for a Sutton trust summer school (unlikely to get a place), got turned down for that but invited to do Experience Cambridge www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/outreach/experience-cambridge and that involves two trips. I've never been, so I thought I'd take her (Park and Ride?) and have a wander.

I'm also not exactly liking the fact that so many of them are now saying, "right that's it, no Cambridge for me" now the exams have started, but I am thinking very fondly of our little bunch of perfectionists! We'll hold off on the next Oxbridge thread till results day, yes?

Open days 2/3 July Atia. We're booked to go on 2nd so that will be 3 trips to Cambridge in 2 weeks for DD!

Yes, think holding off on the 2016 Oxbridge thread is a good plan although it would be good to have somewhere to share the UMS angst in the run up to/immediate aftermath of results day. DD says it's tricky discussing it with anyone who isn't looking at a potential Cambridge application because they don't understand that low A's wouldn't be good enough...

I am hoping DD2 doesn't go down the Oxbridge route, although we are going to look at her request. She doesn't really flourish in a high pressured environment. She likes to get up late and do things at her own pace. She also doesn't like late nights so won't be studying until midnight etc. Although she is very quirky! From a personal point of view, it would also be easier for us if she selected a university more 'up North', and she is a 'home bird' so would want to be able to get home for some weekends.
We looked at universities last year with DD1, so DD2 has been to Nottingham, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, UEA, and then DD1 and I also did Bath & Cardiff. This year, DD2 will be going to Oxford, Cambridge masterclass, Durham, Leeds, Sheffield and possibly Bristol. Gosh that sounds a lot! DD2 is also saying she cannot really remember last year's visits as they all seem to roll into 1.....

We might go to see York too!

hellsbells we're the same - DS is a very anxious sort of teen and both he and we felt that a university where he could get home for the weekend if he needed to recharge was very important. Hence the opposite to you; we drew a line across the country and are sticking to the south of it!

Atia and Marni we'll be at the Cambridge open day on the 3rd - and I definitely agree about not starting an Oxbridge thread yet!

tricky discussing it with anyone who isn't looking at a potential Cambridge application because they don't understand that low A's wouldn't be good enough...
yy - same here DS is convinced that because of the UMS scores and the questions he got wrong that Cambridge is now off the radar and grandparents people who don't know about that say the wrong thing . Most of DSs year group will be applying for Oxbridge, so at least he is with people who understand and can support each other.
DH and are saying nothing except, forget the exams that have happened and you can't change, focus on the exams still to come (4 next week, 1 the week after).
Ds has booked him and me to Cambridge on the (2nd/3rd? - Friday) - was surprised he wanted me there, but happy to go and hover some distance away ( MN meet-up in a nice coffee shop?)
For those thinking about nearby unis for nervous teenagers - can change dramatically when they get there and meet more like-minded peeps - a friend's son who was a total recluse as a teen (and they worried he would never make friends) became a wildly popular and outgoing student, to the extent she then worried he was going out too much

Mrs UC I love your username.

Tip one. Have your lunch early, so pick the order you look at colleges by geography. We arrived at a nice pizza chain at 11.45am and had a relaxed lunch whilst watching a stream of people being turned away.

Tip two. Be firm wih grandparents and explain that Oxbridge is a lottery. Lots of really strong candidates don't get offers (and one or two rather dull ones do). In our case a second cousin was applying at the same time which seemed to spark some sort of strange latent sibling rivalry between great aunt and grandmother. In the end both got interviews, neither got places, and both are very happy where they ended up. Unfortunately that generation clearly saw Oxbridge as the gold standard. It would have been quite awkward within the family if one got a place and not the other.

MrsUltra - DD will definitely not be discussing Oxbridge with most of her peers as it is a normal comp. Last year 2 got in, this year none have got in (4 applied) and from DD's year, I would think perhaps 4 or 5 will apply. Leeds seems to be a very popular choice with this year's year 13s, with Manchester, Birmingham, Durham, York, Nottingham all popular too.

I think dd2 is thinking that if she still wants to apply to Cambridge then she will go to the September open day to look at colleges. She has/will have had plenty of exposure to departmental and general information by then.

She is far more anxious/sensitive than dd1, and yes, I've worried about where she might end up. (Secretsquirrel was very reassuring!) But she's ruled out Manchester due to their course I think, so that's good, and current other favourites are Leeds (one of my best friends lives there) and Newcastle (my godmother lives there) so although they are an awfully long way from home, it's nice to think that if she ended up in either of them that there would be people there to look after her :)

We're going on the Friday. And RCM the day before for a specialist day relating to her principle study. DD1 also did a subject outreach day earlier this year which she adored. DD1 is booked for an open day at York this month but has to change this since its logistically impossible (I will be in Brussels and DD2 is in a show which means DH won't be able to drive DD1 - and it's not possible to do inside 3 (well, 2.5 but it would involve 3 days) days by public transport unless she only stays there for a couple of hours. It also costs a bomb going by train. I think DD1 will carry on as though she is applying (because the school makes the oxbridge kids do their PSs and does all the references etc before the summer) but make her decision after the results are out. She has to do the PS stuff this term anyway because the conservatoire deadline is even earlier than the oxbridge one and she wants to submit everything together, not have it drag on and on. She just wants it all to be over really.

Just popped in from the Y13 thread (waves to Atia and hellsbells!) to offer cheer to those of you feeling worried about History AS and Oxbridge applications. We were in exactly the same boat last year with dd in floods of tears at how badly her History AS had gone. She made out that she wasn't even going to pass as it had been so dreadful and I thought that would be her Cambridge aspirations out of the window. Come results day and she did very well in history (in fact better than in any of her other subjects and it is English that she is going to study). She got her interview and has an offer for Cambridge, so please don't give up hope and don't cancel any open day visits on the back of how your dc have reacted to the exam!

Hello MrsB ....waves back...!
I don't know the first thing about Cambridge (or Oxford). How many colleges did you look round? How do you go about selecting a college? Trying to choose a degree course is bad enough without the extra stress of colleges being involved! Any advice gratefully received

Hi hellsbells. We looked at the websites and thestudentroom has a very useful guideline to the different colleges. Dd didn't want a girls college (she is at a girls school and felt it was time she met some more boys!) so we eliminated those . She also wanted to be fairly central. In the end we narrowed it down to about 3 to look around. Emmanuel (which is where she has her offer from) was her favourite before we visited and then she liked it a lot when she finally saw it. However, we went to look at Jesus and she preferred the accommodation there. She ended up going for Emmanuel, though, as it seemed a better fit. Jesus seemed quite sporty (and dd is not at all sporty) and Emmanuel has a theatre which is much more up her street. The reason is she was drawn to Emmanuel in the first place, though was that in a survey of students, when they were asked which college they would like to be in if they couldn't be in their own - Emmanuel came top and they do your washing for you

hellsbells99 Your DD sounds very much like my DS2. She doesn't really flourish in a high pressured environment. She likes to get up late and do things at her own pace. She also doesn't like late nights so won't be studying until midnight. That's DS2.
The other factor that has put him off Oxbridge was DS1's experience. DS1 is quite different and does flourish in a high pressure environment. He got an offer for Cambridge last year and the pressure was immense. It was for Maths which is different from pretty much any other subject and he missed his offer because of the STEP entrance exam. DS1 is another like NeedMoreSleep's DS who is flourishing elsewhere.
As to choosing colleges. There is a huge amount of detail on the Cambridge website DS looked at each college and how they structured the interview process. He is very good at tests and exams, not so hot at interviews (although the Cam maths interview was in fact nothing less than an oral exam). He chose a college where they select by one interview based around a maths paper sat the day before. Some colleges did two interviews.

DS has just been home for supper. (Advantages of being close to home.) He confirmed he is really happy where he is. I assume that this is normal. Though you may thinkl you want to go to one place, within a few months you will think where you are is the best place.

DS was appplying for economics. However his interview was like a maths oral. (Two interviews but the maths was tougher not least because he had a heavy cold.) He chose a college where they used a critical thinking test as he had previously obtained high marks on a mock paper. Then between application and interview the college changed the way they selected.

Ah well. It may however be worth a bit of research on the lines of Churchill likes scientists etc.

Thank you for all your advice! It is much appreciated.
Secret - I think DD2 thinks I am being an inverted snob but I think she would have a better time somewhere closer to home and less intense. Ultimately it will be her decision though.
Needmore - I am hoping DD1 gets into her first choice as that is an hour away on the train ...not too far and not too close!
MrsB - we will certainly have a look at Emmanuel, thanks.

hells Cambridge have an alternative prospectus that has loads of info on the colleges. There's also things to consider like, some colleges will give you a college room for three years, which might be a draw.