Helping prep son for Oxbridge application

gingin_2

Emmzi wrote: »

my heart sinks when I interview an Oxbridge graduate. Such sense of entitlement, no sense of reality, and "hilarious" stories about punting with Jonty and Tim...

Ok, a generalisation, there is the odd one from the real world, but if he doesn't want to be a spy, a redbrick would do just as well!

I get a bit defensive when I hear people slating Oxbridge graduates. I live in central Cambridge and both my children attend local schools. Youngest has had numerous positive experiences thanks to the university and students giving their time. Eldest gets to attend a homework club after school, run purely by volunteer students - who better can you get to help with your homework! And I know that the local family centre has a large number of volunteers from the uni.

The children also go to school with many children of parents who have been taught and now work at the university and I can't think of one who would fit your anecdote.

I'm town, not gown BTW.

Emmzi

gingin wrote: »

The children also go to school with many children of parents who have been taught and now work at the university and I can't think of one who would fit your anecdote.

I'm town, not gown BTW.

Maybe the profession I work in currently is attracting a certain profile

Nicki

Emmzi wrote: »

Maybe the profession I work in currently is attracting a certain profile

Or just possibly the interviewers are projecting their own preconceptions on the candidates.

Like many other Oxbridge graduates, I came from nothing, a poor family and mediocre state school and worked very hard to get where I did. I had a fantastic time at university and thoroughly enjoyed it, but have never had a sense of entitlement in my life and nor did most of my contemporaries from similar backgrounds. I was also one of the most practical and pragmatic trainees in the firm when I started work more than 20 years ago.

I have no doubt however that when they hear I was at Cambridge that some people immediately put me in a certain box and have certain preconceptions of what I am like. Whether they are correct though is a different matter.

Oldernotwiser

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

And another vote for choosing the 'best' course for you, rather than the 'best' university.

Within reason.

Oldernotwiser

Worth looking at.

http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/working_with_schools_and_colleges/uniq/new_summer_school.html

lostinrates

Emmzi wrote: »

Maybe the profession I work in currently is attracting a certain profile

Perhaps then the university is not the key denominator in that profile but rather the industry/sector? Or indeed something else?

I know VERY FEW people in our wider circle who I think would fit that profile, whether from public school then Oxford or state school then Oxford (like dh and his siblings). DH, despite being from a family immersed in the Oxford ''culture''....his father, his own education, and in fact, other close family members who are Dons. There is a reasonably strong (admittedly often more champagne than beer)socialist and social conscience vibe in some of the community there, to equal the reputation for Conservative output.

JenE_2

I did Maths at Oxford, just before fees came in (lucky me!), and the best advice I can give is for your son to visit and have a good look round both Oxford and Cambridge. I'd expect all the colleges have open days through the summer and as I was coming from oop north I stayed over for both the open days I went to, which I think helped get a bit of a feel for living there. Bear in mind that each of the colleges will be different and try to research that a bit before he goes - I wanted to be in a big college as I'd not really made close friends at my (below average, comprehensive) school and thought I'd rather have a wider peer group. Some colleges have a very academic record, whilst others have a more political reputation (whilst still being very academic). We used to produce an Alternative Prospectus (done by the students, rather than the college marketing dept) - they probably still do and they're useful to get another view.

The interviews are daunting, and they are testing to see if the candidates can make an argument for their answers (even a bit in maths), rather than necessarily get it right. I had two 1:1 interviews in my chosen college and another 1:1 in another college, and in all of them the tutors had a page of questions from which I picked ones I could do and talked through the methodology. We also had a 2-hour (I think) test, which was probably a bit harder than A-level standard, in that the questions didn't really guide you through as I seem to remember A-levels did a bit. For the more essay-based subjects (including Economics) I understand the interviews are more theoretical.

I'd highly recommend the experience, yes we did work hard, but the terms are short and everyone is in the same boat and in my experience the others on my course were very supportive. Having said that, there was the odd occasion when I thought "I could be at xy redbrick and finding it all straightforward instead of being here and finding it hard" (based on friends from school telling me what they were studying elsewhere), but I'm really glad I was pushed hard and challenged.

I'm afraid I have had views like Emmzi's, and I am a bit careful how I tell people where I went to uni, but I think that's down to the British way of putting down people who are seen as clever or high-achieving and it's their problem not mine.

Best of luck to your son - I hope he is happy wherever he goes.