Aiming for Oxford/Cambridge universities for my daughter

Out,_Vile_Jelly

You can't assume that Oxbridge are the best for every subject.

My A Level English teacher advised me to think very carefully about applying to Oxbridge, as the English course there is very rigid (starts at Chaucer and trundles through the ages). He said if I was more interested in later literature there would be more varied options at a red brick university (correct). The brightest girl in my 6th Form went to Nottingham, as that was the best rated at the time for Medicine. She became a consultant very quickly.

Remember the Open University is an option for everyone, at any age, whatever they do after school. I don't think it's bigged up enough by teachers who often think the only route in life is A Levels and conventional university.

pinkandblueshoe

Im going to be quite blunt here. The previous posts the OP has made is all about what they want for their kids. This is just another of them.

My advice. Leave your daughter to make up her own mind about what she wants to do and when.

I actually dont agree that your heart has to be in the subject you want to study. Mine wasn't. It bored me to tears and was a means to an end. Unless you want to specialise in a specific subject which I didnt at undergraduate level but did at post grad level, you can end up doing a generic degree which doesn't thrill you to bits but you want to pass regardless.

I also know other people who didn't love their degree subjects and passed. It shouldn't matter if the daughter gets her degree at cambridge, the local poly, anywhere in between, or not at all.

I also find it odd that there's been very little in the way of further input since this thread was started.

bambinaUK

I had similar thoughts about wanting my youngest to go to Oxford or Cambridge. I was quite firmly told 'no', my next suggestion for Durham was firmly turned down too. I was finally told to 'back-off as it was her decision and her debt'. I have obviously brought her up well :T

Missyhenry

pinkandblueshoe wrote: »

Im going to be quite blunt here. The previous posts the OP has made is all about what they want for their kids. This is just another of them.

My advice. Leave your daughter to make up her own mind about what she wants to do and when.

I actually dont agree that your heart has to be in the subject you want to study. Mine wasn't. It bored me to tears and was a means to an end. Unless you want to specialise in a specific subject which I didnt at undergraduate level but did at post grad level, you can end up doing a generic degree which doesn't thrill you to bits but you want to pass regardless.

I also know other people who didn't love their degree subjects and passed. It shouldn't matter if the daughter gets her degree at cambridge, the local poly, anywhere in between, or not at all.

I also find it odd that there's been very little in the way of further input since this thread was started.

Perhaps it shouldn't matter, but for both the quality of the learning experience and your future career plans, it definitely does.

geek84

Thanks for all your responses so far, folks.

fairy_lights

geek84 wrote: »

Thanks for all your responses so far, folks.

You still haven't said Geek, what does your daughter want? Instead of thinking about what you want for her, a better option would be finding out what she is interested in and then doing what you can to help her reach her goals.