chess | (no subject)

My mood is currently Depressed (as of the time I wrote this, anyway - I've calmed down a fair amount now). Look at the little mood icon. Watch it cry. Then read on.

The actual interviewy stuff itself went pretty much perfectly. The subject interview problems were pathetically easy. I don't know how the admissions tutor one went; it depends what he feels about being caught totally flat-footed, twice. The first time it was because I have CCHS and Braintree College down, and he couldn't work out what order I'd attended them in or basically what was going on there. The second, because they screwed up the information at the open day.

I. Have. To. Take. STEP. And that's II and III I mean. And y'know what: if I was only taking Single Maths, I'd only have to do STEP I. (Absolutely *no* laughing at the back there, Naath.) I want to kill something. Preferably something concerning the admissions staff at Churchill.

Apparently this is the second year they're asking for STEP, because the first year they asked for it turned out so well. So the second set of people that must die are the ones who didn't deliberately mess up their exam results as protest against being asked for STEP grades.

I also keep wanting to loudly proclaim various not-particularly-inventive curses involving, for instance, broom handles. (Presumably of the roughly-hewn variety.) But I don't think that would be particularly productive.

The worst bit is, I don't even know if I really want to do their course any more... I'm beginning to detest certain areas of Mathmatics with a passion, and I'm not particularly enamoured of the idea of spending yet another year fighting with them. (Of course, most compsci courses are going to have *some*, but I think I can put up with *some*, or at least I'm going to have to.) But I want the *other* things at Cambridge, like lots of highly intelligent people and Poohsoc and CURS and CICCU... and it's, like, a place I know. So it isn't as scary. But the maths is scary.

And because I don't even know if I *got* an offer until January (because the very best thing that could happen to me at this point is that I get rejected by them, so that I don't have to make any decisions, I don't feel that I could always have worked harder and driven myself further into the ground and got there and life would have been all wonderful from there on in, I can just shrug and say 'luck of the draw' and stop *worrying*. People quoting Bible verses at me about not worrying are in danger of being shot, or at least yelled at in a most incoherant fashion. I *know* all of that. It doesn't help right now.)
Having said that, I do need to do something about all this stressing before I explode. (It doesn't help that I feel increadibly selfish for whining, given that the most positive thing I do is apparently be there for people, which whining at them and expecting them to rally round kind of negates, really.)

Current Mood: depressed

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Try not to worry about it until you hear from them again, there's not a lot you can do until then. Did I mention I originally applied to Churchill and got rejected by them before getting picked up by Fitz? So you never know what can happen. *cross fingers*

ya should have applied for 25% then... silly.
Or Read. The. Prospectus.

I shall give you the STEP papers that are Neil's really but I still have because I am lazy, when I get home. Allong with everything I thought, everything Neil thought, and a lot that Mrs Kerr thought and I wrote down.

Also tell Mrs Kerr... she'll be nice and help you, because she is nice like that. Then get her chocolate.

And I bet you can do better than I did, and if you do you'll get in (what grades do they want???)

On the other hand, you could not come here and then not have to put up with nasty horrible physics pracitcals that attack you and nasty horrible 6 day weeks with 9 am lectures everyday...
There are advantages to normal universities with normal 5 day weeks, even though you do have to be there longer.

Don't be nasty Naath.

a) She wanted to do 50% compsci, not 25%, you shouldn't apply for the wrong course, that's just silly.

b) From what she's said she did read the prospectus and speak to the admissions staff. Either they were clueless or they lied, either way not her fault.

Neil

I wasn't being nasty.

Then again I *am* >1/2 asleep right now.

*sorry*

Find out what ALL the courses are and then make the informed decision. My life would have been totally different if I had done that.
It was written for a slightly different occasion a couple of years ago and builds on experience that's old but still relevant, but read http://baptism.co.nz/clearing.html - especially the last section.
You must do the right course, wherever you do it. If I'd taken 3126 instead of 3100, I would be an Oxford graduate rather than an Oxford dropout Liverpool graduate, and everything else from that point on would be different. Better? Worse? Who knows? Just different.

Hope it goes the way you want it to when you decide what that is. And whzt are Poohsoc and CURS and CICCU. For those of us not demmed worthy of cambridge. ;-)

I went to oxford, so i can hazard some guesses for you:

CICCU = Cambridge InterCollegiate Christian Union?
Poohsoc = I guess they play Poohsticks or something? Who knows.
CURS = Cambridge University Something-Beginning-With-R Society. Rock Garedning?

1. correct
2. they meet in their nightclothes and read Pooh stories
3. role-playing society

2. they meet in their nightclothes and read Pooh stories

*bzzt*

I haven't actually seen any nightclothes in evidence during the meetings; what they mainly do is propose, second and vote on a whole bunch of interestingly random and weird items, like 'A mince pie is identical to a camel'.

Silly me, I was thinking of Sheila and her Dog (http://www-stu.cai.cam.ac.uk/~lmd21/sheila.html), which I (and Bunny) got dragged to once by

kboyd.

Indeed, we're not Shelia and her Dog (Spit spit) who have infact collapsed, and no longer exist, and we never wear night clothes except in bed (okay, and when going to the toilet in the middle of the night).

Neil

...which, as far as I know, has never been something that the Society does corporately.

Indeed!

Important clarification to make that one.

Neil

"The aim of the Society shall be to meet in Elevenses and General Meetings in order to preserve and disseminate the works of A. A. Milne"

(Okay, and pass (and indeed fail) a bunch of very silly motions. Oh, and drink tea, can't forget the tea.)

See the webpage

Neil

I don't really 'get' PoohSoc. but that's not helpful, is it?
sorry, don't know how to help.

I'm not sure there's anything anyone can really do *to* help. (Except people who aren't precisely concerned with helping me, like they could give me an easy offer or hand me over to another college who proceed to give me an easy offer or even just reject me entirely...) It doesn't help that my life isn't precisely running smoothly atm even without all this fuss about Unis and evil maths.

Actually that's something of a relief. Because if you'd got Poohsoc then that would mean we hadn't and indeed that Poohsoc was several thousand miles from where it ought to be.

(And that someone had sent it, which is perhaps the most worrying part.)

All in all I have to say it's enourmously helpful that you don't have Poohsoc and as a memeber of the commitee might I humbly request that you persist in this state of non-poohsoc-getting?

Rabbit, Treasurer, John-h and the Keeper of Temporary Posts.

christ, Neil, that was insulting.

Sorry, not following. In what way?

Are you being sarcastic?

A really lost Neil

Of all things, I didn't think poohsoc was going to be a contentious issue...

Right.

Fin, Neil was trying to make a joke, in the style of Poohsoc. (Technically, he ought to have known you wouldn't see it as a joke, given that you already said you didn't know about Poohsoc.) He wasn't saying you shouldn't be at Poohsoc to be mean; he was saying he would be surprised if Poohsoc was in America because it's in Cambridge, and it would have had to move a long way, and he probably wouldn't be able to get to America to go to it. (i.e. taking something very slightly different than what you'd said, and taking it too literally. Ick, this is starting to sound like the *last* thing I attempted to explain to you, and we all know how badly *that* worked.)

Neil, didn't I tell you to drop this, and that it wasn't worth explaining because it would just raise the temperature? Maybe you should, you know, listen to me occasionally? Especially given this is my journal, and I knew how difficult it would be to try and explain what you actually *meant* and the spirit in which you said it to Fin?

I'm beginning to think it might be wise for me to propose we delete/screen this entire mess of misunderstanding and pretend it didn't happen. Anyone want to second that?

Its ok mate. im sure its some hyper elitest socioty that is even further beyond that of normal cambridge students. Chess could end up as an astronought ;-)

On the contary The Pembroke College Whinnie the Pooh Society excepts any memeber of the univeristy (and, subject to support by a member of the committee and a majority vote in any elevenses meeting, any one resident within 3 miles of Great St Mary's), even if they can't figure out how to reply to comments and keep replying to the post instead.

(Hint: it's the "Reply to This" button immeadiatly under the comment you want to reply to).

Neil

Thanks thats soo nice of you to point out.

accepts, definitely accepts (and indeed university for that matter .. you know, it's not my day).

Neil

Whose day is it?

This is the day that the Lord has made,
We will rejoice and be glad in it ...

Gosh it's ages since I sung that song. Odd how these things stick with you (maybe it's because you repeat the words of a song so often (That is, if you sing it often over a period of time ;-))).

Neil

Hello randomly found person! It's not true... Cambridge said they wanted me to do STEP waayy back when I were applying for 1999 entry to Maths & CS - in fact Warwick did ask me for STEP, so I told them where to get off and luckily got in to oxford. So Good luck!

I advise you to go for the *other* things at Cambridge. Whatever course you take you will end up hating it (true of anything else), unless you are some hyper-academia goad.

Isn't Churchill College a great concrete block? That's the other reason I didn't apply to Cambridge, I went for an open day there...

Yes, Churchill college is indeed a great concrete block. I like ugly colleges. Anyway, it has lots of shiny metal statues of complete modern-art-type randomness to snicker at.

I used to be some kind of hyper-academic idiot. Now I'm just another computer-addicted drone.

I used to be some kind of hyper-academic idiot. Now I'm just another computer-addicted drone.

Wow, you too?

*nods*

Admit it. We Are The Same Person. Only, like, with different hair. And stuff.

And clearly, you have better mathsense than me.

Bah. They were asking you mental arithmatic questions, on which I also suck.

Well then.

Pooh bear is cool. he likes honnei and trapping hefferlumps. Pooh bear is onr of my personal heros.

Pooh likes hunny and trapping heffalumps. There are correct ways to spell words incorrectly. Stick with them!

But I want the *other* things at Cambridge, like lots of highly intelligent people and Poohsoc and CURS and CICCU

Wherever you go, you have a high chance of being surrounded by lots of highly intelligent people... And maybe other places can't offer Poohsoc, but no university is complete without societies for all manner of religions and roleplaying fetishes. And I realise that that wasn't exactly what you meant, but anywhere you go is likely to have good things and good people attached to it, and yeah, I get that Cambridge might be less scary but...but stuff. And things.

Oh, ignore me, am not making much sense.

*HUGS*

Yes, but if she goes to Mdx. she'll be surrounded by morons, gangstas and teen mothers, and we have no good societies. DON'T COME TO MIDDLESEX! I BEG OF YOU! FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR SANITY!

And stop trying to make her go to Warwick, you.

Theres nouthing roung with middlesex. I dont live in it but i live as far west as you can in london and middlesex is nextdore to me. And most of my friends live there. You get all those things allover the place and its better to be exposed to them now and no more about life rather then not experince any of it and get into trouble later in life. Becides there are worce things to watch out for in unis like camebridge and oxford and thats rich kids with rohypnol and no morals.

Middlesex Uni. Campus. Tottenham. White Hart Lane. We don't use rohypnol because we can't afford it. Round here, we have hammers and heroin addicts instead. Did I mention the crackwhores? No?

Being a wee bit prejudiced about the Oxbridge set, aren't we?

Fair enough i stayed a night in totenham and woke up in a cold swet every 30 mins and had to look at my bike out the window. Yes i have to conceide that tottenham is a filthy ming rat pit. but my friend and his family live there and im assuming that you live there so its not all bad. And yes i dont really like oxbridge much.

I suppose it depends where in Tottenham. Suffice it to say that matchdays around here are not pleasant.

Yep. Luckly when im in totenham the music drowns out the sounds of the turfwars going on outside.

A few pseudo-random thoughts here. I'm not sure whether they'll be useful at all, and I suspect that they probably aren't what you want to be hearing, so read or don't read them with that in mind.

For starters, a rejection would not be the best thing that could happen to you. Making decissions, especially about important things, can be really tough sometimes, but it is one of the things that make us human and it isn't something we should shy away from. And at the end of the day, you have the knowledge and ability to make decissions as to what is best for you a whole lot better than anyone else does.

With that in mind, if you don't want to go to Cambridge then don't go to Cambridge. There is nothing wrong with getting an offer and then not going, and anyone who would think less of you for that is, well, a bit silly really.

Yes, Cambridge is an absolutely gorgeous city, and there are lots of cool people there, and the extracuricular side to the university is ace, but this is also true of some other universities. I don't know where else you've applied, so I can't comment on specifics, but I'd bet that they all have ome good stuff to offer in tht regard.

And while all the extra-curicular stuff should be an influencing factor in deciding what university you should go to, so should the course. And I say that as someone who has dropped out of two universities courses that really weren't even vaguely suitable for her. Doing a course that you're not going to enjoy is a Bad Thing, especially with maths. And I don't know the details, but I'd be fairly confident in saying that the maths in a CU compsci course is going to be hard. And again, I speak from experience when I say that doing a course with difficult maths that you aren't enjoying sucks quite exceptionally.

Which brings me onto STEP. If you have a teacher to help you thrpugh it, as Naath suggested, then STEP really shouldn't be too much of a problem; at least in terms of doing well enough at it to get in. Yes, I know that it's an extra workload at a time where you really don't want that workload, which sucks, but other than that it should be OK. Think of it as a taster of what's to come. If you're finding it horrendously difficult and hating every minute of it, then it's worth considering that maybe Cambridge isn't for you.

And reading all of what I've just written back through, I realise that I've come across as a whole lot more negative than I intended to. The problem as I see it, is that there's a whole lot of pro-Oxbridge sentiment around, and people are encouraged to apply for Oxbridge if they can, and, in my case at least, there wasn't a balancing voice. I was a straight A student, I wanted to do physics, therefore I applied to Oxford. It was that simple, and it shouldn't have been, and with hindsight I think I'd have been better off going to Lancaster or Durham or somewhere.

I'm not trying to say that you shouldn't go to Cambridge. Far from it. I utterly love both Oxford and Cambridge. They're both gorgeous cities, they both have high quality courses, and great extracuricular activities. They just aren't suited to everyone. And if you are having doubts about the course, then please, sit down and think about it. If you decide that Cambridge is right, then that's great. If you decide that you'd rather be somewhere else then there's no shame in that either.

And whatever does happen in the end, I hope that everything turns out well for you.

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