h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Yeah, I finally get around to posting again. Wahey.

Main news is about Unis, as usual. My current stances are:

Cambridge. Received letter this morning: I've been pooled. I'm still not too bothered about whether I get an offer or not, so it's just typical I get the answer saying they haven't decided. Even more annoying, I may have to go back to Cambridge for further interviews.

Durham. Got offer of AAA (Maths, Physics, either Chemistry or Further Maths) several weeks ago...much to my amusement, a couple of days before I received a standard letter saying "due to our way of making decisions, you will probably hear from us much later than other Unis. Do not worry". At the time, the offer required a third A in either Chemistry or Eng Lit - which I'm no longer doing - with no mention of Further Maths. I e-mailed them about it and they changed it to the one I described. SHould be visiting the Uni in MArch and make a decision about whether it's my first choice or not then.

Birmingham. Got offer of AAB, almost as soon as I'd applied. Can't say I'm too in favour of the UNi as it's too local.

Warwick. Got an offer of AAA or AAB, depending on whether Further Maths is one of the three. It's a nice Uni, much nicer than I thought from having just driven through it once, but there are various reasons arguing against my going there. May well be a second choice, I think.

Nottingham. Had an interview there which was quite easy and have an offer, although they haven't officially sent me the conditions yet. At the talk though, they said AAA. The campus is a strange juxtaposition of being wonderful in that it's almost a park, and being amazingly ugly where the actual buildings are. Not bad, and somewhere to consider a bit more...just the grades are a bit high for a second choice. However, I expect they don't actually require those grades and they'd let me in on lower if I were to mess up my exams.

York. E-mailed me a week or two ago and said my application has been put on hold until next term, when they'll know more about numbers of applicants and stuff. Dunno if this means they're not sure if they'll give me an offer, or simply if they're not sure they'll have enough people to run the course I chose. They're certainly not a top choice at the moment, but I may change my mind if I do get an offer and pay them a visit.

Still, that's all I've got time for now. Out.

March... Just about when the nice weather starts. It was freezing in Durham at the end of last term.

Nice to see you're still visiting, anyway.

Further developments:

Got a phone call this afternoon...admissions guy from Selwyn College, Cambridge saying "ah, we're offering you a place...you'll get a letter shortly. Oh, and tell your school for us please."

Sort of surprised me, as my pooled letter - received the day before yesterday - did mention the possibility of still getting an offer from Selwyn but said this would happen after Pool interviews (14-16 Jan) and felt the need to stress "this now seems unlikely". Why do unlikely things keep on happening to me?

Still, I now have an offer, so have to make a decision. This means my visit to Durham is even more important, and I still need to send off that conformation form for it.

In response to your point, RFJS_...I'm glad I should be visiting in the warm, as I've very much taken against the cold this year. I had heard that Durham wasn't actually too bad in the winter due to a sea wind or something, and possibly even warmer than C'bridge. What sort of temps were you looking at up there this time around?

It's the wind off the _North_ Sea; if anything it's a good thing we're not that close to the coast. I spend Christmas with relatives in Sunderland, which is closer to the sea, and is also perishing. I'm afraid I don't remember what the actual temperatures were, though.

But anyway -- congratulations on your offer , and good luck deciding.