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Calvin has been invited for interview at Oxford University


Laura Corin
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Ooo - what fun!  That sounds like something my younger two would do.  It is interesting how that book appeals to boys.

 

Nan

 

What I love about the Peter/Harriet books is that they show 'two independent and equally irritable intelligences' coming to a rational, negotiated relationship.  There aren't many books that show that kind of love.

 

L

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Funny you should quote Lord Peter.  Calvin has Gaudy Night with him.  If he has any spare time, he's going location hunting.

 

L

Let us know how he does location hunting. It is my favorite Sayers. Would love to have a go.

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Let us know how he does location hunting. It is my favorite Sayers. Would love to have a go.

 

I told him he needed to feed crushed meringues to the fish, if they're there.  But it's probably not allowed these days.  

 

At least he can salute the massive continuity of ducks.

 

L

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Laura, have you read the Ngaio Marsh books?  Those have a bit of the same flavour.  The detective loves an artist.  The artist is involved with some of the mysteries.  She is a strong character and keeps her career.  They aren't quite the same, but I still like them. - Nan

 

Yes - I've read Ngaio Marsh, but not for many years.  I don't actually read much mystery fiction - Sayers' writing sets her apart for me.

 

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

L

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Oooh!  The first post of this thread received a 'popular' star.  I didn't know they existed.  Does that make me the Prom Queen?  Whatever that is.  Or does it make Calvin the Prom Queen?  I suspect he'd need to shave for that.

 

L

I have never seen one of those before. I think it may be the first. Tell Calvin it means we are all cheering him on!!!

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LOL - Laura, I thought you had put the star there. Rather uncharacteristic, I thought, but how well do we really know other board members? Perhaps it means a million people sending good thoughts Calvin's way.

 

The character I like in the Ngaio Marsh books is the mother. I hope I am like her when I am old. And having sons, I naturally like the realtionship she has with the main character.

 

Nan

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Laura, have you read the Ngaio Marsh books? Those have a bit of the same flavour. The detective loves an artist. The artist is involved with some of the mysteries. She is a strong character and keeps her career. They aren't quite the same, but I still like them. - Nan

Nan, should one start with 'A Man Lay Dying' ?

 

I'm also a diehard Sayers fan, but have heard of Ngaio Marsh books for ages & would like to try them ... Especially intrigued by your remarks, as the mother of sons also :)

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The empty post is supposed to say:

 

You might not like her. I have odd taste in mothers.

 

Laura in CA - I think where you start depends on why you are reading them. If you want to begin where the main character's romance starts, then you might want to start with Artists in Crime (or Artist in Crime?). Otherwise, you can start at the beginning of the series. There are a few other characters that will be a bit more fun if you start at the beginning, but there are a lot of them and you don't necessarily want to start at the beginning if you are just going to read a few.

 

Nan

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How long until he knows the results of the interviews? Spring? And then doesn't he have exams at the end of the school year that everything hinges on? Does he have a long wait until the exam results come out? I should think it would be easier to study for the exams if one has a concrete goal, so maybe the system isn't as crazy as it seems, crazy from an American point of view, anyway. I'm not at all sure that pushing things earlier and earlier the way our schools are doing is a good idea.

 

Nan

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If things haven't changed in the last few years, he should know before Christmas.

 

Anyway, just came here to wish Calvin all the best with the waiting...

 

Unfortunately, it's not until January 8th.

 

If he gets an offer, it will still be conditional on his doing very well in his exams next year.  So this is only one step on the way.

 

L

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Jan. 8th is still pretty far away. At least Christmas comes in between. If you celebrate Christmas? He'll have a break from school, anyway. Hopefully, he has something fun planned.

Nan

 

He has a concert, end of term, his birthday, then Christmas - at home and visiting some relatives.  After  that, he needs to start studying for his mock (practice) exams in January.  So he'll be pretty busy, I hope.

 

L

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Good luck to your son Laura. Just out of interest why did he chose IB and how has he found it so far? I have heard Universities are notorious for demanding high points which don't equate to A levels at all so I am just curious as we are starting to think about my daughter going into school for 6th form. I hope you don't mind me asking but how many IB points are the likes of York and Warwick demanding? There is a school near me that gets super IB results but it has many international students and the student who gave us a tour told us that they sometimes pull all nighters. It kind of made me freak out a bit about IB compared to A levels. 

 

Does Calvin want to study Classics or English at Oxford? Classics seems to have a much higher success rate but presumably more stellar candidates since most will be from indies too. Keep calm and carry on till the 8th!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Good luck to your son Laura. Just out of interest why did he chose IB and how has he found it so far? I have heard Universities are notorious for demanding high points which don't equate to A levels at all so I am just curious as we are starting to think about my daughter going into school for 6th form. I hope you don't mind me asking but how many IB points are the likes of York and Warwick demanding? There is a school near me that gets super IB results but it has many international students and the student who gave us a tour told us that they sometimes pull all nighters. It kind of made me freak out a bit about IB compared to A levels. 

 

Does Calvin want to study Classics or English at Oxford? Classics seems to have a much higher success rate but presumably more stellar candidates since most will be from indies too. Keep calm and carry on till the 8th!

 

Sorry I missed your post.

 

He has enjoyed the IB - he has been able to go deeply into his subjects but keep the breadth going.  The universities are getting better at working out the IB points thing - offers for the least two years are more reasonable than they were before.  The school we liked only does IB, so he didn't have much choice.

 

I don't want to go into details of offers: the university websites provide average offer details for IB though.

 

L

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He received a conditional offer! For his preferred college within the university!

 

Now he just has to make the grades to fulfil the offer. I'm hoping that this will energise him to get him through the hard slog of the next five months. Phew!

 

L

Congratulations to your son! How fantastic!

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