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So, I'm home early. This is a blessing. It follows a long day, which has been fairly strange and deserves discussion. I overslept, to begin with. I've been sleeping badly and consequently skiving a lot in the last few days, which is not good, especially at this stage, but I can't seem to stop myself from doing it. But today I was good and did go in at the proper time. There was quite a bit of admin this morning - the main component of which was voting for the head girl next year. We each get three votes. I voted for Emma, Rola and Helena, but not with much enthusiasm. I'm not particularly bothered about who's head girl. I may be wrong, but it's rather an outdated institution, methinks.
Talking of outdated institutions, there is one poem in the AQA combined English anthology by Carol Ann Duffy called Head of English that features the line "doing Kipling with the Lower Fourth." Mrs O'Connor has been trying to convince the class for weeks that this reference to "Lower Fourth" is a deliberately anachronistic word choice to emphasise the old-fashioned values being expressed in the poem. She is not having much luck, because it doesn't strike our ears as anachronistic. As people keep pointing out in extremely reasonable fashion, "There's a Lower Fourth in this school."
Which there is; our Drama Festival formlings were L4G. A relic of an earlier time. I believe the boys' school has changed to the modern system, with one notable exception - the sixth form is still the sixth form. Of course, it refers to the old nomenclature - Lower and Upper Sixth - but has survived the transition.
And that interesting little digression leads me straight into something else. The school does have its good points, we find. For as I may have mentioned, the potential Oxbridge applicants meeting was today. My earlier estimates of about six or seven people proved to be conservative - eighteen people trooped into the careers room and settled themselves on the carpet. For some reason, Mrs Colvin and Mr Donan were in charge. She did most of the talking, going through points such as what to do, how to apply, what sort of things we should have in mind, etc. Interestingly, each potential applicant is going to be assigned a staff mentor, which should be helpful.
Mrs Colvin seems inclined to advise an open application. I'm not sure about this. I can obviously see her point - I'd be more likely to get in - but as Helena said, I could end up somewhere I didn't want to be at all. Like St Hilda's, for example (it's single-sex). Mrs Colvin, who went to St Hilda's, spoke out in its defence. "Men really are rather a nuisance," she said. "They seem to think women are their slaves. Which I have personal experience of."
Mr Donan added: "Me too."
Cue giggling, and her saying, "I couldn't see you as a slave, Mr Donan!"
He was somewhere approaching amused. "Keep your fantasies to yourself!"
She gave him a Look before continuing. She fielded a few questions - one of which must have occured to more than one person. Namely, are Oxford and Cambridge now less likely to take girls from independent schools? It sounds likely, particularly as the goverment are making noise about more people being admitted from the state sector, but apparently that doesn't apply so much to us. Merchants, bless it, is not a particularly prestigious school. It is a public school, independent, it is four hundred years old, all the rest of it, but it's not like the really posh schools down south. It's just one independent school in Merseyside, of all places. Which may well work in our favour.
When the meeting was over, I wrote down my name, my choice of university, and my choice of course, and then lingered to talk to Mrs Colvin after everyone else had gone. I wanted to ask her about the course of action I have been driven to taking, and was able to omit most of the explanation, as she knows about my problems with my mother. She says that what I want to do is not without precedent. Two years ago, a girl applied for medicine in four places, got some offers, but also applied to Cambridge for socio-economic science and got in. She took the place. This doesn't sound too much different from what I want to do (apply to medicine at UCL, King's and Nottingham, but first choice of PPE at Oxford). The problem is my personal statement on my UCAS form, which will have to be tailored to fit.
But it has been done. Which makes me feel marginally better. Also, there was another purpose to the meeting, unstated but there nevertheless - dividing all those interested into "yes, they might take you" and what Helena terms "you're deluded." And the first thing Mrs Colvin said when I mentioned PPE was, "You'd be excellent at it." She even thinks my heavily scientific background may be an advantage, as it's something not many people will have. To temper all this optimism, there are two little clouds on the horizon. First of all, they may look at GCSE results. This is a problem for me, as mine are really not perfect. Secondly, in order to apply to medicine at UCL, I will have to take the BMAT.
But I went off to Chemistry in a distinctly better frame of mind. The good mood lasted most of the afternoon, especially when I got home early. I now need to get most of my stuff ready for Collectormania. Collen, you were right - this has really sneaked up on us.
Now to wash my hair. Sorry for the extreme triviality of this post - I just wanted to write it all down.
Talking of outdated institutions, there is one poem in the AQA combined English anthology by Carol Ann Duffy called Head of English that features the line "doing Kipling with the Lower Fourth." Mrs O'Connor has been trying to convince the class for weeks that this reference to "Lower Fourth" is a deliberately anachronistic word choice to emphasise the old-fashioned values being expressed in the poem. She is not having much luck, because it doesn't strike our ears as anachronistic. As people keep pointing out in extremely reasonable fashion, "There's a Lower Fourth in this school."
Which there is; our Drama Festival formlings were L4G. A relic of an earlier time. I believe the boys' school has changed to the modern system, with one notable exception - the sixth form is still the sixth form. Of course, it refers to the old nomenclature - Lower and Upper Sixth - but has survived the transition.
And that interesting little digression leads me straight into something else. The school does have its good points, we find. For as I may have mentioned, the potential Oxbridge applicants meeting was today. My earlier estimates of about six or seven people proved to be conservative - eighteen people trooped into the careers room and settled themselves on the carpet. For some reason, Mrs Colvin and Mr Donan were in charge. She did most of the talking, going through points such as what to do, how to apply, what sort of things we should have in mind, etc. Interestingly, each potential applicant is going to be assigned a staff mentor, which should be helpful.
Mrs Colvin seems inclined to advise an open application. I'm not sure about this. I can obviously see her point - I'd be more likely to get in - but as Helena said, I could end up somewhere I didn't want to be at all. Like St Hilda's, for example (it's single-sex). Mrs Colvin, who went to St Hilda's, spoke out in its defence. "Men really are rather a nuisance," she said. "They seem to think women are their slaves. Which I have personal experience of."
Mr Donan added: "Me too."
Cue giggling, and her saying, "I couldn't see you as a slave, Mr Donan!"
He was somewhere approaching amused. "Keep your fantasies to yourself!"
She gave him a Look before continuing. She fielded a few questions - one of which must have occured to more than one person. Namely, are Oxford and Cambridge now less likely to take girls from independent schools? It sounds likely, particularly as the goverment are making noise about more people being admitted from the state sector, but apparently that doesn't apply so much to us. Merchants, bless it, is not a particularly prestigious school. It is a public school, independent, it is four hundred years old, all the rest of it, but it's not like the really posh schools down south. It's just one independent school in Merseyside, of all places. Which may well work in our favour.
When the meeting was over, I wrote down my name, my choice of university, and my choice of course, and then lingered to talk to Mrs Colvin after everyone else had gone. I wanted to ask her about the course of action I have been driven to taking, and was able to omit most of the explanation, as she knows about my problems with my mother. She says that what I want to do is not without precedent. Two years ago, a girl applied for medicine in four places, got some offers, but also applied to Cambridge for socio-economic science and got in. She took the place. This doesn't sound too much different from what I want to do (apply to medicine at UCL, King's and Nottingham, but first choice of PPE at Oxford). The problem is my personal statement on my UCAS form, which will have to be tailored to fit.
But it has been done. Which makes me feel marginally better. Also, there was another purpose to the meeting, unstated but there nevertheless - dividing all those interested into "yes, they might take you" and what Helena terms "you're deluded." And the first thing Mrs Colvin said when I mentioned PPE was, "You'd be excellent at it." She even thinks my heavily scientific background may be an advantage, as it's something not many people will have. To temper all this optimism, there are two little clouds on the horizon. First of all, they may look at GCSE results. This is a problem for me, as mine are really not perfect. Secondly, in order to apply to medicine at UCL, I will have to take the BMAT.
But I went off to Chemistry in a distinctly better frame of mind. The good mood lasted most of the afternoon, especially when I got home early. I now need to get most of my stuff ready for Collectormania. Collen, you were right - this has really sneaked up on us.
Now to wash my hair. Sorry for the extreme triviality of this post - I just wanted to write it all down.
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