Kinda wonder if grace was at the park with Oenone and her bf today?? Grace posted grapes in plastic container and other snacks at the park in her story. Later oenone posted her and Matt with a plastic container of grapes at the park. The blankets are different but could not be captured in each‘s pics... I’d be very suprised to see them hanging out again!
damn i was gonna say it looked like Grace was at the park with a guy today and i wondered who that was (but maybe thats stretching)
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It might be her ex Elliot? I know they're broken up, but she's been on and off with him for years.
I was reading the Oxbridge privilege convos and thought this might be useful: my BF just graduated from Oxford and was in the same year as Grace (but completely different courses) and he was friends with admissions ppl from his college and they said that Oxford is not influenced by money donations at all (in fact they were focusing on trying to bring in more state-educated students). However, that's not to say that those who go to Oxbridge are void of privilege - I just think the way privilege works is different from the UK and US (where I studied). In the US, they have very clear routes of privilege: legacies (if your family member went to that uni, you have a higher chance of getting in), fraternities / sororities types of connections, and donations. While privilege in the UK may not be that obvious and candidates have to meet real benchmarks to get in, privilege exists in the form of where you went for before undergrad, and all these opportunities that eventually lead up to you applying for oxbridge (and ofc the US has these things too). Families who have access to colleges like Eton and stuff are clearly way more privileged to go into Oxbridge than those who went to public schools. Like literal schools that build you to be the ideal oxbridge candidate that costs money to go to. So while I don't think Grace paid to get into Oxford - it feels like you have to be in real aristocracy or real real generational wealth / billionaire kind of privilege to be able to do that - I do think she was privileged to get into Oxford and had a lot of opportunities (also in the form of time to join choirs and work in a well paid internship at IBM).
Privilege comes in many forms - which Grace needs to understand: this is free time (not having to work in multiple jobs), a better mental health (from not having to worry about the stresses and problems that come with financial insecurity), and the privilege of options (changing from politics to music - i.e. being able to focus on a "less" practical subject than people who have to "be more realistic"). And all of these gave her a boost and took her to Oxford where others would have to go towards Oxford not having these forms of privilege.
Of course Oxbridge can say that they're trying to bring in more state-educated students, however the way these institutions are structured truly isn't conducive to that. In order to truly make the system accessible requires a complete overhaul of the Oxbridge system.
A lot of the "state-educated" kids that do get in are middle-class kids who happen to go to a good comp or grammar, with their parents supplementing experiences that kids are offered at private school. Likewise, grammar schools are included in their "state" figures.
Also, Grace is "real real" generational wealth though, so there's nothing to suggest that she couldn't have paid to get in.
Privilege works in the same way in the UK. It's just less overt. This happened almost 20 years ago, but I don't doubt that it still happens to this day but people are more cautious now: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1388770/Two-quit-in-Oxford-cash-for-places-scandal.html
Of course Oxbridge can say that they're trying to bring in more state-educated students, however the way these institutions are structured truly isn't conducive to that. In order to truly make the system accessible requires a complete overhaul of the status quo
A lot of the "state-educated" kids that do get in are middle-class kids who happen to go to a good comp or grammar, with their parents supplementing experiences that kids are offered at private school. Yes, grammar schools are included in their "state" figures.
Also, Grace is "real real" generational wealth though, so there's nothing to suggest that she couldn't have paid to get in.
Privilege works in the same way in the UK. It's just less overt. This happened almost 20 years ago, but I don't doubt that it still happens to this day but people are more cautious now: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1388770/Two-quit-in-Oxford-cash-for-places-scandal.html
Exactly this. I highly doubt she explicitly paid her way into Oxford, it just doesn’t work like that. The way she paid her way in is through the expensive schools, extra music lessons, all of that stuff. Her parents wouldn’t have offered Oxford a lump of cash to take her.I'm not trying to defend her or Oxbridge's clear propensity for privileged candidates but I just don't think it's as impossible she got in with her grades without paying some big sum like other people said. They're not exactly the worst grades in the world and when I was talking about "real real" generational wealth i was genuinely thinking about families like the Rothschilds but maybe that's a stretch. I'm sure many people got into Oxford without paying even if they didn't meet the grade line because they had other big opportunities to throw into their application, which she did. Bc ultimately, she got a high 2:1 right? So she wasn't exactly academically incapable of handling music at Oxford either. Apparently people quit Oxford after their first year because they can't handle the work load so if she was all money and literally no brains, she possibly wouldn't have lasted or she probs would've scored much lower? (Tho Idk if you guys think she's lying about that)
I don’t think Grace or her family handed money to Oxford in exchange for her enrolment, but I really do think the money thing is a part of people’s broader problem with Grace, which is that she is dishonest and is therefore a bad role model, but she positions herself as a good one - her image is based off it - and is perceived as such by thousands of people. She toots her horn for things which usually come out to have some caveat: being a CEO (working through Genflow), owning a green, ethical business (selling products that don’t last, that she previously labelled as scams [BCAAs], making customers pay for returns, only partially manufacturing her products in Portugal), saying she supported herself through Oxford with the internship when we know this can’t be the case. Each of these issues comes with its own kind of hurt. Especially considering it’s young women she’s “guiding” and selling to.
I think for a lot of people, the money issue is the most hurtful one. Grace’s route to success is for everyone else riddled with glass ceilings that she doesn’t acknowledge non-superflicially, and she capitalises on a censored version of that route. Inevitably, Oxford would’ve had to choose her application over someone else’s, under those that got the grades and the experience, and maybe the difference between their applications was just that the other person didn’t have the glittering experiences Grace has gotten by virtue of her family’s standing and money (working at the V&A, two prestigious internships, and of course studying at the RAM/RCM).
I don’t think Grace or her family handed money to Oxford in exchange for her enrolment, but I really do think the money thing is a part of people’s broader problem with Grace, which is that she is dishonest and is therefore a bad role model, but she positions herself as a good one - her image is based off it - and is perceived as such by thousands of people. She toots her horn for things which usually come out to have some caveat: being a CEO (working through Genflow), owning a green, ethical business (selling products that don’t last, that she previously labelled as scams [BCAAs], making customers pay for returns, only partially manufacturing her products in Portugal), saying she supported herself through Oxford with the internship when we know this can’t be the case. Each of these issues comes with its own kind of hurt. Especially considering it’s young women she’s “guiding” and selling to.
I think for a lot of people, the money issue is the most hurtful one. Grace’s route to success is for everyone else riddled with glass ceilings that she doesn’t acknowledge non-superflicially, and she capitalises on a censored version of that route. Inevitably, Oxford would’ve had to choose her application over someone else’s, under those that got the grades and the experience, and maybe the difference between their applications was just that the other person didn’t have the glittering experiences Grace has gotten by virtue of her family’s standing and money (working at the V&A, two prestigious internships, and of course studying at the RAM/RCM).
Exactly! Say Oxford is faced with two applicants:
One is state school educated and on track to get A*AA in their A Levels. However, the only EC this applicant has on their personal statement is their part time job at McDonald’s (in reality this is because their parents needed the additional support so this applicant has been spending 30 hours a week working with no time to do anything else) They haven’t got any additional qualifications like music or D of E or even NCS because they don’t have the time or money. They would have loved to have been a prefect or been part of a committee, but their lunch times at school were spent studying to make up for the evenings they lost working. The teaching and resources at school aren’t great either, so any spare time is spent doing further research and trying to get their head around their subjects. Their personal statement is okay, but it’s not really focused on what Oxford wants (how could it be when this applicant doesn’t know anyone who has been to uni, and the UCAS advisor at school has never seen a successful Oxford application before)
Then you have applicant number 2. Applicant number 2 is also predicted A*AA, yet this applicant went to a private school. This applicant has plenty of ECs on their personal statement. In fact, their ECs are extraordinary! At just 16 they had secured numerous prestigious and unique work placements, had performed in a cathedral choir, studied at the Royal College of Music and their personal statment has been impeccably written and meets all of Oxford’s criteria (in reality, this is because a specific Oxford advisor has gone through it with a fine tooth comb) Let’s not forget the fact they are now living in London taking part in a prestigious internship! How impressive!
Both students are hard working, talented and driven. But who do we think Oxford is going to accept?
(We’ve spoken about this a lot and I think we all get the idea, so I won’t post about it again. But even before I knew Grace existed, I’d always found access to education in this country insanely frustrating. Oxford does have mechanisms in place to overcome this type of thing and huuuuge improvements have been made, but I sincerely believe the way universities judge applicants needs to be completely overhauled. Or if not, something needs to be done to support students from less privileged backgrounds to try and level the playing field. Anyways I’ll stop now lol, this isn’t Grace’s fault at all and good on her for reaping the opportunities that have come her way, it’s just that some recognition would be nice x )
Grace was rejected from Oxford the first time she applied (in her last year of school). She re-sat some exams in her gap year and re-applied and then got in.I just think it's important to add for people who read this with Oxford in mind for their future, that the idea of Oxford being obsessed with extra-curricular activities is, in many subjects, false. Whilst they are certainly relevant for Music, Medicine & VetMed (mainly because these subjects cannot be experienced in school in such a way that you fully understand what you are getting into when pursuing it as a university degree), extra-curriculars are nearly completely irrelevant for every other subject. What they look at is contextual GCSE & A-Level results, the Oxford admissions test, your personal statement and references and then the interview (with academic results being the most important part re:Cambridge). Even for the subjects where extra curricular are relevant, these other aspects are still by far the most important.
I agree that with regards to music and Grace, the fact that her parents could afford to send her to a prep school with a cathedral choir and knew about the Royal College of Music helped immensely but her big corporate internship will have meant absolutely nothing and also would have been completed after she'd been applied and been accepted (something no one seems to pick up on here?) and her youtube will have had similarly little impact on her application. She clearly was intellectual enough for Oxford with A*AB and coming out with a high 2.1.
/Rant over just wanted to dispel some myths about Oxford admissions bc I feel they perpetuate negative stereotypes.
Source: Am at Oxford and went to an excellent grammar school - our Oxbridge admissions counsellor told me to remove my County athletics and my part-time job from my personal statement so I could fit more in about my interests in history. In fact the only extra-curriculars I left in were being student-in-charge of history society and my DofE.
This x100 and honestly thank you for writing this. I don't like turning this thread into a discussion around Oxford but I really hate seeing people spread false information about the application process. I went to a state school that just didn't send people to Oxbridge and, had I read this thread when I was thinking of applying, I would have been so disheartened by information that just isn't true. I really wish this thread could focus on Grace without the constant slamming of Oxford and its processes. Not to say that the university is perfect as, quite frankly, access is shocking at times but Grace didn't donate money to get in and her banking internships wouldn't have been important. It may be a bit of a reach but I hate to think of potential applicants reading this thread and believing everything that's been written.I just think it's important to add for people who read this with Oxford in mind for their future, that the idea of Oxford being obsessed with extra-curricular activities is, in many subjects, false. Whilst they are certainly relevant for Music, Medicine & VetMed (mainly because these subjects cannot be experienced in school in such a way that you fully understand what you are getting into when pursuing it as a university degree), extra-curriculars are nearly completely irrelevant for every other subject. What they look at is contextual GCSE & A-Level results, the Oxford admissions test, your personal statement and references and then the interview (with academic results being the most important part re:Cambridge). Even for the subjects where extra curricular are relevant, these other aspects are still by far the most important.
I agree that with regards to music and Grace, the fact that her parents could afford to send her to a prep school with a cathedral choir and knew about the Royal College of Music helped immensely but her big corporate internship will have meant absolutely nothing and also would have been completed after she'd been applied and been accepted (something no one seems to pick up on here?) and her youtube will have had similarly little impact on her application. She clearly was intellectual enough for Oxford with A*AB and coming out with a high 2.1.
/Rant over just wanted to dispel some myths about Oxford admissions bc I feel they perpetuate negative stereotypes.
Source: Am at Oxford and went to an excellent grammar school - our Oxbridge admissions counsellor told me to remove my County athletics and my part-time job from my personal statement so I could fit more in about my interests in history. In fact the only extra-curriculars I left in were being student-in-charge of history society and my DofE.