Oxford/Cambridge and the RG Universities that give out A* offers

[busymummy3]

High achieving DD - all A at GCSE (12 ) predicted grades at A level A A A did not want to try for Oxbridge and similarly after 3 visits to Durham (Summer School, Open Day and Offer ) does not really like the academic slightly public school type atmosphere there. She has 5 offers ,all from RG Universites : AAA, AAA, AAB, AAB( from Unis who offer range AAA-AAB) and AAB.She wants to go to the RG university with an AAA offer loved the course , loved the Open Day and Offer Day loved the city felt comfortable from first walking in on the Open Day and felt it even more when went for Offer Day.
We just sometimes feel that there is an expectation that with the grades that she and others have already and predicted grades, they should only consider Oxbridge or Durham , Bristol , Exeter et al which offer A A A in her subject (History).
Does it make sense to have Firm as AAA and insurance as A*AA when really she preferred one of the AAB unis to Durham , again for the same reasons she prefers the AAA uni.
What would she be potentially missing out on?
Is it so wrong not to consider them or is this just a Mumsnet thing?

[Lilymaid]

MN dissident here! Your DD should choose the course she most likes in the city that she feels most comfortable about. She will have to live there and do the course for 3 years of her life and she will be much happier if she is where she wants to be. All the nit picking about rankings which are different in different publications and which she'll not notice on her course drives me mad.

[JeanneTheRabidFeminist]

She should do the course she likes at the place she likes. I'm guessing if it's asking AAB, it's very good.

[lalamumto3]

Hi
I totally agree with the others, go for the course and uni that she loves. Uni should be fun and they need to feel comfortable with the choice, they are the only ones who really know where that will be. It is so easy to get caught up in league tables etc, but I firmly believe that they have to feel happy and confident at uni to succeed.
Also I think that they really examine the unis and course content far more closely once they have their offers, before that it can feel a little hypothetical.

As an aside, my niece has just got a 1st at a non RG uni, where she flourished doing a course that she loved and is now looking at where to do her Masters, in some very prestigious Unis. I wonder if she would have done so well if she had of gone elsewhere.

[Littleham]

It's a nightmare isn't it? She should definitely go for her favourite university / subject.

The trickier decision is the insurance choice. Not really sure what to advise. Anyone know how common it is to have a higher insurance?

[busymummy3]

Hello
Thank you for the positive advice so far.
The RG Uni she has liked right from the start has entry retirements of AAA and have given her an offer of AAA.
The RG uni she is considering for insurance has entry requirements of AAA-AAB and have given her an offer of AAB. She likes this uni as well and says she will be quite happy to go there if she misses her Firm choice.
After the offer day at the A* AA uni it has helped make up her mind where she wants to be and even more reassured her that she would not have been happy socially either there or Oxbridge.
We totally support her with her decision which we believe she has made thoughtfully and logically. She has not been tempted to put down the A*AA offer simply because it is seen by many as the best.

[AliceInSandwichLand]

My DD got all A at GCSE and 4 A at A level. She didn't apply of Oxbridge because she didn't like the course or atmosphere and turned down Durham for the same reasons as your DC. She went to another RG uni with a good but not outstanding reputation that she loved on the open day. The teaching has been mixed, but overall she has had a wonderful time and has grown up a huge amount - she's getting to the end of her second year and would absolutely make the same choice again, I think. It needs to be the right place for each person - no point in being miserable somewhere that sounds impressive and then getting nothing from it.

[Molio]

OP the unis you mention don't all ask for AAA for History. I can say that with absolute certainty. I agree completely that she should go to the uni which attracts her most, but some applicants do actually feel that Oxford/ Bristol/ Cambridge/ Durham/ Exeter would suit them best, which is fine too.

[Molio]

But there's no problem is there then OP - she puts her AAA fave down as firm and the second fave AAB as insurance and Bob's her uncle. Also, if she does it quickly she might free up her place for someone else who really, really wants that place at Durham but is still hanging on.

[busymummy3]

Hi Molio I realised when I re read my first post that not all the Unis I mentioned (Oxford - but need HAT score and of course successful interview) also Oxford and Cambridge she may not even have got an interview for so presumptuous of me there. Universities of Bristol and Durham entry requirements were both AAA she chose Durham and received an AAA offer.
Apologies about Exeter I thought it was AAA but realise it was AAA -AAB it was a university she looked at when first making considerations for Open Day visits last year but discounted.
The Offer days at Durham was only this week so yes I am sure once she has considered ALL her offers she will then release her place for 'someone else who really,really wants that place at Durham but is still hanging on'.
I find your tone a little condescending .

[chemenger]

Students should go to the course, the university and the location that they think they will be happiest in. They may not get it right, but if they go somewhere that they don't think they will be happy the chances are they will be proved correct.

[Molio]

Well I simply meant what I wrote, which wasn't condescending, let alone intended to be. But it doesn't seem that there's any dilemma - you say she's clear about her first choice and her second so I really can't see the point of hanging on to a place knowing that she doesn't want it. DS has moved very fast to free up places having done the visit days, knowing that at this stage those who haven't heard are most likely on the waiting list for offers to be declined. Also, horses for courses: some kids actually like the unis you mentioned and enjoy there time there but chemenger is spot on - if you get a bad vibe for a place, stay clear!

[Molio]

their time there, not there time there

[AvonCallingBarksdale]

Which RG Uni

[Gruntbaby]

It would be pointless to have a higher insurance offer, unless you know them to always have spaces left through clearing, but that's unlikely at this level of uni.

Do you have concerns about the uni she has chosen for any reason?

She should go where she is happy. I rejected offers from Exeter and Durham because I fell in love with Edinburgh, which is obviously v prestigious too, and had the most amazing time, taught by some of the most world/UK's most distinguished people. My parents wanted me to accept the Durham offer. I've got nothing against it and know plenty of people who loved it, but it was not for me and I've never regretted it.

[TalkinPeace]

Go to the place where she will be happy for three years
where the details of the course most match what she's into

in 20 years time they will have invented a replacement for the RG and grade boundaries will have changed

but if she gets a good degree and has a good time, that will always stand her in good stead

[cauchy]

It would be pointless to have a higher insurance offer, unless you know them to always have spaces left through clearing, but that's unlikely at this level of uni.

There are RG universities making A*AA offers for maths, science and engineering which do take students in clearing, dropping down to AAA or AAB.

A lot of RG universities have spaces for many courses in clearing.

There's no point in having a higher insurance offer is there? Under what circumstances could you use it?

It depends on how flexible universities are likely to be. For example, a student might hold an AAA offer from Oxford and an AAA from an insurance. This looks silly because they are both at the same grades, but Oxford would be unlikely to accept lower grades while the latter may be more likely to take dropped grades.

[Figmentofmyimagination]

She should go where she wants. It's hard though I agree. I think my DD internalised my desire for her to go to oxford - not sure she would have chosen it left entirely to herself. It takes a strong parent not to steer them in the direction of the supposedly "most employable" universities, especially with a subject like history where the institution matters so much more to your prospects than say maths. I must admit. I said to DD to by all means study English but that on that basis she needed to aim as "high" as possible in terms of employability. I realise this is probably controversial - I'm only being honest.
.

[Figmentofmyimagination]

Oddly, your DD has grade for grade exactly the same profile as mine! And an identical offer spread except that she applied to oxford. I think we should be wary of assuming that just because somewhere makes an AAA offer, it is necessarily better. At the start of all this, Exeter was making AAA offers for English for example and it's good, but not that good. If she hadn't had the oxford offer, she would have turned down Bristol (AAA) in favour of Leeds (AAA) for the same sorts of reasons as your DD and I think that would have been sensible.

[ivorynewbuilds]

She should firm the uni that she wants to go to most of all, and she should insure her second favourite uni.

It doesn't sound like she's much in danger of missing her firm grades at AAA, so she doesn't need to agonise too much about her insurance choice, but it's still worth picking somewhere she'd be happy to go to if the worst does happen.

All of these minor differences between grade requirements will
a) be different in future years
b) will have been completely forgotten by the time she comes to graduate
c) aren't a reflection of how good the course is

[Molio]

The differences between grade requirements for offers will of course be forgotten by the time the OPs DD comes to graduate but there's a ceiling to any degree, obviously, (a 1st) and there's no doubt that different degrees from different unis are weighted differently by a great many employers, especially in the more competitive fields. But lots of people have no interest in those fields for good reasons, so that then wouldn't be relevant. I've certainly voted down 1sts in favour of 2.1s on that basis (well, on the basis of the application as a whole, of which the degree is an important part). But that stuff about employability is in the future and many DC prefer to live for the moment. The relative competitiveness of a uni will affect your peer group at that uni, which may be a factor for some. In addition, for sporty DC, sometimes the opportunities at non collegiate unis is more limited even for strong players, as it's uni level or bust, whereas at collegiate unis there's an extra layer of opportunities for those who are very proficient but not quite good enough for the uni team. Collegiate unis can also be much more welcoming socially for the less outgoing type of DC and if there are problems, pastoral support may be better. That's before one gets onto class sizes, degree structure, quality of teaching (which is impossible to judge until you get there). There are a myriad of reasons why the opportunities and outcomes may be different at different universities but if a DC positively dislikes a uni having been to an open day or an offer day, then there's little point pursuing that course, and if one of my DC said they disliked the feel of a place I'd certainly never push them to go.

[ragged]

that's funny, school drops Oxbridge whispers around DD's ears & I'm almost actively discouraging it. Another one of those million times when my real life experience is exact opposite of MN folklore.

[Poisonwoodlife]

OP My DD was predicted and achieved similar grades in Humanities. She also decided Oxbridge wasn't for her for perfectly sound rational reasons to do with the course. She actually firmed her lowest AAB offer (though that was for an AAA course and she was given a lower offer) and so her insurance was a higher offer but she reasoned that as it was a less competitive course, though she liked it and it had a lot of benefits for her, and her original offer had been unconditional but reverted when she didn't firm them that they were more likely to take her if things did not go to plan. Thankfully they did and she really is loving her choice, all the reasons she had for choosing it, mainly concerned with the ethos of the departments (joint honours) and modules on offer, have been proved right, and it is great to see her so happy and really engaged with her subjects. Plenty of other students with similar grades, some indeed who did apply to Oxbridge but didn't get offered places, make the offer, because it is a very good course. She is already, first set of exams were in January , on track for a very good degree.

It is all very well getting hung up on tiny and often inconsistent differences in employer perceptions /employability (and the employment stats certainly do not consistently put eg Oxbridge at the top for every course) of these good universities, but at the end of the day the main thing is to get at least a 2.1 from a good university (with bells on in terms of work experience etc.) and that is most likely to happen where they are happy with the course and the life.

And beware trying to internalise your predilections for certain unis in your DCs, they have a slight tendency to rebel as has happened to two close friends in spite of repeated returns to the alma mater with tea room treats and walks on the meadows since infancy .......

[AliceMcGee]

' school drops Oxbridge whispers around DD's ears & I'm almost actively discouraging it.'

why? Why not let her make her own mind up without your influence