New Batch of Year 13 parents this way!

Nothing much to report here. Form submitted in September and we are now completing extra forms so unis can determine ds's fee status - home or international. Ds's contract (which he needs to dig out of the drawer where he shoves all work documents!) is not permanent which is a plus for home fees, but no house in the UK is a minus.

Hi All. I have been lurking. My DD sent her applications in last Thursday. She says it takes a week to get the welcome email and to be on the system etc. Just wondered if this is everyone else's experience? She is so lackadaisical I feel I need to keep an eye on what is happening.

Yes, I do realise it makes no difference what order they are in, I was just surprised at the order they are in. It definitely isn't alphabetical though. It might be in number order of the course code. She's applying for basically the same subject at each one, but tiny differences mean slightly different course codes. It may well be that.

Anyway, she's had her first interview offer. I think only three of the five do interviews. It was a surprise to get that sort of reply so quickly!

I think DS will work on his UCAS form over half term (how did that come round so quickly?!). EPQ looks like it's going to get a good predicted grade which will make a difference at 2 of the unis he's planning on putting on the list. PS still needs to be looked over by school (I think they are focused on Oxbridge etc at the moment). I will be relieved when the button is pressed. Good luck for offers to all those who've already submitted.

Kitten it certainly is a rollercoaster of emotion at the moment - I never know what to expect when that bedroom door opens or slamseach day!

Inchy the UCAS drop down help box on the Choices part of the UCAS form says, 'Apply will arrange into alphabetical order. The order of your choices does not indicate any preference order - your application will be sent to all chosen universities and colleges at the same time.'

inchy another one on the way. As the universities don't see which other ones you have apply to, I can't see that the order makes any difference at all.

lonicera hopefully she will be able to sort it somehow. It is tough leaving them to learn from their mistakes - harder than doing it yourself I think.

I don’t think it makes any difference which order you put the universities in, it’s certainly not in order of preference. Think my DD put them in alphabetical order (just because she likes things to be “in order!”)

Does anyone know if the order that the choices appear in is the order the DC have put them on? I've just seen DDs confirmation email, and am surprised to see the order. I know (think?) it makes no difference but thought she might place them in her preferred order. I had a chat with DH about it, and we agreed that at her age we'd never tell our parents what we really wanted if it was a bit aspirational, and we worried we might not make it. Of course she doesn't believe that we only want her to be happy in her choice! Just curious really.

I think so. I want DD to be happy in whatever she does and will support her, but I can't nanny her for the rest of her life and she needs to understand that she has to take responsibility for this kind of thing, and if the consequences are that she misses the deadline so be it.

DD just told me as she left for school this morning that she was supposed to update her personal statement over the weekend, and had only just remembered

Well Done inchy’s DD! Fingers crossed for some fast offers!

Well DD "hit send" on her application form this evening. It won't actually go till school complete their bit, but she thinks that will be tomorrow. She is very buoyant, which DH and I are loving!

No, it's me that was uploading certificates and it's not a UCAS application so you're fine. There's always one that's weird......

No I think that was someone who is apply for something outside the UCAS scheme.

Thanks NoHaudin and violets...I've had a quick word with him and he says his biology teacher at school has offered to do practice interviews, so if it comes to it he has someone who will help. Sadly no-one else we know (including DH and I) have no clue about science subjects. Good idea also to contact the Uni if needs be.

I think his PS is nearly done thankfully. Also, I've heard a couple of people mention uploading certificates, but I don't remember seeing that on the UCAS form...have I missed something?

That's it, DS is now in the waiting phase. One of his notuni choices wanted him to register on some other system, copy some stuff from his application, scan some certificates and give other information that the others either don't want or are happy to have on paper. It's one of those things that could easily be overlooked so the deal was that I would find all the certificates for him and then he'd complete it there and then. This was mainly so I had the certificates out of their safe place for the shortest possible time.

Next step - interview dates.

Doistay with my son we got an uncle to do a few practise interviews and it said on form he had social communication SEN and he did okay. He hates new social situations but a bit of practise helped him. They seem to be very understanding about ASD at unis is our experience particuarly in STEM subjects. I wish your DS good luck.

On a different note, my DD got an offer and passed her theory driving test today. Yay! Glad to hear offers coming in for DC on here.i think it is just particular unis giving offers so early - or so it seems

Like many mums i feel a little tense that she does get offers from those she really wants and I suspect we have a long wait. Was all done a lot later with my DS and that all worked out fine.

Wish all DC and waiting mums good luck.

The university should take his ASD into account in order to give him a level playing field under the disability equality legislation.
If he gets an interview, it would be worth contacting the department to explain the difficulties and see what they suggest.
I know of one 6th form applicant who struggled in the interview but then emailed all his answers later and was accepted. Something similar might work for your Ds?
I don't think he should just not apply. If it was a vocational course where communication skills are vital that would be different, but for Chemistry he is entitled to reasonable adjustments.

DS is looking to do Chemistry but one of his choices interview...I'm really concerned about this as because of his ASD he finds siuations where he is the focus, especially where he is being questioned, very difficult. I can't imagine him performing well at interview, mostly he would clam up, shrug and say 'I don't know' a lot. Does anyone know whether his ASD would be taken into account, or whether there's even any point applying to this particular uni?

The timing should have no effect as everyone who applies before the deadline is supposed to be treated equally. It doesn't matter if you apply three hours before the deadline or three months.

Thank you Icould. DD has been told to submit her application to med school early (if she does) and apply to the other med related stuff later. The school won't submit those applications until after Christmas. Does this mean that she might struggle to get any offers?

I've just reassured DD about fast offers for Classics. The people she met at Uniq are holding offers too. She's decided not to apply for Oxford, and in fact has a different list to most of them.