New Batch of Year 13 parents this way!

Congrats lobster!
Lonerica
That’s sounds tough for your dd especially if she has worked hard to get the right grades and she has put the effort in. But the personal statement is a massive thing.

Dds first draft is in for tomorrow for her personal statement. They’ve been offered no guidance or help and hardly anyone knows how to structure it. Dd has completed it.

Side not some of dds friends are applying for medicine but just with biology? Didn’t think that was possible

Thanks again everyone.

I feel bad about bringing this thread down, especially as some posters DC have already had university offers.

The plan B that DD has is also oversubscribed, so chances are that she won't get any offers and will either reapply or go through clearing.

What are the courses that the students who already have offers for? They mustn't be as popular perhaps?

Lonicera that is such an unprofessional and awful approach towards your DD by an assistant head of 6th form. If they were concerned that your DD wasn't in the best of health mentally to apply this year, their attitude and lack of understanding in handling the situation makes it even more shocking! I do hope your DD is ok.

TheSecond DS and I have opposite approaches. I'll have work done and out of the way as soon as possible as I feel guilty leaving it undone and it stops me enjoying anything else. DS does not seem to have a problem with this, he can ignore things totally until the deadline is right upon him and then he starts and gets it done. Of course I think my way is better and I can't understand why he doesn't do things the right way (my way). I have given up arguing now, if he wants to have periods of mad panic in his life well that's his choice.

It is still early in the UCAS process, there will be an internal deadline in school so they have time to write their reference before the actual UCAS deadline and that's the one he needs to have his eye on. If he knows what he wants to do and where then he's way ahead of many of DS's mates. Filling in the educational stuff takes no time at all but the personal statement is capable of expanding to fit the time allowed for it. He could spend a week on it and it be good enough or fiddle with it for two more months for a marginal improvement. It is still only the beginning of October, it's early yet other than for medics/vets/Oxbridge. There is plenty of time yet (and repeat)

Just read my last post. I need to stop complaining and look at the positives. He is healthy, happy and engaged with his A2 studies.

DS1 says he wants to apply in this UCAS cycle. He knows which course and has a very good idea of which institutions. Yet no actual applying seems to be happening. He hasn't logged on to UCAS yet, nor started drafting a personal statement.

It took him until the October half-term of Y12 to pick his A-level options, so I know this shouldn't be a surprise, but it drives me flipping bananas.

I am allowing myself to mention UCAS / post-18 choices to him once a week. If he hasn't done anything by the end of term, the decision will make itself.

Hope your DD is alright Lonicera. It was a bit of a shoddy way to be treated by the teacher - for her to be so dismissive and then suggest your DD did "something else" what a pile of crap. At least she phoned with an explanation of sorts

If your DD wants to do medicine then she should go for it - in the grand scheme of things a year isn't too long to take out - one of DS's friends re-started Yr12 in September as he was ill last year.

That sounds much better than saying that she is wasting her time applying, really how harsh is that?

Can i join in too? I think we're the second offer on the thread! DD's form went in a few days ago and she got an offer from Bristol today. It's more exciting than I had realised!

I'm glad they've explained themselves a bit better. Your poor DD!

Thank you all. DD had another meeting with the assistant head of 6th form who, I think, realised that she had gone too far yesterday. She kind of backtracked and offered more help with the personal statement.

She rang me today and told me that DD was more than academically able as far as gaining the right qualifications to get into medical school was, but she was concerned that DD isn't in the best of health mentally and physically, and wouldn't have the stamina to get through a medical degree (which are my concerns as well).

It was the way she put it to DD yesterday that was hurtful. Also, she doesn't have enough experience, which is fair enough. she has tried to shadow medical professionals and do some volunteering but has been turned away because she wasn't old enough (summer born).

It is DD's intention to get experience during a gap year and then apply.

Sorry !! Don't read !!

Lonerica that is a pile of poop from the school !!! A lot of medical schools done even read the Personal statement - at all. Was surprised at this but was explained but admissions tutors. For some they rank by UKCAT or BMAT and as long as you the minimum grades that's it. Some use PS but only for a small part. So she can still apply. There's a medicine 2018 thread in Higher so pop over there and there's lots of advice. Or I can help a bit.

I agree Lonerica that the way this was put across to your dd was awful. This sounds more like what not to say to a 17 year old to me. Yet another example of the "lack of level playing field" by the sound of things. I hope that whatever it is that is wrong will be clarified and that it's possible to have a plan of action for the way ahead.

NoHaudin Thanks for that information...it's very helpful. Hopefully that's one more box on the form that can be completed...nearly there!

The other bit I'm struggling with is the parental education box...both DH and I have NVQ level 4s in our professions, and DH went to agricultural college back in the day, and has a diploma, however this was straight from school at 16 so not really degree equivalent...not sure where these fit in!

Lonerica that is difficult. I hope you get some useful feedback from the school today.

Doistay I have been through this process with my Ds now in 2nd year at university who also has ASD. I think that on the initial UCAS form all you need to do is outline the outstanding things you can think of. The list you gave in your post is fine.
The detail of his support needs will come when he applies for DSA (Disabled Students Allowance). You do this at the same time as applying for Student Finance once you have accepted your offers. This process involves an assessment with a disability assessor who are very experienced with the needs of students and, in our experience anyway, suggested support that neither ds or I would have thought of.

Lonerica I suspect that "doing it wrong" isn't to do with the presentation (because that's a quick fix) but the content. If she has to have work experience/volunteering and doesn't have it then there's no way to rewrite that. As you say, this should have been identified early enough for her to have done something about it but in reality that would have meant last year.

If she was already planning to take a year out is there any harm in her submitting it this year? If she gets rejected then she's no worse off than she would have been in that she reapplies next year.

Lonicera is it the content of the PS i.e. she has not done enough 'stuff' or the way it is presented?

Lonicera that’s awful, your poor DD. Completely unacceptable to make a comment like that, when they should be offering guidance and support.

Doistay welcome to the loveliest thread on Mumsnet! Does your DS have a SENCO in his current setting you could talk to? I imagine they’d be experienced with helping applicants.

Lonicera early application for Oxbridge, she’s applied to do Classics. The early offer was from Bristol.

Can I join please? DS1 is applying this year and we're just getting to grips with the whole process. I have a question about the part of the UCAS form where it asks about what support you might need for disabilities. DS has a diagnosis of autism, but I have no idea what kind of support requirements we're meant to put on the form. I imagine he might benefit from some counselling for anxiety, and help with organisation and social interactions, but until we get there I don't really know what to put. Do we need to put anything now or not?

That makes it sound as if we get lots of kids going to oxbridge or doing medicine. We don't, we get around 5 - 10 applying each year and possibly 3 or 4 get offers. We are pretty successful with Conservatoire candidates, only 1 or 2 a year apply but they all seem to get in, I'm not quite sure why we're so good at that (I'm not, I have no idea, but our school in general is amazing at helping those candidates with their application)

For medicine I think it does. Everybody applying for medicine is predicted fantastic grades, everybody applying for medicine is doing a lot of work experience/extra-curricular/volunteering. So your personal statement is what's going to sell you to the university, you need to stand out as somehow different to all the other applicants just to get to the interview stage. BUT it's not fair to put the pressure of getting the PS absolutely perfect onto a 17yo, the school should be giving enough guidance that the applicant will be able to turn that into a fabulous PS. My school are amazingly hot on helping Oxbridge/Medical/Conservatoire candidates write their personal statements, we have one teacher who is an expert at helping them write it, then the head takes an interest too, so they aren't allowed to hit send until he's approved it, and he writes their references too. Other schools aren't so good at that, but the schools that get lots of kids getting in to Oxbridge and Medicine do so because of the support given to those candidates.

I hope school can give you some concrete answers tomorrow Lonerica, like why they've left it so late to tell her that her PS needs massive improvements, what improvements they need to be, etc.