Year 12 - 2024/25 - Support, Discussion and Looking After Each Other (Thread 2)

All of DS's friends want to go to Leeds, because of all the parties. (Someone's brother is there.) DS is not that keen. He prefers Warwick and Durham.

My DC is all about the discovery module option as well! I think she's struggling a bit with the necessary narrowing of the curriculum as uni draws closer. She's always been a solid all-rounder.

Thanks for sharing your DR'S experience!

Any thoughts on Lancaster?

DS and DH went to the open day yesterday and found many positives.Should suit ds well as he is wanting Law at a campus uni, ideally collegiate. So ticks lots of boxes.

But there has been a lot of talk of financial struggles on here etc. Any feedback from posters with YP at Lancaster currently would be really appreciated.

Leeds was the first open day we attended and my DD was totally blown away and loved it. The sports centre was great, good swimming pool (important for DD) accommodation on campus and in Headingly. Guaranteed accommodation for first year snd apparently there's lots so not to worry about it. Free gym membership in 1st year too.
She liked the speaker on her potential course, and they do something called a 'discovery module' so you can pick a module from any other degree that you find interesting.

It's currently in the top 2 with Newcastle, but has higher grade requirements and apparently is harder to get an offer from.

She does want to go again in October just to see if she does really like it, or whether it was just that it was the first she'd seen and had nothing to compare it to! I might get her to go on her own though...

Any thoughts on Leeds?

DC went up for a weekend with a local friend and got an informal tour of the uni. She ended up liking it a great deal, and says it might be her second favorite at this point. I'm now planning to take her to the October open day, but I'd love to know about anyone's experiences there, as it wasn't on the list before.

Does anyone know what accommodation is like, and the private rental market beyond first year? She's hoping for catered accomodation at first.

I agree, there are great prospects. She has a good head on her shoulders, rather different to 17-year-old me!

@bibliomania my cousins DD did a degree in Maths & then qualified as an actuary. Just bought a place in London with her fella. Great opportunities.

@bibliomania Smart girl! So many opportunities in insurance and reinsurance.

DD has a 16 -25 card and we have a Two Together for me and her.

DD has now been to six Open Days, three with me and three solo, plus there's the university across the road which she has known from babyhood - in fact she went to their campus nursery. She's talking about visiting one more on a self-guided tour, but I think that will be it. It has been useful, but it's now a case of diminishing returns.

She did work experience in an insurance company last week and is now wildly enthusiastic about a career in that area. Strange girl.

ds also has a 16-25 railcard which has certainly more than paid for itself over the past weeks.

We used the Bristol offer to get a discount on tickets but that was the only one.

DS isn’t going to Durham open day. If he applies, and is lucky enough to get an offer, he will go to the offer holder day.

@JessyCarr DS has a 16-25 railcard, it’s been very useful for him.

Thank you (belatedly), @ellieinfrance! I am thinking we may need to be on a 6am-ish train from London. DD is campaigning for the “Caledonian Sleeper” experience!

We used DS 16-17 railcard, that made it cheaper than the university offer to the one that we went to on the train (Bath - didn’t want to drive as the traffic is usually awful plus there was a big concert on that night).

We drove to the rest as it was cheaper than his ticket plus either me or DH.

What travelcards are you all using for the Open Day trains? Just 16-17 or 16-25 for the DC? We have a family railcard but that seems to mean her younger brother has to tag along in order to make it usable.

Have many of the unis offered discount deals for rail travel?

@AuntyBulgaria it really does add up. We’ve been unfortunate in that due mainly to the hot weather virtually every single train we’ve been on has been delayed and so have recouped some money through delay repay!

@GirlsInGreen that sounds like a productive week in London.

Hope those who were in Cambridge had a good day.

I don’t think we will do anymore unless it’s offer holder days now either.

@GirlsInGreen glad you and your dd had a good week in London. There are so many great universities there but the cost of living is so high that it’s worrying us if that’s where DS ends up going

We’re all done on open days now. The costs soon add up and any autumn open days will interfere with TMUA and MAT preparations. If DS applies to anywhere that we’ve not visited (which is highly likely) he’ll need to use as much online information as possible and then perhaps attend an offer holders day.

@AuntyBulgaria it adds up doesn't it? We'll be doing the September Durham one too. DD is just too head scattered to do anymore & has a to-do list as long as your arm.
I can't believe this time next year it will nearly be all over (well school anyway)...people tell you it flys - it really does.

I have just booked travel arrangements for Durham open day in September. Eek this is soon going to mount up!

Back from DD's week at UCL - she's totally fallen in love with London. Had a great time on the course - we stayed in Marylebone & I think she has unrealistic ideas of being a smart young thing sashaying around Bloomsbury & Westminister for 3 years!
Really should have taken her out to zone 7 for a more realistic idea of student accoms.
London would be hard financially, but she really liked UCL.
Lets see.
Glad to hear all your DC plans starting to crystalise - long hot summer ahead it seems.

Well after all the open days, DS still isn’t sure what degree course he wants to do - debate is between maths/stats/economics courses vs engineering. A bit frustrating but I have complete sympathy - it’s a big decision with long term consequences, but he’s still trying to follow the pre-set UCAS timetable for decisions. He’s really reluctant to consider a year out. If he rules out Cambridge then he can take a bit longer to work it through in the autumn. He did really like Cambridge yesterday though! (but both courses!!).

Not too sure how I can help at this point. Wondering about trying to set him up with 1-1 chats with people we know in both sectors (mostly engineering) to talk about their jobs.

That's great @gingercat02 . DD1 took biology A level and found it really hard. I was so proud of the C she got because she'd had to work so hard for it. She's thriving now, she's done two years of her degree and is currently loving her placement year working in an industry job. 🙂

@Waspie I have no idea what colleges he is planning to look at, I feel like I’ve barely seen him in the last couple of weeks with all the end of term stuff going on, they were going to make a plan in the car on the way! Though I had a look to see where he was on his phone tracker earlier and it looked like he was in Newnham college - as it’s a women’s college I’m not sure that’s going to be helpful for him! Looks like the subject talks are all in the afternoon.

Would be good to compare notes later!

@WaspieDD said the same to me when I said C would not look for GCSE’s. School said strongly about believing everything you read, that’s another way. And I would think it also may be subject specific. @Muchtoomuchtodo good to know that it’s how you all think too, I felt like we are wasting a chance if we don’t apply, especially when you are already doing the same entrance test. HoSixthForm actually laughed at me about the 6in Drama, saying no one cares. But I didn’t mention Imperial or Cam, so not sure.
Hope everyone who are going have a fab day at Cambridge, would love to hear the reactions :) DD had a residential over Easter,nothing to do with the subject she wanted to do,but got a real chance to stay in one of their rooms( had mini fridge, that was her highlight) yet she doesn’t want to visit today! . I don’t know her reason for this. Only two of her friends went though, she is expecting one of her friends to share all the news 😃

Thanks @Muchtoomuchtodo. DS does like the look of the LSE History course but the acceptance rates are far lower than Oxbridge, Durham and St Andrews, plus the expense of accommodation and the other complexities of a London university makes it less attractive (IMO).

Your son's choices are amazing and I agree with you that he needs at least one which he's very likely to get an offer from amongst the five. DS' will be Exeter. He really liked it there and the grades are AAB which should be achievable.

@MiniMidiMaxi I hope your son enjoys his day in Cambridge. Is he looking at any particular colleges? DS has a few he would like to see and also wants to attend the subject and admission talks - although the webinars they've been running have been very helpful about this.

The talk DS had at school yesterday from the Cambridge admissions person suggested that C take as much notice of GCSEs as Oxford. This is different to what I've read in threads on the Higher Education board on MN. It's another reason DS wants to go to the admissions talk.

Hope everyone going to Cambridge has a great day. I’d be interested to hear comparisons with Oxford from those who are visiting both.

If GCSEs are good, and they’re keen on Oxbridge I think I’d still be encouraging them to go for it. I’m not sure how many GCSEs they take into account. At Bristol it’s only the best 8. Sit the entry test and see if that’s good enough to get an interview. Oxford maths dept impressed upon us that they want the best candidates to get places on their courses. With the UCAS application, MAT and interviews they have a pretty robust process to make sure that happens. If they’re the best fit then they’re likely to get offered a place even if they didn’t get all tops grades in their GCSEs.