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

Wow! Lots of summer holidays and activities, they definitely keep our kids busy!
@JustHereWithMyPopcorn NASA sounds amazing, is that via UKSDC. Well done, a life time opportunity 🎉Mine is adamant that she want to do nationals again to try her luck, but very less people in her school is interested in Engg club and she is very sad. Boys school across the road has amazing activities, wish she could attend those. Lucky that she has some connections there, so get the info for competitions/exams and CAN ask for help if needed, but she is very shy to even ask anything in person, let alone on SM.
EDT paid for and that is happening next week I think, other than that there is only ESAT prep planned. I am sure kids will be meeting up between everyone’s holiday schedules.
oh, got her prediction yesterday, happy with 3 Astars and an A ( had plans to drop chemistry if grades are bad, but A is in FM). So now will be continuing with 4. School said if she is applying late on Jan, by then she may be able to go to next grade in FM for (2 marks away). I think it’s madness to suggest that, I would rather her apply for Cambridge with grades she have than not applying. What would you do?
@Waspie that list, I am so tired reading about it. @JessyCarr Paris sounds amazing, same for French course. I admire kids who has such passion, not necessarily linked to the job that want or anything like that.
Summer will be busy for us with a family holiday, painting hallways and bedroom ( long overdue) and I am planning to get DD involved in shopping and cooking so she is armed with a bit of general life lessons. Visits uni halls made it all very realistic for some reason

@temperedolive Does she have a Junior ISA? If she is coming into significant capital at 18 then she ought to have an ISA to achieve some tax protection. By starting them off on the Junior version (for under 18s) they can learn to use it in the meantime. NB Withdrawals can’t be made from a Junior ISA until 18, so obviously they need to keep up their current account too.

DD gave up her search for the perfect summer job today and has decided to go back to the bakery where she worked last summer. I genuinely think that's a good move - she loves it there and they're fair to her. They're willing to build her timetable around her work experience as well, which she's excited about.

Can anyone recommend a good budgeting app for a young person starting to save for uni? She actually has a decent sum coming to her at 18 from her father's estate, but I'd still like her to be able to put some of her own wages away and take ownership of her saving.

@AuntyBulgaria Thank you.

DS said that the fancy calculator is not necessary, but it can be very useful for certain questions. You work faster with them. But he thinks it is very expensive and you can easily do without it.

@Wehaditsogood I have tasked DS with finding that out this week. He has a uni day at school this week - so I am hoping he asks there. I will report back if I learn anything. I think it's looking at and practicing past papers as I don't think it is necessarily different content but more that it may be asked in a slightly different way.

Is there a useful resource for preparation for the TMUA? Or just standard A-level preparation?

Thanks everyone re calculators! In case anyone needs reassurance for a level maths my DS has completed the A level and never needed the fancy one.

@AuntyBulgaria We had to buy the Casio fx-CG50 graphical calculator before DS started his A levels (through school which gave us a lower price due to bulk buying) he just does Maths though not FM.

My DS1 sat the LNAT, 4 years ago now so things may have changed, but Arbitio was the best thing we found. There were some others out there I recall but did not seem as rigorous as them. It is expensive though I agree.

Mine has the fancy calculator but it was a post GCSE present. He doesn't have a clue how to use it and neither does anyone else including his maths tutor who has a degree in maths so it's clearly not necessary, but I think it will be helpful.

I've found there are lessons on using it on Integral so I'm going to try and get him to work it out over the holidays now he understands more topics that it might work for.

Y12 finishes today for dd! Crazy stuff.
She has a lot to do over the summer but that’s good as she tends to mope around otherwise, including a week course in London related to her future degree. I’m also hoping for some clearing and cleaning of her room!

@AuntyBulgaria I will ask him in the morning.

@MiniMidiMaxi thank you. That's the calculator he has - so that's good.

@AuntyBulgaria DS has had a year of FM so far without the expensive one, and his school have just re-iterated their recommendation from last year, the Casio fx 991CW.

@Wehaditsogood the school only sell the more basic one and his teacher hasn't mentioned it. Has it made any difference to your DS?

DS started the FM syllabus this week so we'll see if it's recommended.

@AuntyBulgaria DS doesn't do further maths, just normal maths. But he has the fancy graph calculator. If they order it through school, it is cheaper apparently.

Just wondering whether any of your DC that are doing further maths have bought the fancy graphing calculator (Casio fx-ct50). Or just stayed with the usual scientific calculator. DS has just done the alevel with the more basic one - but I don't know whether an upgrade is needed for FM.

A new one is £139! And apparently cannot be used in Uni maths degrees as they are banned. So I don't want to buy one if it's not necessary.

@Waspie DD may put Sheffield down but all depends on the UCAT score, as it may not even be an option. The prep has now started so we will see how she takes to the questions soon.

DD starts her week of work experience tomorrow, at the hospital where I work. She is very excited and will spend some time in my area too, which will be nice but odd her seeing me in a work context. She will definitely have a good insight into what being a Dr is like by the end of the week which will be invaluable.

As is it a school trip to Paris the following week, Y12 is now finished for DD, I can't believe they only have one more year now.

@JessyCarrMy daughter went. Subject talk was 11.30 and example lecture scheduled for 1.15. The admissions and accommodation talks were before the subject talk.

We went no further north than Warwick @JessyCarr so cannot help, sorry. Reach out to the admissions team perhaps?

Shame about Sheffield bluefineliner Is your daughter likely to put it as one of her options regardless?

Last open day of the summer for DS on Friday at Cambridge. He also has two days of “Next steps” at school this week.

Glad the Oxford visits have gone down well and have given some clarification. I definitely feel seeing the 4 unis with DD recently has focused her so much on the application. It has also brought a sense of how little time she has left which is scary too.

Sheffield yesterday was the last of our pre UCAT visits and although I thought it would be a favourite, it wasn't. I think this was mainly because their clinical skills facilities were being refurbished so we had nothing to look around in the medical school really. The talk was excellent though. Newcastle is the top so far, but no decisions can be made until DD knows her UCAT score in early Sept. We may then have to dash to a couple more open days if other unis fit her grade profile more.

I agree the Oxford open day was a motivator. DC2 now seems very certain on her path, and a lot more confident than before. I think she was previously struggling with a bit of imposter syndrome, but having actually met some of the students and walked around the colleges, it seems that she can truly see herself there.

She seems to also have firmly settled on Theology and Religion over Philosphy or History, so that's fortunate as it's where her super curriculars will be most applicable. Now that PS needs to be the focus, as well as an essay contest she's preparing for.

I'm very glad DC1 is planning a gap year rather than going straight in to uni. I don't think I could handle the preparations with two at once!

Did any of you or DC go to Edinburgh’s open day on 20 June? If so I’d be interested in the subject talks timetable in case (as often happens) they keep much the same structure for the next open day. We’re aiming to go on 4 October but booking for that doesn’t start until September, and I’d really like to have worked out travel plans before that.

Thanks very much @JessyCarrthat’s really helpful. We’ll avail DS of a copy!

Anyone know any good resources for lnat. Dd has only heard of arbito which seems to cost a bomb!