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

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn @MiniMidiMaxi brilliant grades!
@JessyCarr an award certainly goes on PS, I am sure she would ace the summer learning too. We haven’t started draft yet, but we made a list of competitions and courses she attended in past two years. Southampton talk def helped framing it a little. And on your chat GPT journey, add a pic of your room and ask them to add panelling/ give paint suggestions- it’s amazing personalised interior designer for you! Only if they can do the job/send someone to do as well. Haha
@ellieinfrance we went to see the halls at Southampton, it was £165 PE for shared and £225 for en-suite I think. 10 sharing with three bathrooms, I am not sure DD would cope either. We didn’t get time to check the common rooms or anything, we didn’t go to accommodation talk with Bristol. Next is Imperial and girls are all going together with school. So I guess we should go check this in Autumn open days, with better understanding of the grades :)
@JessyCarr I have checked Manchester and York, DD is looking for more Aero than general Engg. Not decided yet, but Mechanical would be next in list. Is there any hidden gems that we should check out, please? Any Scotland universities that I should check? Just saw a general chat on Edinburgh and they say £1200-1500 pm in second year accommodation, that made me think we should be checking what’s there after halls as well
How do I get Imperial scores that they got admitted last year for specific courses, even if the entry requirements is Astar AAA, DD says they would need all Astars and she is worried her FM predictions would let her down. I really would like to fact check this, if possible

I'm glad DS1's first day went well, if a bit tedious @JustHereWithMyPopcorn . First days/weeks tend to include boring things like inductions, so I'm sure it will get more interesting.

DS has gone off to the Chalke History festival with the History class today. Early start for my would be nocturnal teenager. He has a webinar with Christ's College Cambridge later which should occupy most of the return coach journey.

I agree @MiniMidiMaxi DS says year 13 for Economics will start to look at the themes more closely and really start combining the so far distinct sections of the syllabus together. He is looking forward to that. He is doing OCR board but I think most boards have a similar content and structure to exams - micro, macro, themes. They didn't do a themes paper for year end exams at all.

I'm sorry you aren't feeling well @temperedolive certainly give yourself permission to take the next few Open Days off and let your two go by themselves. I know what you mean about the FOMO though!

Is it awful to sit out the next couple of uni visits? I have my second awful summer cold of the month, and I hate spreading my sneezy wheezing germs to everyone on the train.

I have two in Y12, so they can go together. I just hate not seeing the places they're considering.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn good that it felt like a positive first day for DS1!

Although DS finds out his official predicted grades at the beginning of July, the y12 exam results have started to come through today - the most important expectation is an A star predicted in Maths and he found out today that he got that in the exams, so as long as none of the other subjects are worse than expected, he is looking at the right kinds of courses.

@JessyCarr DS has only heard about his result in one of his Economics papers so far, but across the year group, those results are lower than the students were hoping for. I think it’s a ‘grower’ subject, where exam technique builds over the two years so there’s an acceleration of exam performance into y13.

DD decided this evening to show me the wonders of ChatGPT. “Just think of something you want it to do” she said.

Hmmm. How about “Design a revision timetable for first year A Level Economics, Edexcel board”?

She scowled. But to give due credit to ChatGPT, it pondered for about 3 seconds before coming up with a rather sensible-looking timetable!

@JessyCarr well done to your DD! Perfect timing for PS writing! 🎉

DS1 said his first day was good, he didn’t really do much other than observe someone else doing their job to start to learn the ropes. I think first days/ weeks are always a little dry until you know what you’re doing.

Well done to our daughter on her award @JessyCarr. It's lovely to be recognised in this way. DS won the English award at his school last year and though he tried to play it cool and be nonchalant I could tell he was secretly delighted (the award still has pride of place on his bookcase although he won't admit it has any meaning - teenagers 😂)

I can only speak for the history department at Warwick regarding exams. I don't know what the other faculties positions are. When the HoD said that they had not returned post-COVID to, or had any intention of returning to, assessment by examination you could hear the intake of breath in the lecture theatre. It may be that some students chose History at Warwick as a result but DS says it wouldn't sway his choice.

I'm sure your daughter will ace her Economics retake in September.

Southampton had loads of accommodation open. There is a huge range of choice. Majority is self catering in flats. Flats range from maximum 12 people, all the way down to 4s, some singles and some doubles, some ensuite and some shared facilities. The accommodation area is vast, set in generally pretty area with lots of grass etc, security patrols 24/7 and cleaning every 2 weeks i think. No info on costs or contract length, but this must all be online. We looked at Glen Eyre which is the big one, about 5 mins walk from Highfield campus, so about 10 mins to Avenue campus. Overall I was impressed, although personally my DD would find a flat of 12 a bit overwhelming. Particularly if they were all very untidy in the kitchen!

@Waspie no exams at Warwick? I also find it interesting how assessment differs so much between institutions these days. Not something I had expected would be a factor, but it does seem to be nowadays.

Separately, I see that Cambridge is going to stop telling students where they have ranked in their cohort (while obviously retaining degree/Tripos classification). A good and healthy development, I think.

Good to hear of so much progress, including ruling courses and unis in or (just as importantly) out. I distantly remember thinking Y12 would give us all a breather between GCSEs and A Levels/IB, but it turns out there’s been an awful lot to think about!

Had some good news here, as DD’s been awarded the Y12 prize in her favourite subject. She has a free afternoon today and is happily weaving that into her draft PS for UCAS.

The only fly in the ointment is that Economics mock retake in September. She’s fine about it, but will need to knuckle down over the summer and is procrastinating about drawing up a revision timetable. Lots of others at school seem to be retaking in September too - some doing two or even three subjects again. Plus lots doing UCAT, or LNAT/ESAT prep, or whatever. If my little darling feels like whingeing about having to study over the summer, I will remind her that at the same stage I was studying for Oxbridge 4th term entrance (2 subjects plus a general paper) on top of 4 hefty A Levels!

Looking forward to hearing how DS1’s first day has been, @JustHereWithMyPopcorn. Fantastic to get that job - well done him.

@ComingInByAnsible yes, very possibly on the same talk! DS loved the range of the history (and politics) options available. I found it interesting that they have no exams. We were also at PPE drop in so may have passed you there too PPL was on DS' radar but has now decided against all law courses so we skipped the talk and went to the sports pavilion instead. I agree with you that open days are proving useful for helping our DC narrow down course choices.

Well done to DS2 @JustHereWithMyPopcorn excellent predicted grades! Glad he enjoyed Sheffield. I can't even get DS1 that far north, let alone York. We, well DS and DH, are going to Birmingham on Saturday. Hope DS1 is having a good first day at work.

Well done to your son @Wehaditsogood on getting the predicted grades he wanted.

@Tebheag how is your son feeling about doing a resit in the autumn? The apprenticeship route is certainly attractive, not least because of the lack of debt when starting one's working life. I hope you manage to get that appointment with your son's teacher.

We also liked HYMS but the course talk was a bit “dry”.
Newcastle on Saturday for us too and then we’re done. Sheffield in the lead so far

Well done to your DS @Wehaditsogood ! I have just seen a message from DS, the Physics dept have decided to let people know early their predicted grade to help them with their choices, he's got an A which is what we were hoping for after his results as he was just two marks off anyway. The other subjects have not done the same!

DS has got the predicted grades he needed. Phew! Now we can properly plan.
Good luck to everyone waiting for the results.

Thanks @Newlease DS1 has set off for his first day, I'm so nervous for him.

DS2 only has three on his list that he's sure of. We were meant to be doing Birmingham and Notts this weekend coming but he's decided to ditch Brum for some reason. Both DH and I went there so maybe it's something to do with that. He's also got Imperial this Thursday but he's definitely going off the idea of Uni in London even though it's an easy ride in from here.

Sorry lovely ppl, in my previous post I meant Southampton University, did anyone else check their accommodation? I am not going Imperial with DD as its Thu and she is going with her friends, I was wondering when do we get to see the accommodation as I don't think kids would go do this.
Also met a Yr 3 Engg student yesterday at Southampton, she stayed outside in a flat and was very happy about it. Is anyone considering this type of accommodation? It sounds cheaper than Uni provided ones. @JessyCarr no we haven't, I will have a look. Thanks so much. Just getting my head around this process and left it too late, now trying to catch up

York for us yesterday (Hull York Medical School) which was a huge success! We all loved the Uni campus, the students were a joy, every one of them helping people navigate around. The med students who talked to DD in the med school facilities were so kind, friendly and informative. We were able to attend the talks with DD this time which was helpful so we gained a lot from the day. If she did apply she could be placed at either York or Hull so we are going to look at Hull campus soon too.

@PinkChaires DD spoke to the Manchester student probably mid afternoon so maybe they had had enough by then 😂. York just felt more welcoming, but that could have been down to the campus feel rather than city. HYMS will be a definite for DD (unless she bombs her UCAT and doesn't apply to med at all!).

Newcastle next weekend and although it is DD's favourite on paper I'm sure it will be ridiculously busy too so we need to plan well. It is definitely helping seeing the actual unis though, really clarifying for DD who is asking good questions and really trying to see herself living away from home for the first time so none of it wasted time.

@Newlease Is Manchester on the radar? They have another open day next Saturday, 28th June.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn congratulations your DS1s job, market seems to be very tough for beginners and this is amazingly well done 👏
@MiniMidiMaxi Same, very impressed with SoU Engg, I didn’t have any expectations and I guess rn this pushed Bristol down in preference, even though last week I thought Bristol was impressive with their industry connections. And DD was worried about the Engg stream she wanted to apply as her school ( some dept specifically) are really bad at predicted grades, so was considering another option) SoU seems to only need one A* and they say they give admissions if the entry req are met ( no idea how, wouldn’t be more ppl than seats?)
I have spent some time cough on Mumsnet last week and found out about a uni FB group which is very helpful as well.
We still only have three unis in the list. Anyone else? Warwick came into discussion, but didn’t go further than that!
I kept on thinking about Edinburgh, but not checked that yet. Also Loughborough.
I am very impressed by those who do two in a day, to be fair this is only my second, but by the time we walk around and see some demos ( getting through a door which was not in plan, but then they goes on about the machines) all adds up and before we know it’s 4pm

@Tebheag ah OK so maybe the A level predicted don’t factor in. Has he got a particular one in mind?

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn DS said he could resit Geography if he wanted to will send email to teacher if we don't get an appointment at parents evening currently on waiting list to see what she says.
He is looking at finance for an apprenticeship, most in our area seem to be starting from Gcse level.

Apparently a very positive day at Southampton today - heads turned by the engineering facilities and clearly a lot of effort put in by the departments and wider university.

@Tebheag Would they give him the opportunity to improve that D with better grades in autumn term tests? Might be worth a shot as apprenticeships are very competitive too these days. Can the school help at all with work experience opportunities?

Loving hearing how well open days and off the great predicted grades kids have received well done .
DS predicted grades are same as his exams so BCD. Geography said he could resit if he wanted not sure he is bothered now as still no part time job so back to considering apprenticeships ! Going to try and encourage him to at least try and get some more work experience in the summer.

Loving reading about how everyone is getting on at the various open days and the decisions our young people are developing. The ‘not for me’ conclusions can be just as helpful as ‘this is great’ at this stage when they are narrowing down their options.

We enjoyed Warwick, despite early start to the day and the heat. Both DH and I went there back in the ice age, so it was a trip down memory lane. We couldn’t believe how much the campus has grown and developed. The buildings and facilities that were new and ‘state of the art’ in our time now looked old and poky next to what has been built since. We managed to go round our old halls and could swear they have shrunk!

@Waspie we might have been in the history talk with you, history and politics is also an option that DS is considering. We thought it was good and agree the new FAB building is, well, fab!

DS is currently leaning towards PPE, although with 1,500 applications received last year for 200 places it’s intimidating! We were impressed with the effort made to make everyone welcome (including a free lunch!) and with the course.

We also went to the PPL talk, which was useful because DS has now ruled it out. It would be a brilliant course for the right student but he realised it’s just not for him.