Year 13 -2025/26 - Support, discussion and looking after each other (new thread from y12)

Checking in. I don’t think dd has her PS completed yet. I honestly only find out about her social engagements and when she’s behind on homework, I think she finds talking about university too much a bit stressful. She has had her predicted grades upped to AAB which she is obviously really happy about. Off to Liverpool open day next weekend with her dad. Not many of her friends seem to be applying for university at all.

DD isn’t an early applicant, but someone at her school who’s an Oxbridge candidate has a Bristol offer already for a STEM subject - not sure what exactly.

@gingercat02 is the car window open yet?😂

DD UCAS is finally sent on Friday - also doing the "any offers yet? No? I'm just so disappointedcomedy tut"
Glad thats over - awful sickness going around school & she was poorly - NEA & entrance test next on 24th - all becoming very real.

On a very windy A19 enroute to Leeds open day. DS was at an 18th party last night. It's a very quiet car 🤣

Thanks @postitnot- I will find it on catch up. I was reading the thread in HE about paying for university, which led me to the MSE website. I’ve read the info on there so watching the program will be helpful.

DS’ economics teacher is very much in the Martin Lewis “take the loans regardless “ camp.

😂love this @Countrylife2002 ! Hopefully she'll hear something soon. Has she put all her choices in now so she can get offers from non oxbridge choices?

My DD did this 5 mins after submitting and we have an ongoing joke of me asking her 'any offers yet?' just to annoy her, as with choosing medicine she will be waiting until the end of time for any sniff of a response!

She did get a bit giddy at getting her acknowledgment emails from the unis, made it more real.

Did anyone watch Martin Lewis on Tuesday night talking about student finance? It was really good, well worth a watch

DD’s application is in. She’s refreshing her email about every 5 mins waiting for offers!!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/5364810-law-at-which-2?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share

this thread discusses law offers at LNAT and non LNAT universities @PinkChaires. Could be helpful?

@PinkChaires Depends on the uni, but LNAT-requiring courses are likely to be heavily oversubscribed, so the LNAT score and grade predictions will no doubt be weighted according to each uni’s criteria and applications ranked accordingly.

@PinkChaires See, for example, this explanation from the University of Exeter’s website: “How we tier applications”.

Thanks! What about if the course requires additional exams eg higher LNAT with lower predictions or higher predictions with low LNAT. I appreciate it depends on the uni?

For a course which is expected to be oversubscribed, conditional offers are likely to be made first to those with the highest predictions and working downwards. So if the uni says a standard offer for the course is AAA, then having predictions of AAA in no way guarantees an offer. Ultimately a huge amount will depend upon the level of demand compared to the number of places available.

Sorry must not have been clear. If for example a course is requiring AAA, does a student with a prediction of AAA disadvantaged compared to one with 3 A*? Or is it that once the requirements are met how high the predictions are do not matter

I don’t understand your question sorry @PinkChaires

Offers are made based on PG, sometimes students get accepted even if they don’t quite achieve those grades but not always

Hi, checking in after a bit. Does anyone know if the uni requirements are the minimum you must have or if predicted grades dont matter once you meet the requirements?

Thank you. What an incredible story @JessyCarr! It does seem like an amazing place, and such a wonderful opportunity. I am hoping my nephew invites invites his favourite aunty (only aunty!) out to visit at some point

@Ventress- yes, the October webinars from Durham do look useful, in addition to what’s available on the website. DD has also emailed one of the Directors of Studies with a couple of specific questions she has on the course offering, so it will be interesting to see what comes of that.

So pleased to hear of your nephew’s news. I did postgrad in the US (but at Princeton) - visited a friend who was doing hers at Harvard and she had an original Picasso on her bedroom wall. Oh yes, she said, I’ve borrowed it from Harvard’s Art Library! Amazing place to be.

Thank you for explaining @TheLivelyViper - yes, the Harvard financial scheme will make it possible for my nephew to take this offered place. He is obviously not entitled to apply for a tuition fees or maintenance loan via the UK scheme so without the Harvard financial help it simply wouldn't be possible. It's Harvard's attempt to widen participation.

DS has also decided to add Durham, sight unseen, to his UCAS choices @JessyCarr. They do have some virtual open day videos on their website and last week DS signed up for an online lecture taking place next month. Perhaps these would interest your daughter while she makes her decision?

Hi all - I have been missing out on your updates, as MN with all its ads won’t even load on my (brand new) iPad any more. Great to see those early UCAS forms going in! We are almost there but not quite, as DD has decided at the last minute that she wants to consider adding Durham in (possibly sacrificing Leeds in the process). Helpfully this idea came to her a week after their open day, which we have therefore missed. Can’t wait to hear about those first offers when they start to roll in, even as some of us go back to the drawing board!

@Newlease The financial scheme is specific to Harvard, they recently announced from the 2025 academic year. It will be completely free for students from families with incomes of $100k or less and tuition free for those with families with an income of less than $200k. Some other unis have some schemes but obviously Harvard getting so much funding and philanthropic funding that they can do that. Otherwise across most American universities it is very unaffordable for tuition fees, in terms of schemes for everyone, other than sport/music scholarships.

Congratulations to your nephew @Ventress he's done incredibly well!

@Meadowfinchthat sounds like an interesting course, DD was looking into nuclear and renewable energy but then left at some point. Which unis are on your list? DD is planning to visit Bath after ESAT as last openday was clashing with Bristol and we decided to go Bristol then!

@Ventresswow!! Well done your DN. What subjects are he looking to do. Would pass on the news to my daughter, we never looked into USA to study, but interesting to hear, I thought we wouldn’t get any financial help, so wouldn’t be possible.
@Muchtoomuchtodohope your DS is it in much pain.
To everyone who submitted UCAS already, exciting timings now to wait for the offers :) We are on final draft and submitted on Friday just before they closed for maintenance I think, hopefully they don’t need editing anymore. DD went for a birthday party yesterday with kids from school across the road and now find out too many of them are applying for the same Engg course 😬
I said it’s nothing to worry about, at least you will end up knowing one person near home, wherever you go for sure. ESAT prep took back seat with UCAS and have another 10 days to go.. She had done lot of prev papers, but prone to very silly mistakes when under pressure, I kept telling her, she is nit alone in that and keep calm and do as much as possible is the only way to go

Thank you both. Yes he’s year 13 @bluefinelinerso will start next autumn when our DC start university. He has worked really hard; it’s based on interviews and GCSE grades plus predicted A level grades and he has had to take the US SAT tests. He was out in Boston last week having final interviews.

it’s a four year course where they start doing multiple subjects and then specialise in the last two years.

Due to the way the US financial support works it will actually be substantially cheaper for my sister and brother in law than a UK university! I’m so thrilled for him. It’s such an amazing opportunity.

How exciting @Ventress I know nothing about American universities and their selection processes but he must have done amazingly well at interview or whatever he’s had to do to get an unconditional offer.