Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To complain to uni

212 replies

Nursingnew · 17/01/2020 18:17

Hi,
New poster and account here so sorry if I've posted in the wrong section.
But I'm applying to nursing this year and applied to a uni and had an interview for it. They gave me an offer but for a different course for healthcare studies because I didn't meet the entry requirements.
If I didn't meet their requirements shouldn't they have rejected me before and not make me prepare for a nursing interview to give me another course

OP posts:
Original poster
Nursingnew · 18/01/2020 09:55

@lvinghoebeacon yes I am aware of that & it is my own fault. I did prepare well for it however loads of other people telling me it's easy to get in to the course made me feel relaxed about it.

OP posts:
Greyhound22 · 18/01/2020 10:08

What did the interviewers say at the end? You say they were singing your praises? Genuinely curious as I interview a lot and I can interview someone I think is amazing and and I will do exactly the same as I do with everyone else - smile, thank them for coming and tell them when I expect to contact them by.

IvinghoeBeacon · 18/01/2020 10:15

I’m a service user on HCP course interview panels (not nursing) and have never known a candidate to be given a strong indication of how well or badly the interview has gone at that point - apart from anything else they have to do several interview stations and you wouldn’t want them to go on to the next one upset about the previous one because of something someone on the panel had said

Dolorabelle · 18/01/2020 10:41

Former university admissions tutor here (I’m still involved in departmental admissions as an interviewer).

OP it is absolutely normal and usual and absolutely NO cause for complaint that you have been offered a degree course different from the one for which you interviewed.

They interviewed you because you are in the ballpark for the grades they require. They obviously thought you’d be a good student, but not in what could be quite a competitive course.

You’ve been made an offer. If it’s not what you wanted, you don’t have to accept it. All this outrage is really inappropriate. And frankly, doesn’t indicate a level of maturity I’d expect from someone wanting to go into a taxing and challenging profession.

bruffin · 18/01/2020 11:20

As I said above OP

The one dd didnt get into she thought was a shoo in,

They wanted DDM , she had D D D*
She knew people on the course already so knew a lot about the course
She had been volunteering with children with SN since she was 12 and employed p/t from 18 in the same organisation and from 16 with parents for respite care on a p/t basis
Got on really well (she thought) with the interviewer.
Out of the 5 they were the lowest ranked on the league table.
She ended up with offer from the top ranked uni for her course. Why the lowest rank of the 5 didnt want her she doesnt know , but thankfully despite an initial disappointment got over it and loving the uni she is at .
She obviously didnt have something they wanted or as i said previously may have got a bit cocky.
She really liked the uni and town of the reject one so it made her decision much easier in the end.

Original poster
Nursingnew · 18/01/2020 12:33

@Greyhound22 @IvinghoeBeacon i thought they were anyways. In the scenario questions after i had given my answer they were like "yes this is what we are trying to get at from the people we interview however people always take another approach and misinterpret the question"and then at the end he said to me i like how much research you have done about the course and i can see your passion for it. Which is why i thought it went really well.

OP posts:
Original poster
Nursingnew · 18/01/2020 12:34

@bruffin That's good though at-least she is happy where she is currently at .

OP posts:
bruffin · 18/01/2020 12:44

Cardiff

woodchuck99 · 18/01/2020 13:02

I think the words "entry criteria" is probably used for all their rejections and I don't really think you can argue against it. It sounds like you're predicted to get good grades and if you get them you will be able to get into a good university anyway for nursing.

I really wouldn't get upset about it or think too deeply into it. Posters on here are coming up with all sorts of reasons for why you may have been rejected but it is quite possible they just had to many suitable candidates and just randomly picked some out of a hat in the end. Who knows?

Original poster
Nursingnew · 18/01/2020 13:23

@woodchuck99 Thank-you, hopefully i do get into a good uni for nursing. & it is a very competitive course so it could have been that. I don't want to go there anyways so i will just reject the alternative offer.

OP posts:
Haffdonga · 18/01/2020 15:10

I think you have a misunderstanding of the admissions process here. You could have done a brilliant interview and potentially met all the entry requirements and still not get offered a place. It's a numbers game and depends how many other good applicants they get each year.

Remember the uni has to interview far more people than they have places to get the right number of people on the course. Some people offered a place won't get the grades. Some will accept other places or change their minds. Some people who meet all the entry requirements on paper will end up being terrible at the interview.

They don't know how many applicants they'll be getting and how many of those will be excellent at interview and so they invite people like you who are borderline on entry requirements in case they have places to fill. In your case obviously they got enough people to offer who were better on paper than you so you didn't get the nursing offer but you clearly impressed them and they'd like to have you so they made the other offer. Some unis do a combined interview plus predicted grades score. The offer boundary will change every year depending on numbers of applicants. You could have scored just below the cut off point.

They wouldn't have wasted your or their own time calling you to interview if there was no chance.

Original poster
Nursingnew · 18/01/2020 15:52

@haffdonga so basically as a back up option? i understand they have spaces to fill and that is why they are always in clearing letting anyone in. i just got the impression that they would accept anyone because they were quite low-ranked for nursing and i had family friends who went there with CCD and my grades exceeded that by far. However, they do also take quite a lot of mature students in so they probably did receive a lot of applicants.

OP posts:
SueEllenMishke · 18/01/2020 15:57

All universities go into clearing now and they don't 'just let anyone in'

At my university nursing always goes into clearing but that's not because we didn't get enough applicants. It's because people didn't get what we asked for or chose to go somewhere else. Also, with adjustment universities will often open their top courses in the hope they'll attract some applicants wanting to adjust.

Original poster
Nursingnew · 18/01/2020 16:05

@SueEllenMishke i understand that but with this particular university they let someone in with CCD for nursing when they require BBC-BBB on their website.

OP posts:
SueEllenMishke · 18/01/2020 16:10

How do you know that?
Also, the entry requirements on the website are simply a guide. A university can ask for anything ( or nothing - see the rise of unconstitutional offers)
If a university really likes an applicant they can be really flexible. Entry requirements are just a way of universities positioning themselves in the market allowing for comparison.
Obviously some courses need to be quite strict about some subjects but ultimately they're able to ask for anything they like.

SueEllenMishke · 18/01/2020 16:11

*unconditional .....bloody autocorrect

MissBax · 18/01/2020 16:15

You sound like an absolute snob. Calling the other candidates chavy, considering complaining because they've offered you an alternative course. You won't get on well in nursing with that attitude FYI.

Original poster
Nursingnew · 18/01/2020 16:21

@MissBax You don't sound too pleasant yourself and FYI i already explained that comment in my previous posts

OP posts:
Original poster
Nursingnew · 18/01/2020 16:22

@SueEllenMishke because i know her myself and she told me what her grades were and that she is studying nursing at that same uni

OP posts:
Dolorabelle · 18/01/2020 16:27

OP you’ve had a number of experienced university staff respond to your rather misinformed and inappropriate post/s. Yet you persist in your view that you are justified. It might behove you to listen and learn.

LIZS · 18/01/2020 16:27

But maybe she interviewed well, had more relevant experience, passed the numeracy and literacy test with a higher score. Or maybe that year the level of candidates that year was less competitive. You need to set aside your disappointment and frustration. Clearly that uni is not for you.

SueEllenMishke · 18/01/2020 16:28

Well, you do only have her word for it . Anyway, like I said they could have made her a lower offer for a number of reasons. You're in a different application cycle so you can't really compare. Things change year on year.

woodchuck99 · 18/01/2020 16:31

Presumably the person with a CCD got in on clearing. If that was recent there is a good chance that will happen again this year but they usually ask for the higher grades when making offers.

MissBax · 18/01/2020 16:32

If they've taken people on with lesser grades then you obviously didn't come across as well as other candidates did you? What more is there to say?

woodchuck99 · 18/01/2020 16:35

If they've taken people on with lesser grades then you obviously didn't come across as well as other candidates did you? What more is there to say?

That's not the obvious reason at all. The person with the lower grades probably got in on clearing.

Swipe left for the next trending thread