support thread for those of us who have DC submitting UCAS applications in the next few months

[mumoverseas]

Thought we should all get together and calm each other down/mop fevered brows/hand around glasses of wine etc. We've seen other go through it over the past few months and it will be our turn soon.

DS has just got his AS results which were not too bad. AAAB. The B suprised him as it was for maths and we'd expected a B for french which he had not studied for a few years as sat his GCSE early. He says he will re-sit one of the maths modules and one of French ones to get a higher A

He (we!) has been considering various Unis over recent months and has visited 4.
PS is all in hand as is extended project (whatever all that is about) but time is creeping by and not long now til his mid Oct deadline (one of his choices is Oxbridge)

There has been so much in the papers over recent days about the lack of places at University at the moment and stories of how so many good students did not get places as they didn't put 'insurance' choices.

How is everyone else coping and how do we get our children to make realistic choices?

LOL at DD1 Riven. That is the sort of thing my DD1 would do.

Ref DS's PS, it was submitted to school yesterday so no going back. Next week (I think) someone at the school will press the big button and whiz it all off.

Mine said he knew if he took a gap year he'd never go back to studying again! We decided to listen to him (we had tried to encourage him to reapply to Oxford after his rejection).

Riven... Bristol is at the top of DS1's list. We were there last Wednesday and we both liked it.

Me: cos I can visit him briefly and go shopping!

Him: Nice town to live in for the next few years.

Oh honey!

What a lovely son you have.

Can I just check....there ought to be a designated member of staff at your DCs school who is 'in charge' of UCAS stuff, including helping them sift through courses, giving advice about finances and helping to write and edit personal statements...if this is NOT the case then you need to get in touch with the school and ask why. This is not something parents/students ought to be doing alone!

In truth the current system is pretty intense - when I applied it was all done on paper, no parental input whatsoever, overseen by tutor at school, six choices, six offers and a place without breaking sweat. However, things are very different these days!

Teacher advice? Try no to get too involved. A personal statement ought to be just that - personal to the student it concerns. Like coursework which has been 'parented' its blummin obvious! (not that I'm suggesting anyone here would do that....)
Straight As are no longer a direct pass to a decent uni - they will take into account the number of re-takes a student has done, for example - and the number of students getting these top grades far out number those in the past.

Keep everything in perspective; I always tell my A level students to consider all options including the possibility of a gap-year if things don't turn out as expected. This should not be seen as a negative - some useful work experience can be gained, for example. Make sure this is part of any long-term planning. Don't take knock-backs from unis personally - difficult, I know. Do your research. Find out exactly what each course requires/offers and the number of places available. Hope some of this helps

very useful post rudbekia, thank you.
Well all out of my/DS's hands now. School have it all and I guess any day soon someone will be pressing the button and whizzing it off. So begins the long (and painful) wait!

Hi everyone, just book marking my space. Was away last week so am still playing catch up.
MOS - fingers, toes etc crossed for your DS.

We are hoping DS will finish off the last bits on his over the weekend and then pass it off to the teachers on Monday.

mumoverseas - you are very welcome! I really hope everything works out for the best with your DS. The UCAS 'bod' at our school also happens to be a close friend of mine so if anyone has any burning questions I'll see what I can do in terms of getting answers for you. She's been doing it for years and is very much up on the current system x

DD2's personal statement is with her form tutor at the moment I think she's done quite a good job of it but it just needs a fresh pair of eyes. I think the aim is to get everything done by half term but school are being very secretive about predicted grades ie you won't find out unless you specifically ask each individual teacher.

Good luck to those who have pressed the button or who are just about to!

DD1 asked her tutor to look through her draft PS, and was told she should rearrange the order so that her killer opening paragraph should come further down, and she needed to start with "I am fascinated by...". And this woman is head of careers, and presumably knows how a PS should (and shouldn't) start

Well DD2's personal statement has come back from her form tutor unchanged and is now with her further maths teacher. It doesn't start with "I'm fascinated by.." though ShrinkingViolet!

DD2's tutor has told them not to use the word 'inspired' in their PS. (Comes up far too often, apparently).

DS2 isn't inspired (phew) but he is profoundly interested, & also fascinated, excited, eager, open-minded, committed, & whole-hearted to boot

Does anybody know whether an open application to Oxford - ie not to a specific college - counts the same as a college one?

Its ok, he was intrigued

oh thank you, mos

(& thank goodness your DS was only intrigued )

DS had a mock interview last week along with 3 others that are still considering oxbridge.
They have had their feedback now, 2 have dropped out, DS is on the fence, and 1 is definitely still applying.

Not sure what to think really, just thought I'd share!

Ah - DS's college doesn't do those so he's having to wing it.

But there aren't many places doing the course/s he's interested in that he actually wants to go to - so he might as well stick Oxford in there anyway

ooh, don't think DS's school do mock interviews, sounds like a fab idea though. Will email and nag DS to find out about this. There is so much the little shit/love does't tell me. It was only when reading his PS I found out he has been learning mandarin chinese for the past year

Hmm unfortunately it didn't go well and so has knocked his confidence. We will be at the school tomorrow evening so will hopefully get a chance to talk to the tutor then. At the moment, DS is looking unlikely to apply for Cambridge. Still he really wants a course with a year in industry (engineering courses) so might be the most sensible option to apply for different unis.

Sorry your DS had his confidence knocked JGBMum - it doesn't take much at this age to make them wobble. Cambridge might not fit what he wants but you want him to make am informed choice.
LOL at the mandarin MOS - a bet your DS has already had a mock interview but decided not to tell you!

I imagine you are right webwhiz and when I cross-examine/ask him in a few weeks on holiday no doubt he will be really patronising and say he didn't want me to worry my little head about it