Advice on UCAS please? :-)

[Radoy]

Hi all: My daughter has just received 3 Bs at A level and is taking a year out for an internship.

She's wondering if she should apply via UCAS as soon as it opens for 2023, or if she should wait?

She is 2 points off an A in two of her A levels and this means she's less than the university's entry requirements for a few places she'd like to study. Does she only apply to universities that take 3 Bs, does she apply for stretch choices now...or does she wait?

I guess I'm asking the brilliant people here what is the best strategy for UCAS for the best outcome? Thank you!

What would she be waiting for? Is she resitting her A levels? She would probably be sensible to apply now and she could still use clearing next year if she wasn’t happy with her offers.

Thanks, Serenade. She wouldn't be resitting her A levels - my daughter was wondering if all universities will stick to the letter of the entry requirement early on, and she would be better off waiting as maybe they are more lenient as time goes by. What do you think?

Oh - sorry can’t help with that. You mean would they turn her down if she sends in the application in September but accept her if she sends it in April? I am not an expert but I think they are more likely to sit on the application until April if they aren’t sure if they will fill the course. Might as well get it in sooner rather than later so as to appear keen maybe?

As long as she submits by the Jan 2023 deadline it won't make the blindest bit of difference.

As far as a strategy goes, has she had a look to see if any of her stretch target unis were in clearing? If they were that increases the chance of them offering her a place despite not quite meeting published offer grades.

She could perhaps apply this month to 2 stretch ones, and see if she gets an offer, if she doesn't then she could add 3 more realistic places early January.

Unless she is retaking it makes no difference. She can app,y to a couple whose standard offer exceeds her grades but whether they will consider her depends on the subject and if she may develop relevant skills during her internship to offset the lower grade. Her ps needs to address this. There is also a website which lists actual grades achieved for a course rather than offers, so indicates which may be flexible.

You're so helpful everyone. Thank you so much. :-)

And if she attends any open days she can sense what the department is looking for.

Has she had any advice from school/college about the possibility of getting her papers reviewed if she is that close to an A?

Personal statements aren't graded anymore so extra curriculars are no longer 'helpful'. Many universities don't even read them anyway.
For more competitive subjects (medicine/dentistry/nat Sci) the advice is not to waster characters on anything that isn't wholly relevant to the subject. My ds' careers teacher said he doesn't want to read about DoE or grade 8 trombone unless you can make it applicable to the course.

Sorry wrong thread!