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Original poster

Anyone want to join a year 13 UCAS THREAD?

746 replies

JesusChristOtterStar · 07/11/2009 21:05

We can join in stressing about ucas forms interviews etc?

I am finding it all a very steep learning curve - we could support one another - celebrate and commiserate?

OP posts:
NotAnOtter · 12/01/2010 21:44

yes out of the 9 cambridge at ds school two of the boys have offers of 4 A levels A*AAA

scary!

also we have heard of the possibilty of oxbridge trying to increase state numbers by making it 4 A2 's for independent school applicants 3 for state - that's only one article i read though so pretty much conjecture

cambridge asking for 4 is fact though . Not heard re oxford

swedelington ds has ucl durham bath and still waiting on edinburgh as they seem slow

has modules now though and not doing a great deal!

senua · 12/01/2010 22:06

I think that the offers based on 4x A2 is a case of being hoist by your own petard.
If you do 3x A2 then you can only get an offer based on 3x A2. If you are foolish clever enough to do 4x A2 then you run the risk of them demanding that you get decent grades in all four, instead of offering just 3x.
If you look at course requirements, they never specify more than 3x A2 (although there may be other non-A2 stuff like STEP).

NotAnOtter · 12/01/2010 22:18

agree Senua - unless they change their offers overtly

our schools don't do step although J cambridge college did tell him prior to interview that if they had 'concerns' over anyones maths ability then they would have to sit step

J did do some OU module that counted as something - i forget

tbh those boys at school who only do 3 A2 tend to waste the free periods instead of using it for furthering studies

NotAnOtter · 12/01/2010 22:20

ds1 also did critical thinking which although not helpful as far as university offers per se - definitely helped him with TSA which he had to sit on his interview day

senua · 12/01/2010 22:28

and I agree with you NAO. They can't get too picky because they will get into trouble over 'accessability'.
I'm very surprised that your school doesn't do STEP.

Sherbert37 · 13/01/2010 07:20

Drayford - thank you so much for that. We need to do more research as I can see there are many avenues open to her. She certainly ticks the boxes for a wide range of musicality.

ajandjjmum · 13/01/2010 08:53

DS had his UCL interview this week, and was told that 99.9% of the people there would get offers.

So....fingers crossed....it's looking good.

The interview was very informal, and he liked the university and people applying for his course.

Still waiting to hear from Durham College though.

ajandjjmum · 13/01/2010 08:55

Just to add to the Maths/Further Maths discussion, some Universities give a lower offer (AAB rather than AAA) for students offering Maths and Further Maths - at least for the Physics courses that ds has applied for. Still only 3 x A2's required.

mumoverseas · 13/01/2010 09:58

hi all, thanks for all your helpful advice and comments.
Just to clarify, DS was due to do 5 x AS and then drop one (no doubt FM) and then do 4 x A2.
I've today received an email from his tutor saying he should drop FM now and saying that he only NEEDs 3 x A2 so presumably he is saying he should then drop another subject next year.
However, DS wants to read law at Cambridge and it has already been confirmed he will need AAAA for the college he has been looking at and clearly some other colleges are asking for 4 x A as well. All well and good for the school to say he only needs 3 but don't want to risk him not getting the course he wants if he follows their advice.

MABS lovely to 'see' you. Might consider emailing the head. Will FB you x

ajandjjmum · 13/01/2010 10:24

Worries you that his Tutor isn't sufficiently up to date with his plans, and the requirements of his prospective uni.

Good luck in sorting it.

Lilymaid · 13/01/2010 10:26

DS1 was at a school that was very strong in Maths and Physics but the school only recommended Further Mathematics for those going on to read Maths or Physics. For others who were good at Maths especially if they were going on to read a "numerate" subject such as Economics, the school suggested Additional Maths AS.

senua · 13/01/2010 10:57

MOS: are the Colleges asking for 4xA2 the wildly popular ones? Should your DS play tactically and go for an 'unpopular' (for law) College and thus stand more chance of getting in? There are all sorts of statistics out there to help you on eg the ratio of applicants to acceptances.

FWIW I know of a case where two girls from the same school were offered Oxford places at AAA. They were badly let down by one subject teacher and only got Bs. One girl lost her place because she only had AAB. The other still got her place because she had AABA i.e. the fourth subject effectively gave her a second bite at the cherry.

mumoverseas · 13/01/2010 12:47

sorry, earlier post should have read A A AA

senua yes, I imagine the crazy requirement above is one of the most popular ones although having looked at a few Russell Group ones they say a 4th A level is 'desirable'
Like you, I think having a 4th A level is a good back up, assuming of course he is up to it which is what we were told when he did his GCSEs and following him being awarded an academic scholarship.

lazymumofteenagesons · 13/01/2010 13:26

Doing 4 A2s seems to give the universities the go ahead to specify subjects that they want certain grades in. In hindsight if I (DS1) had known how the system works he would have probably dropped one at the beginning of Yr 13. Now he finds himself in the situation where he would like to drop History but Bristol have specified that their offer is for 3 but excluding Biology! This is not his first choice but it could take until late march for an offer from Durham for his course.

The result of all this is he has to keep going with 4 until he accepts offers and then he needs to write to university to check it is ok for him to drop one. Since this could be march/april there seems no point as he is almost there. It has all been a bit stressful (for me anyway) and I wish his school did not regard 4 as the norm.

That said, I think admissions tutors do look favourably on candidates doing 4 as it shows they can hack it pressure wise. But as Swedes said it doesn't sem to affect her school.

lazymumofteenagesons · 13/01/2010 13:31

Also, at DS1s school you cannot do FM unless it is a 4th A2. Quite alot of courses will not accept 3 A2s being maths, further maths and AN Other. It only seems to be a pre requisite for maths/physics/engineering and some mathematical economics degrees and even then they tend to class it as preferable rather than compulsory.

snorkie · 13/01/2010 13:32

What it's difficult to know is if the fourth A level makes it more likely that you will be given an offer for some of the fiercely competative courses over an otherwise equivalent candidate who is 'only' taking 3. Even where the offer is still based on 3 A levels, I think there is some circumstantial evidence that this is beginning to happen.

Agree further maths is mainly useful for maths, physics and engineering degrees only.

webwiz · 13/01/2010 13:50

Oh dear its all a bit of a minefield and the fact that we have already gone through it once is not helping at all. No doubt by the time DS applies (he's year 8) half the universities will have gone bust and everywhere else will require masses of A*s.

wicked · 13/01/2010 19:37

Has anyone heard from Edinburgh yet? Complete silence from them so far in this household.

NotAnOtter · 13/01/2010 19:52

wicked - No re edinburgh and we have had complete silence also

wicked · 13/01/2010 20:22

TBF, we haven't had complete silence. We did get a receipt of the application and a log-on to their student network. But nothing from admissions tutors.

NotAnOtter · 19/01/2010 12:27

hello all just bumping this
Hope the last few offers still coming in
How are the modules going? I am tempted to keep ds off school to revise as it seems so imperative he does well in these but hey ho - he is at school!

ajandjjmum · 19/01/2010 14:04

It's funny Otter - ds seemed to have much more freedom over how to spend his time when doing GCSE's, whereas now he has to be in school for all of his lessons - although he does work well at home.

All excited this morning - letter arrived from UCL - but it was just to confirm that they will be making an offer (which they'd already said), rather than what the offer will be!

brimfull · 19/01/2010 14:06

dd still waiting for 3 to respond, may be delayed now that ucas has changed the cut off date to the 22nd.

NotAnOtter · 19/01/2010 15:30

dont quite get the ucas decision - it was all done by internet so unsure how weather affected it ...

andjsmum i was surprised to hear the odd A* offer from UCL - economics for example

brimfull · 19/01/2010 17:03

ucas thing- maybe because of the school closures, some kids hadn't fifnshed their applications and needed help from school?

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