Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Education

Join the discussion on our Education forum.

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:
loungelizard · 09/03/2010 06:04

It would be unrealistic to expect the very top academic courses at the most prestigious universities not to want the top grades at both A level and GCSE. However, there are many other universities and courses which require much lower grades.

It just happens that, on this thread, most posters' DCs are applying for very competitive and highly academic courses, so it would seem that everyone needs A/A*s to go to university. This is certainly not the case in real life, but you do have to take into consideration as to whether a course which requires really low grades is actually worth taking at university in the long run.

ajandjjmum · 09/03/2010 09:30

We took DD to look around UCB - linked to Birmingham Uni - on Saturday. She is due to go in 2011, and having visited the 'top' unis with DS, is struggling to find one that will suit her. She would be doing well to get BBB, and what complicates things more, she really doesn't know what she wants to do.
We have discussed the thought of her not going to uni Violet, but she wants to go for 'the experience'. !!!

McBitchy · 11/03/2010 20:30

ughhh results day for modules
hope al was well for y'all
ours was all ok but with a bit of a crappy maths one. ds seems unperturbed!

dd also got a gcse module result and triple so suddenly the light at the end of the 'academic torture' tunnel looks very very distant

ajandjjmum · 13/03/2010 12:18

So...pride comes before a fall. And we were really proud of ds and his 5 offers. Then we got the module results. Knew he found them tough, but even so!!!

I think I need to start a thread on how to handle an incredibly needy and manupulative girlfriend, when you have got to work like stink to get the grades you need.

webwiz · 13/03/2010 12:51

Oh dear ajandjjmum that post says an awful lot about what's going on in your DS's life at the moment. I hope he manages to get some time to concentrate on the home straight.

DD2(year 12) had a bit of a disastrous maths module - we had tears just after she took it, tears just before results and tears when she got the result, it was exhausting dealing with it. The other two results were fine so she can just resit that one. God I've still got year 13 to get through with her I don't think I can cope with the stress.

JGBMum · 13/03/2010 13:56

ajandjjmum - sorry the reults were disappointing. Hopefully DS can make up marks in the summer?

violetqueen · 13/03/2010 18:03

ajandjjmum - snap to the " doing well to get BBB " and in our case - very little idea about what he'd like to do.
Nothing wrong in going for the experience !

lazymumofteenagesons · 13/03/2010 18:22

I'd really like to know what the evidence behind the 'A levels are so much easier' school of thought. I just see a bunch of bright/very bright kids working their socks off, getting incredibly stressed out to get high grades for university entrance. Are we/they fretting for no reason? Will it all be alright on the night?

I and most of my contemporaries never did this amount of work and actually it never felt quite as stressful as it seems for them now.

What happened with that odd Biology module that everyone was complaining about which seemed to examine them on stuff they had not learned. DS1 will probably have this one in the summer unless its a different board.

violetqueen · 13/03/2010 19:14

DC took the Bio module in question and got a C - good achievment for him .
Think the whole thing was slightly blown out of proportion...

ajandjjmum · 15/03/2010 09:59

lazymum
Ds did the Biology one, and got a B, so not a complete disaster, but he did feel confident of his revision before the exam.
The Physics was his total nightmare - he said that he knew all of the topics on the paper well, but ran out of time well before the end. His question was 'are they testing me on my Physics knowledge, or how fast I can write?' Because it's a new syllabus there aren't lots of practise papers, which doesn't help.
Maths were not great, but he should be able to pick them up in the summer.
Looks like it's all work and no play for the next 3 months......

Sherbert37 · 15/03/2010 10:31

JGBMum - had never heard of Headstart and it looks great. My DS wants to do engineering too and I am quite cross that his school have not publicised this. Hope your DS enjoys it.

JGBMum · 15/03/2010 12:18

Sherbert - thank you, is your DS in Y12 or Y13?

Sherbert37 · 15/03/2010 13:36

He is in S5, just turned 17. We are in Scotland. This would have been ideal as he is not sure of the different branches of engineering. I have emailed them in case they will take a late entry but I would doubt it.

JGBMum · 15/03/2010 14:38

Good luck in getting him a place,we were lucky that the school gave the students some information, but havent really had much from them.
We are trying to contact Headstart urgently, as we have not received confirmation that they have received our acceptance .- but they have taken the money....
Our DS seems to have settled on aerospace engineering - but is all over the place as regards where to apply, and so what grades he needs. I really feel for all the Y13 mums on this thread. The whole business just seems so stressful!

Sherbert37 · 15/03/2010 17:24

Well they have said they will accept a late entry so just need to persuade DS1 to apply. He doesn't like pushing himself forward so I hope he can see the benefit.

Strathclyde and Glasgow Unis are very good for aerospace. Both require lots of A grades though. We do Highers here and DS1 will need about AAAB to do anything engineering related which will be a push if he doesn't start revising properly.

JGBMum · 15/03/2010 17:38

That's great news {smile]. I hope your DS does apply, and tell him to definitely push himself forward, the course info looks sooo good. I see Strathclyde do a general engineering head start course,probably very similar to the general course that DS is going to at Southampton.

brimfull · 20/03/2010 19:37

ANyone still waiting like dd ?

She has still not heard from Sheffield.

ajandjjmum · 22/03/2010 13:09

That's dreadful ggirl - has she phoned them?

brimfull · 22/03/2010 21:08

she phoned 3 weeks ago
was told it could be2-3 weeks

do you think she should phone again

she knows of one other person who hasn't heard from them either for the same course

ajandjjmum · 23/03/2010 04:19

It's hard to know where to draw the line between pestering and being keen, isn't it? I think I would suggest she phones 3 weeks to the day that she last called. It's not like she's hassling them daily - although they deserve it!!!

brimfull · 23/03/2010 06:51

wow you were up late ..or early
or are you overseas?

yes have suggested she calls again

ajandjjmum · 23/03/2010 10:04

Couldn't sleep - so decided to get up and do something useful, and got distracted!!!

Fingers crossed for your dd.

brimfull · 23/03/2010 16:17

she just called them and they said they will look at it this week and if she doesn't hear by mon/tues next week to call them

ajandjjmum · 24/03/2010 13:22

Fingers crossed.

brimfull · 24/03/2010 18:47

yaaaay
just checked ucas and offer has come through!!
sheis at work atm
can't wait to tell her

seems the phone call worked