Anyone want to join a year 13 UCAS THREAD?

[JesusChristOtterStar]

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?

2008 Peterhouse applications for Natural Sciences = 40
Offers = 21

Years previous pretty much the same odds.

stats are here

good luck to all of you who have interviews coming up. Very scary time and I'll be in this situation next year so hope there is a thread like this then.

Read something interesting on another thread just now that seemed to say that students cannot apply for both Oxford AND Cambridge in the same year. Does anyone know if this is correct?
Also, what is the maximum you can apply for?

Feel a bit helpless as 3,000 away from DS who is in year 12 and I'm pretty sure he should be starting to think about all this now and I'm not there for any guidance/nagging

You can only apply to one of Oxford and Cambridge in a single year.
On UCAS you can apply for up to five courses. (For medicine it is four plus one non-medicine course).

DS mentioned, in passing as he rushed off to work this morning, that he had received two offers so far (only got the UCAS confirmation in the post this week). Obviously not Oxford/Cambridge, which are well out of his range, but decent universities nonetheless. I love the way they make announcements like that when you least expect them!

Lilymaid thank you so much for confirming that. Really good to know early on what the rules are. Hopefully DS will start giving it some serious thought sooner rather than later.

Is your DS having a gap year then? My DS is going to have a gap year out of necessity as apparently there is a rule that you need to have been resident in the UK for 3 years prior to applying or you have to pay all fees. Sadly he will only have been resident for 2 years as he was abroad for his GCSEs.
Do you know if he can just apply with his peers (ie next year in U6) and just defer any offers or will he have to wait?

Well done with your DS and his offers, maybe he'll tell you a bit more later

You can apply and defer for a year, but if there is an issue with fees that may complicate things (I don't know, am guessing). I would contact the local education authority to check with them. Certainly, there is a box to tick to say 'deferred place' on the actual application form.

Thanks, that is really very helpful.

just wrote a huge message and lost it! grrrrrrrr

mumoverseas dont fret. My advice to your ds right now would be concentrate on AS

I was quite blasé about them and now only 6 months on i realise how important they are to students

ds got the paper copies of prospectuses and dipped in and out to see what places had to offer

he visited oxbridge a year early for a look around which raised his interest a LOT although he was alway driven..

re the deferring i thig it is as simple as ticking a boxon the ucas form

sorry no help over fees and living abroad but re the fees don't they all pay full fees?

Yes JCOS I didnt realise really how important AS were...ds did fine but not as well as he might have, which will have affected his predicted grades.

Hes not sure yet whther he'll stay over.

Managed to buy him some black jeans a jumper and some Clarks shoes today - he won't look himself but should be reasonably respectable!

i think mumoverseas is talking about non-eu fees which are hugely more than we pay, also I think the universities have a quota of how many non-eu students thay can take.

Re. deferred places, check the course and the university. When we went to visit Durham for example the admissions tutor said they limit the amount of deferred places given in this particular course, so you are effectively competing with those wanting to defer. Also he said they do not accept students who decide to defer in August, they tell them they have to apply again. But each course/university is different.

soyabean- we are in north so ds has to stay over mores the pity (north and state school - no hope )

it's funny re the clothes ds has bought a suit - moaned buckets about the shoes after ucl interview!

lazymumofteenagesns - i thought i was being a bit dim

shocked at that deferred place thing!

morning ladies,
JesusCOS, thanks for advice ref concentrating on AS. I just don't want him missing out on open days etc and prospective Unis.

Lazymum, you are right. We have been abroad for a few years due to DH's work and what we didn't realise until last year was that if DS not resident in the UK for 3 years prior to Uni we would have to pay HUGE fees.
Really annoying as we have kept our UK house, pay tax, NI, council tax etc but are apparently not classed as UK residents even though we've always spend at least 4 months a year in the UK Hence DS having to do a gap year, which apparently can't be spent out of the UK

ref deferred place thing too!

JCOS re your 'North and state school= no hope', my ds was yesterday saying maybe it would be good to wear his customary hoodie etc to play up the 'inner city deprived youth' factor... as in, please give me a place so that I'm not forced to spend the rest of my life drug dealing and mugging old ladies.

Okay, UCAS application has been submitted after, it seems a multitude of personnel at school needed to check it. DS1 now buzzing with excitement, he feels he is now working towards something more concrete. I know we are a bit behind the rest of you, but what is the timescale for any offers to come in?

There will be a flurry of offers between now and Xmas, but some universities (Warwick for instance) don't make ANY offers until after the deadline of 15 January which is the official deadline for all applicants to be in with the same chance, even though everyone seems to think if you put your application in early you are in with a better chance!!

I am not sure that this is actually true, or just the schools wanting to get them to get on with their applications.

Meant to add as well,lazymumofteen, that all communication will come direct to your son from UCAS now, not through the school.

Final decisions as to which offers to accept or reject don't have to be in until May. They can see online if offers are on the way, before they get the official letter from UCAS.

selective memory ds good friend already has an offer from warwick and in fact it was one of the first offers late october...it was philosophy though so maybe it varies according to course

That's interesting!! I really thought Warwick didn't offer til after the deadline. Perhaps they have changed this year. The official UCAS blurb is that everyone is treated equally who applies before the Jan 15 deadline, or obviously 15 October for the Oxbridge, medics, vets, dentists.

i just dont get it tbh
haven't half the places gone when some january ucas forms turn up?

thats what I would have thought JCOS
I know I'm a year behind you ladies but have to start planning early as will need to fly back to the UK to take DS to open days etc

He is pretty sure that he wants to read law at Cambridge but there are around 29 colleges. How on earth do you narrow down that to come up with a sensible shortlist? Any wise suggestions?

I think an admissions tutor came on a thread on here about the early application stuff and said they get a great influx of applications in October plus another lot just before the Jan deadline.

I think the universities legally have to treat all the applications in the same way as long as they are in by Jan 15.

If you put an application in on 14 Jan it is not a late application.

They must keep places back for the November/Dec/Jan applicants.

mumoverseas

yes it is a minefield and knowing where to start is a star t
ds went down first and had a look about - he came back with colleges he liked the look or sound of (from chatting with students)

i think, on the whole, students said apply 'anywhere' so that relaxed ds a lot

then he came home and looked again at where was good for subject ie law and then after months ( literally) looked at more minor things like what else the college prides itself on ie sport and music

once he decided it felt right and we feel a bit 'precious' over the college (esp as everyone gives it a bit of a in rl) !

Well we've managed to rule out 6 so far on the basis that he is male and under 21
Like you say, a mindfield and just as well we've got almost a year to decide where to apply.

Problem we've got is the times I'm back in the UK to take him to look around is when the colleges are all shut so might have to re-think plans as I think a visit (or two) is essential.

mumoverseas -if it helps he could go alone or with school or friends
we did not go with ds1 on any of his visits

Thanks for that JCOS. He has just emailed to say he has his first 'UCAS lesson' this afternoon so hopefully I'll get a bit more information soon.
Did I read somewhere that you've got 6 kids?

yes i have!!
the later ones will do open university - i am too tired for all this!